Alaric felt no surprise whatsoever at Athena's appearance.
Or rather, it was all within his expectations.
Aboard the Argo, although Jason and the Argonauts had repeatedly uttered words during their earlier discussion that could be considered blasphemous, that level of irreverence was far from enough to draw the attention of the gods.
Contrary to what many imagined, unless they were true creator deities, most gods were not nearly as omniscient or omnipotent as people believed.
Their powers were largely confined to the domains they governed.
Beyond those domains, they were far from all-powerful.
Gods with stronger divinity were one thing, but if a god's divinity rank was too low and the domain they presided over insufficiently powerful.
Then in certain aspects they might not even compare to particularly strong mortals, the most being the three Gorgon sisters.
And as beings capable of receiving faith, gods possessed one particularly special trait, their "divine names."
A god's divine name was a special existence.
As long as someone spoke that name, no matter where the god was or how great the distance between them, so long as it did not exceed the bounds of the world, the god would sense it.
If, while invoking the divine name, the words carried intense emotions, such as fanatical worship or extreme insult, then the god's perception would be even clearer, and they would be far more likely to notice the one who spoke their name.
This was why fanatics and blasphemers alike were more prone to attract the attention of the gods.
Perhaps because heroes were beings who received more attention from the gods and stood closer to them, they understood this principle well.
Thus, Alaric noticed that during the earlier discussion, although Jason harbored resentment toward the gods, he never expressed it directly.
He did not truly vent his emotions in a way that constituted outright blasphemy. As a result, his words were not perceived by the Olympian gods.
Except for one deity, Athena.
The goddess of wisdom and war had personally participated in the construction of the Argo and bestowed her blessing upon it.
From a certain perspective, the Argo could be regarded as one of Athena's "divine artifacts."
And everything that happened aboard this artifact, so long as Athena wished, could naturally be known to her in full.
In other words, Jason and the heroes' grievances against the gods might not be heard by other deities, but to Athena, it was as though it were being broadcast live.
Of course, this situation could have been avoided.
At the very least, Alaric's magic was capable of temporarily blocking such perception, preventing Athena from learning every word and action of the crew through the Argo.
If the god monitoring the Argo had been some other deity, Alaric would naturally have done so.
But Athena was an exception.
As everyone knew, among the Olympian gods, Athena was the deity who cared most for mortals and was most willing to offer them aid.
In her attitude toward mortals, she stood in opposition to the majority of the Olympian gods.
At the same time, there were conflicts between Athena and Zeus as well. Gaia had prophesied that the child Metis would bear would overthrow Zeus and become the king of gods and men.
Fearing this, Zeus swallowed Metis whole.
When the time of birth came, Zeus suffered a violent headache.
Hephaestus split open his skull with an axe, and Athena leapt forth from his head, while Metis remained within Zeus's body.
As a goddess who held both the authorities of wisdom and war, Athena was second only to Zeus in power on Mount Olympus.
Because of the prophecy, Zeus had always been wary of Athena, and Athena deeply resented Zeus.
What existed between them now was nothing more than a façade of peace.
Although the magical pantheon established by Alaric had always maintained a surface-level peace with the Olympian pantheon, in private both sides wished to eliminate the other.
The Argonaut expedition itself was a manifestation of this contradiction.
Although, relying on the power of the Goddess of Magic and Alaric's formidable sorcery, the magical pantheon could gain a certain advantage in confrontation with the Olympians, it was still unable to truly crush them.
Thus, Alaric had always sought ways to widen the gap in power between the two sides.
Changing humanity's perception of the gods was one approach. Another, naturally, was poaching talent.
At present, Alaric had already succeeded in pulling over Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, could be dealt with at any time. The third deity Alaric wanted to draw into the magical pantheon was Athena.
Alaric had not blocked the Argo precisely so that Athena could see the heroes' views of the gods, feel guilt, and also so that he could test her.
And now, under Alaric's probing, Athena had truly descended.
Faced with Athena's questioning, Alaric did not answer. Instead, he asked his own question.
"You heard what I said just now, didn't you, don't you have any thoughts about it?"
"Wh… what thoughts?"
Athena's icy demeanor could no longer be maintained under Alaric's words.
In truth, seeing the now-empty hold of the ship, Athena naturally thought of the once-crowded Argonaut ranks that had been reduced by more than three-quarters.
The finest heroes of all Greece had been sent aboard this ship, yet now more than three-quarters of them were gone.
That was equivalent to the loss of the majority of Greece's heroes, and many of them had grown up under Athena's watchful eye.
As the goddess who cared most for humanity, one of Athena's greatest pleasures was observing human heroic epics.
She delighted in watching these heroes, nurturing them, and when they displayed humanity's noblest qualities, courage and wisdom, during their adventures, she would cheer for them.
And when heroes met tragic ends, she would mourn them as well.
Now that the heroes had met such an outcome, among the entire Olympian pantheon, the one who grieved the most was Athena herself.
Especially Alaric's earlier words, on reflection, they truly made her think of the people and things she had lost.
Looking at the goddess before him, head lowered, expression dejected, unable to speak, Alaric was quite satisfied.
Judging from her attitude, this goddess was indeed worth drawing over.
However, if he wanted to truly reel her in, he would need to add a bit more force.
"Are you feeling ashamed because of this?" Although inwardly satisfied, Alaric showed no mercy in his words.
"You should feel ashamed. I have always heard that the goddess Athena is the deity among the gods who favors mortals the most, the 'mother' of heroes.
And yet it was precisely you, this 'mother,' who personally created this ship, the 'coffin' of your children, and sent them onto a path of no return, for the sake of your own interests.
As such a selfish 'mother,' you truly ought to feel ashamed."
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