Chapter 14
Betrayed , Abandoned
Witnessing the Queen of Helheim's latest transformation , Pandora and Göll gaped at the impressive sight in front of them , " A-AMAZING ! Pandora cried , " The Queen of Helheim is capable of using her deceased brother's soul as a weapon ? That something ELSE entirely ! "
Hera who was beside her growled angrily as she bit her thumbnail in frustration , " DAMMIT ! I knew that Hel was a cunning one and possessed mastery over cryomancy . But I never knew she held THIS sort of crazy ability ! FUCK ! FUCK ! FUCK ! There's NO way I'm letting that filthy Sun God and his representative screw me over like that ! "
Prometheus sighed , " I told you not to underestimate Hel didn't I Lady Hera ? But regardless , let us all not lose hope so quickly , I can tell from the fire in Jason's eyes and the venom in his voice that he is NOWHERE near finished yet . "
" But Hel powers are INSANE ! Her previous form sent Jason running for the hills for a good chunk of their battle , and now she's taken on a new form which she claims is even MORE powerful than the last ! I know you guys call Jason the God Butcher , but he doesn't seem to be able to match the strength of a Chief God ! " Pandora replied frantically , whilst Göll patted the top of her head , trying to calm the poor girl down .
" Pandora's right Prometheus ! " The Valkyrie added , " It doesn't matter if Jason has been able to take down gods before , nor how determined he is ! The first Raganrok proved that humans are MORE than capable of beating the gods when armed with the right equipment . But against a Chief God like HEL ? Even if she is inexperienced as you say , her powers are STILL way out of Jason's league ! He's WAY too cocky , WAY too reckless and WAY too hateful ! "
At this , Hera began cackling crazily as she turned to face Göll with a maniacal grin , " Foolish Valkyrie , you think Jason was given the title of God Butcher after felling some D list Gods ? You INSULT me Göll . All those qualities you have listed are PRECISELY why Jason is a perfect candidate to kill a god , EVEN a Chief God ! As he was back then , and as he is NOW ! "
Seeing the insane look on the Queen of Olympus' face , both Göll and Pandora instinctively backed away , hiding behind Prometheus' legs who stepped forward towards Hera with a hard stare , indicating that she should calm down .
" Hera , I think it would be best for ALL of us to calm down and continue watching the match in peace , so let's all do that shall we ? " The Titan spoke as politely as he could , but the Queen of Olympus could sense the firmness in his voice which advised her to return her attention to the battlefield without further complications with a huff .
" Don't be too alarmed , Lady Hera gets a tad bit riled up when things don't go exactly as she foresaw . Best to leave her alone for the moment and let her temper subside , eh ? " Prometheus said to his two companions as he led them to a corner of the room , out of the earshots of a seething Hera .
" But Prometheus ! " Göll whispered back , " How can you be so certain we still have a fighting chance ? Jason MAY have been selected by Hera himself , and he MAY be insanely bloodthirsty , but he can't compare to the true might of a Chief God ! "
Prometheus shook his head slightly , " That's where you are wrong Göll , Jason has proven himself MORE than able to match against and defeat a Chief God … After all , of the 6 gods that he murdered back in the day , three of them were ARCHANGELS . "
As soon as the Titan said this , Göll's jaws dropped and her eyes widened , and so did Pandora's . In the Heavens there were 4 Archangels who governed the Hebrew Pantheon together , Micheal , Raphael , Gabriel and Uriel . Though they were not officially recognised by the others , these four's powers and authority rivaled that of the Chief Gods , but unlike the other gods , they used their holy powers to protect and guide humanity through their darkest hours . Safeguarding them from evils and temptation , so if Jason had truly been able to not only defeat but kill three of them …
Göll now looked at the God Butcher in the arena below with a renewed sense of fear and awe , " Y-you CAN'T be serious Prometheus ! " She whimpered , " You're saying that guy managed to kill THREE of the four Archangels ? That CAN'T be true ! Theres NO way Brother Michael , Raphael , Uriel and Sister Gabriel would lose to that guy ! " Göl , you see , had a close relationship with the 4 Archangels . As both the Valkyries and Archangels had the common desire to help mankind , and as such , both groups would regularly interact with each other , forming a close bond between them .
