Argus, he is a famous giant in Greek mythology.
It is said that he has one hundred eyes on his body, and whenever he sleeps, he only needs to close one or two eyes to get rest.
That is why he was sent by Queen Hera to guard Io, who had been turned into a little cow.
On this late night, as usual, Argus placed Io on a grassy area on a high mountain and sat beside her, closing one or two eyes to rest.
And the rest of his eyes, like stars in the night sky, were all open, following Queen Hera's orders to guard Io and watch the surroundings.
In the silent night illuminated by moonlight, the white little cow that Io, the beautiful princess, had become could not fall asleep for a long time.
She looked up at the stars and the moon in the sky, her eyes filled with sorrow.
During this period, day after day, she chewed on grass, slept on the hard and cold ground, and drank from polluted pools.
Io even began to doubt whether she was truly a human.
She thought of extending her pitiful hands to beg for Argus's mercy and sympathy, but she now had no arms.
Io also wanted to use moving words to seek help from the gods in the heavens, or to plead with Argus.
But all she could produce were mooing calls.
Therefore, now lying on the hard and cold ground, Io's heart was filled with endless longing for her father and siblings.
She missed the days of the past, while feeling such despair for everything now.
Because Io did not know how much longer such days would continue.
Io also did not understand why she had received such punishment, what exactly... had she done wrong?
Io naturally had done nothing wrong, but in Jason's view, she did have a fault.
Her fault was that in this Greek world where the gods thrived, she was too beautiful, so beautiful that she even caught the attention of the king of the gods, Zeus!
And just as Io was reminiscing about the beautiful times of the past, lying on the cold ground, gazing at the starry sky in the night,
She suddenly discovered that a shooting star seemed to be falling from the high sky...
At first, Io did not pay too much attention.
But as time passed, when the shooting star drew closer and closer, as if it were about to crash down, and its target was precisely here, Io gradually felt some panic.
So she stood up and came before Argus, who was as tall as a small mountain, mooing at him.
In the night, Argus, with eyes like stars, gazed at the Io before him, then raised his head together with her.
Nearly a hundred eyes looked toward the 'star' that was falling toward them.
Sensing the magic emanating from the heavenly horse, especially the auras of multiple gods upon it,
Argus's expression could not help but become serious, and he slowly stood up from the ground.
"Please halt, unknown existence. I am the hundred-eyed giant Argus, currently guarding this place on the orders of Queen Hera. If you continue to approach like this, I will consider it a provocation against me!"
The hundred-eyed giant Argus, standing like a small mountain, his voice was so piercing in this quiet night.
Thus, the falling star paused slightly but did not leave.
Its speed only slowed down, retracting its full power, indicating no malice as it flew toward Argus.
Seeing this, after hesitating for a moment, Argus did not refuse.
After all, he could see that on the heavenly horse, there was a person bearing the auras of multiple gods!
Then, as time passed and the 'star' drew closer into view, the little cow Io finally realized that it was not a star at all.
It was a sacred heavenly horse.
And upon the heavenly horse sat two people.
Especially as the distance grew closer, when Io could see the people clearly, her gaze was immediately drawn to the man in white robes with golden hair and golden eyes.
What a handsome man... Could he be the great god of light, Lord Apollo?
Having such a thought, Io, coming back to her senses, excitedly mooed, wanting to attract the attention of this 'Apollo'.
Hoping that this god could intervene and help her escape this sea of suffering.
But reality would ultimately disappoint her, because the one arriving on the heavenly horse at this moment was not the god of light Apollo.
It was Jason, the most loyal follower of the goddess Hecate, and Atalanta.
"Greetings, noble hundred-eyed giant Lord Argus. I know of you, so this time I have come specifically to see you."
Coming before Argus and dismounting from the heavenly horse, Jason revealed a brilliant smile to the slightly stunned Argus and said, "You may call me Heracles. She is my attendant, named Atalanta!"
Hearing the name Heracles, a trace of surprise appeared on Argus's face.
