Jason meant it. He was dead serious.
Chiron met Jason's gaze and saw it clearly—his resolve.
"This... really is unexpected."
The ever-handsome Chiron couldn't help but break into a soft smile as he looked at Jason and said, "About half a year ago, you were the one who gave me the biggest headache out of all my students. You showed no motivation at all, always the least interested in making progress. And yet now, six months later, you've chosen a path that—even among all your senior brothers—is by far the most perilous!"
"Well, what can I say... I want to survive."
Jason, now more mature than the boy he was half a year ago, smiled brightly. His golden hair and blue eyes practically glowed with vitality.
"In that case, go for it with everything you've got."
Chiron's smile deepened as he looked at the striking young man before him.
"Your teacher believes in you, Jason. And I'll be proud of you—no matter what."
"Thank you, Teacher Chiron."
Jason stood up and gave Chiron a respectful bow.
As he turned and opened the door to leave, he spotted Heracles pacing anxiously outside.
"Hey, Jason! You're finally out... What did you talk about with the teacher?"
Heracles looked genuinely curious. He'd tried to eavesdrop earlier, of course—but Chiron had used divine power to block any prying ears. There was no way Heracles could've heard a thing.
"Nothing major," Jason replied breezily. "Oh right, Senior Brother, I haven't been back in a while. Let's go out and do some hunting. Then tonight, let's gather all the brothers for a feast!"
"Uh... yeah. Sure."
Heracles nodded, but gave Jason a slightly puzzled look. He seemed the same as always... Well, maybe a bit taller, a bit more handsome.
But something about him felt... different.
This little junior of his—
—was no longer the same boy.
That night, after a wild feast, Jason drank heavily. When he woke up, it was already dawn.
He snuck out quietly and, following Hecate's instructions, summoned her.
Before long, the goddess herself appeared in front of him.
Hecate studied the young man in white standing before her.
"Found your path, have you?"
Jason blinked. "You already knew, Teacher Hecate?"
"I have no interest in eavesdropping," Hecate replied coolly. "But it's obvious—you've cleared your head. The confusion you had before is gone."
Confusion?
—
Jason thought for a moment—had he been so lost before? …Well, he probably had been.
After all, when he'd just crossed over into this world, brimming with ambition and ready to learn the art of war from Chiron, dreaming of making a name for himself across the land, he found out his name was Jason...
Who in their right mind would willingly accept fate?
"Mm, now I've got a goal to work toward," Jason nodded to himself.
"To become immortal?"
"If I can't beat them, I'll join them!" Jason grinned with a dazzling brilliance.
Hecate blinked in surprise, then couldn't help laughing. "Can't beat them, so you join them… Hmm, you know, that doesn't sound like a bad plan."
"But what if you find out in the end… You can't join them?" Hecate asked offhandedly. After all, everyone knew what kind of people the Olympian gods were.
What she was really thinking was—if Jason did succeed but ended up refusing to join Olympus, maybe, just maybe, as his teacher… she should try dragging him over to her side instead.
But just as she was having those thoughts…
"If I can't join them, then I'll destroy them and rebuild the order—ah, no, wait, Teacher Hecate, I didn't say anything just now!"
Jason had blurted out his true thoughts without thinking. The moment he realized it, he tried to take it back, but Hecate had heard him loud and clear.
In that instant, Hecate was truly stunned.
Then she looked at the flustered Jason standing before her…
Destroy?
Wait—what are you planning to destroy?
No, hold on, you're just a human! How could you possibly… how could you even think something like that?!
To raise a sword against the gods—
That was something utterly unthinkable in this age!
Forget divine punishment for a second—even mortals in this world were raised to revere and fear the gods from the depths of their hearts!
But... sorry.
Jason wasn't from this world.
He was a transmigrator.
Respect? Sure. Jason knew that to the gods, he was no more than an ant right now.
But belief? Fear?
At that moment, a clarity suddenly settled over Hecate's mind—she understood now why the gods, upon meeting Jason, would instinctively pay attention to him.
Because he was different.
He wasn't like anyone else in this world.
Even though, up till now, Jason had always shown the utmost deference in front of any god—his heart... was another story.
Hecate suddenly remembered Jason's first battle.
Back then, facing a band of bandits, Jason had done nothing but dodge and evade. He clearly didn't want to fight. But when Athena forced him into a dead end—
He had killed them.
All of them.
Even the ones who had completely lost the will to fight and tried to run away.
He killed them too.
"Um… Teacher Hecate?"
Jason was puzzled, seeing Hecate suddenly frozen in place.
Hecate slowly lifted her head and looked directly at Jason.
"Jason. Look into my eyes."
My eyes?
Jason instinctively looked up and met her gaze.
They were beautiful red eyes—but right now, they glowed with an eerie light!
The moment their eyes met, Jason's consciousness faded.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them stood in an endless void. Clad in a black dress, Hecate stepped forward from the shadows to stand before Jason.
She placed a hand on him and activated her divine authority at full force.
And then—beneath the divine power of Hecate, goddess of crossroads—three wide paths extended from behind Jason, branching further and further.
Hecate's attention zeroed in on the three main roads.
The first one led to Jason giving up everything and living out his life as a mortal.
The second path showed him becoming beloved by the gods, their chosen favorite.
But the third path—unfolding at a painfully slow pace—made Hecate increasingly uneasy.
With every inch it grew, she could feel her heartbeat quickening.
And then she saw it—a road paved entirely in blood.
The blood of gods splashed freely across its many branches.
And at the end of that road… Hecate saw a vision:
Jason, standing atop the darkened peak of Mount Olympus.
Sword raised—pointed at the gods.
At the god he was challenging—
It was none other than Zeus, king of the gods!
The moment she saw this, Hecate's heart was struck with such force that her very soul trembled.
Meanwhile, far away, atop the radiant heights of Olympus—
Within his grand divine palace, Zeus was deep in thought. Should he go down now and find a woman first, then explain things to Hera? Or explain things to Hera first, then go find a woman?
Suddenly, before his eyes, an apocalyptic vision of Olympus's ruin unfolded.
"Who is it?!"
Zeus froze—then erupted with rage!
"Who is it?!"
His roar thundered through the halls of Olympus.
Though the skies were clear, lightning crackled and exploded like cannon fire.
In the underworld, Hades looked up, frowning in confusion.
In the depths of the sea, Poseidon paused and turned his eyes toward Olympus.
None of them had any idea what had suddenly set Zeus off.
"Damn it!"
Back in the void, Hecate couldn't see what was happening outside—but she knew.
The moment that blood-soaked path emerged under her divine power, there was no way Zeus hadn't sensed it.
So she didn't hesitate—pouring every ounce of divine energy she had into sealing that path from the River of Time itself, shielding it even at great personal cost.
And just as she completed her work and pulled Jason away—
Zeus's gaze finally reached the place they had just been.
But it was already too late.
When they emerged, Jason collapsed into Hecate's arms.
And her own face had gone terribly pale—blood was already seeping from the corners of her lips.
"I think… I've really stirred up trouble this time," she said with a bitter smile, looking down at the unconscious Jason.
A goddess who didn't want to deal with the gods, who had given up her seat in Olympus and fled to the underworld to avoid Zeus's gaze.
A mortal who didn't want to deal with the gods either, but who, in order to survive, had set his sights on immortality.
A road that no one—neither mortal nor divine—could have predicted…
Had just been revealed before them both.