A promise

When Bai Mo took flight, Dahai revealed his furious side. Poseidon was unwilling to let Medea go. Jason had the protection of the Golden Fleece and was difficult to touch, but Medea was different. She had to meet a tragic end, or the people's faith in Hera would not be easily shaken.

People had to revere the gods, but also fear them. As outsiders, this was something they refused to relinquish. If the strong could not toy with the fates of the weak, could not turn the world into their ideal, then what was the point of being strong?

It was precisely because these people existed that there were gods. Otherwise, they were nothing but a pack of homeless dogs. They had lost the rational thought of machines and gained humanity, but evil had emerged alongside that change.

Zeus was no different. By now, he was incomparably powerful, stronger than all the other gods of Olympus combined, yet Cronus's curse still hung over his head like the sword of Damocles.

That was why he needed anyone who would not submit to and fear the gods to be punished, regardless of justice. People had to fear them, so Medea's best possible ending was to drown in this sea. This was her destined fate.

A towering, mountainlike wave crashed toward them with terrifying pressure. Any captain would have despaired before it. The next moment, the enormous wave split down the middle. Like an eagle spreading its wings to battle a storm, Bai Mo flew through the wave, undeterred by wind and rain.

"Is this... Auntie's Garment of the Hawk?"

Medea asked in surprise. She had never expected something like this to have happened while Bai Mo was gone. For a moment, her eyes dimmed. While she was trapped by love, had her aunt found a lover?

"Bai Ermo, did my aunt..."

"I made her a promise to bring you home. I don't know how much strength you have left, but try not to speak. This journey is dangerous."

Bai Mo stopped Medea from saying any more. Her current condition was no joke. In this aged state, the slightest mishap could kill her.

Then Bai Mo's brows twisted into a tight knot. Something was wrong with Dahai.

Bai Mo kept flying upward, higher and higher, but rather than shrinking, the waves only grew larger. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen Dahai bulging upward like a mountain, utterly beyond human imagination.

Even worse was the wind. Countless tornadoes howled. Once caught in one, even Bai Mo, with his power, would have to expend considerable effort, and he still had to spare strength to protect Medea.

"Ugh, this is deadly. Medea, don't speak now. If you can use any True Magic to determine our direction, do it now. Leave everything else to me."

Bai Mo's words gave hope to Medea, who had already despaired. In truth, when the leaden arrow pierced her body, she had been ready to give up. She had never imagined that Bai Mo would go this far for her.

Medea's eyes filled with gratitude and worry, but she said nothing more. Saying something like "leave me behind" now would insult Bai Mo's resolve. All she could do was try her hardest to do what she could.

A tiny light appeared above Bai Mo's head, then guided his way.

Gales howled, rain poured down, and the sea god's roars echoed between heaven and earth. Dahai raged with incomparable violence, while tornado after tornado lunged like bloodthirsty beasts, seeking to tear them apart.

Yet there was an eagle within the storm, whose wings would not break before the tempest, who would not fear a god's wrath. He flew onward without hesitation. Between heaven and earth, there seemed to be only that lone figure, resisting, charging.

Suddenly, a bone spike shot toward Bai Mo like an arrow. He dodged it easily and glanced sideways at a hideously ugly sea monster covered in those spikes. It was probably another of Poseidon's monstrous offspring.

An attack like that could never touch Bai Mo, so he paid it no mind. But the next moment, his heart grew heavy again. So many. So very many. How was this possible?

The ocean, the birthplace of life, had nurtured countless lives. Dahai was unfathomably deep, and the creatures within it were beyond counting. Now, they answered their father, responding to the sea god's call to kill this fledgling eagle who did not know his limits.

"No, I can't stay in the sky. The attacks are too dense. I might not be able to protect Medea. I have to use those sea monsters' bodies as cover."

Bai Mo immediately plunged straight down, using Electric Current Push to hold Medea against him. Then, like heavenly light breaking through the clouds, he moved like an owl hunting its prey-swift, precise, ruthless. With a single blow, he severed the serpentine sea monster beneath his feet at its vital point.

Astonishment still flickered in the sea monster's eyes. It had not even had time to react.

With a swish, Bai Mo moved like lightning, killing two more sea monsters in an instant. The blade blank had no edge, but the electric current wrapped around it let it slice through iron like mud. All the while, he darted up and down, dodging attacks from every direction.

"There really is something wrong here. I can tell it's the same lightning as Zeus's, but this brat uses it completely differently. He uses that power to propel his body and kill his enemies? It does suit such feeble power. Let's watch a little longer. This level of strength hardly warrants Athena taking risks for him."

Poseidon murmured in the sea. Athena, too, remained among the clouds. Both watched the man before them, each harboring their own schemes.