" No , no , " Prometheus said , reassuring the panicking Göll , " The CURRENT four Archangels are still well and alive , but long ago , the Heavens knew not of JUST four Archangels who led the Hebrew pantheon and safeguarded humanity , but SEVEN of them . Michael , Raphael , Gabriel , Uriel , Camael , Jophiel and Zadkiel . "
" W-wait , really ? " Göll gaped in awe at this revelation , " B-but , then why have I never heard of this before ? Sister Brunhilde NEVER said anything about there originally being 7 Archangels , nor have I heard anyone else mention about the subject . You don't mean to say that after Jason killed those three Archangels , their names were lost to time ? "
Prometheus nodded , " Correct , when the Chief Gods saw that Jason was capable of slaying three regular gods with just one weapon , they sent Camael , Jophiel and Zadkiel to subdue him , confident that the three of them would be more than enough to stop the God Butcher's rampage . But to their horror and shock , Jason's pure undiluted hatred for the gods was strong enough to best EVEN three Archangels and they were slain by his hand as well . "
Göll cupped her hands over her mouth , and Pandora just stared openmouthed at Prometheus as he continued his tale , " However , the three Archangel's efforts were not in vain , and their fight had managed to weaken the God Butcher to an extent that the Chief Gods were able to capture and imprison Jason in Tartarus , where he could never harm another living being ever again , until now . "
" But , then why were their names forgotten ? Why aren't they remembered as the heroes who gave their lives to end the God Butcher's murderous rampage ? IN FACT , why doesn't most of Heaven know of the occurrence of these events ? " Göll questioned , " When Heimdall was introducing the fighters , many of the gods and humans didn't even know of Jason's existence or what he had done . "
Her question was met with the high piercing laugh of Hera , who evidently had been listening in on to their conversation from where she stood , " Oh Göll , don't you already KNOW us gods by now ? You should know EXACTLY why there was ABSOLUTELY zero mention of Jason's exploits in the records . " The Queen of Olympus sneered .
" W-what do you mean ? " Göll nervously replied , still frightened by Hera's previous outburst .
" The reason why MOST of heaven has no clue on who Jason is , or what he has done , is because as SOON as they had managed to subdue him , my husband and his fellow colleagues chose to REMOVE all mention of Jason's deeds and his victims from the record . Don't forget , the VERY IDEA of a human being able to defeat , much less KILL a god was absurd back then . So when Jason came along and murdered six gods , three of which on the level of a CHIEF GOD , it was a MOST shameful affair for us high and mighty gods . And so the Chief Gods of the various pantheons chose to strike Jason's name as well as his victim's of the record , forcing those who knew even the slightest bit about the case to an oath of secrecy . Slowly but surely , the common masses of Heaven eventually forgot the whole fiasco and of those who were involved in it , and those who retained some memories of the events , wrote it off as mere urban legends . Safeguarding the reputation of us gods . "
There was a silence in the room as Pandora and Göll soaked in this morbid information , before Pandora broke the silence , whispering in a soft and fearful voice , " S-so Jason REALLY is bloodthirsty and vengeful enough to be capable of killing even a Chief God ? "
The Queen of Olympus and the Titan of Fire simply nodded their heads in unison to her question , before it was silently agreed upon by all in the room to not further discuss this dark matter , and they all returned their attention to the battle below .