Even the two eyes closed for sleep opened, and all one hundred eyes distributed across his body turned toward Jason, saying, "You are Heracles... White robes, heavenly horse, yes, that's right, it's you!
You are the Heracles that the great Queen Hera has ordered me to find!"
Due to the incident with the snake demoness Lamia last time, Queen Hera had been searching for the Heracles in white robes.
However, because Jason wore the bracelet crafted by the craftsman god Hephaestus on Athena's commission,
And with the Olympian gods almost all concealing it together at this moment, Queen Hera had not been able to find Jason's whereabouts.
Thus, she naturally mobilized her connections, issuing fates to her subordinates to search for the Heracles in white robes.
And hearing Argus say that Hera was looking for him, Jason, slightly stunned, did not show much surprise on his face.
Because during the matter with the war god Ares, Jason had already made certain guesses.
And Argus, looking at Jason in white robes and hearing the name Heracles, could not help but lower his guard toward Jason instantly.
"The one whom the great Queen Hera is seeking, why have you suddenly come to me? And why do you not go immediately to Mount Olympus? Do you know that the great Queen Hera has always wanted to see you!"
"...It is because of a divine oracle."
Jason thought for a moment, then replied to Argus with a smile, "I have come to you because of a divine oracle."
"A divine oracle?" Argus was stunned, then asked Jason curiously, "Could it be that you have already met Queen Hera? ...Could it be that the great Queen Hera sent you here?"
To Argus's questioning, Jason, with a slight smile, did not explain, because... he could not lie!
Yes, to magical beings like Argus, and to gods, lies were extremely easy to detect, unless one had the protection of the gods' messenger and god of deception, Hermes.
But not being able to lie did not mean he could not guide.
You may call me Heracles, I have come because of a divine oracle...
These two sentences were not lies.
Because Jason had not said his name was Heracles, and he had indeed come because of a divine oracle, just not Hera's, but the divine oracles of Athena, Hermes, and the other gods!
"Noble hundred-eyed giant Lord Argus, guided by the divine oracle, I have come before you. I know you have always strictly followed the great gods' commands in guarding Io, never slacking for a moment.
Therefore, now, in this quiet night, I hope to have the honor of playing a beautiful melody for you. This is also the purpose of my coming before you."
Hearing Jason say this, the hundred-eyed giant Argus naturally appeared somewhat surprised, but he did not refuse.
After all, through the brief exchange just now, the hundred-eyed giant Argus had naturally formed an impression in his heart.
The handsome man in white robes before him, Heracles, had come here because of Queen Hera's divine oracle to reward him for his meritorious guarding of Io.
Thus, in the end, he happily agreed to Jason's request.
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Jason's face.
Then, averting his gaze, he subtly gave a look to Atalanta on the side, who had been following his instructions and not speaking.
Atalanta, seeing this, nodded lightly to indicate understanding. Her beautiful emerald eyes quietly turned toward the little cow Io, whose expression had darkened upon hearing their conversation.
Then Jason took out the ancient pastoral flute, which was also the gift Hermes had given to Jason.
This was a magic flute; those who heard its sound would become entranced by the flute's melody and fall into a drowsy sleep.
Even ordinary gods would find it difficult to resist such magic!
Taking the flute, Jason immediately began to play a beautiful tune toward the hundred-eyed giant Argus.
The elegant flute melody quickly attracted Argus's attention, gradually drawing him into the beautiful sound.
But at this moment, the Io beside him raised her head, looking puzzled at Jason playing the magic flute.
Because she had not heard the flute sound.
This was one of the special properties of the magic flute: it could select its target, and for the target chosen by its owner, even if they covered their ears, the sound would still echo in their mind.
The flute's sound gradually made Argus feel a wave of sleepiness, but thinking of Queen Hera's command, Argus had to force himself to stay alert and continue listening to Jason's flute.
Argus actually vaguely sensed something was wrong at this moment, but looking at the Heracles in white robes before him, he did not think much of it.
He just assumed he had been too tired lately.
