The Minotaur, also known as Asterion, meaning the monster named after lightning.
He is the monster that exists within the labyrinth of Minos, one of the four great labyrinths of the world.
His birth originated from the curse of Sea Emperor Poseidon.
This matter involves a person named Minos, who was the king of Crete Island, and he had an extraordinarily beautiful wife named Pasiphaë.
The story's origin is not complicated. With the help of Sea God Poseidon, Minos ascended to the throne and became the king of Crete.
Thus, he promised to offer the highest gift to Poseidon, but he felt that there was no animal in his territory worthy of offering to this great god. Therefore, he told Poseidon that he would offer the first animal to appear from the sea as a sacrifice to him.
Poseidon was deeply moved by this and specially made a beautiful white bull emerge from the waves, waiting for Minos's sacrifice.
For the great Sea Emperor Poseidon, what kind of tribute he received was not important. Even if the tribute was one he provided himself, all he needed was the glory of being worshiped by this king.
But unexpectedly, Minos took a liking to the white bull at first sight and loved it so much that he could not bear to offer it to Poseidon.
So he secretly hid it among his own herd of cattle and substituted an ordinary bull for the sacrifice, attempting to deceive him.
This naturally enraged Poseidon. To punish this insolent human, Poseidon granted the white bull divine power, made it go mad, and let it wreak havoc across Crete Island, where no one could stop it.
At the same time, he made it mate with Minos's beautiful wife Pasiphaë, thereby giving birth to the half-human, half-bull monster, the Minotaur!
Of course, there is another version of this story.
That is, the one who actually mated with this beautiful wife was not the bull, but Poseidon disguised as a bull.
Because the monster born, the Minotaur, possessed extremely terrifying power. After all, at his core, he was actually a demigod!
The white bull empowered by Poseidon's divine power had immense destructive capabilities, and no one could stop it until the arrival of the great hero Heracles, who subdued it.
This was also the trial concerning the bull among the great hero Heracles's twelve labors.
At the same time, having caused such a great scandal, King Minos, though he felt pain and regret about it, ultimately could not kill the Minotaur. So he had people construct a massive labyrinth.
He intended to permanently seal everything related to this scandal, along with the Minotaur, within the labyrinth.
As for why this matter also involved the hero Theseus, it was because Athens had once been at war with Crete.
To appease King Minos's anger, Athens had to send seven pairs of young boys and girls to Crete every year, and Minos would throw them into the labyrinth to be killed by the monster.
As the soon-to-be successor to the throne of Athens and as a hero, Theseus naturally stepped forward.
...
...
"So that is how it is."
When Jason brought Theseus, along with the black-haired, red-eyed little loli in a black dress, Cerberus, to the human world.
Theseus also told Jason the whole story, including the matter of the bull-headed monster Minotaur.
Jason nodded while looking at Cerberus... Jason found that bringing Cerberus was actually quite good because with her around, he did not need to ponder the truthfulness of others' words. She was the best lie detector!
And what Jason needed to pay was just a few honey cakes to settle it.
Most importantly, if there was nothing going on, he could even pat her head. This was the loli version of Hecate!
After getting Cerberus's confirmation, Jason could not help but fall into thought.
Actually, Jason was not very clear about Theseus's story, but he did know about the bull-headed Minotaur and the labyrinth of Minos.
Because it was a very famous story, with secondary creations appearing in various games and videos. The way to navigate the labyrinth was also simple: tie a rope outside and walk in with it.
By rights, this matter should have nothing to do with Atalanta. Now that it was connected, it was obviously because of Jason again. If it were not for her, Atalanta would not have gone to challenge the task of pushing the boulder to the mountaintop.
"I understand, Senior Brother Theseus. You go back first..."
"Do you not need me to go with you?" Theseus asked in puzzlement. He still wanted to make up for the mistake he had just made through this incident.
"No need... I do not want to make too much of a commotion. I just want to go in and bring out Atalanta. Senior brother, you have been tired lately too. Go back and rest well."
Jason smiled at Theseus, but compared to three years ago... this smile was obviously much more distant.
Although the fault was not entirely Theseus's, and Theseus truly had no intention of doing anything to Queen Persephone, Theseus clearly bore some responsibility.
Back then, Jason had approached him with his own little schemes, and now Jason had brought him out of the underworld, which could be considered making up for those schemes. He also thanked him for coming to tell him about Atalanta.
