In the instant Cronus's words fell, Jason felt his entire body suddenly relax.
The heart-piercing pain that had tormented him for so long was finally relieved.
Jason's expression eased, and he hurriedly stood up to bow respectfully to Cronus, offering his deepest gratitude.
"No need for that. This is our agreement."
At this point, Cronus paused slightly. He looked at the chessboard before him, then said to Jason with a serious expression, "Moreover, this alone cannot possibly offset the tribute you offered me. So state your wish.
I, Cronus, the King of the Titan Divine Court, promise to grant you one boon!"
Upon hearing this, Jason was slightly stunned. Then he chuckled lightly and said to Cronus, "You should not speak of it that way. You must know that I am a student of Hecate. For you, Lord Cronus, to be willing to help me is already an immense boon!"
After saying this, Jason bowed to Cronus once more, expressing his thanks.
These words were sincere, and his gratitude was genuine.
Because that pain was truly excruciating.
Even though Jason had been unconcerned about good fortune along the way.
But enduring at least a century of continuous agony, unless one was a masochist, how could Jason truly not care?
Seeing Jason like this, Cronus could not help but be stunned for a moment.
As a god holding divine authority, he could discern the truth from falsehood in words.
Unless it was spoken by Hermes, the messenger of the gods and god of trickery.
"So that is how it is. No wonder, even with such a faint possibility, Hecate and that fellow Nyx still insisted on sending you to the Abyss."
Cronus looked at Jason in his white clothes and could not help but sigh. "They have quite the fine student.
It is just a pity that you are not a god."
"So many of us are watching, and this child still cannot become a god?" Tartarus interjected into the conversation and said to Cronus, "You must not know that because of this child, the entire Underworld nearly erupted into chaos this time.
Your son, the current King of the Underworld Hades, and Nyx went directly to Olympus. They nearly made it impossible for that fellow Zeus to save face!"
Upon hearing the names of his son Hades and Zeus, Cronus's expression darkened slightly.
Then, looking at Jason before him, he nodded and said, "That is true. It would be strange if he could not become a god. By the way, I wonder..."
"Enough, enough. Stop prying this and that. How this child fares has nothing to do with you. If anyone is to worry, it certainly will not be you."
Tartarus interrupted Cronus's words and said, "Let me ask you. You accepted Jason's tribute, and you are very satisfied with it, right?"
"Indeed." Cronus nodded candidly. "Thanks to it, I have finally thoroughly understood how I failed back then."
"What do you mean failed? This was a complete one-sided rout!"
Tartarus pointed at the board. The red side had not lost a single piece, but the black side was left with only a few. He said, "With this position, not to speak ill of you, even if you were truly released, you would just be beaten back.
Right, boy!"
Jason lowered his head and said nothing.
Was this a topic he could interject in?
Cronus's brows furrowed as he looked at Tartarus before him. Being so bluntly pointed out, he was naturally quite angry.
But this anger came quickly and faded just as fast.
After all, that matter had passed millennia, even tens of thousands of years ago.
"I am very satisfied with this tribute. And this child has indeed done it. It is a tribute no less than the one given to you."
Cronus steered the topic back.
"If that is the case, then bring out the gift for this child."
Tartarus stroked his white beard and said with a smile.
"A gift?" Cronus looked at Tartarus in confusion.
"This is the game rule set by that child Athena.
When this boy offers tributes to us, and if we find his tribute satisfactory, then we must give the child a corresponding gift in return.
By the way, the one I gave him was three slots."
Tartarus looked at Cronus with a squinting smile and said, "Three slots that can imprison anything. Incidentally, several principal gods, your descendants, gave this child gifts that were their innate divine artifacts.
That fellow Hades even gave this boy the Helm of Invisibility!
And most importantly, up to now, not a single one, after this child offered his tribute, has felt he is unworthy of such a return gift!"
As his words fell, Tartarus waved his hand at the chessboard before him.
Then the pieces on the board vanished, and the scenes of all the tributes Jason had offered up to now appeared one by one on the board.
Tartarus had clipped out the memories he had seen.
Thus, while Cronus was immersed in the scenes of all the tributes Jason had offered so far.
"It is your turn now, Cronus." Tartarus spoke to him. "What return gift do you plan to give this child?"
Upon hearing this, Cronus came back to his senses. He glanced at Tartarus, then at Jason.
Finally, he looked at the chessboard, which had returned to its original state.
After a long silence, he reached out and took a golden lamp from the void.
This divine artifact was called the Lamp of Time, Cronus's innate divine artifact!
After taking out the golden lamp, Cronus raised his right hand with the lamp, pointed the spout at his left hand, and poured out golden sand grains.
The sand grains took shape in Cronus's hand, forming an hourglass that appeared in his grasp.
"Tch." Seeing this, Tartarus, who had been quite surprised at first, could not help but purse his lips. "I thought you were going to give the boy your own innate divine artifact."
Cronus ignored Tartarus and tossed the hourglass to Jason.