Athena's gaze sharpened in the sky, and Bai Mo once again felt a cool sensation surge into his brain.

Reason. Absolute reason appeared again. What stupidity am I committing now? Shouldn't I abandon Medea? Yes, I've done my best. I've done right by Circe. It's time to let go. Continuing like this won't get me anywhere.

Facing the endless army of sea monsters, Bai Mo stopped moving at high speed.

Medea seemed to sense something. She looked at Bai Mo, but there was not the slightest ripple in her eyes. She had already been through too much. In the end, the gods' power was something humans could not resist.

"Enough, Bai Ermo. Let me go. You've already done enough. I won't resent you. Please go back and tell my family I'm sorry."

The wind kept blowing, carrying a chill that pierced Medea's body.

Yet the next moment, Bai Mo did not do as Athena expected. He merely paused for a moment, as though catching his breath, then spread his wings and flew on.

"What?" Athena was astonished-astonished that her power had actually failed!

Reason? What fucking reason? To hell with it all. Emotion and reason had always been central to human thought. They were like the two aspects of taiji, but there was something that could influence them.

Conviction. A conviction cultivated from childhood. Once someone had settled on their life, understood themselves, and would never betray themselves, that conviction would influence both emotion and reason.

In this life, I'll live as I choose. I carry my promise to Circe. Medea's life is in my hands right now. And there's the system that gave me another life. He still needs me to accomplish things. These are all people I cannot betray.

Of course, there's someone even more important: myself. Whether it's hypocrisy or not knowing my limits, so what if people see me as a madman or an idiot? I can disregard anyone, but I cannot disregard myself. If I keep lowering even my own bottom line, then this so-called second life of Bai Mo's is a complete failure!

With Medea on his back and his wings folded away, Bai Mo fearlessly charged again and again.

His body gradually began to give out. His arms ached terribly, and his vision blurred. Bai Mo gritted his teeth once more and held the blade blank in a death grip.

He had been fighting for nearly three hours. Time flew by, and neither Poseidon nor Hera, nor even Athena, could help finding it unbelievable.

"He can still keep going?"

Hera could not help asking. The sea god was moved. By now, the sea monsters' blood had dyed this stretch of sea scarlet, and floating corpses piled up like mountains. Poseidon's expression had gone from its initial disdain to holding not a trace of contempt.

Of them all, only Athena did not find it too strange. Yes, that man ought to be this strong. Just as she had thought, she had not been wrong.

As an enormous sea monster's body fell like a collapsing mountain, the blockade of countless sea monsters was finally broken. The Wings of the Hawk appeared behind Bai Mo again, and he soared once more. Not far away, the fleet of Colchis was already visible.

Tears spilled from Medea's eyes. Family. When someone lost their youth, their wealth, and their love, only familial love would not abandon them. Those born with it often could not cast it away; those born without it often struggled to obtain it.

"An interesting brat. All the more reason not to let you go back!"

Poseidon rose from the sea. His golden trident blazed with light too brilliant to look at, and the next moment, Dahai answered Poseidon again.

Aboard the fleet of Colchis, Aeëtes stared at the terrifying scene in disbelief. First, Dahai had risen, as though becoming an arena prepared specifically for the gods. Then tornadoes had rampaged, and sea monsters had surged forth like an army. Now, someone had actually fought his way out of those impossible barriers.

How was this possible? Aeëtes immediately raised his telescope. He saw him—a man with wings on his back and an enormous blade blank in his hand, his gaze like lightning, his feet treading on sea monster corpses as he escaped Dahai's grasp.

Bai Ermo!? It was actually him?

Even as Aeëtes marveled, he saw the person on Bai Mo's back.

The next moment, the telescope fell. He did not recognize that face, but... but as a father, he could feel with absolute certainty that she was his daughter.

It would have been a lie to say Aeëtes felt no anger toward Medea. Although he knew it was the love god's curse, Medea's betrayal still left him sad and angry.

But seeing Medea like this, he could no longer sustain any anger. All he felt was pain, a father's heartache.

"Quick, prepare the boats! Bring Bai Ermo and my daughter back!"

Aeëtes roared. Several fast boats immediately set out, but the next moment, Dahai seemed to turn into a giant beast. Whirlpools swept toward them like shoals of fish, opening their mouths and swallowing those fast boats.

"Poseidon? Why!"

Aeëtes let out a low, defiant roar, his teeth clenched. Dahai began to truly take the form of mountain ranges, surrounding Bai Mo in layer upon layer. Bai Mo tried to fly out, but the enormous waves were a step faster. Then he and Medea were trapped within. He tried to spread his wings and fly, but the next moment, Poseidon emerged from the ocean.