Thus, Argus desperately fought against the drowsiness, letting some eyes sleep first while keeping others open, staring intently at the little cow Io.
Jason naturally noticed this, and his brows furrowed slightly.
He had not expected that this magic flute, specially designed for Argus, still could not close all of the opponent's eyes.
And if he continued playing like this, Argus might eventually break the spell due to the sleepiness interrupting Jason's playing, allowing himself to stay awake.
Thus, after a brief moment of thought, Jason thought of another method.
"Lord Argus, would you be willing to hear me tell a story... about the story of how the god gifted me this pastoral flute."
Setting down the magic flute he had been playing, Jason said slowly, "Actually, when the great god bestowed this pastoral flute upon me, he also told me its story."
Hearing this, Argus naturally assumed the god who gave the magic flute was Queen Hera, and said, "So this exquisite pastoral flute was given to you by the great Queen Hera. No wonder it sounds so good. Well then, I am very interested in your story now. Go ahead and tell it, Heracles."
"Very well, Lord Argus." Jason's corners of his mouth curved up slightly. He knew Argus had taken the bait, so he said, "Once upon a time, on the snowy mountains of Arcadia, there lived a famous nymph named Hamadryades.
At that time, both the forest god and the agricultural god Saturn were enamored with her beauty and pursued her fervently, but she always cleverly escaped their pursuits because she feared marriage.
Like the beautiful moon goddess Artemis, this nymph wanted to remain chaste forever, living a virgin life.
But in the end, when the powerful mountain god Pan wandered in the forest and saw this goddess, he approached her and, relying on his prominent status, eagerly sought her love, which naturally met with her rejection.
But the mountain god Pan had no intention of letting her go and kept chasing this nymph.
Thus, the nymph fled all the way to the banks of the Lethe River, where the water flowed slowly, but the river was very wide, and she could not wade across.
Faced with the increasingly approaching mountain god behind her, this nymph goddess had no choice but to plead for sympathy from her patron goddess Artemis.
The moon goddess Artemis ultimately heard the nymph goddess's call and, when the mountain god arrived before her, transformed her into a reed, allowing her to escape the mountain god's pursuit.
And this pastoral flute was made precisely from that..."
As Jason slowly told the story, he interspersed flute playing midway to accompany it. Under such circumstances, the hundred-eyed giant Argus, listening to both the story and the flute, finally fell into sleep under the flute's influence.
Jason looked at Argus before him, who had now closed all one hundred eyes across his body.
He turned his head and nodded lightly to Atalanta.
Atalanta understood, raising her head hesitantly to glance at the Argus, who was as tall as a small mountain and covered entirely in eyes.
In the end, she still stepped lightly to the side of Io, who had some sleepiness from listening to Jason's story.
Io looked at the huntress approaching her slowly, with eyes as sharp as a beast's, dressed in beautiful emerald green attire.
Doubt flowed in her eyes, along with a bit of small fear.
And at this moment, Io noticed Jason looking at her.
He gave her a gentle smile, placed a hand over his mouth, and winked at her, signaling her not to make a sound.
Io looked at this man in white robes, as handsome as the god of light Apollo, meeting his clear eyes. The unease in her heart gradually receded, allowing Atalanta to come before her.
And when Atalanta reached Io, she took out a bottle of magic potion from her bosom... that was the magic potion Jason had given her on the way.
A transformation potion.
Atalanta opened it, indicated for Io to drink it, and thus turned the little cow Io into a small white cat.
Then Atalanta held the little cat in her arms and carefully left Argus's side.
"Take her to her father first, Atalanta." When Atalanta drew near, Jason said softly to her.
"And you?" Atalanta looked at Jason.
"If I leave now, it will go mad chasing after us."
Jason smiled faintly at Atalanta.
Atalanta looked at Jason, then at the hundred-eyed giant Argus, who was like a small mountain.
"...It's too dangerous. I can stay to help you. Let the heavenly horse take her away."
Jason shook his head, looking at Atalanta. "You should not have forgotten the agreement with me, right?"
