Chapter 235
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Swordsman Jason
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-Shraaak!
A blade like a flash of lightning sliced through the empty air.
When had he first become captivated by that sword, flowing sharply with the dawn breeze?
Jason, who never imagined in life that he would choose the sword as his main weapon, gave a wry smile and turned his gaze away from it.
Facing the Aloadae was a razor-thin, perilous endeavor even for Jason, a lesser hero who had accumulated no small amount of training.
Arms as thick as an average man's waist, a torso so massive he had to crane his neck to see their faces when they straightened up, and monstrous strength that could shatter an entire section of forest with a single kick.
Twins who breathed as one, like a single body!
Up until now, he had felled house-sized wild boars, packs of wolves that terrorized the forest as its kings, and massive bandit groups that even the kingdom couldn't handle.
His fame might have been somewhat overshadowed by Heracles and Theseus, but Jason too was a golden generation hero representing the Forest of Heroes, with many feats to his name.
However, Poseidon's twins, the indestructible Aloadae, were on another level entirely compared to Jason's modest accomplishments.
Blessings from ancient gods like oracles, colossal stature and power inherited from their father.
At an age barely past ten, they made such things seem trivial—they were overlords dominating Naxos, including Thespiai, and the Boeotia region.
And yet, to stand against such Aloadae not with spear or bow, but with a sword, enduring for over two days.
Though it was an achievement thanks to the other Pesaqaines members and not Jason alone, it was still an unparalleled feat compared to before—one that couldn't be denied.
"Yeah, can't deny it."
But it still wasn't enough.
As a warrior with the blood of gods thick in his veins facing giants, holding out for days and single-handedly halting those who could sweep away an entire nation was undoubtedly impressive.
However, as a hero—as a king to be etched in history—it fell short, and he could say so decisively.
"The one who blocked the Aloadae? The one who clashed with Poseidon's sons?"
Not enough.
This Greece recorded only the results in the end, no matter the process.
The gods praised victors and blessed the defeated, but turned no eye to those who merely endured or held the line halfway.
'But soon... it won't be far.'
Dianes, once envied, once schemed to be used.
Jason had fallen deeply for the new swordsmanship that man had passed on to him just recently, which stirred waves greater than even Heracles.
The astonishing magic that unilaterally overwhelmed the Aloadae and made him grateful that Dianes was an ally, not an enemy.
How shocked Jason had been to learn that magic was actually harmony achieved through the sword.
And when Dianes handed him a secret manual as the key to that magic-like swordsmanship, how elated he had been.
His skills grew day by day, the sword speeding up with every swing.
At its end, his grand ambition began to shimmer into clarity.
"?!"
-Shaaak!
With a twist of the wrist, the sharp blade shot out and cleaved something in the air.
A dull, rough sensation reverberated through the blade, thumping against his hand, and startled by his own reflexive sword qi that he hadn't even realized he'd unleashed, Jason scanned his surroundings.
"This is...?"
It was a tree branch, sliced perfectly in half.
Too sudden—the presence charging in so swiftly that he'd swung reflexively.
He'd tensed, fearing it might be an arrow, but just a tree branch?
"...."
Ever since facing the Aloadae and then learning from Dianes the secret art of strengthening the body through breath control, Jason could sense any presence within five paces.
Yet even he had only detected and severed the branch hurtling at his head just before it touched him?
"Dianes?"
"Your skills have improved a lot."
Dianes appeared atop a tree, waving as if he'd been there all along.
"About five paces, right?"
"...Yeah."
Five paces radius.
A distance Jason could feel as clearly as peering into his own palm with eyes closed.
And he'd noticed it in an instant.
'What a monster...'
Heracles had maintained the "monster" label on Jason since entering the Forest of Heroes.
But Dianes took it a step further.
'Sure, in raw strength, he's below Heracles...'
But his profound wisdom and knowledge, martial arts that awed even Ares—what kind of life had he lived in his homeland of Hyperborea?
"Not just the range, but the density is incomparable to before. You've progressed steadily, step by step."