Theseus sensed Jason's estrangement toward him, which made his expression somewhat dim. But he knew this was indeed his own fault. Jason giving him the invitation was a sign of trust, and Persephone was also his sister...
Therefore, Theseus ultimately left in a somewhat dazed and dejected manner.
After Theseus left, Jason turned his gaze to Cerberus and smiled at her, saying, "How does it feel?"
"...A bit unaccustomed." As Cerberus frowned and spoke, she leaned closer to Jason's side.
"The sunlight is a bit too glaring for me..."
Upon hearing this, Jason ruffled her hair. "Then, are you happy?"
Cerberus looked at Jason, then at the bright world before her, her nose twitching slightly as she sniffed the scents brought by the grass, flowers, and leaves.
After a long while, she nodded lightly. "Mm, it is alright."
As she spoke, a smile appeared on Cerberus's face.
Clearly, she was actually very happy... It was just that because she had just left the underworld, she was somewhat unaccustomed to everything before her, which made her keep holding onto the corner of Jason's clothes without letting go.
"I see... Right, Cerberus, do you still remember our agreement?"
As Jason spoke, his eyes lit up slightly as he looked at Cerberus.
"Agreement?" Cerberus was stunned for a moment and tilted her head in thought for a while.
Then, she showed a look of realization...
Thus, after some time, Cerberus, who had changed clothes, walked out from the bushes and came before Jason.
Instantly, Jason's eyes lit up!
"You actually prepared it in advance... Anyway, these clothes are really hard to put on. Ten honey cakes a day, remember!"
Waving her small fists, Cerberus, dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit, bared her little tiger teeth at Jason.
It was a pity that even the heavenly horse watching nearby felt that it was not intimidating at all.
"No problem, no problem!"
Jason excitedly circled around Cerberus, looking at this mini Hecate dressed in a maid outfit and black stockings.
The expression on his face at this moment was one of utter satisfaction!
"Ah, what a pity there is no camera. Otherwise, I would definitely take a photo! ... Oh, right, speaking of cameras, if I explain the principle to Teacher Hephaestus, he should be able to make one, right?"
"Camera?" Cerberus blinked her eyes. "What is that?"
"It is a tool for capturing happy moments... Right, I should have prepared cameras at the wedding. I have been too busy and forgot!"
Jason patted his own head, then muttered, "It is fine, it is fine. Anyway, Sister Persephone and Brother-in-law Hades do not know... Mm, if I do not say it, no one will know!"
As he spoke, Jason looked at the adorable Cerberus before him and could not resist reaching out to pinch her cheek. Just as he pinched it, she bit his hand in retaliation!
"I say, have you truly forgotten who I am? I am the great hellhound of the underworld, Cer..."
Cerberus's words, with her eyes wide open, were not finished before Jason pulled his hand back and directly stuffed a honey cake into her mouth.
Thus, Cerberus stopped talking, and Jason happily pinched her little cheeks...
"Mm, I say, little master, this scene... why does it feel strangely familiar to me?" The heavenly horse looked at Jason somewhat oddly.
"Familiar? ...How could it be? You are overthinking it."
As Jason spoke, he casually took out a piece of bluegrass cake and tossed it to the heavenly horse.
The heavenly horse jumped up nimbly and caught it...
Thus, carrying the fierce hellhound of the underworld in his arms and riding the holy heavenly horse, Jason headed toward the labyrinth of Minos.
Three honey cakes to let Jason hold her... It had to be said that Cerberus's happiness was truly quite inexpensive.
"Right, Jason."
"Hm?" Holding the soft little doggy and little loli in his arms, Jason replied to her leisurely.
"This outfit for maids, it is no problem for me to wear it, but you should not even think about making Goddess Hecate wear it too."
"...W-what are you talking about?" Jason's smile stiffened slightly at this moment.
"You think I am stupid, huh... Anyway, have you really forgotten? I have three heads!"
Upon hearing this, Jason's eyes widened slightly. Clearly, he had indeed forgotten.
That was right. Cerberus knew Jason's little scheme because among her three heads, one was quite clever.
But what did it matter?
Because all three heads liked to eat honey cakes.
In the legends about Cerberus, people entering the underworld bribed them with a honey cake, making her three heads fight over it, thus allowing them to sneak into the underworld.
"Um, I truly never thought about making Teacher Hecate wear these clothes..."
"I smell the scent of a lie... And you did not even dare to let me wear this in the underworld. You still say you did not think that!"
"...Fine, how many honey cakes to keep your mouth shut!"
In the end, Jason surrendered.