Atalanta looked at Jason for a moment, then turned around, carrying the transformed little white cat Io and mounting the heavenly horse.
Compared to Atalanta, the heavenly horse was more decisive, directly flapping its wings and turning into a shooting star under the night sky, flying away.
Seeing them all leave, Jason turned back to look at Argus before him... Jason was unsure how long the magic flute's effect would last.
Thus, Jason continued playing the magic flute, while freeing one hand to take out the silver caduceus.
Holding the caduceus, he tapped the ground lightly.
Then, with a soft sound, the magic engraved on the caduceus activated. A dark magic circle appeared out of thin air on the ground and quickly extended.
In the night, this netherworld magic circle shone so brightly, enveloping Jason and the hundred-eyed giant Argus within it.
And as the magic—Realm of the Underworld—unfolded, blooming white asphodel flowers appeared in this area.
And under the influence of such magic and vast magical power, even as Jason continued playing the magic flute, the hundred-eyed giant Argus still opened his eyes.
In an instant, all one hundred closed eyes opened together, and in this night, they looked toward Jason before him!
Seeing this, Jason slowly set down the magic flute, revealed a faint smile to Argus, and said, "Lord Argus, you are awake."
"...What are you doing, Heracles!"
Argus frowned at the world before him. While questioning Jason, he suddenly seemed to remember something and looked behind him.
"Where is Io... Wait, where has Io gone!"
The giant's roar thundered like lightning beside Jason's ear.
But Jason remained very calm... even under the gaze of this monster with one hundred eyes.
After all, having seen the Cthulhu-style Ladon with one hundred heads, he naturally had some immunity to things with one hundred eyes.
"Lord Argus, Io has already been taken away... I had Atalanta take her back to her father."
Now, with Atalanta and Io gone, Jason directly stated his purpose to Argus.
Argus was stunned upon hearing this. Looking at the surroundings, how could he not understand what had happened? He glared angrily at Jason and said, "Human, you dare to deceive..."
"No, noble hundred-eyed giant Lord Argus, I did not deceive you. I am indeed the Heracles you mentioned."
Jason interrupted Argus's words, smiling at him as he said, "However, I did not come here because of Queen Hera's divine oracle.
Now, please allow me to introduce myself to you once more."
Jason put away the magic flute, bowed to Argus, and said with a smile, "My name is actually Jason... Of course, you may continue to call me Heracles. And I did come because of a divine oracle.
But my divine oracle is from the goddess of wisdom Athena, and from the gods' messenger Hermes. They sent me to you to rescue the princess trapped by you—Io!"
"Now Io has been taken away by me. I wonder if Lord Argus is willing to leave just like this and pretend to have seen nothing?"
"Damn it!" Hearing Jason's words and understanding the situation, flames of anger burned in Argus's eyes.
"I do not care if you are Heracles or some Jason. You dare to release Io. Do you know this will surely incur Queen Hera's wrath!"
With that, Argus reached out his hand toward Jason, who appeared so tiny before him.
"Human, you deserve to die, but I will not kill you, because I must take you to the great Queen Hera to let her judge you personally.
And I tell you, no matter where you have taken Io to hide, I will surely capture her again!"
Faced with Argus's swinging hand, Jason did not appear panicked.
Even the corners of Jason's mouth curved up slightly as he muttered softly, "Actually, if you were to leave just like this... it would be a problem for me!"
Yes, after all, Jason had promised Typhon to kill Argus; that was the condition for Typhon giving the magic spear to Jason.
Because Argus had killed the demoness Echidna, the one who gave birth to the hellhound and was Typhon's mate!
Thus, at the instant Jason's words fell, an illusory gate appeared in this realm of the underworld.
Then, a large dog slightly smaller than Argus, a two-headed dog, rushed out and bit down on Argus's swinging hand!
"Huh?" Jason was slightly stunned to see that the arrival was the two-headed dog instead of the three-headed hellhound.
"Lord Orthrus, may I ask where Lord Cerberus is?"
