The underworld,
The enraged roar of the three-headed hellhound, and her fury, soon drew the puzzled gazes of numerous gods and spirits.
And toward those underworld gods who cast their gazes, although Hecate's brows furrowed slightly, she did not stop them; after shielding her own temple with a barrier, she simply let them be.
Thus, soon the gods' doubts in their hearts were resolved.
At the same time...
As expected, it is you again!
The numerous underworld gods, watching Jason fleeing under the pursuit of the three-headed hellhound, could not help but feel speechless in their hearts.
And also understanding.
And under Cerberus's chase, Jason led her along for a distance; after they were somewhat farther from Hecate's temple, he finally stopped.
Immediately after, Jason looked at Cerberus, whose eyes had already turned completely red, knowing that under the current circumstances, saying anything would be useless.
Thus, Jason drew out the ominous magic spear granted to him by the ancestor of myriad demons, Typhon.
Because some time had passed, the divine power Hecate had left within the magic spear had gradually been devoured by the powers of destruction and the abyss.
At most half a year's time, this magic spear would have to be taken by Hephaestus for reforging; otherwise, by then, anyone would sense the power of the ancestor of myriad demons, Typhon, from this magic spear.
In that case, Jason's acquaintance with Typhon would also be exposed.
As for the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus.
She herself was the guard dog of the gates of hell, allowing every soul of the deceased to enter the underworld but permitting no one to leave.
The ancient Greeks had the custom of placing a honey cake in the deceased's coffin, said to be to appease Cerberus; they hoped the dead could give this cake to the vicious hound, thereby avoiding being torn apart by Cerberus.
She was an extremely famous, and also powerful, magical beast.
Especially after the previous trip to the abyss, where she had the fortune to obtain the blood of her own 'father,' the ancestor of myriad demons, Typhon; now, she had naturally become even more powerful!
Jason's relationship with her was inherently very good.
However, because of the previous promise, and the matter of being imprisoned in the abyss, Jason and she now could only have a fight.
Because the era Jason was in now was Greece.
An extremely barbaric, and dangerous, era!
Therefore, in this battle, Jason could only fight, and moreover, he could not hold back and directly let Cerberus win; that would only make the other even angrier.
The best method was to defeat Cerberus.
Because in this barbaric era, only the victor dominated everything!
Boom!
With a massive roar, before the enormous three-headed hellhound, the seemingly minuscule Jason clashed with her.
Since he had decided to fight, Jason naturally would not retreat any further.
The ground where the two clashed formed deep craters.
And Jason also withstood the brute force from Cerberus head-on!
This required no surprise, because Jason himself had been soaked in the waters of the Styx, and moreover, he wore the belt of war god Ares on his body.
Thus, in terms of physical strength and power alone, Jason had actually already reached the level of a demigod.
Even if, possibly, he still fell somewhat short of the strongest batch of demigod heroes in Greece, the gap was no longer large.
But this did not mean that the three-headed hellhound could gain any advantage in Jason's hands, because Jason was no longer the same as before.
At the same time, do not underestimate that batch of Greece's strongest demigod heroes; one must know that Cerberus, in the myths, had been thoroughly beaten by Heracles, unable to resist in the slightest...
And hunting the Calydonian boar, the magical beast Chimera, the giant Geryon, the hundred-headed dragon Ladon, the hundred-eyed giant Argus... In the short time since emerging, Jason had already experienced far too much, too much.
And in each trial, because he had always been under the guidance of wisdom, Jason had also obtained corresponding rewards!
Thus, in the initial clash, Jason did not linger in combat with Cerberus; borrowing her barbaric power to retreat backward.
As his lips moved silently chanting an incantation, he drew out the tin staff from the magic circle beside him and gave Cerberus a flash spell.
The flash spell blinded two of the three-headed hellhound's heads, but one of the relatively smarter heads closed its eyes just before the flash spell activated.
Then, immediately opening its eyes, it sought Jason's whereabouts, but in the instant of the flash spell, Jason used the invisibility magic engraved on the tin staff.
This could not help but make Cerberus feel somewhat annoyed; after all, she was very familiar with Jason and thus knew his fighting style, but she had not expected to still fall for it!
And then, just as Cerberus was on guard against Jason's sneak attack.
A graceful flute melody suddenly arose in this dim underworld world.
Evidently, Jason had no intention of a sneak attack; mainly, he also knew the possibility of sneaking up on the other was very low.