Back on the battlefield , both combatants were locked in combat once more as the audience cheered loudly for their respective fighter , while Heimdall struggled to make his commentary heard through the roar of the crowd , " And both fighters have engaged in melee ONCE AGAIN ! Jason has just activated another boon granting him the strength of Ares ! While Hel has taken on a WHOLE new appearance , equipped with fur , fangs and CLAWS ! And check OUT her left side ! The Queen of Helheim's new form appears to have replaced her hand with the head of a VICIOUS WOLF ! Talk about having a STRONG southpaw ! "
Jason originally assumed that without Hel's long snaking tail arm , he could push the battle to his advantage once more with his barrage of vicious attacks . However , the God Butcher found that Hel's new form did not just grant her a strange new appendage and looks . While her Midgard Serpent form provided her with a strong protection behind her tough green scales , and a way for her to engage and capture her opponent from a distance . Hel's Insatiable Wolf form now granted her increased speed , strength and senses , the Queen of Helheim now could keep up with Jason's attacks and pace with relative ease , blocking and dodging his attacks while returning some of her own .
It also didn't help that every time the God Butcher tried moving behind Hel and flanking her , the wolf head on the Queen of Helheim's left arm , whom she had affectionately named Fenris in honour of her deceased brother , would let out a loud bark as a warning to its mistress . Helping her to quickly react and counter his attacks , deterring Jason the opportunity to properly wound Hel . "
Growling in frustration as he barely dodged a swing of Hel's halberd which chopped off a few locks of his hair , Jason could feel the effects of his boon slowly fading away as his boon timed out . Without the strength of Ares on his side , the God Butcher was no match for Hel's new form , as another string swing of the Queen of Helheim's halberd connected with his side , sending him tumbling to the ground .
Cursing , Jason quickly rolled out of the way once more as Hel brought the head of her halberd down on where he once laid with a mighty " THUD ! " Getting to his feet once more , the God Butcher activated the Speed of Hermes , using the boon to increase his speed and momentum as he began to run circles around the Queen of Helheim , soon he was a dizzy blur to both Hel and the audience .
Eyeing the blurry circle that now raced around her , Hel moved her head from left to right , trying to gauge exactly where Jason would strike from next , Fenris did the same , growling as it sniffed the air trying to find the God Butcher's scent to no avail .
Suddenly , Hel's new wolf-like ears twitched and oh so slightly pointed to her right , Fenris too suddenly perked up and turned its head to the same general direction , snarling fiercely . Hel grinned , she had found her prey .
Suddenly , Jason seemed to suddenly appear from out of the circle , rushing straight towards the Queen of Helheim with his right fist raised , preparing to unleash a devastating blow to her head . However , instead of ambushing a confused and disorientated Hel , the God Butcher now found himself charging straight at Hel who was directly facing towards him , looking him dead in the eye as he made his way towards her .
Jason's eyes widened in shock , he couldn't believe that the Queen of Helheim was able to keep up with his speed ! The God Butcher's shock turned to dread as Hel lifted up her left arm , the wolf head at the end was snarling and snapping at him ferociously whilst it writhed and convulsed vigorously , it's fur beginning to stand up on the end as its eyes glowing blue as drool and smoke of the same color began pouring out between its fangs . It almost seemed like it was …. Charging up for an attack !
At this sudden realization , Jason's entire body screamed at him to swerve and dodge the attack , but the God Butcher knew at the speed he was going , that would be immensely difficult , especially with how close he already was to his target . Nevertheless , he knew he had to try , and it was a good thing that he did too .
As soon as he forced his body to swerve out of the way , away from its intended trajectory , a blinding beam of blue light burst from within Fenris' open maw , the ray blazing straight towards his original position at top speed . Though Jason had moved out just enough of the way of Hel's attack to not get blasted point blank in the face , the God Butcher suddenly felt a searing pain on the right side of his body . Glancing down at where the pain was coming from , Jason found that the beam of blue light had indeed managed to strike him after all , as there now was a good chunk of his right shoulder that was now missing , leaving behind a large bloody wound . As Jason finally managed to stumble to a stop and collapse to the floor , clutching his new wounds and gritting his teeth in pain , he heard a loud , " BOOM ! " from behind him .