After knocking Argus back, Orthrus turned to glance at Jason, then said in a voice full of schadenfreude, "What happened to Cerberus? Find time to go to the underworld and see for yourself!"
With that said, Orthrus looked at Argus, who glared back in pain and anger, sensing his power. His expression became extremely serious.
This giant was an existence even more formidable than Geryon!
"Jason, how did you provoke such a troublesome monster again... Now that Cerberus is not here, with just me, it is hard to hold him off!
And for some reason, just looking at him makes me extremely angry, as if I want to tear him apart!"
"It is fine, Lord Orthrus. Just help me stall for time."
Hearing Orthrus's words, although Jason was somewhat curious about what had happened to Cerberus, the matter at hand was naturally still Argus.
As Jason spoke, he glanced at the stars in the sky and said, "It will not be long before the sun rises... Lord Orthrus, before the sun rises, I will trouble you!"
"As for why you feel such anger, I think it is probably because he killed the goddess Echidna."
After hearing Jason, Orthrus was stunned for a moment, then his gaze toward Argus could not help but reveal a ferocious killing intent.
After all, no matter what, Echidna was her mother!
And after speaking, Jason took out the magic flute again, placed it to his mouth, and gently began to play.
Accompanying Jason's playing, Argus once again felt drowsiness overtaking him.
For this annoying sound, even covering his ears with his hands could not block it.
Thus, as time passed, the increasingly irritable and enraged Argus no longer held back. While blocking the two-headed dog Orthrus's attacks, he also launched ferocious assaults toward Jason.
His fists pounded the ground one after another, making the entire mountain tremble!
However, after Jason used comprehensive attribute enhancement magic, he could relatively easily maneuver around it.
Even so, as time passed, the scales of victory seemed to tilt toward Argus!
Because although Jason's magic flute made most of Argus's eyes close, plunging him into fatigue, he could still easily fend off the two-headed dog Orthrus's repeated attacks.
Orthrus was clearly no match for Argus.
Not to mention that at this moment, what was projected from this realm of the underworld was not Orthrus's true body.
The two-headed dog's true body was still in the underworld; this was merely a portion of his power.
However, even so, besides requesting Orthrus's help, Jason had not, as usual, sought aid from Hades the underworld king and the others.
After all, Argus was not some wild monster; his master was Queen Hera. If Hades the underworld king and the others intervened, and Hera found out, it would be very troublesome.
But even so, there was no trace of panic on Jason's face.
Because he was quietly waiting... waiting for the dawn to arrive!
Meanwhile, not long after Atalanta flew toward King Inachus holding Io, she naturally also heard the angry roar of Argus from behind.
Knowing that Jason had fallen into battle, Atalanta's brows furrowed.
"Fly faster!"
The heavenly horse tilted its head to look at Atalanta, who kept glancing back toward Jason, thought for a moment, and ultimately said nothing, increasing its galloping speed a bit more.
Thus, under the heavenly horse's full gallop, they arrived in King Inachus's kingdom and came before the elderly King Inachus, who was anxiously waiting.
The moment King Inachus saw the heavenly horse and Atalanta, joy appeared on his face. Before he could say anything, he saw Atalanta toss the little cat that Io had become directly into his arms.
Then, without another word, she grabbed the heavenly horse's reins and rode back with it.
After some time, when Atalanta returned, the battle here had actually already reached its conclusion.
Accompanied by a crisp sound and the wail of the two-headed dog Orthrus, the gate to hell in the realm of the underworld shattered. The two-headed dog Orthrus was struck back to the underworld by Argus.
And at this moment, Jason had already set down the magic flute and taken out the divine bow he had obtained from the goddess Hephaestus.
And from the moon, he drew out a silver arrow.
Just as he aimed at Argus, sensing the heavenly horse's return, Jason looked up and saw the heavenly horse and Atalanta in the sky.
"This girl..." Seeing this, a faint helplessness appeared on the slightly stunned Jason's face.