Sneak attacks were divided into two kinds: one was to lurk over and silently kill the opponent without a sound.
The other was to directly kill the opponent; as long as everyone who saw the assassin died, then naturally the sneak attack succeeded.
And evidently, neither of these could Jason accomplish now.
Because he had used the divine artifact obtained from Hermes... the magic flute that could even hypnotize the hundred-eyed giant Argus!
The graceful flute melody, carrying an effect that made one drowsy, assaulted the three-headed hellhound Cerberus.
This involuntarily made Cerberus emit an angry roar; the next moment, as she wanted to charge toward the source of the sound.
A dazzling meteor suddenly fell fiercely from the dark underworld sky.
The heavenly steed, in perfect coordination with Jason, briefly blocked Cerberus's path.
The heavenly steed was evidently no match for Cerberus, but even the current Cerberus could not completely immunize herself against the damage brought by the heavenly steed.
And in this short time, Jason had already achieved the effect he wanted.
One saw that among Cerberus's three heads, one of them had already lost the intent to fight under merely less than half a minute of the flute's hypnosis and had fallen asleep...
"One down."
Jason said softly, then immediately stopped playing the magic flute.
Next, Cerberus still had two heads left.
And here, one of Jason's trump cards, the underworld domain, naturally could not be used... After all, even if used, the spectating ferryman Charon and Lord Hades might not act!
And Jason's ace in the hole.
The bow of the god of light, the arrow of the moon goddess!
Such power was one that Cerberus absolutely could not contend against.
After all, this was a power that existed in legends even among the gods!
However, although the power was strong, the conditions for use were also harsh.
The bow of the god of light could only be used during the day, in times illuminated by light; similarly, the arrow of the moon goddess could only be used under moonlight.
Thus, in this underworld, Jason naturally could not use them.
Therefore, afterward, one saw the white clothes on Jason's body begin to burn with ghostly underworld flames; under Jason's thought, the undying flame's fire lotuses bloomed around them.
And toward such flames, after Cerberus was stunned, she immediately prepared to retreat; evidently, she also had no way to deal with these flames.
Although these flames could not burn Cerberus to death in a short time, they burned the soul; not to mention Cerberus, ordinary gods would suffer immensely upon contact.
It was an exceedingly vicious nether fire!
But the flames spread very quickly, rapidly forming a fire circle that enclosed both Cerberus and Jason within.
And under this circle of flames, Cerberus dared not act rashly, while Jason naturally appeared very leisurely.
He was immune to these flames; the tempering of his soul had been thanks to these flames.
Moreover, this flame spirit was his fire spirit sister!
"Jason, you are truly shameless!"
And watching the flames that trapped her, and watching Jason walking in the flames, holding the magic spear that suppressed her, eagerly preparing to poke her, Cerberus could not help but curse.
And regarding this, not to mention others, even the heavenly steed felt Cerberus's curse was justified.
Because had Jason not clashed with Cerberus earlier? After the initial clash, determining that relying on strength alone would be hard to win, he immediately resorted to dirty tricks.
Although this was very much in Jason's style: as long as it was determined to fight, then fight without regard for cost, leaving no leeway.
One of Jason's survival principles: for any troublesome matter, avoid if possible, exhaust every method to avoid.
And ultimately discovering it truly could not be avoided, then resolve it at the fastest speed!
Toward one's enemies, absolutely do not show mercy; best to scatter their ashes to the wind!
Although the poisoned hand was Cerberus, Jason would not think of how to kill her, but evidently, showing mercy... did not exist at all.
Therefore...
"Is this guy really a hero?" A god observing in secret, after witnessing Jason's actions, could not help but speak.
As his words fell, the surrounding crowd of underworld gods nodded in agreement.
Hecate in the temple also covered her face, momentarily not knowing what to say.
What a disgrace!
"Jason, you bastard, what is this supposed to be? Put away this fire; come fight me properly!"
"I am fighting you right now." Jason said righteously: "Why can I not use these flames? They are inherently one of my powers.
For you, using my full strength to battle, is that not correct?!"
As Jason's words fell, the surrounding gods could not help but fall silent; even Cerberus was momentarily stunned in place, not knowing what to say.
"Why does it... inexplicably sound quite reasonable."
"Mm, it sounds very reasonable, but it is just, just..."
