Jason was genuinely quite caring toward Helen.
This surprised not only others but even Pegasus, Brother Horse himself.
Pegasus was undoubtedly the companion who had followed Jason the longest, so it naturally understood his character well.
In the past, Jason had repeated "laws of survival" every day, and Pegasus had heard them so often it could recite them by heart.
One of those rules was undoubtedly to stay far away from beautiful women.
The biggest victim of this rule had been Atalanta.
And Helen was unquestionably a beautiful woman.
Had Jason changed?
Certainly not.
But times were different now, and one could not apply the same standards.
The great hero whose name resounded throughout the current world, Jason clad in sacred white robes... Though he himself had not changed in the slightest, he no longer needed to live like a cornered rat, trembling in fear at everything like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.
Now capable of fighting even gods, he had secured his place in this world.
Even the current king of the gods on Olympus, Zeus, would have to weigh his options carefully if he wished to act against Jason at this moment.
He would have to consider Jason's own power and the "forces" behind him.
Even Jason's divine mother, the former second-generation queen of the gods Rhea, would almost certainly not allow Zeus to act recklessly against Jason now.
Thus, Jason naturally would not avoid Helen simply because she was very beautiful, as he once had with Atalanta and the others... Of course, without Hestia's oracle, Jason would not have actively sought contact with her either.
At the same time, this was the most important reason.
Helen was only eleven years old.
And because of the hardships she had endured, she had long lost the noble air and delicacy of a princess.
She seemed extraordinarily obedient and sensible.
Faced with such an adorable, understanding girl whose background could only be called tragic, Jason naturally felt an instinctive urge to care for her a little.
Still, the surprise of Pegasus and the others was understandable.
After all, in their eyes, Helen was a beautiful woman, not the cute little girl Jason saw...
...
Golden arrows shot from the golden bow sniped one after another, claiming the lives of the monstrous birds.
Though Helen could not see the moments of their deaths due to the extreme distance, it hardly mattered.
At this moment, she was witnessing with her own eyes and stepping into the story of a hero.
She beheld the hero in his most brilliant, dazzling instant.
"Hm, trying to escape?"
Jason, in the midst of sniping the monstrous birds, furrowed his brow slightly.
Below, as their companions suddenly fell one by one, the flock finally reacted. They let out shrill cries and scattered in all directions.
At Jason's words, Helen snapped back to reality.
Following his gaze downward, she saw tiny black specks flying out from the small island in every direction.
Pegasus whinnied softly, asking Jason.
"Chase them."
Jason answered without hesitation. "Brother Horse, you must have heard me say this: against one's enemies, one must never show the slightest mercy!"
As he spoke, Jason considered how to prevent them from scattering completely.
He soon had an idea and sat back down.
Turning to Helen, he reached out and pulled the still-unreacting girl into his arms in front of him.
"Helen, hold the reins tightly." Hearing the gentle voice beside her ear, Helen instinctively gripped Pegasus's reins.
"Brother Horse, charge straight into the flock and keep them here!" At his command, Pegasus did not hesitate. It became a shooting star and plunged downward.
When Pegasus carrying Jason and Helen appeared before the monstrous birds, the creatures that had been shrieking harshly suddenly stopped fleeing.
Seeing the golden bow in Jason's hand and realizing their companions had perished by his arrows, their eyes turned blood red.
Their cries changed in tone. The birds that had begun to flee turned back.
They sought to pierce Jason with their wings and stain them with his blood, to tear his flesh with their bronze beaks!
Helen, still somewhat dazed, watched the monstrous birds—each half as tall as a person, their bodies glinting with metallic chill—charge toward her. Her eyes widened instinctively.
Her small hands gripped the reins tightly.
Yet she did not let out the scream one might expect.
She bit her lip hard.
At this, Jason could not help glancing at her in mild surprise.
"Don't be afraid."
Then Jason smiled lightly. As he spoke gently to Helen,
When the flock reached them, a golden barrier suddenly enveloped and protected them, blocking the charging birds and their steel wings outside.
A golden shield stood in the sky above.
The Aegis.
The gift Athena had bestowed upon Jason: the hardest divine shield in the world, capable of withstanding even divine thunder!
"With me here, they won't hurt you."
Hearing Jason's soft words beside her ear, Helen instinctively turned back and looked up at him slightly.
Finally, she nodded gently.
The fear in her eyes truly began to fade little by little.
At the same moment, judging the timing right, Jason extended his right hand. A caduceus appeared in his grasp.
He tossed the caduceus into the ground. When it embedded itself, ghostly underworld butterflies flew out from it.
Then, with a soft sound, the magic engraved upon the caduceus activated under Jason's urging.
A dark magic circle appeared in the air above the ground, extending across the entire small island.
In Helen's shocked gaze, her purple eyes wide, in mere moments the world was rewritten by the magic inscribed by Jason's teacher Hecate, creator of magic.
The once-clear blue sky gradually became shrouded in darkness.
White spider lilies bloomed across the island's ground.
As the spider lilies appeared, more and more underworld butterflies emerged, circling around Pegasus.
The underworld domain... A grand-scale magic usable once per month.
The ultimate life-saving technique Goddess Hecate had granted Jason.
Hecate had truly poured great effort into creating this skill back then.
"Go."
Facing the approaching ghostly butterflies, Jason nodded to them.
"Leave none of them alive."
At his words, the butterflies scattered.
In Jason's stead, they pursued the monstrous birds scattered across the island.
At the same time, hearing the birds' piercing cries, Jason murmured softly, "Too noisy. The underworld...
