Chapter 129
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Meanwhile in the Hero's Forest
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Meanwhile, in the forest.
The massive war currently dominating conversations across the Hero's Forest.
It had begun with Theseus's challenge, only for Dianes's bombshell blind date declaration to pour fuel on the flames. This unprecedented event had engulfed the entire Hero's Forest.
-Haat!
-Clang! Clang clang!
The clashes of metal rang out fiercer than ever across Athena's Plains.
The field was packed with warriors locking eyes in fury, their weapons smashing against one another.
Their innate skills already allowed a single fighter to take on dozens of ordinary soldiers, their stamina rivaling that of bulls. But the Spartan-style intensive training over the past two weeks had elevated everything about them to the next level.
"First Unit! Charge!"
-Roooar!
At Jason's command, the warriors thrust their spears forward in unison and charged toward the target in the middle of the plain.
Their synchronized advance and spear thrusts resembled a giant swinging its fist.
-Thud thud thud!
Not a single spear or arrow missed its mark, drawn inexorably toward the target.
The dummies, already tangled in ropes and traps from the vanguard units' assaults, vanished in an instant.
"Whoa~ They're moving as one body."
"Not yet. We've got a long way to go."
Atop the command post overlooking Athena's Plains.
Jason cracked a joke at the sight of the soldiers more fired up than ever, but the commander seated across from him looked thoroughly displeased.
"Sigh. Thess lately, you..."
"What is it, Jason? Spit it out if you've got something to say."
Jason swallowed his words and shook his head as he stared at the irritable, growling Theseus.
"...Never mind. I need to check on the troops' condition."
"We've only got two weeks left until the war. Tell everyone to double the training intensity! Anyone slacking off or getting sloppy gets the lash!"
Jason left the tent, leaving Theseus bellowing neurotically behind him.
Corporal punishment, huh.
They might be under our command now, but once this farce is over, they're the guys we'll be breaking bread with. Has he forgotten that?
"Tch. Eris must've whispered sweet nothings in his ear good and proper."
Unlike the other Golden Generation heroes, Jason hadn't inherited the blood of any powerful god.
But he possessed one innate talent that put him on par with them: the ability to read people.
Who could be trusted, who was trying to deceive him, what kind of personality this person had, their current mental state—he could discern it all in an instant.
That's how Jason had survived the viper's nest of Iolcos's court and risen to the ranks of the Golden Generation in the Hero's Forest.
And in his eyes, two contemporaries shone the brightest and most intensely.
Heracles, whom no one could deny, and Theseus, whose wisdom and strategy surpassed even his own.
But lately, Theseus's light was visibly dimming.
Those eyes that once sparkled with reason, cool-headedness, and ambition had lost their luster to pitch-black rage and hatred. The face that never lost its composure now brimmed with desperation. Where had his old friend gone—the hero he'd once admired and respected?
In his place lurked the despised image of a thuggish tyrant.
"Well... I get it, sort of. No, honestly, I don't get it at all, but I do get it..."
Sigh...
Jason's strategies and tactics were so brilliant even that shameless uncle Pelias had no choice but to acknowledge them.
Yet Theseus had shattered Jason's confidence from their very first encounter.
If Jason saw two or three steps ahead of others, Theseus saw dozens ahead, rendering all his schemes futile.
At first, Jason had envied that talent from a hero with divine blood he lacked. But he quickly faced reality and shifted to leveraging his own strengths.
Theseus, however, had hit a wall for the first time in his life.
A wall named Dianes, who boasted strength rivaling Heracles and wisdom surpassing even Theseus.
Heracles was in a league of his own in power and origin, so envy never factored in. But Dianes had divine blood yet forged his wisdom and strength purely through his own efforts, recreating myths in the process.
Theseus must have grown anxious, feeling his position and fame slipping away, leading to that absurd courtship fiasco.
"Tch... From my perspective, it just sounds like whining from someone who's got it all."
Theseus was a formidable warrior in his own right, overshadowed only by Heracles's monstrous strength.
He'd hunted bears solo and triumphed in consecutive battles against a hundred forest warriors.
His innate intellect and wisdom overwhelmed even Jason. So even in his current despair, he couldn't be that far gone.
"If anything, shouldn't he just accept Dianes and move on?"