"Just why does it still feel a bit strange?"
"This child..." In the abyss, the ancestor of myriad demons, Typhon, seated beside the chessboard, was naturally also peeking at this battle.
At this moment, He watched the scene of Jason bullying Cerberus and could not help but smile wryly.
"He could clearly fight the other head-on and not necessarily lose, yet he stubbornly refuses to choose combat, instead comprehensively suppressing the other without leaving the slightest leeway.
Although winning this way would be much easier, but... this fundamentally does not seem like a hero."
Typhon pointed out the key.
Indeed, such a method was not actually wrong; it was merely not heroic.
Just like two people in a martial contest: clearly capable of fighting, yet one stubbornly refuses and insists on using all sorts of hidden weapons on the other.
And crucially, the two were friends.
From this battle, one could see how Jason would choose to deal with his true enemies...
"And I say, Father God."
Typhon sighed deeply, saying: "You regretting your moves is one thing, but could you not make it so obvious... You have already swallowed nearly one-third of the pieces on this chessboard into your stomach!"
"...I am done!"
After a moment of silence, the god of the abyss overturned the chessboard.
And angrily said: "Where is that dog? Drag her in for me; I want her to play with me!"
Typhon looked expressionlessly at the god of the abyss before her, then speechlessly set down the piece she had already raised in her hand.
Because just now, she actually only needed to place the piece to win.
But evidently, the god of the abyss did not give her this chance...
Mainly, having lost too many times, the god of the abyss even had some psychological shadows.
But still wanted to play!
Incompetent as he was, he just wanted to play!
On the other side, Jason's battle continued.
After trapping Cerberus, Jason began trying various methods to poke at Cerberus.
However, after trying for half a day, he found he had no way to deal with Cerberus.
Because even trapped by the flames with a very limited range of movement, Cerberus remained exceedingly ferocious.
Her sharp teeth even caused fine cracks to appear on the magic spear!
And since Cerberus was not a true enemy, Jason would not truly let these flames burn Cerberus, thus merely trapping her.
This led to the current situation where Jason had no way to deal with Cerberus, and Cerberus had no way to exit the fire circle, only able to glare angrily at Jason.
Jason looked at the magic spear in his hand, cracked from Cerberus's bite, and at Cerberus baring her teeth at him, momentarily also at a loss.
Besides the magic spear, the only other thing that could pose a danger to Cerberus was the bow of the god of light and the arrow of the moon goddess.
But they could not be used.
The situation thus became deadlocked.
Seeing that the sleeping head showed signs of waking, Jason even began hesitating whether to continue playing the magic flute until Cerberus fell asleep.
However, Jason merely thought about it before abandoning this proposal.
Because it was evident at a glance that this doggy Cerberus was now super excited, and this sea of fire could not be sustained forever.
It could last at most around five minutes.
Fundamentally impossible to make Cerberus fully sleep.
Then, under the circumstances, besides these, the only other thing Jason could think of was the last magic engraved on the tin staff.
The divine thunder.
That was a magic designed imitating King of the Gods Zeus's divine thunder, but to be honest, Jason did not want to use it much.
Mainly, the last time he used it, Hecate had been summoned to Mount Olympus.
Thus, unless in necessary situations, Jason decided to seal this magic away.
And just as Jason was troubled, the surrounding underworld gods also gradually discerned some clues.
Discerning that Jason lacked a weapon capable, under the current circumstances, of delivering a decisive blow to secure victory... A weapon that met such conditions but one he did not want to use.
Thus, at this moment...
"Need help?"
What no one had anticipated was that one person... no, should say one dog emerged from the shadows.
It was none other than Orthrus, the two-headed hound now substituting for Cerberus in guarding the gates of hell!
"Lord Orthrus?" Jason was stunned: "Why are you here?"
"Need help?"
Orthrus did not answer Jason's question but continued to ask.
"Help..." Jason was slightly dazed, not yet having a chance to reply.
"Hey, Orthrus, what do you mean by this!" Cerberus widened her eyes, saying: "I am fighting Jason; what are you joining in for? And I did not provoke you..."
"Did not provoke me, and you still have the nerve to say that!" Orthrus widened his eyes, baring his teeth in anger: "If not for you, would I come to this underworld!"
"That... that was entirely because of the person beside you!
Right, he is the main culprit; how can you help him fight me? You should help me beat him!"
Cerberus pointed at Jason, shouting loudly.
