Pushing the boulder to the top of the mountain was not actually difficult.
Many people could achieve it, after all, beings like demigods were not rare.
The real difficulty lay in encountering the assistance from the divine power of the gods once the boulder was pushed to a certain height.
This was originally the punishment given to Sisyphus by the gods.
However, due to the bet between Jason and the second-generation queen of the gods, Rhea, the nature of the punishment had changed, evolving it into a sport that brought glory.
Even after Jason altered everything, the gods were not angered by it. Instead, they found it amusing and viewed Sisyphus as a burden within it.
So, even without Jason's intervention, he would have been freed soon enough. The Greek gods had lost all interest in him.
Jason knew this, so he did not let Sisyphus help. Instead, he pushed the boulder up the mountain alone.
Jason did not push quickly. To be precise, even Atalanta, who had attempted it not long ago, had been much faster than him.
Therefore, many people believed that this young man would soon exhaust himself.
But after several hours passed, when Jason reached the halfway point of the mountain, the murmurs from below could not help but grow louder once more.
And by this time, as Jason looked down, he could see that the boulder he was pushing had surpassed one name after another engraved on the steep mountainside.
At the same time, he could feel the gazes of the people below, who were looking up at him.
"Stepping over one opponent after another, claiming supreme honor amid the cheers of the people."
Suddenly, Sisyphus beside Jason spoke. He said to Jason with a touch of emotion, "Even though my punishment has ended today, this act will surely be passed down through the ages.
The names engraved in this mountain will also endure forever, right?"
"Yeah... probably."
Jason replied indifferently, showing no awareness of being the instigator.
"Since you left, I have met many people up to now.
Joy, regret, unwillingness, fear... Even that beautiful huntress by your side challenged it relentlessly for several days out of reluctance, but only you... only you remain so unique, just as you were back then."
Sisyphus watched Jason, who calmly took one step after another toward the mountaintop, then said with emotion, "The white-clothed hero Heracles, can you tell me why you have come this far? Why have you come to help me?"
"Up to now, I have heard many stories about you. Your deeds are widely known across the entire Greek continent. You have accomplished one feat after another that shocked the world, and your name is already a household one.
But you seem unconcerned with these honors..."
"Yeah, I truly do not care about them at all."
Jason picked up Sisyphus's words and smiled at the stunned Sisyphus. "Let me tell you something, Sisyphus... And I hope you will keep this secret for me, as payment for freeing you.
The name that will soon be engraved at the mountaintop... or perhaps not even engraved there... is not the white-clothed Heracles, but Jason...
A name belonging to someone utterly obscure, called Jason.
And that is my true name."
The boulder rose higher and higher. Amid the astonished cries from the crowd below, as time passed and the sun gradually set,
The nameless youth pushing the boulder showed no sign of stopping. His speed... was actually increasing!
And as the boulder surpassed one name after another,
Even gradually approaching those heroes whose tales were passed down by word of mouth, the crowd below finally stirred, becoming noisy.
"Who is he?!"
"Does anyone, anyone know him?!"
More and more people gathered, watching as he pushed the boulder to two-thirds of the height. The barrier set by the gods seemed like an illusion before him.
One hero's name after another was surpassed by Jason.
Who was he...? Such doubt arose in the hearts of everyone present!
No matter how they inquired or searched, no one could find an answer.
Because no one knew him.
When he shed that white robe and set aside the honor of the white-clothed Heracles, the youth named Jason became an utterly obscure existence.
"Right, the huntress... That huntress named Atalanta! She seems to be the one who brought him here. Where is she?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I saw her too. She must know. Let's go ask her!"
Soon, someone realized this.
They began searching for that beautiful huntress clad in green garments.
But unbeknownst to them, Atalanta had already vanished and left at some point.
She had walked out of this small town. From a distant place, her holy azure eyes gazed far at Jason, who was pushing the boulder toward the mountaintop.
After a long while...
"Goodbye."
Atalanta turned away, not continuing to gaze from afar, because she had known the answer from the very beginning.
No one could stop him. He would inevitably reach the highest place.
"Cheep—!"
And at that moment, the pegasus neighed lightly, bringing a black-haired, red-eyed little loli, Cerberus, before Atalanta.
"He was worried about letting you leave alone."
Cerberus came before Atalanta and said to the slightly stunned Atalanta, "So he sent me and the pegasus to escort you, and also..."
Cerberus did not finish her words. From her body, a beautiful underworld butterfly emerged, fluttering around Atalanta and landing in her fair hand.
