The gods' urgent desire to strike at the Magic Pantheon had yet another reason behind it, one connected to Colchis.
For Alaric, Hecate, and the others, offering protection to the Kingdom of Colchis and Aeetes was nothing more than repaying a favor.
But for the Olympian gods, along with those ancient deities who once ruled the Greek divine realm before being overthrown by Olympus, the meaning was entirely different.
Aeetes and the Kingdom of Colchis represented the remaining influence of the former Sun God Helios and the former Sea God Oceanus among mortals.
These defeated gods had lost their old authority after clashing with the Olympians. Naturally, they were far from satisfied.
While the Olympians reigned high atop Mount Olympus, these displaced gods hid themselves in every corner of Greece, glaring at Olympus' authority and ceaselessly waiting for any sign of weakness.
Originally, faced with the ever-rising power of Olympus, they had nearly given up hope of reclaiming their thrones.
After all, stripped of their divine offices, they could no longer grow stronger.
Unlike the Olympians who continued to rise in power, they could only weaken day by day, and would eventually perish due to the loss of their divine nature.
But Hecate's ascension, and the rise of the Magic Pantheon, brought them a glimmer of hope.
As primordial deities, they could see clearly the impact of mortal ascension on innate gods, and how the emergence of magic hindered divine rule over mankind.
Yet, those who no longer govern have no need to worry about governance.
For gods who had already lost their thrones, what was there left to concern themselves with?
Restoring their divine offices, reclaiming their former status from the Olympians, that was all they cared about.
Everything else could move aside.
For these remnants of a bygone era, as long as they could recover their former glory, they were even willing to collaborate with foreign gods, let alone with Hecate and the Magic Pantheon.
Thus, the rise of the Magic Pantheon appeared to them as the perfect opportunity, a springboard to rebel against Olympus and regain their status.
Although Hecate and Alaric had never intended such things, and even avoided expanding the Magic Pantheon too aggressively, so much so that to this day the pantheon only had two main-god-level deities and a handful of subordinate ones like the three Gorgon sisters,
These displaced gods thought otherwise.
As the only faction in the divine realm capable of opposing Olympus, the Magic Pantheon was their sole hope.
Even if Hecate had no desire to become a divine queen, they would push her toward the throne.
Of course, even if the Magic Pantheon ultimately did not go to war against Olympus, it didn't matter.
So long as they received the pantheon's protection, their remaining divine authority would at least be preserved.
They would not be gradually hunted down and eradicated by Olympus.
The establishment of the Kingdom of Colchis was seen by them as a test of possible cooperation with the Magic Pantheon.
And the results were exceedingly satisfying.
Not only did the Magic Pantheon provide protection for Colchis, they even took in their divine offspring, such as Circe, into the Mystra Academy.
This cooperation gave the displaced gods hope of rising again, while also provoking dissatisfaction among the Olympians.
After all, they had rebelled against the former divine king Cronus, battled the progenitor of monsters Typhon.
And struggled bitterly before obtaining dominion over this divine realm, how could they possibly hand it all over to the remnants of the old regime?
Thus, they sought to sabotage this cooperation through the voyage of the Argonauts.
Although their main goal was to weaken the Magic Pantheon, even if Mystra Academy did not intervene when the Argonauts attempted to seize the Golden Fleece.
Even if the Argonauts failed to inflict any real damage on Mystra Academy, this outcome was still acceptable to them.
Because as long as the Golden Fleece was successfully taken, it would prove that the Magic Pantheon was unreliable as a protector, dealing a heavy blow to its alliances with the displaced gods.
…
After disembarking, the seven heroes stepped onto the willow-lined fields on the western bank of the Phasis River.
This was the suburban outskirts of Kitaia, the capital of the Kingdom of Colchis.
Countless farmers lived here, cultivating the grain that not only fed all of Colchis but also supplied Mystra Academy and the Heart of Spellcraft.
Following the road through the fields, they soon entered Kitaia.
It was a city entirely different from Iolcos, the hometown of Jason, or any other Greek city they had ever seen.
Its architecture was unlike the dry, stone-block houses common throughout Greece.
Instead, the buildings resembled those of medieval Europe, structures of timber and stone, with steep gabled roofs, an utterly novel sight.
The roads were paved with stone rather than dirt, clean and tidy, with none of the dust typical of ordinary earth paths.
In a typical Greek city, with current construction techniques, such houses and roads would be extraordinarily expensive.
But in Colchis, located near Mystra Academy, even though it only received the Academy's protection in crucial moments, it still enjoyed several other advantages.
The architectural style came from imitation of the Heart of Spellcraft, while the Heart itself was a simplified version of the Mystra Academy's castle.
As for construction, the presence of Mystra Academy on Colchis Island attracted numerous low-tier mages, graduates who still longed for the Academy, as well as those who never entered but learned magic from wandering spellcasters.
Unable to join the Academy and unable to afford living near the Heart of Spellcraft, they gathered in the Kingdom of Colchis.
As a result, the cost of hiring mages here was far lower than elsewhere in Greece, and Aeetes could occasionally afford to employ them as construction workers.
Mystra Academy's influence permeated every corner of this city.
Beyond architecture, even food, daily goods, and transportation gradually aligned themselves with the Academy, or at least with the Heart of Spellcraft, placing Colchis ahead of the rest of Greece.
Walking through the streets, the heroes looked around wide-eyed like country bumpkins.
The passersby were not dressed in Greek robes, but in long-sleeved or short-sleeved garments they had never seen before, made of everything from linen to cotton, in a wide variety of colors.
The shops sold goods beyond anything they expected: unfamiliar handicrafts, fresh fruits and vegetables, ornate jewelry in all styles, metal tools and farming implements, and even magical-item shops.
For most people, magic items were mere rumors, treasures only nobles could hope to obtain, yet here they were displayed like ordinary merchandise, with plenty of buyers.
Walking through the streets of Kitaia, the heroes truly felt like rustic villagers seeing civilization for the first time.
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