In the instant Jason instinctively caught the hourglass, he was directly stunned on the spot.
Because upon catching it, the method of use appeared directly in Jason's mind.
Time, three minutes.
The hourglass could rewind three minutes of time.
In simple terms, after using this time hourglass, Jason could return to three minutes prior!
A divine artifact!
After knowing its method of use, Jason felt a chill in his heart.
But originally, this was a divine artifact anyway.
While Jason was shocked in his heart, Cronus, who had put away the Lamp of Time, finally replied to Tartarus. "What do you know? Even if I truly gave it to this child, could he even use it?
He is not even a god. A three-minute limit is already his utmost."
Jason gripped the time hourglass tightly in his hand, hesitated for a moment, then finally put it away at his waist. He expressed his profound thanks to Cronus.
For such a useful gift, Jason truly could not go against his own heart.
This weapon was enough to rival the trump card Tartarus had granted Jason!
Three minutes of time seemed very short, but that was not the main point.
The main point was that even against gods, even against the king of the gods Zeus, it would still work!
Moreover, the trump card from Tartarus had usage restrictions, only three black pieces, one less with each use.
But this trump card could be used repeatedly!
Jason truly had not expected that coming to see Cronus this time would not only be a great crisis for him, but he would also receive such a grand gift!
At the same time, Jason being able to receive this grand gift was truly very fortunate.
Because giving so many grains of time sand to Jason, although Cronus appeared unconcerned on the surface, it actually pained him greatly inside.
With this pour, the sand in his Lamp of Time had diminished quite a bit!
Being able to use it repeatedly was an entirely different concept from single use.
Cronus had not failed to think of giving Jason a one-time use item.
But this Chinese chess tribute had indeed made Cronus extremely fond of it, and its appearance directly resolved the question that had plagued Cronus to this day.
It let Cronus understand why he had failed back then, and why he had failed so thoroughly!
Added to that, the precedent of Tartarus and the others giving return gifts was right before him.
Thus, in the end, Cronus gave Jason this gift.
Having received such a return gift, and with the tormenting pain resolved, the heart Jason had held tightly for so long was finally able to relax.
Then he originally thought to leave immediately, to go see Hecate and Persephone and the others right away, to report this good news.
But Jason had come with great difficulty this once. How could Tartarus let him go so easily?
And do not forget, there was still that unfinished Go game.
Although Jason was not very skilled at Go either, in the short term, he could still make a move. But if his opponent were Typhon, Athena, or any one of Hecate, then obviously it was better not to.
Against them, Jason going now would still be sending himself to defeat.
If it were not so, Tartarus would not have come to find Cronus.
He had been abused by Typhon to the point of nearly developing a psychological shadow.
At first, Typhon had some interest and would occasionally deliberately expose a few inferior positions to lure Tartarus into continuing, thereby getting what he wanted.
But after a while, Typhon grew bored, directly transformed into a demon, swept Tartarus several times, and then there was no after.
Afterward, Tartarus played a few new games of Chinese chess, but ultimately found Go more appealing.
As for Cronus, he naturally fell in love with Chinese chess. He had little interest in Go to begin with.
Thus, the scene that left Jason feeling very helpless appeared.
The one left behind had to play Chinese chess with Cronus on one side while also playing Go with Tartarus on the other.
Playing chess was nothing. The main issue was playing it with such trepidation.
Although both said to play casually, that losing would not make them angry.
But Jason was no fool.
Winning was not good, losing was not good, even a draw was not!
This was truly uncomfortable. This was truly hard to be a person.
One was manageable, but having to handle two.
Thus, at this moment, Jason finally remembered that after arriving in the Abyss, he seemed to have left something behind.
Not long after.
"Jason, you finally came to save me."
Cerberus, who had been spinning in the pitch-black, boundless darkness where even her five senses were gradually being devoured, saw a nether light suddenly brighten beside her. The Nether Butterfly manifested in this Abyss, and Jason finally appeared.
The Cerberus, who had been anxious to the point of tears, had her excited words not yet spoken before she was grabbed by the hand by Jason and brought before Tartarus and Cronus.
And then.
"Whew, finally out." Jason, who had come out from the Abyss, looked back into it with lingering fear and let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Teacher Hecate and Sister Persephone must be unable to wait any longer. I need to hurry back!"
Thinking this, Jason put on the Helm of Invisibility and quietly, stealthily, and with utmost familiarity, bypassed the Underworld gods guarding the Abyss, heading toward the temple of Goddess Hecate.
At the same time.
"Wu."
Rubbing her little head, Cerberus looked at the two chessboards, one on her left and one on her right, in the Abyss.
And at Cronus and Tartarus, who kept urging her to move quickly, move quickly, little doggy.
Her nose could not help but sour.
"Wu wu wu, I do not want honey cakes anymore. I want to go out. I want to go out. I do not want to play chess. I do not want to play chess!