Turning around revealed that the beam of light had collided with a massive ice spike behind him and Hel after missing its original target , and the results were devastating . That one single beam had caused the entire ice spike to collapse and explode into billions of tiny little ice fragments that rained down upon the arena in a massive cascade , with some even landing in between the screaming audience members in the rows closest to the battlefield .
In the VIP section of the gods , Huitzilopochtli hooted with laughter , " WHOA HO HO HO ! DAMN ! That's a lot of damage right there ! And you thought she was running like a coward , Amy ! " The Aztec God said to Amaterasu who was standing next to him open-mouthed at the immense display of power Hel had just demonstrated to them all .
" W-what on EARTH did Hel just do ? The amount of power she must have behind that move is INSANE ! And its destructive capabilities are … are ….. W-what WAS that attack , mother ? " The Shinto Goddess yelled in disbelief towards Izanami , who was giddily giving a round of applause to the Queen of Helheim below for her impressive attack while laughing with delight .
" Fufufufufu ! My OH my ! She FINALLY pulled that little trick out , a good thing TOO ! I was beginning to get worried for a moment there ! " The Underworld Lord giggled dizzily .
" Mother ! " Amaterasu grumbled in an exasperated tone , frustrated at Izanami ignoring her question as well as her seemingly fangirling behavior .
" OH ! So sorry my dear ! " Izanami said as she realized her daughter was speaking to her , " I got a little bit carried away there after seeing Hel's little attack . What was it you said to me again ? "
" Your daughter was inquiring about the nature of Hel's recent attack , and frankly , I too wish to know what the Queen of Helheim just pulled off that nearly took the God Butcher's life . '' Ra replied in a tone that seemed to suggest that he was anything but interested , but one could never tell with the Sun God .
Izanami chuckled , " Oh ! Well you see , Hel's brother Fenrir , the might wolf who scared even the great god Odin himself , was said to possess a mighty howl that could send even the STRONGEST , most heaviest gods flying to the floor , Hel said he like to call it his ' Power Roar ' if you will . Isn't that cute ? " The Underworld Lord said this as though she were talking about a puppy dog and not the beast that had managed to kill a god in a single blow .
" MOTHER ! " Amaterasu said once more in an exasperated tone .
" Yes , yes , I'm getting there sweetie ! Don't need to rush me ! " Izanami said , as she giggled at her daughter's impatience ,
" Anyway , when Hel learnt to use the forms given to her by her deceased brother's souls , over the course of many decades , through arduous one on one training with Hades HIMSELF , she somehow managed to mold Fenrir's Power Roar from a simple attack that would simply just sweep her opponents off their feets . " The Underworld Lord now wore a sadistic grin spread wide across her face that terrified both Huitzilopochtli and Amaterasu .
" To a DEADLY BEAM OF LIGHT that could reduce ANYTHING foolish enough to get in its path to ATOMS ! This devastating attack was given a name that has come to be said by denizens of Helheim with a SHIVER down their spine ! It is called ….. "
" HOWLING BLAZER ! "
Back in the arena , Hel slowly approached the wounded God Butcher who although gravely injured , still managed to find the strength in his body to curse at the Queen of Helheim , " THE FUCK ? " He wheezed as he tightened his grip on his wound , trying fruitlessly to stem the bleeding by applying pressure on it , " You SERIOUSLY needed a literal ' helping hand ' on your side to wound me ? Honestly at this point I don't know if I should LAUGH at or just pity you ! "
" Big talk coming from the guy who just got his ass handed to him , also I think the damage done to you by my ' helping hand ' is good enough reason for you to start panicking . " Hel fired back at him , as Jason let out a few more curses at the Queen of Helheim , while trying to slowly hobble away from her . Though his injury made him much too slow even with the casual pace she was walking with towards him .
" Well it seems like our little dance has come to an end , God Butcher , " Hel sighed , " Honestly I am quite …. Underwhelmed to be honest . For one who claims to hate the gods so strongly and wishes to kill me most violently , your prowess in combat is rather ….. Sloppy , to say the least . " She said as she stepped closer to the fallen fighter .
