"Ladon... my child?"
In the endless abyss of Tartarus, Typhon, who had hidden his massive body and transformed into a white-haired goddess.
At this moment, upon hearing Jason's words, she could not help but tilt her head.
A faint trace of doubt appeared in those bewitching twin eyes.
"The child you had with that half-human, half-snake monster Echidna," Hecate added faintly from the side.
"Oh." Typhon reacted and then smiled as she said, "I see. It truly surprises me. To think she actually created a child for me... Even though at the time, I merely gave her some of my blood.
Well, may I ask, Goddess Hecate, where is she now?"
Typhon asked Hecate politely. After all, in terms of seniority, she was actually inferior to Hecate. Typhon was the last of the Titan gods.
"Dead. Killed by Argus, the hundred-eyed giant under Queen Hera."
As the words fell, Jason naturally looked toward Hecate, his expression showing some surprise, because the hundred-eyed giant Argus was precisely the one from his agreement with Hermes.
The giant guarding Io, who had been turned into a cow!
"Yes." Hecate, noticing Jason's gaze, nodded and confirmed his thought, saying, "It's that giant guarding Io. The next tribute you need to deal with."
"Dead." Typhon was slightly stunned, then shook her head. "That is truly regrettable... By the way, what is the tribute... And why does this child need to defeat my child Ladon?"
As she spoke, Typhon paused slightly, then smiled and said, "Sorry, I seem to be talking a bit too much. But in this abyss, I have almost forgotten when the last time was that I spoke with someone, so you won't mind, will you?"
Hearing this, since it was not something worth concealing, Jason ultimately told her the truth about the twelve tributes.
Defeating the hundred-headed dragon Ladon was precisely the tribute he offered to the war god Ares!
"I see." After listening, Typhon nodded in understanding.
Then, after a brief moment of contemplation, Typhon looked up at Jason with a smile and said softly, "Child, I can help you."
Typhon agreed, and this was not beyond Hecate and Jason's expectations, because she had no reason to refuse.
Twelve tributes from the gods, twelve gifts from the gods... Typhon could even be said to be very eager to see such a thing happen!
"So, what are the conditions?" Hecate asked Typhon.
"No conditions needed. I can help this child unconditionally..."
The smiling Typhon had not finished her words.
"No!" Hecate interrupted Typhon's words and said, "We need... If you have no conditions, then today, pretend we never came!"
Hearing this, Typhon could not help but gaze deeply at the Hecate before her, dressed in a black long skirt, with black hair and red eyes.
The two stared at each other, falling into a brief silence.
And in this silence, Jason wondered if it was his imagination, but he felt that the surrounding endless abyss, this endless abyss where even the concept of time seemed nonexistent, was actually shaking at this moment!
"...Goddess Hecate, I originally thought we had a good chance of becoming friends."
"No, we have no chance!" Hecate decisively denied Typhon's words, and after a brief pause, she said faintly to Typhon, "But as long as you do not come to disturb me or touch my things, then we will not be enemies."
"Is that so." Typhon nodded, tilted her head to look at Jason, then shook her head and said, "That is... truly too regrettable."
"Since that is the case... Child, help me kill Argus. That will be the condition for my assistance in defeating Ladon."
Faced with the condition Typhon proposed, Jason thought for a moment.
He looked up and nodded to Typhon.
"I understand, great Titan god Typhon. I will abide by the agreement with you..."
Jason had not finished his words.
"Under the witness of the great primordial deity, the god of the abyss Tartarus!" Hecate completed the sentence for Jason.
Typhon smiled and said, "Under the witness of my great father, the god of the abyss Tartarus... Child, I must say, you have a good teacher."
"Yes." Jason nodded and smiled at Typhon as he said, "I have always thought so."
Thus, in the next moment, Typhon slowly raised her right hand in the abyss, and the power of the abyss gathered in her hand under her guidance.
At the same time, pitch-black blood also flowed from Typhon's hand; that was blood representing the power of absolute destruction.
The blood of destructive power fused with the power of the abyss, ultimately forming a black spear that appeared in her hand.
Then, Typhon handed it to Jason and said, "Take it and fight. As long as it is my child facing it, they will be unable to exert their full power.
And the damage caused by it, unless you, child, are willing, no one can restore it."
This was the power of destruction.
Jason stepped forward and took the black spear.