Is a place of absolute silence."
In that instant, the birds' cries vanished completely.
They could no longer make a sound.
The area became unnaturally quiet.
"Down we go, Brother Horse."
Pegasus obeyed Jason's command unconditionally. It descended from the sky, landed on the ground, and crouched.
Now it was time for the hunt.
"Helen, can you stay obediently on Pegasus and not wander off?"
Jason asked her.
Helen nodded, looking at him.
"Good."
Jason smiled and patted her head.
"When today is over, I'll make you something delicious. It's a dessert that even Lady Artemis and Teacher Hephaestus love."
With that, Jason stepped down from Pegasus.
He put away the golden bow... Because the underworld domain had blocked the sunlight, the bow given by the god of light Apollo had lost its arrows.
Though Jason had practiced in ordinary times, he could not yet fully master it or steadily fire arrows capable of absorbing life force.
Thus he stepped out from the protection of the Aegis and drew the god-slaying sword at his side.
Helen watched this scene.
She watched Jason step beyond the shield's protection and draw his sword to face the flock.
"Helen, aren't you afraid?"
At that moment, a pleasant female voice suddenly sounded from within her chest.
Startled, she looked down instinctively.
Hestia's messenger, the beautiful little bird, had hidden itself there at some point.
"If something happens to him, we're in big trouble!"
The bird had barely finished speaking when Pegasus let out two displeased whinnies.
The bird fell silent.
Its fear was quite normal, after all.
Helen thought for a moment about the bird's words.
"Afraid."
She answered honestly... Because over the past few days, Helen had heard Jason say one must not lie.
"But also not afraid."
Before the bird or Pegasus could respond, Helen looked up again at Jason's departing back and murmured softly, "Because... it's very safe.
In fact... I think it's wonderful."
"Wonderful?" The bird looked at Helen in confusion and puzzlement.
"Yes... Meeting him is wonderful."
As she spoke, a smile gradually bloomed on Helen's face.
That smile was extraordinarily dazzling: utterly pure yet alluring to the heart. After all... she was the woman acknowledged as the most beautiful in the world.
Even though she was only eleven years old at this moment.
However...
"Chirp chirp!"
Pegasus called twice again, somewhat dumbfounded.
Hearing this, Helen looked at the bird in puzzlement.
"It says those words sound very familiar."
The bird translated. "It says Medea and Atalanta and the others have said similar things."
"Medea... Atalanta?"
Helen blinked lightly.
Jason naturally knew nothing of their conversation.
At this time, he was strolling within the boundary, along the path of blooming spider lilies.
Above him, the silenced monstrous birds, gripped once more by fear, were bound in the sky, unable to move.
Though Jason had not asked for help, how could they not offer it?
After all, this place was now the domain of the underworld.
Jason looked at the bound birds before him—unable to speak or move—and found it somewhat amusing.
As he took a step forward, he suddenly found himself floating.
He blinked, took another step, and floated a little higher.
At this, Jason could only feel a trace of helplessness.
He thought he had grown at least a little taller, after all.
"Thank you."
Then, with a helpless light laugh, Jason could only whisper this.
Since they made no sound, even if he roughly knew who was helping him, Jason could only pretend not to notice.
Thus, the moment Jason's thanks fell,
The earth trembled slightly.
Thorns rose from the ground, binding the scattered birds and dragging them toward him.
The dispersed underworld butterflies returned as well, circling around Jason.
Seeing this, Jason could only walk upon the empty steps formed by the dancing butterflies.
Holding the god-slaying sword, he slowly approached the birds that could neither flee nor scream.
He carried out the inevitable slaughter blessed by the gods' favor.
Some time passed—not too long.
The sky that had been shrouded in darkness suddenly cleared.
The boundary vanished. Under Helen's instinctive upward gaze,
Before her lay the corpses of monstrous birds everywhere.
And Jason stood among them.
The birds' blood stained the island's ground.
Yet Jason, standing within, remained untouched by even a drop.
He held his sacred sharp sword, his white robes like snow, forming a stark contrast with his surroundings.
Under the sunlight now streaming directly down,
Even the little bird hiding in Helen's chest fell completely still at this scene.
"Hm?"
Sensing the gaze, Jason turned his head toward Helen. When their eyes met, a smile appeared on his face.
Then he lightly stamped the ground. The earth stained with bird blood gradually turned green with life under Jason's power.
He was now a demigod, bearing the blood of one of the twelve Olympian gods: Demeter, goddess of agriculture.
"What are you looking at? Hurry and close your eyes."
Jason then came before Helen and the others. The Aegis returned into his white robes.
Hearing his words, Helen looked at him in puzzlement.
Jason stood in front of her. "You can't look at these scenes. You're just a child... Close your eyes, understand?"
Helen blinked, then obediently closed her eyes.
Yet perhaps because they were closed, Helen found her senses unusually sharp at this moment. And... her heartbeat was so loud.
As though it wanted to leap out.
Was it because the scene before her was too bloody and violent?
Or because witnessing it all was too thrilling?
Or... simply because he was far too dazzling?
Or perhaps some other reason?
Helen did not know. She only knew her heart was pounding fiercely now.
Her mind was filled entirely with Jason's face and the gentle smile he had shown.
Heroes are not all bad people...
At least he absolutely is not!
Being still quite young and thus very innocent, Helen finally reached this conclusion in her heart.
Meeting him was the greatest fortune.
Helen began to sincerely thank Goddess Hestia from the bottom of her heart, thanking her for the oracle she had granted.
For bestowing upon her this fortune.
And also for this very special fortune.