Jason snarled , " I'm not done YET you stupid bitch ! Just you wait and see ! I've killed gods whose power levels are fucking MILES above your own ! I'll rip that stupid wolf head off your arm and stuff it up your ASS ! You'll die just like all those OTHER cocky bastards ! "
As he said this , Jason's eyes bulged with fury and his mouth foamed with hate , even his golden armor seemed to darkened like his expression . Pure , unadulterated hatred for the gods and especially his current opponent coursing through every single vein in his body .
But why did Jason have such a strong resentment towards the gods ? How did this hatred have manifested in a man once so favored by the gods ? What could have possibly motivated him into committing the six gruesome murders that had landed him straight into Tartarus ? The answer to all those questions could be found in the aftermath of the journey of the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece .
— The Kingdom of Cornith , Greece —
A younger Jason ran along the cobblestone path whilst under the darkness of the night , this past self of him looked as handsome and fit as he did now in his match against Hel . With the only difference being that he was not dressed in golden armor , but rather the attire of a newlywed back then in Ancient Greece . However , the expression of Jason's face completely opposed the happiness of the event his attire represented , for upon his face he wore a mixture of shock , desperation and anger , sweat trickling down the side of his face , and his throat dry and parched from all the running .
Not too far behind him , a horde of lights could be seen flickering in the distance , slowly getting closer and closer , following Jason's footsteps and moving towards him . If one were to look closer , it would have revealed that the lights came from a multitude of flaming torches , held in the hands of a large mob of angry Cornithians all of whom were making their way to the same destination as Jason was , the small stone cottage which was granted to the fallen hero by the King of Corinth after he had been ousted from Iolcus and had sought sanctuary in Corinth .
The house was where Jason and his family of four resided during their time spent in Corinth , even creating a few happy memories for him , but now , the fallen hero only felt anger as he ran up to the front door . Or more specifically , he felt rage towards a particular individual in the house , as did the angry mob not far behind him . The one responsible for him being in this whole mess in the first place , his wife the sorceress Medea .
Jason could have never predicted that his journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Kingdom of Colchis would end up with him gaining a wife , but even with the anger boiling inside of him , he could not deny that it had been a tremendous asset to the quest .
In order to get the Golden Fleece , Jason had to perform three impossible tasks for the evil King of Colchis Aeetes , all of which would have most definitely killed him in the process , were it not for Hera's interference to help her champion succeed . Her plan was simple : she would have the Greek God of Love , Eros , shoot his signature arrows of love at Aeetes' daughter Medea . Causing her to fall head over heels for Jason and use her magical abilities as priestess of the Greek Goddess of Magic , Hecate , to assist him in his quest in exchange for his hand in marriage .
Although Hera had acted in Jason's interest , her short sighted decision would come to be her champion's downfall , for even though Medea was now madly in love with Jason , the sorceress was known to be as heartless and bloodthirsty as her father , traits which would later come to haunt the hero in the near future .
With Medea's magic , Jason was able to complete all three tasks set by Aeetes . However , the evil king had no intentions of upholding his end of the deal and plotted to have the Argonauts assassinated . So with Medea's aid once more , Jason stole the Golden Fleece in the dead of the night and set sail on the Argos with his crew and wife , pursued by a vengeful Aeetes and his fleet of ships .
Once again , Medea came to Jason's aid . However , this time , her aid came in a much more gruesome and bloody form . First the sorceress had the Argo host a white sail of surrender , luring the captain of the ship closest to catching them , Medea's brother , to come aboard unarmed to negotiate with the crew . However , Medea instead killed her own brother and chopped into multiple pieces , she then had each piece thrown overboard into the sea below . Forcing her father and his remaining fleets to stop their pursuit of the Argo to pick up the pieces of his dismembered son to give him a proper burial .
