Under the gaze of the gods,
the celestial horses pulling the sun chariot, carrying the human who had accomplished this feat with a mortal body, returned to the temple of the sun god Helios.
And at this moment, the temple of the sun god Helios was unusually lively.
Because in addition to the god of craftsmen Hephaestus, whom Jason had invited, Athena, Queen Hera, the moon goddess Artemis, and other divine beings had also arrived here.
They had all come together to witness this great moment! ...Actually, it was mainly Hera who wanted to come; she said she wanted to shower the white-clothed Heracles with lavish praise.
At the same time, she also carried the intention of mending relations with Hephaestus; everything was for the sake of the white-clothed Heracles!
But facing Hera, who showed a fawning smile toward him, Hephaestus's face was filled with two words... disgust!
Hephaestus expressed that he would rather face his own wife, the goddess of beauty Aphrodite, than deal with this scheming Hera.
At this moment, numerous gods of Olympus had gathered in the temple of the sun god Helios; they wore noble and elegant attire.
The grand banquet was about to commence; now, only the true protagonist needed to arrive.
And so, as the sun chariot slowly came to a stop in the temple, and the nymphs stepped forward to soothe the celestial horses, offering them nectar and divine herbs,
under the gaze of all the gods, the child of the sun god Helios, Phaethon, stepped down from it.
Faced with the gazes that suddenly shot toward him one after another, he could not help but be momentarily stunned.
The sun god Helios hurriedly stepped forward, lavishing praise on Phaethon and declaring that all these gods present had come to witness the great deed they had accomplished!
Right, they... where was Heracles? Why had he not come out yet?
Hera thought this in her heart while maintaining an elegant smile on her face, her eyes secretly glancing toward Hephaestus, who was also looking up in anticipation.
An anxious expression appeared on her face.
Because she had decided to be the first to step forward and catch the returning Jason, getting ahead of Hephaestus!
To make a small declaration to the gods of her own claim!
But unfortunately, her little scheme was destined to fall through.
Because after a good while, Jason still did not step out from the sun chariot.
Just as Athena's expression showed a hint of doubt,
"What?!"
Helios suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Phaethon in utter shock as he said, "You say Heracles... he suddenly vanished?!"
One stone stirred a thousand waves; in the instant Helios's words fell, Athena, the moon goddess Artemis, and other gods abruptly rose from their seats.
The gods' stern gazes instantly converged on Helios and Phaethon.
In that instant, let alone Phaethon, who was merely human—even the sun god Helios himself felt his entire body tense up and stiffen.
Even Helios's temple, in that moment under the pressure of divine power from multiple gods, began to tremble!
"Vanished?" The god of craftsmen Hephaestus spoke for the first time, saying, "What exactly happened?!"
"Yes, what exactly happened!"
Helios also anxiously questioned his child Phaethon: "Wasn't he with you inside the sun chariot the whole time? How could he suddenly vanish?!"
Hurry and explain, my foolish child; if you don't, I'm afraid this banquet today is going to turn into a major incident!
"This, I... I... I don't know either, great father."
Under the stern gazes of the assembled gods, Phaethon trembled so much that his legs shook as he replied in a quivering voice: "He... he really just vanished suddenly..."
"Did he take out the caduceus before vanishing?" Athena replied with a slight furrow of her brow.
Clearly, Athena was wondering if Jason had already sensed the situation here and slipped away beforehand upon foreseeing trouble...
"No, absolutely impossible!" Hephaestus frowned and said: "Last night, I modified the sun chariot to ensure that child wouldn't run into any issues. While the chariot is in motion, its interior is in a unique space.
Before the chariot stops, forget about disturbing it from the outside—even escaping from the inside is difficult!"
"I can't see him!" And the Artemis, who had remained silent until now, closed her eyes for a good while before panicking at this moment and saying to Athena: "I can't see him at all; I really can't see that child. Athena, what do we do... I..."
"Don't worry; he should be fine." Athena lightly glared at Artemis, then glanced at Hera and saw that she had not caught onto Artemis's words. Now that she herself had panicked, Athena felt a slight sense of relief in her heart.
After pondering for a moment, she questioned Phaethon: "When the white-clothed Heracles vanished, did you see anything else?"
Facing the inquiry from the goddess of wisdom and meeting Athena's golden eyes, the fear in Phaethon's heart gradually subsided, and he blurted out: "Yes... when Heracles vanished, I saw... I saw a silver-black chariot passing by me!"
"A silver-black chariot?"
The gods present were slightly taken aback.
"Could it be... one of the primordial gods, the goddess of night, Nyx?"
