That happened a very, very long time ago... Actually, it seems like it was not even a few years ago.
The path of the Road Goddess Hecate, representing the miracle in the predetermined fate, which she glimpsed using her authority from Jason's body.
On that day, in Hecate's sight, there were three widest miracles.
And numerous branches of miracles in fate.
The first path was that of a mortal. What Hecate saw was Jason, who had abandoned everything, ultimately dying as an ordinary mortal in his old age.
The second path was that of divine favor. The gods surrounded him, nymphs and the Muses sang and danced for him, and he was doted upon endlessly.
And the third path was also the most unbelievable one.
That was a path... paved with blood!
The blood of gods flowed wantonly on the various branches of this path.
In the branches of this broad path, Hecate actually saw the deaths of many gods... dying under that black sword.
For all of this, when Jason made his choice regarding her and Queen Hera that day, Hecate told him everything... but in reality, that was not all. She had also hidden some things.
Some things that, at the time, seemed utterly insignificant to her...
In that dim world branch, where there was not even a shred of light in the world, she saw Poseidon dying at sea, Demeter dying in the desert, Artemis dying in a sea of lilies, and...
Those hands tightly grasping the black god-slaying sword in Jason's hand, the Goddess of Wisdom Athena dying in his arms...
This was a path covered entirely in blood.
This had been said from the very beginning.
Absurd?
Yes, at that time, three or four years ago, how utterly absurd it seemed.
The gods dying at the hands of their child, a human!
But... looking at it now, is such a scene really so absurd?
Is it truly impossible for it to happen?
The destructive power of the Ancestor of All Monsters Typhon, the cursed blood flowing from the body of the Goddess of Wisdom Athena.
And the arrow of the Moon Goddess and the bow of the Light God, these legendary divine artifacts that even exist only in legends among the gods.
As well as the many gifts given by the gods.
The Helm of Invisibility from Hades, the magic flute from Hermes, the god-level craftsmanship from Hephaestus, the three chess pieces from the God of the Abyss Tartarus... All of this had happened in the short less-than-two-years since Jason emerged into the world.
Now, although he was still a mortal in body, as long as he completed the final step and had his body tempered by divine fire... No, at this point, perhaps he did not even need to become an immortal existence.
Jason already possessed the capital to battle gods... even with this mortal body!
At this moment, in the temple of Hephaestus, upon learning that Typhon had set a trap for Jason and that the black sword was about to cause trouble, Hecate suddenly thought of these things and recalled the scenes buried deep in her memory.
These scenes, even if she wanted to forget them, were obviously impossible to forget.
And it was at this very moment, as Hecate recalled those past events, that she suddenly thought of a scene that concerned her... In fact, on the various branches of that path, she had seen her own death.
Hecate was not particularly concerned about this.
If she died, then she died.
For this goddess, who probably would not even glance if the world were destroyed, the thing she regretted most about her own death.
Was probably that after dying, she might no longer be able to continue her experiments and explore the mysteries of magic...
Hecate suddenly recalled the scene of her own death and became concerned about it for a very simple reason.
In the branches she saw, the deaths of all those gods were without exception struck down by the black sword in Jason's hand.
Even the Goddess of Wisdom Athena was no exception.
That black sword could probably truly kill gods.
But... only her, only she was different.
Hecate suddenly remembered that in that dim world, her dead self seemed to have no wounds on her body at all, and there was not even a trace of blood on her...
"Teacher... Teacher, Teacher Hecate... Teacher Hecate!"
After calling for a long time and seeing no response from Hecate, Jason fiercely patted Hecate's buttocks, which made Hecate almost jump up.
"What?!" Hecate frowned and looked at Jason unhappily.
Then she looked at the puzzled Jason staring at her, and turned her head to see Hephaestus tilting her head and staring at her, and was stunned.
After fully coming back to her senses, she silently set down the magic spear in her hand.
"Ahem... In any case, the situation is now very clear."
Hecate cleared her throat lightly, then glared fiercely at Jason, who had turned his head away with an innocent expression on his face, before continuing, "Typhon is urging Jason to forge that black sword we saw... The main materials for the black sword are precisely Typhon's destructive power and the cursed blood from Athena's body."
"Teacher, do you have no way to break this seal?"
You are the Goddess of Magic, after all!