Though Medea had saved the quest once more , this time her cruel actions carried grave consequences , for the murder of one's family was a crime highly frowned upon by the gods . And Jason , who some tales claimed assisted his wife in the murder , lost his favor with all the gods who had once seen great potential in him and had supported him throughout his journey .
Upon returning to Iolcus , Jason's uncle Pelias who had usurped the throne and stolen his birthright promised to name Jason as his successor in light of his accomplishment . However Medea , using her sorcery , claimed to Pelias' foolish daughters that she could make their father young once more by chopping him up and placing him in a boiling cauldron with magical herbs . Demonstrating the spell to the girls by doing it to an old ram who leapt out of the cauldron as a young lamb once more .
Pelias' daughters naively went through with the spell , slicing and dicing up their own father before tossing him into the cauldron . However , crafty Medea had not added the magical herbs into the cauldron , and in turn Pelias died .
While Medea had hoped that her husband could rise to power earlier with Pelias' untimely demise , the sorceress' actions only served the opposite . Seizing hold of this opportunity , Pelias' son Acastus drove both Jason and Medea into exile for murder , ascending to the throne himself , whilst the disgraced couple would eventually settle in the Kingdom of Corinth .
All of these misfortunes and tragedy had taken its toll on Jason , leaving him broken and bitter . Once upon a time he had truly loved Medea for all the aid and love she provided , but now her viciousness and cruelty had turned into a heavy burden on the fallen hero , clipping his wings and robbing him of everything he was ever promised . So when the King of Corinth , Creon who sympathized with Jason's plight , offered to make him his successor should he wed the king's daughter Creusa , the fallen hero jumped at the opportunity , not realizing that this act would most definitely earn him his wife's scorn , turning her dark magic which had assisted him for so long against him .
And so , Medea presented Jason's would-be bride with a beautiful wedding dress for the ceremony , and the foolish girl , enthralled by the beauty of it , accepted the dress without question and wore it to the joyous occasion . What Medea did not tell Creusa though , was that the wedding dress was cursed , and the moment she wore it , the cursed outfit became stuck to Creusa's skin and burned her and Creon , who had tried to save his daughter , to death .
And so because of this whole debacle , Jason was now frantically rushing home in a great rage to confront his wife over this matter , pursued by the angry mob of Cornithians who sought to punish his entire family for the murder of their king .
" MEDEA ! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ! " The man screamed angrily as he burst into his home , ready to enact his fury upon his wife for her crimes . However the moment he laid eyes upon the scene that lay in front of him in the living room , his rage turned to horror and grief .
On the floor lay his and Medea's two sons dead , blood pooling around them as their mother stood over them with a bloodied knife , indicating that the sorceress had done the unspeakable crime of murdering her flesh and blood once more .
" O-our boys ? WHY ? WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO THEM ! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ! THEY AREN'T TO BLAME ! " Jason sobbed in anguish .
Medea gave the man she once loved a hateful glare , " I did EVERYTHING in my power to assist you ! I left my KINGDOM for you , betrayed my FATHER for you , killed my own KIN for you . And THIS is how you repay me ? By STABBING me in the back ! No foolish husband , I may have been the one to strike our children down , but YOU are the one who caused it ! FAREWELL Jason ! May you die alone and MISERABLE ! "
" You'll PAY for this Medea ! Even if I cannot bring you retribution , the gods will SURELY punish you for your heinous crimes . " Jason retorted to his former wife .
Medea gave Jason a cold smile , " Oh silly Jason . " She cackled as she climbed aboard a chariot pulled by two golden dragons that had materialised right next to her , " Do you not see the chariot sent to me by my grandfather , the Titan Helios as a way of escape ? It is PROOF that the gods are still on my side , whilst you who are left alone and peerless , have COMPLETELY FALLEN FROM THEIR GRACES ! "
With those final words , the sorceress aboard her ride fled from Corinth . Leaving Jason all by himself to deal with the horde of angry mobs who had finally caught up and stormed the house , forcing the disgraced hero to flee Corinth himself without the chance to even bury his deceased children , leading to the once great hero , beloved by mortals and gods alike to now wander Greece alone and miserable for the rest of his life .