Save me, save me. By the way, you other two heads, stop pretending to sleep. Help think of a way together. Save me!"
Cerberus's wail lingered in that Endless Abyss for a long time. Eh, no.
The Abyss seemed to swallow even this wailing sound immediately.
Well, that settled it.
On the other side, Jason quietly slipped back into Hecate's temple.
He found the door unlocked, so with the helmet on, he stealthily felt his way into the laboratory.
Then, in the laboratory, he found Hecate, who held a golden dagger in her hand and was conducting experiment after experiment.
Looking at her busy figure, repeatedly activating the divine power in the dagger and lost in bitter contemplation, biting her lip, Jason felt a warmth in his heart.
Then, just as Jason prepared to remove the invisibility helm and report to Hecate that he was back and everything was fine.
Teacher Hecate like this is so cute.
How about I stay a bit longer?
No no no, Jason, how can you think that way? Have you not seen how worried Teacher Hecate has been for you!
But, but scenes like this are so rare to witness.
Ah, this is so hard. What should I do!
A fierce internal struggle raged in Jason's mind, but his body very honestly hid in a corner from which he could perfectly spy on Hecate, and stayed put.
After hiding for a while.
"No, there is no clue at all!
Doing it this way simply will not make any progress!
How about."
As Hecate spoke, she exposed her wrist and pointed the golden dagger at it, hesitating whether to cut down.
"Wait, wait, Teacher, do not do anything rash!"
Seeing this, Jason could no longer hide. He hurriedly appeared and grabbed both of Hecate's hands.
In the moment he grabbed Hecate's hands and breathed a sigh of relief.
When he looked up, he saw Hecate looking at him with a gaze that was half-smile, half-something else.
"Um, Teacher, you knew I was back."
Jason replied very awkwardly.
"Your gaze is truly not hidden at all. The one who can sneak into my temple and not be detected by my magic, besides you with the Helm of Invisibility, who else!"
"You are truly my fine scoundrel of a student, daring to hide to the side and watch me for amusement!"
Seeing Hecate's voice gradually rising, her expression gradually turning to anger, but the joy in her eyes utterly unable to be concealed.
Jason could not help but have a rush of blood to the head. Or perhaps it was premeditated?
He grabbed Hecate's hand and suddenly exerted force, pulling the completely unprepared Hecate into his embrace.
On her face, he lightly kissed once.
Then, holding the dazed Hecate, he softly said, "Teacher, I am back."
One second, two seconds, three seconds passed.
Sensing Hecate's body gradually stiffening and then exerting force, Jason decisively pulled out the time hourglass.
In the next moment, time rewound to three minutes prior.
Rewinding to the Jason before everything happened, this time he directly removed the Helm of Invisibility, appeared before Hecate, and said to her with an excited face, "Teacher, I am back! Um, what is wrong, Teacher?"
The scene Jason had anticipated did not appear.
The Hecate from three minutes ago now stared wordlessly at Jason, who had removed the helm.
Seeing this, Jason's heart could not help but skip a beat.
"I mean, have you forgotten what my divine office is?"
After staring wordlessly at Jason for a long time, Hecate suddenly revealed an extremely beautiful smile.
At the same time, she raised her right hand. Lightning arcs crackled in her palm.
Seeing this, Jason could not help but swallow.
He knew he had once again royally screwed up.
Hecate's divine office, the miracle of fate.
Holy crap!
"Teacher, I was wrong. Next time, I will."
"Still dare!"
Um, anyway, whether vertical or horizontal, it was getting struck by lightning. No big deal.
"You, you scoundrel of a student!"
Boom boom boom!
Speaking of which, Hecate had so many ways to punish Jason. Why did she always choose to strike him with divine lightning?
Simple. Because Jason was now most afraid of divine lightning.
While striking him, it also served as practice for building his resistance.
This lightning strike was far more severe than before.
Jason lay stunned to the side, numb and trembling nonstop for over ten minutes, before he could finally move.
And during this time, Hecate had learned of everything Jason had experienced in these past few days.
This made Hecate's gaze toward Jason now extremely peculiar.
"I suddenly have the feeling that worrying about you makes me seem like an utter fool."
Hecate could not help but slap her forehead and say to Jason, "To use your centaur teacher's words, even if the world ended, you would probably still be bouncing around alive and kicking!"
"Teacher, do not say that. I truly suffered a lot this time."
"Then if it happened again, would you do it?" Hecate directly interrupted the pitifully speaking Jason and asked him with a sidelong glance.
She did not understand him at all!
"Do it!" Jason's answer had not the slightest hesitation.
After all, why not.
"Although I suffered a bit, Goddess Hera's issue is more or less resolved because of it. I also got a promise from the king of the gods Zeus. Becoming a god is basically set in stone.
Plus, going to the Abyss this time, I received such a generous reward from Lord Cronus. And most importantly, I just kissed you, Teacher.
It was utterly exhilarating!
Eh, eh!
Teacher, wait. I am injured, injured. Do you know injured? You."