Hermes, the messenger of the gods who was also present, said with a strange expression.
As his words fell, the gods gradually reacted.
At this point, because of Jason's inexplicable disappearance, the divine pressure unconsciously exerted by Athena and the other gods in the temple finally eased.
And after Athena and the others withdrew their divine power, the trembling temple finally calmed; the nymphs, who had not even dared to breathe, collapsed to the ground in droves, relieved to have survived under the gods' heavenly calamity.
Hermes looked at Athena and the others as their moods calmed, then quietly glanced toward the king of the gods, Zeus.
Zeus also looked toward Hermes.
"...Hermes."
"What is it, great king of the gods, Lord Zeus?"
"Do you think I should prepare something?" The god-king Zeus looked at the now-calm temple and sighed: "Prepare that child's divine seat... or perhaps have him come serve us?"
"Have him come serve us?" The war god Ares's eyes lit up slightly as he laughed heartily: "I think that's a great idea; that child is fully qualified for it!"
Zeus looked at the excited Ares and felt utterly speechless.
What he actually meant was a tactful way of saying to bring that child to Mount Olympus and let goddesses like Athena, Artemis, Hera, and Hestia toy with him as they pleased.
Otherwise, this land felt like it would sooner or later be ruined by Jason!
"I think it's best not to, great king of the gods, Zeus."
Hermes carefully glanced toward Hera and the others before whispering: "If you really bring that child to the sacred mountain of Olympus now, then... the mountain will probably never know peace!"
Zeus pondered this for a moment and found Hermes's words quite right, so he regretfully abandoned this tempting proposal.
This proposal did seem quite tempting to Zeus, because he quite liked Jason and would be delighted to keep him nearby.
At the same time, seeing how much Hera cared about Jason, wouldn't that mean he could sneak off to the mortal world and fool around everywhere in the future if he had Jason keep her company?!
...Hey, wait; maybe I can use this child Jason as leverage to negotiate terms with Hera!
As he thought about it, a extremely bold idea suddenly bubbled up in the god-king Zeus's heart.
And just at that moment...
"The goddess of night, Nyx?" Unaware of the white-clothed Heracles's true identity, Hera said with some confusion: "Did she take Heracles away... but why?"
Why? The reason was simple: because the goddess Nyx was the deity Hecate respected the most, and their relationship was extremely close. Back when Hecate was not yet powerful, it was Nyx who had always protected her.
Even Hecate's transcendent status owed something to Nyx.
Therefore, it was perfectly normal for Nyx to take him away, because he was Hecate's child—Jason!
Athena and the other gods exchanged glances, clearly all aware of the reason.
But they certainly could not tell this to Hera, so after a brief silence, Athena finally stepped forward and said to Hera: "It should be because she saw Heracles driving the sun chariot and took an interest in him.
After all, you see, doesn't the goddess Nyx drive the chariot of night herself?"
Such an explanation was reasonable enough, so Hera finally nodded lightly in agreement.
Hearing this, Phaethon opened his mouth as if to speak, wanting to point out that he had also driven the sun chariot... to be precise, he had been the one driving it. But recalling the scene from just moments ago... Phaethon lacked the courage!
"Can't we have the goddess Nyx bring Heracles back?"
Hera still asked somewhat unwillingly afterward.
"The chariot of the goddess Nyx is something even I cannot catch up to." Hermes shook his head, denying Hera's idea.
Thus, Hera could only give up morosely on her plan to shower the white-clothed Heracles with a wave of affection tonight to boost his favor toward her.
She instantly became sullen and unhappy.
Athena and the other gods watched Hera's completely immersed demeanor.
One by one, they could not help but feel a headache coming on.
In the end, the gazes of one, two, three gods all turned toward Athena.
This made Athena's forehead covered in black lines.
For the first time, she felt an impulse to grab Jason, bite him hard a couple of times to vent her frustration first!
And at that very moment, on the chariot of the goddess of night, Nyx...
...
...
Thud.
After hearing Nyx explain that the sun god Helios had already held a grand banquet, with all the gods in attendance—including Queen Hera and others—
Jason directly knelt down.
Then he turned and tightly hugged his teacher Hecate's leg. Under Hecate's gaze, where the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, his face was full of lingering fear.
"Too terrifying, too terrifying; to think you'd have me attend a banquet of the gods! Lord Sun God Helios, what exactly are your intentions? I used to respect you so much!"
"Let go of me..."
With her beautiful leg held tight—and especially under Nyx's amused gaze—Hecate now truly had the impulse to kick Jason right off the chariot.