At this point, the transaction was officially completed.
When Hecate was preparing to take Jason away...
"Child, we will surely meet again next time."
Watching the two leave, Typhon did not try to keep them, but in the end, she transmitted her voice solely to Jason and said, "And child... I will not give up on you. I believe that one day, you will come to find me!"
Typhon's words made Jason's body pause slightly.
After a brief silence, Jason neither nodded nor shook his head, as if nothing had happened. He followed Hecate and, under Typhon's gaze, walked out of the endless abyss.
Then, amid the fluttering butterflies of the underworld and the sudden glow of the magic array, Hecate brought Jason back to the temple.
The two had just returned to the temple.
"Give it to me." Hecate extended her hand to Jason, and Jason naturally and obediently handed the pitch-black demon spear to Hecate.
Holding the demon spear and feeling that ominous and mad power, Hecate could not help but furrow her brows.
Immediately after, Hecate began chanting incantations, infusing her own divine power into the demon spear.
Silver radiance gradually emerged on the pitch-black demon spear, adorning the darkness and also mitigating that evil and domineering destructive power.
Finally, under Hecate's incantation, several butterflies of the underworld landed on the demon spear and ultimately fused into it, transforming into patterns of butterflies of the underworld.
At this point, the demon spear no longer carried any aura of destruction.
Only then did Hecate toss the demon spear to Jason and say to him, "I can only temporarily suppress it, preventing the gods from sensing Typhon's power, but this is only temporary... Even my power will, with the passage of time, be devoured by the infinite destruction!"
"After the matter is over, go find your teacher Hephaestus yourself. She will figure something out for you."
As she spoke these words, Hecate, now seated in the temple hall, seemed to suddenly think of something and froze.
Because an image now surfaced in her mind... It was an image buried deep in her memories, about Jason.
When furious thunder symphonied in the skies above Olympus and night shrouded the earth, in that endless darkness, Jason in white robes stood on Mount Olympus, raising his sword to point at the king of the gods Zeus.
And at this moment, Hecate suddenly recalled the appearance of that sword... Because it was a pitch-black demon sword.
A demon sword that seemed capable of cleaving the world apart, a sword of the power to destroy the world!
The most outstanding god of craftsmen, Hephaestus, and now Jason had also obtained the blood of the ancestor of all demons, Typhon, representing destruction...
At this moment, Hecate could not help but fall silent once again.
"Teacher Hecate, what's wrong?"
Putting away the demon spear interwoven with silver and black, Jason looked at the suddenly silent Hecate and asked with some confusion.
Hearing this, Hecate looked up at Jason.
Those beautiful crimson eyes stared straight at Jason without speaking, just watching him like that, making Jason soon feel uncomfortable all over.
"...Come here."
Seeing Hecate wordlessly looking at him, the stunned Jason could not help but cover his face and look at Hecate pitifully, saying, "Teacher Hecate, can we skip pinching my face this time..."
"Come here." Hecate said flatly once more.
Thus, Jason had no choice but to step forward slowly and come before Hecate.
Then, just as Jason had already prepared himself mentally, Hecate did not pinch his face as she usually did. Instead, she reached out, pulled him into her embrace, and hugged the surprised Jason.
Holding Jason and resting her chin on his head, after a good while, Hecate said flatly, "Jason, you should know that I have no interest in this world or the gods of Olympus.
Even if the world is destroyed, I would at most glance at it twice.
Thus, whether the gods are destroyed or exist, I do not care... Do you understand what I mean?"
Jason was silent for a time, then gently nodded.
"I will not interfere with any of your choices. After all, I am only your teacher. The path you choose to walk is your own affair."
"I know what Typhon must have said to you before we left. You do not need to tell me; it is nothing more than words like she will not give up on you... Jason, you are my disciple. Even if you are a wayward disciple, you are still my disciple. Do you know that?"
"So, Teacher, I still hope... that you can be happy."
Hecate's words echoed in Jason's ears and heart.
"You should still remember our agreement... The agreement from our first meeting."
"I remember." Hearing this, Jason replied softly, "I still have to unconditionally fulfill one thing for Teacher..."
It was precisely because of that unconditional agreement that Jason was able to become Hecate's student.
"Then engrave it deeply in your heart... Because this is the only constraint I, as your teacher, have placed on you."