"He?" Orthrus glanced at the awkward Jason, then looked toward Cerberus, saying: "Correct, he is indeed one of the reasons, but do you truly think me foolish? The reason I ended up in the underworld back then was entirely because of you!
You deliberately dragged me down!"
And in fact, Cerberus back then had indeed done it deliberately.
The evidence was that now, after Orthrus had come, Cerberus had thrown off the duty of guarding the gates and started running around everywhere...
"Then... then do not pick this moment!" Cerberus was very depressed.
"If I do not pick this moment, usually I cannot beat you." Orthrus said very calmly.
Not to mention, it was quite reasonable.
"Then are you not afraid Lady Cerberus will retaliate later?" Jason could not help but ask curiously.
"Who cares about her; first beat her up, and I will feel better... Say, do you want my help or not? If not, I am leaving!"
Then, Orthrus glared irritably at Jason.
"Yes, yes!" Jason hurriedly nodded, then with his eyes turning, he grinned at Orthrus: "But Lord Orthrus, um, that is... Could we discuss something.
You... guarantee that later you absolutely will not turn and hit me, alright?"
Hearing Jason's words, Hecate inside the temple was speechless.
The underworld gods listening, after a slight stun, all burst into laughter.
Truly worthy of you, Jason!
Under the current circumstances, still thinking of how to protect himself.
Truly cautious enough!
What Jason thought was also simple: he felt what Cerberus said was right, so although he understood Orthrus's desire to beat Cerberus.
But he truly feared that midway through the fight, Orthrus would suddenly turn.
At that point, two dogs biting him one would truly not be fun.
Orthrus was also speechless; even looking at Jason before him, he was amused to laughter, then swore an oath, indicating he absolutely would not turn midway.
Afterward, with Orthrus's assistance, the scales of victory finally became clear.
"I was just wondering what this child's ultimate move was; now I suddenly think I understand."
At this moment, one of the underworld gods made an expression of sudden realization and laughed.
"Ultimate move? Is this child's ultimate move not the gifts from the god of light Apollo and the moon goddess Artemis?"
"No, fundamentally not; if you ask me, his ultimate move... is actually his social skills!"
With that, that underworld god burst into hearty laughter.
And hearing this, not to mention others; even Hecate and Typhon, after a slight stun while watching Orthrus join the battlefield to beat Cerberus.
Felt it was truly quite reasonable...
Worthy of being Greece's greatest social butterfly.
And this social butterfly had not only blossomed and borne fruit among Greece's numerous heroic spirits; even among the gods, it had blossomed and borne fruit!
Thus, after some time.
Cerberus, who had reverted to her little loli form, sat on the ground with a depressed face.
At this moment, her clothes appeared somewhat tattered, and her face was covered in dust... She had lost.
Jason, at the side, looked at the depressed Cerberus with tears welling in her eyes and wanted to hold back his laughter, but evidently could not and laughed.
As for Orthrus, after beating Cerberus with Jason's help, he had long run off.
"That bastard." Cerberus said through gritted teeth: "I will bite him back sooner or later, that bastard!"
"Yes, yes; bite him back, bite him back." Jason coaxed her.
"You do not get smug; you too, I will bite back sooner or later!" Cerberus glared angrily at Jason, but far from frightening him.
That angry yet aggrieved expression instead made the current Cerberus appear very cute.
"Alright, alright; bite, bite."
Jason said, extending his hand before Cerberus.
"What are you doing?" Cerberus looked at Jason unpleasantly.
"Letting you bite." Jason said with a smile.
"...You won." Cerberus was slightly stunned, looking at him.
"Mm, I did win, but I am letting you bite... Is that not alright?"
Jason said with a smile: "But say this first; after biting, you are not allowed to be angry or in pain anymore...! Holy crap, did you listen to my words finish, and lighter, lighter; it really hurts, hurts hurts hurts!"
Toward the end, Jason was in so much pain that he frantically shook his hand.
But Cerberus, who had bitten down fiercely on Jason's hand, no matter how Jason shook, just would not let go...
Just like this, Cerberus bit Jason's hand, biting without release for a full three hours or more, until later Hecate truly could not bear to watch any longer.
Only then did she let go.
And after thus biting Jason, Cerberus no longer harbored anger toward Jason; her anger had dissipated.
...Well, one could only say, who made her originally just a little doggy.