"...He knew I would leave?"
Atalanta gazed at Cerberus.
Then, before Cerberus could answer, Atalanta smiled lightly and said, "Well, of course. How could he not know?"
As she spoke, Atalanta accepted the underworld butterfly.
The underworld butterfly transformed into a faint azure light, sprinkling onto Atalanta's beloved bow named the Bow of the Firmament.
"Atalanta, why are you leaving?"
Cerberus's beautiful red eyes gazed at Atalanta in puzzlement. "Jason does not seem to want you to leave, does he?"
"He does not this time... But I must go."
Atalanta's response made Cerberus tilt her head in confusion.
Atalanta looked at her like this, then turned her head to gaze at the distant Jason. Only after a long while did she say, "No one can accompany him by his side. At least, I cannot, because by his side, I can achieve nothing."
A relationship like a fated curse had brought them together and then torn them apart.
At first, Atalanta could not understand it. But as their encounters increased and she witnessed more and more things about Jason,
Atalanta finally came to gradually understand that she could not follow by his side.
Moreover, she thought that in this world, probably no one could follow by the side of this white-clothed hero.
Like a dazzling star falling from the sky... That was probably the distance between them.
"Is that so?" Cerberus clearly could not understand Atalanta's words. She said, "But Jason definitely does not think that way. Because he trusts you greatly. When he is with you, it gives me the feeling of being with Goddess Hecate.
He would surely be very happy if you could accompany him by his side."
"There is no need for that, Lady Cerberus."
Atalanta shook her head and said to Cerberus, "Moreover, I do not wish to become his burden... And most importantly, I know we will surely meet again. But next time... I hope that when I encounter him, he is no longer the white-clothed hero."
Atalanta paused slightly here before continuing to say to Cerberus, "If there comes a time when I can accompany him by his side and adventure together with him, it will surely be when he is no longer so weary.
When he has set aside or completed everything he must do, and is no longer the white-clothed hero.
And until then, no one can accompany him... All I can do is wait for him at his next destination."
...Ah, great moon goddess Artemis, this must be the answer you wanted me to find, right?
Atalanta gently said in her heart.
You do not truly understand him at all. If you want to know the real him, then go learn more about him... In Atalanta's ears, she recalled the words from moon goddess Artemis back then.
And it was precisely because of this that she could see through Jason.
Even more thoroughly than Artemis could.
As for Atalanta's response, Cerberus clearly could not understand it.
But that was fine.
Atalanta mounted the pegasus and left under Cerberus's escort.
Not long after they departed, the sun also began to set bit by bit. Soon, it reached the dusk of sunset, with nightfall about to descend.
When the stars filled the sky and the sun god's chariot returned to the temple of sun god Helios, that would mark the time's end.
The boulder would fall from the highest point with unstoppable force. No hero could halt it, for this was the punishment from the gods.
Jason was no exception, so before that, he had to push the boulder up.
Thus, at this moment...
"Sisyphus, farewell."
Jason smiled at Sisyphus, then began running up the mountain while pushing the boulder in his hands.
The War God's Belt from war god Ares, along with his own bloodline power granted by agriculture goddess Demeter, allowed Jason to nearly recklessly ignore the resistance set by the gods on the cliff.
"Oh my god!"
"He, he has surpassed... Has he surpassed Lord Theseus's record?!"
"Not only that, he has not stopped... Could it be, could it be?!"
Perhaps realizing that they were about to witness a historic moment,
More and more people held their breath, gazing at the figure drawing ever closer to the mountaintop. In their sight, it gradually became a tiny ant, visible only through utmost concentration.
And in the end, after a span of over half a year... No, for Sisyphus, it should have been many years of pushing the boulder as punishment.
Today, it finally came to a curtain call.
Sisyphus watched Jason disappear over the mountaintop, tears flowing uncontrollably. From this day forth, he was finally freed.
And the crowd below, after a brief silence, erupted into a clamor of heated discussion. The excited people fervently debated the historic moment they had witnessed!
But all of this had nothing to do with the youth who had ascended the mountaintop.
Even after many, many years passed, when one hero after another reached the mountaintop, the world would learn the identity of that mysterious hero from back then.
They would know that first, eternal name of the hero engraved at the mountaintop:
Jason.
And just as Jason reached the mountaintop, the lyre music that had played throughout the day also ceased...
The goddess Athena, clad in a white dress, set down the silver lyre in her hands.
She revealed a stunning smile toward Jason, who had ascended the mountaintop.