The new hero who had plummeted into their midst, bringing chaos and awe in his wake.
Dianes of Pasos.
Even Jason, who prided himself on surpassing heroes and gods alike in reading people, couldn't pin him down. He was an enigma.
A man who seemed to wander the world alone, dropped from the sky.
Setting aside his Hyperborean origins, his unfathomable power, inscrutable charisma, and wisdom beyond belief in a contemporary made one wonder if he was a god out for a stroll.
Jason had casually probed him once, joking around, but Dianes just smiled enigmatically and topped off his cup. He never gave straight answers, so Jason tactfully dropped the subject and shared drinks instead.
Then, not long ago, Dianes had revealed his true power to the world after hiding it.
Some saw myth in that display, others felt fear. Jason saw opportunity.
The chance to fulfill his longing, his revenge.
His father, the great hero Aeson.
The one who toppled Aeson was an old physician under orders from his half-brother Pelias, and those who buried his death as natural causes were sages and aides bought off by Pelias.
By the time Jason realized it all, Iolcos—once his home—had become the heart of enemy territory, everything around him turning into spears and arrows aimed his way.
If he'd had Heracles's power, he'd have smashed through it all and claimed the throne outright.
If he'd had Theseus's wisdom, he'd have toppled Pelias with strategies that would awe the gods.
But young Jason was just a quick-witted child.
A frail boy without divine blood or immense potential, he'd wept tears of blood but never forgotten his vengeance. Using his talent for reading people and natural affability, he'd forged deep bonds with countless talents in the Hero's Forest.
And in that mythic spectacle he'd witnessed, an opportunity beckoned—one even Heracles couldn't provide.
If he could forge ties with that black abyss, even a sliver of friendship, it would surely become immense power.
Coincidentally, Theseus had handed him the perfect opening. Dianes's proposal of ties with the Nereid nymphs had drawn male heroes from across the forest to Theseus's side, volunteering en masse.
Jason gladly added his name, becoming Theseus's deputy. While Theseus stewed, Jason busied himself bonding with the troops, eyes on the invaluable opportunities beyond those beautiful nymphs.
"Hey! How's it going?"
The instructor called a break as Jason approached the training soldiers with a friendly grin. The sweating troops swarmed over.
"Ah! Deputy Commander! Still raring to go!"
"We could use some water time, though! Dying out here in this heat!"
"It's Dianes we're up against and all, but this is brutal!"
These soldiers felt Theseus's changes more acutely than anyone, including Jason.
His radical, ruthless strategies treated lives as expendable for victory. Without Jason's mediation, the legion would've collapsed before the war even started.
And their foes weren't just Dianes.
"Hey, Jason. Scout report earlier... Excluding Artemis's hunters, all the women fit for battle have joined Atalanta."
"She's personally teaching them her techniques. It's looking seriously dangerous."
The legion's scouts, Zephyrus's twins, descended from the sky with their report.
"Urgh... Y-yeah, figures..."
The public feud between Dianes and Theseus.
At its center, the tragic heroine Atalanta had suddenly rallied female warriors and mages, declaring her own participation.
It hit Theseus's army like a bolt from a clear sky—they were in full panic.
"What are women even gonna do at a feast with Nereid nymphs?!"
"Dude, Atalanta might hear. Forgot how we barely escaped with our lives last time we spied?"
"She folded us in half and dragged us by the wings."
Theseus's army outnumbered Atalanta's by far, with most male warriors of the forest enlisted. But the problem was Atalanta herself.
"Saw her training the troops. She took on hundreds alone... Looked just like Heracles or Dianes."
'Dianes... grrr...!'
Atalanta had always been top-tier in martial prowess and speed in the forest.
But whatever Dianes had taught her over the past days, she'd transformed from huntress to full-fledged warrior.
Even Ares's children knelt before her, and her dazzling exploits in building her faction sent chills down Jason's spine.
"Zeus almighty."
Unhinged commander above, unfathomably powerful potential enemy behind, and teetering morale within. Was he going to die of overwork before the war even began?
Jason squeezed his eyes shut.
"But seriously. Where the hell did the guy who started this mess disappear to?"
All Jason could do was curse Dianes, who had sparked this chaos and upended the forest—then vanished for two weeks straight.