Jason looked at Hecate expectantly.
"I can." Hecate nodded and said, "But there is not enough time. I need to research and crack the origin of the power in Typhon's body. By the time I finish all that, it will probably take at least a few years.
And now..."
Hecate looked at Jason in front of her, pinched her nose, and waved her hand as if to dispel a stench. She said, "This destructive aura slowly leaking from your body will probably be completely undetectable in at most another month!"
"Then what about creating a space of time?"
Before Jason, who had a look of 'Am I done for then?!' on his face, could speak, Hephaestus hurriedly took over the topic.
"No." Hecate shook her head. "Creating a space where time pauses or flows slowly involves other laws in itself.
And the most important thing is that Typhon is not a simple god. She also knows that I am Jason's teacher, so it is very difficult for me to access her origin.
And relying solely on the destructive power left on this magic spear, even I would need several decades to crack it."
Upon hearing this, Hephaestus frowned and fell silent.
"Then, Teacher, Teacher, what do you think of this?"
As Jason spoke, he took out Hades's Helm of Invisibility and put it on his head, vanishing from the sight of the two.
"This... that is indeed a method."
Hecate nodded, then turned around and grabbed Jason, who had somehow snuck behind her at some point, snatching the helmet off his head.
"But you cannot wear this helmet for the rest of your life and never appear, right?"
"And as soon as you remove the Helm of Invisibility and appear, if Zeus catches the scent of that destructive aura, what awaits you will inevitably be a large-scale assault of divine thunder!"
"This helmet can indeed block all detection, but it itself has no defensive power at all."
Indeed, this was the greatest flaw of the Helm of Invisibility. It was almost perfect in terms of invisibility, but beyond that, it was useless for nothing...
"That makes sense... But Teacher, how did you grab me?"
Jason looked at Hecate in confusion. Hecate rolled her eyes, holding the Helm of Invisibility in one hand and viciously pinching Jason's cheek with the other. She gnashed her teeth and said, "Nonsense! For a naughty disciple like you, I do not even need to use my brain to know what you are thinking!"
Hephaestus watched this scene, her wheelchair moving forward. She came to Jason's side and pulled him over. She said, "Alright, alright, why take it out on the child... Do not worry, child. Even if Zeus learns of your relationship with Typhon, I will protect you with all my might. As long as I am here, no one can touch you!"
"Teacher Hephaestus, you are so kind!"
Hearing Hephaestus's gentle words, Jason immediately moved emotionally toward Hephaestus and hugged her.
Just as Hephaestus caught Jason and was about to comfort him gently.
Clang—
With a loud crash, Hecate casually took the Helm of Invisibility in her hand and smashed it fiercely onto Jason's head.
"The situation has not reached that level of danger yet... But obviously, with Athena involved, this naughty disciple cannot avoid it no matter what this time."
Hephaestus rubbed Jason's head and looked somewhat amused at Hecate, who had taken back the helmet with an expression as if she had done nothing. She said softly, "In that case... there is still room for maneuvering.
Because Athena should have already guessed it long ago."
"Eh?!" Jason looked up in surprise at Hephaestus.
"What are you surprised about? That is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom." Hecate looked at Jason with a gaze as if she were looking at an idiot. She said, "She knows about the magic spear and the existence of Typhon, and she was present at the wedding that day.
Do you really think she knows nothing?"
Upon hearing this, Jason opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
Because he knew these were all facts.
"Then Athena, she..."
"I do not know." Hecate directly interrupted Jason's words.
"You do not know what she is thinking or her attitude toward this matter, so it is even more impossible for us to know."
"Then what do we do?" Hephaestus asked Hecate.
"What do we do? ...What else can we do." As Hecate spoke, she reached out and grabbed Jason from Hephaestus's arms, tossing him aside.
"This is his own matter. Let him go find Athena himself."
"Is this not too dangerous?" Hephaestus frowned.
"No, this is actually the safest choice."
Hecate shook her head and said, "Because if everything is exposed, you cannot withstand it, Hephaestus, and neither can I...
In this world, if there is anyone who can still protect him in such a situation, aside from Athena, I cannot imagine a second god!"
Indeed, for the current Jason, Athena was undoubtedly the most dangerous god aside from Zeus.
But at the same time, she was the safest god for Jason!