Upon learning that behind Colchis stood not only Helios but also the magic goddess Hecate, Jason felt a chilling numbness creep over his scalp.
Though they were the Argonaut heroes, and many among them were demigods, even they knew that gods were not to be trifled with.
In this world, the gods represented the ultimate power; even the weakest divinity was beyond what mortals could handle.
For instance, the goddesses with no combat prowess whatsoever, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa (in her goddess form), embodied the "ideal women."
Though they gained no fighting strength from their divine roles, they could still wield immense influence and sow chaos among mortals if they wished, while humans were utterly powerless against them.
And that was to say nothing of the far mightier gods.
Originally, Jason had dared to defy Helios's influence and come to Colchis for the Golden Fleece because Helios was merely the sun god of a bygone era, a faded deity, while Jason carried the oracle of the Olympian gods, giving him the confidence to proceed.
But Hecate was different.
Unlike Helios, who had lost his divine domain and seen his power diminished, Hecate held a clear divine portfolio, with strength rivaling that of the king of gods herself.
Such a being was far beyond what Jason could afford to provoke.
Yet the first trial had already concluded; they had defeated the goddess's creation, and the offense was already committed.
In other words, having come this far, Jason had no choice but to steel himself and press on.
If he backed out now to avoid antagonizing Hecate, not only would he have already offended her, but he wouldn't gain any favor from the Olympian gods either, after all, the quest for the Golden Fleece was backed by their oracle.
Jason even realized that trying to play both sides would only leave him scorned by all; better to commit fully to one path, no matter how dark.
The weak had no right to straddle the fence.
For now, Jason could only console himself with the thought that though Hecate was mighty, she might spare them out of deference to the Olympian gods.
But recalling the mages' arrogant demeanor when he had threatened them with divine retribution earlier, Jason couldn't shake a foreboding sense of dread.
...
The next day arrived, and the Argonaut heroes returned to the same location once more.
This time, they were to face the second trial: battling the Dragon Tooth Soldiers crafted from the teeth of Colchis's great dragon.
The spell to create Dragon Tooth Soldiers through dragon teeth actually had its origins in legend.
Cadmus was the son of Phoenician king Agenor and the brother of Europa.
After Zeus abducted Europa, King Agenor, heartbroken, urgently sent Cadmus and his other three sons, Phoenix, Cilix, and Phineus, to search for her, forbidding their return without their sister.
Cadmus arrived at Delphi, where the gods instructed him to cease his search and follow a cow he would encounter after leaving the temple, settling where the cow lay down.
Obeying the oracle, he reached Boeotia and built the Cadmeia fortress (which later grew into Thebes).
Before constructing the fortress, he was forced into battle with the giant dragon of the war god Ares and slew it.
Following Athena's advice, Cadmus pulled out its teeth and sowed them into the earth.
Under Athena's divine power, warriors sprang from the dragon teeth, these were the original Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
Then, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers began slaughtering one another until only five remained.
These five survivors aided Cadmus in building the Cadmeia fortress and became the ancestors of Thebes's noble houses.
The spell to create Dragon Tooth Soldiers was designed based on this divine miracle.
However, unlike Athena's Dragon Tooth Soldiers, the magically produced ones were essentially familiars made from actual dragon teeth.
By scattering the teeth upon the earth, they transformed into disposable foot soldiers infused with draconic mana and knowledge drawn from the land itself.
Though these Dragon Tooth Soldiers weren't as formidable as Athena's, they were still no match for ordinary people.
In fact, beyond this type made from genuine dragon teeth, there existed another variant: the "Pseudo-Dragon Tooth Soldiers," crafted based on the concept alone.
Such soldiers required only mana and sufficient materials to produce, with no need for actual dragon teeth at all.
These manufactured Dragon Tooth Soldiers weren't true warriors but a horde of "skeletal" fighters, their actual combat prowess no different from that of average humans, merely on par with standard mortal soldiers.
For powerful mages, the second type of Dragon Tooth Soldiers served as invaluable bodyguards and escorts, coveted magical tools that any mage would desire.
In peacetime, they could be stored compactly in tooth form, yet summoned instantly in battle, capable even of briefly contending with humanity's greatest heroes.
And now, what Jason and his companions faced were precisely these Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
A full hundred of them, arrayed in neat formations.
Unlike the skeletal appearance of the third-category soldiers, these possessed complete human forms, resembling genuine troops as they appeared before the Argonaut heroes.
At the sight of these Dragon Tooth Soldiers, the heroes let out collective sighs of relief.
"Thank goodness it's not some bizarre monster this time. If it's just these guys, they should be easy to handle, right?"
That was the prevailing thought among most of them.
Against certain mighty magical beasts, they might not stand a chance, but against these seemingly ordinary mortal foes... they had some confidence.
After all, though each hero was mighty, they were warriors and fighters at heart; they lacked the mages' spells to detect enemies, relying instead on an opponent's demeanor, posture, movements, and subtle cues to gauge strength.
Having just been brutalized by divine beasts like the "divine bulls" the day before, the Argonaut heroes harbored a pent-up fury in their hearts, one they were eager to unleash now.
And these Dragon Tooth Soldiers, whom they deemed "quite weak," naturally became their outlet for venting.
Through the deaths of these soldiers, they aimed to release their pent-up resentment and showcase the true valor befitting the Argonaut heroes.
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