You, Jason, have no shame, but I, Hecate, still need to maintain some dignity!
"Teacher, I'm scared!" Jason wailed to Hecate with a mournful face: "This time, I'm really scared!"
"So were you faking it earlier?" Hecate eyed Jason sideways.
"No, that was real too." Jason shook his head: "But earlier, I was mainly afraid that Lord Sun God Helios would come after me for trouble, because I had originally planned that if we really ran into danger, I'd just toss Phaethon aside and escape on my own!"
"...As expected of you."
Hecate was at a loss for words for a moment.
At the same time, she turned her head toward Nyx, her expression conveying 'See? I told you this guy has absolutely nothing to do with being a hero!'
And in the chariot, Nyx—who was completely amused—watched as Jason revealed this side of himself that even the gods did not know about, right in front of Hecate.
The smile on her face never faded.
"In any case, let go of me first!" Hecate said through gritted teeth.
"No, Teacher, let me hold on just a bit longer; holding you makes me feel secure..."
"I...!"
If not for Nyx still being there—and the place not being convenient—
Hecate would absolutely have unhesitatingly summoned lightning bolts, one after another, to strike Jason, zapping this wicked disciple to death!
And seeing that Hecate's anger seemed truly about to explode from his antics, Jason realized he should enjoy the moment while the goddess Nyx was still present; once she left, he would probably be done for.
Thus, he reluctantly released Hecate and scrambled to his feet in a flash.
His expression instantly turned serious and earnest as he addressed the goddess Nyx, who was laughing so hard beside him that she clutched her stomach: "Great primordial goddess Nyx, great kindness needs no thanks; if there is ever a way I can be of use to you in the future, just command me!"
"Pfft hahaha... Child, you really have a good student; even I'm envious." The still-laughing Nyx said this to Hecate, who looked utterly despondent beside her, while poking Hecate's cheek.
"Lady Nyx!" Hecate's voice rose slightly as she stared at Nyx for a good while, unsure what to say, before finally shooting Jason an utterly furious glare.
Wait and see; I'll deal with you later! ...Hecate's lips moved slightly as she said this venomously to Jason.
Seeing this, Jason shrank back a little before hurriedly saying to Nyx: "Goddess Nyx, might you need a charioteer?"
"No, no." Nyx said with a smile: "I did want one just now, but now..." Nyx glanced at Hecate, "...if I stole you away, the adorable Hecate probably wouldn't pay any attention to me anymore!"
"As if!" Hecate was so exasperated she nearly stomped her foot: "I don't care that much about this wicked disciple!"
"Oh? But I never said you cared that much about Jason."
"Oh, so Teacher, you don't care about me at all? That really breaks my heart..."
...Hecate took two deep breaths, looking at the two before her.
As her emotions gradually stabilized and her chest no longer heaved incessantly, Hecate narrowed her eyes and directed a gentle smile at the pair.
Seeing this, Jason instantly shut his mouth; Nyx smiled and finally stopped teasing Hecate.
...It seems Teacher only lets her guard down completely in front of Goddess Nyx; I still need to work harder.
Jason thought this to himself.
"But actually, Jason, you don't need to thank me, because taking you away was also because I received a commission."
Suddenly, Nyx said this to Jason.
"A commission?" Jason was momentarily stunned.
"A commission from the lord of the underworld, Hades." Hecate, having calmed her emotions, said flatly to Jason: "To bring you to the underworld... Now, there's only a little over a month until Persephone returns.
Your wedding preparations are right around the corner; stop fooling around outside. If you miss the time then, even the lord of the underworld Hades will absolutely be furious."
"Don't worry, Teacher Hecate; I know how important this is..."
"No, you don't know at all." Hecate directly interrupted Jason's words, saying: "The lord of the underworld Hades has decreed that for this final month of yours, aside from the underworld, you are not allowed to go anywhere else... not even to Hephaestus!"
"Why?" Jason asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Heh." Hecate let out a chuckle, saying: "Don't you have any idea how much trouble you stir up? ...Look at you; you just went out to pick up Medea, and you ended up involved with the sun god Helios's sun chariot, drawing the attention of the gods.
If I let you wander around a couple more times, will you even have time to prepare for the wedding?"
Faced with Hecate's words, Jason instinctively wanted to protest that he was not some trouble magnet; he always avoided trouble like the plague!
But after Jason thought carefully for a moment about his experiences over the past year or so...
"Teacher, let's be reasonable; this really isn't my fault, is it?
Because I never go looking for trouble; it's always trouble that comes looking for me!"