"Favors from the Olympian gods? Are you joking?" As if hearing something utterly amusing, the dragon nearly burst into laughter.
But after the laugh came boundless fury.
"You are nothing but a mere mortal, a pawn manipulated by the gods, yet you dare presumptuously mention the so-called face of the gods before me, it's laughable enough...
Don't you know?
The Olympian gods you speak of have always harbored ill intentions toward the magic divine system, and your act of coming here under their command to steal the Golden Fleece, aren't you just their accomplices?"
"Wh... what?" Jason was completely clueless about the dragon's claims.
"Isn't it so?" The dragon's maw, lined with sharp teeth, curled into a mocking sneer.
"The Kingdom of Colchis is clearly under the protection of Lady Goddess.
If you steal the Golden Fleece I guard, what do you think will happen between Lady Goddess and Helios, who backs the Kingdom of Colchis?"
"..."
Jason was speechless, he had never considered these machinations among the gods.
"Mere Olympian gods, in their eyes, there's only dominion over Greece.
Seeing the so-called 'remnants of the previous dynasty' showing signs of allying with Lady Goddess, they couldn't sit still.
And you lot are nothing but their pawns to sow discord.
How pitiful, you ants are utterly unaware, eagerly risking life and limb for the paltry scraps they toss your way. Truly laughable to the extreme."
Paltry scraps?
The throne of Thessaly was mere paltry scraps?
But to the gods, wasn't it exactly that?
If the gods willed it, a single oracle could change a nation's king, and the people of that nation would have no choice but to obey.
The dragon's words finally made everything clear to Jason.
No wonder those mages' attitudes always revered only Hecate, ignoring the Olympian gods, and why they were so ruthless in the trials.
No wonder they knew full well what his side represented, knew the identities of so many divine offspring, yet still dismissed them with disdain.
If there had always been conflict between the divine systems, then it all made sense.
He recalled the "cricket fighting" games he played as a child with his classmates under Teacher Chiron's watch.
Unfortunately, weren't they, the Argonauts, just like crickets in a jar, spurred on by the gods?
Crickets would tear at each other to defend their territory or vie for mating rights, but to the humans playing the game, those territories and rights meant nothing.
Humans used these insignificant things to make otherwise unrelated crickets fight to the death.
Now, they were the same.
The gods were like the cricket fighters, whether Hecate or the Olympian gods.
And they, the gods' sons, the gods' devotees, were nothing but cannon fodder in the gods' eyes, akin to crickets.
Perhaps to the gods, they held some importance, especially certain divine offspring, but that importance was like a prized cricket, no matter how valued, a cricket was still a cricket, still pitted against others' crickets, dying senselessly in human disputes.
To humans, a cricket's life meant nothing.
To deities, a human's life meant nothing.
Jason finally understood it all, the true meaning behind what he had seen as the grand Argonaut expedition, and why his companions had sacrificed along the way.
Those over fifty fallen companions were like crickets perished in the gods' jar, perhaps the gods would sigh for them, but that was the extent of it.
But what could they do against the gods' decrees? Could they oppose them?
No.
As crickets, all they could do was fully accept it all, resign themselves, and step like puppets onto the fate bestowed by the gods.
He clearly remembered the fate of those bugs that defied their master's arrangements, refusing to fight other crickets.
If the master was in a good mood, they might be released, but more often, the angry master would kill them outright.
And now, they, the Argonauts, were about to be like those crickets thrown into the jar, they had to fight the enemy's crickets.
That's what he thought, what the Argonauts thought, and what the dragon thought.
"Since you have nothing more to say and aren't planning to hand over the Golden Fleece, don't blame me for being merciless." The dragon's voice rumbled low.
The Argonauts silently gripped their weapons tighter.
Realizing there was no more room for negotiation, battle was about to erupt.
And the one to strike first was the dragon.
It took a slight step back, then lunged fiercely toward Jason's position with a bite.
Jason himself wasn't particularly strong, he had no time to react to the dragon's attack.
But his teammates were all exceptionally skilled.
Beside him, Telamon immediately yanked him away with force, causing the dragon's bite to snap at empty air.
While Telamon hurriedly pulled Jason, the key figure, back to safety, the other Argonauts wielding various weapons charged at the dragon from all sides.
"Today, let's taste what it feels like to be dragon-slaying heroes!" Meleager bellowed with boundless heroism, and the other heroes echoed in response.
Countless diverse weapons assaulted the dragon from every direction.
Led by Atalanta, the heroes armed with bows fired arrows from afar to pin it down.
Orpheus didn't join the fray, but he strummed his lyre, chanting a blood-stirring battle hymn.
Though he wielded no magical power, the divine strength inherited from Apollo and his supreme musical artistry still imbued his song with magic-like effects, igniting the Argonauts' spirits, making them fight with ever-growing valor.
Asclepius retreated to a distance, protecting himself while ready to provide medical aid to any injured companions in battle.
As for Alaric and Circe, they used the excuse that magic had little effect on a creature with such high magic resistance as the dragon, slacking off on the sidelines, merely casting buffs on the others.
The battle had begun.
Though the Argonauts mustered their courage to face the dragon head-on, they soon realized a massive problem.
The dragon's scales were simply too tough, their weapons could barely inflict any damage.
Swords, spears, halberds clashed against the dragon's scales, at best leaving mere scratches.
Such attacks were nothing more than tickles to the dragon.
And if they couldn't breach its defenses, how could they possibly defeat the dragon?
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