He knew this must be Atalanta's doing; otherwise, the heavenly horse would have hidden far away by now.
"Great spirit of the River Phlegethon, the eternally unquenching flame Pyrrhia, please let the unextinguishable flames of the River Phlegethon descend here and block my enemy, the hundred-eyed giant Argus, for me!"
After speaking, Jason turned and whistled at the heavenly horse.
The heavenly horse understood, flapping its wings and flying toward Jason.
Thus, an illusory river of flames appeared in this area, along with a red-haired fire spirit.
Using the unquenchable flames, it temporarily blocked Argus's assault.
And while Argus roared in fury, exerting force to destroy everything,
Jason had already mounted the heavenly horse and flown toward the high sky at extreme speed.
Argus looked at Jason flying into the high sky, roaring in unwillingness on the ground, and chased after Jason.
"What do we do now, escape?"
Atalanta raised the Bow of the Sky, nocking an arrow aimed at Argus, while asking Jason beside her.
"No."
Jason shook his head. "I must deal with it... Because if I do not, it will still go find Io and continue imprisoning her."
"Then why do you not shoot it?" Atalanta looked at Jason in confusion.
At the same time, she glanced at the divine bow Jason held, obtained from the craftsman god Hephaestus, and the silver arrow placed on the bow... the gift from the moon goddess Artemis!
Atalanta had personally witnessed the power of this silver arrow back then, how terrifying it was!
"I was originally planning to shoot... if you had not come back." Jason put away the bow from Teacher Hephaestus and said to Atalanta, "As for now... obviously, we can do better!"
When facing an enemy, never try to play the pig to eat the tiger. Whatever level of powerful force you can muster, use that level of powerful force to confront them... Jason firmly believed this, so he set down the divine bow from Hephaestus.
"Not yet the time?"
Atalanta looked at Jason in confusion.
Jason did not answer, merely raising his head to gaze at the stars in the sky.
"Brother Horse, fly up... higher, a bit higher. The time... should be about right!"
Hearing Jason's words, the heavenly horse flapped its wings forcefully, flying toward the increasingly high sky.
Atalanta did not know what Jason was doing now, but... she soon found out.
Because as the heavenly horse flew higher and higher, until the shouts of the hundred-eyed giant Argus below could hardly be heard,
At the edge of the horizon, the sun... rose!
A ray of sunlight broke through the starry sky under the night, drawing a dazzling white line at the edge of the horizon!
The moment of sunrise was extremely beautiful.
Atalanta, sitting on the heavenly horse flying in the sky, upon seeing the scene of the sun rising, was naturally captivated by this breathtakingly beautiful sight.
But she quickly came back to her senses.
Because at this moment, Jason stood up on the heavenly horse.
Thus, when Atalanta noticed the movement and turned her head to look, what she saw was Jason reaching out his hand toward the light that illuminated the night.
And in that light, a brilliant and dazzling golden bow appeared in Jason's hand. Then Jason placed the silver arrow on this dazzling golden bow.
At this moment, the moonlight of the night that had not fully receded, and the newly risen light, all converged upon Jason.
The wind blew Jason's hair and the white robes on his body.
Atalanta... stared blankly at this scene.
Looking at Jason standing on the heavenly horse, with the arrow of the moon goddess Artemis placed on the golden bow drawn from the sun.
And he slowly drew the golden bow, aiming the arrow at the hundred-eyed giant Argus below.
And it was also in this instant that Argus on the ground stopped his angry roars toward Jason. Looking at Jason in the sky, sensing the divine power grandly converging on Jason, those one hundred eyes could not help but reveal fear!
And in this instant, the phantoms of the god of light Apollo and the moon goddess Artemis also appeared beside Jason under Atalanta's shocked gaze.
The two gods gazed at Jason together.
At this, the moment of dawn...
Very obviously, in this instant, it was not only witnessed by Atalanta; the gods in the shadows... were also witnessing it!
Then, Jason released his hand.
He shot that arrow, as if from the heavens, shooting toward the mortal world!