"R-Really?"
"I wouldn't joke about this."
Though he said so, Dianes laughed lightly as if it were a joke, and somehow it overlapped with Chiron's face, delighted at his disciple's growth.
'He's around my age...'
Not just Jason—even Heracles, learning the secret arts alongside him, said Dianes oddly evoked Master Chiron, making it easy to learn without resistance.
"That sword form from earlier—the first stance links poorly with the swordsmanship, doesn't it?"
"Ah! Yeah. But since I can respond in various ways if needed, I was thinking of leaving it for now..."
"Can't do that. Building a tower on shaky foundations means it'll collapse someday. First, break down the breathing finer..."
"Ah... so that's why the link was breaking..."
"Applying backlash to the sword to connect it was good, but then the sword path twists in the next stance."
Heaven knew how long he'd been watching, but Dianes pointed out flaws in Jason's swordsmanship even he hadn't noticed, explaining countermeasures and responses.
Jason set aside any youthful pride in learning from a peer, instead diligently noting everything on the papyrus beside him.
"Got it now?"
"Y-Yeah... Th-Thanks."
"Thanks? These are things I promised early on."
Though he knew little of Hyperborean society, Jason could tell without asking how precious the knowledge and martial arts Dianes bestowed.
"Oh, right—get the other members ready soon."
"Huh? Ready?"
His mind calculating Dianes' advice every which way, Jason's eyes went wide at the sudden word "ready."
"Yeah, ready. If we drag this out more, it'll be neither fish nor fowl."
Ready.
Ready what?
Drunk on the melody of sword lines cleaving mountains and winds, the realization hit Jason.
"No way... Thespiai?"
"Correct. That sword path you just adjusted too—even to fully master the Mountain-Cleaving Sword you're starting now, nothing beats real combat."
Thespiai.
And Thespiai's mercenary king, Thespios.
While they targeted Tegea with the Aloadae upfront, he'd smashed their rear spectacularly; while Atalanta and they focused on stabilizing Arcadia.
Slyly arming Wolf Valley as if it were their border, reassembling scattered forces.
Throughout the war, petty tactics mocking Jason and his as amateurs, blatantly targeting Atalanta's warrior band—it was enough to enrage him.
"For reference, Heracles and Atalanta won't join. Nor will I."
"What?"
Assuming those two great heroes would lead as always, Jason's eyes widened again at their absence.
"N-No, why?"
"Atalanta's busy learning statecraft, and Heracles is a bit slower than you, so I need to teach him steadily."
"Not for a reason like that..."
The premier tactician of the Forest of Heroes, whose strategies even Eireneia of Atalanta's warrior band admired.
For Jason the strategist, Heracles and Atalanta were asymmetrical forces like the Aloadae—asymmetric cards that crushed enemy morale by existing.
Yet they were stepping back for such trivial reasons?
Sure, after the Aloadae battle, the grown Pesaqaines could break through those barbaric mercenaries despite numbers—but their absence critically hurt strategic superiority.
"Deploying forces: all Pesaqaines and Atalanta warrior band's support unit. Objective: reclaim Wolf King's Valley first."
But at Dianes' following words, Jason's protesting mouth quietly shut.
"If after reclaiming the valley you think advance is possible, the rest is your discretion. Supply line extension approved immediately."
"Wha...?"
In other words.
Full authority for this war to the Pesaqaines—and their captain, Jason.
"Strategist is a fine role, swaying thousands upon hundreds with desk games and brain battles. But you're no ordinary strategist now."
His pitch-black eyes gleamed coolly at Jason, curving into a subtle smile.
"Go see for yourself. What you—and your group—have become in this Greece."
"....!"
Two days later, an army of about two hundred, including the Pesaqaines, rapidly marched toward Thespiai's border.
And Arcadia fully recaptured Wolf King's Valley and the Wolf's Ramparts, taken by Thespiai.
This event, mere three days after Jason's sortie, shocked Arcadia, Thespiai, and all Greece beyond.
But the waves they stirred were only just beginning.