A Year later
A tired and dishevelled Jason grunted with effort as he stumbled towards his desired destination , the months had not been kind on the fallen hero . He now had a long dirty beard with leaves sticking out of it , his hair now scruffy and out of place , and his personal hygiene was all but gone . He looked so drastically different that anyone who laid their eyes upon him couldn't recognise the face of the famous hero who brought back the Golden Fleece , even though only a year had passed .
For the past few months , Jason had crawled across all of Greece , visiting the temples of the various gods who had once supported him . Praying , begging , pleading to them for help , to return to him his lost glory and reputation . But every time , there was no answer , no sign that the gods had any sort of pity on the fallen hero . And every time Jason realised that his prayers had been ignored , he would fly into a rage , desecrating the altar and temple before fleeing to avoid the wrath of the god whose temple he had just insulted .
Now finally , Jason had run out of gods to plead for help …. Save for one that he had specially left for last . With one last grunt of effort , Jason now stood in front of a temple dedicated to the Goddess Hera , the Queen of Olympus had favoured him the most and had chosen him to be her champion . Surely … Surely she would answer his prayers ? Surely she wouldn't abandon him in his greatest time of need ?
Stepping into the temple revealed that the interior consisted of an altar in the centre of the room where worshippers came to make sacrifices to the Queen of Olympus , and behind the altar stood a majestic white statue of the Goddess herself that cast a long shadow across the entire room .
Falling to his knees , Jason halfed sobbed as he made his plea , " LADY HERA ! GREAT QUEEN OF OLYMPUS ! IT IS ME ! YOUR CHOSEN ONE ! JASON ! I come to you begging for your aid ! For years I have been wandering the land alone and half starved , cast out by people everywhere ! But now , I humbly kneel before you once more pleading that you may grant me your divine assistance once more ! Give me the power and influence to take back everything that I have once lost , and enact my vengeance on those who have WRONGED me ! "
Jason's last few sentences echoed throughout the temple , before he stood once more in utter silence , waiting for any sign of reply from the Queen of Olympus , but there was no immediate response . " That's alright , " Jason thought to himself , the gods don't always answer people's prayers immediately , but Lady Hera is bound to answer my prayers sooner or later ! I'm her champion after all "
And so the fallen hero waited for a while more , seconds turned to minutes , minutes turned to hours , hours turned to days . In the end , it took a whopping whole week for Jason to finally realize that Hera wasn't going to respond to his prayers .
" W-why isn't she responding ? " Jason said in a shaky voice , " Don't tell me that EVEN Lady Hera has abandoned me too ? That CAN'T be right ! I'm HER champion ! There's NO WAY she will just throw me to the side of the curb after using me right ? " He said with a nervous giggle , looking up at the imposing face of the statue of Hera that looked down upon him .
As Jason looked at the solemn unforgiving face of the statue above , his face slowly contorted from one of desperate hopefulness to a mask of fury . For there was never going to be any aid from Hera , nor any other gods to his pleas . Medea was right , he had fallen from the gods' good graces , it didn't matter how hard he prayed or pleaded , there would be no help from the heavens above .
As this realization dawned upon him , Jason gritted his teeth in fury , slowly rising to his feet he took one final look at the statue of Hera , before a terrible howl came from his mouth . Cursing and hollering with all his might , Jason smashed his fist into the floor below , leaving a massive crater in the centre of the temple as he raised his bloodied fist above his head .
" IS THIS HOW YOU TREAT ME ? " He screamed in fury , " Is this how you gods repay me after I served your EVERY whim ? I did EVERYTHING you asked of me , I retrieved the Golden Fleece ! And THIS is how I'm rewarded ? With you kicking me to the curb after I had served my purpose ? ANSWER ME ! "
There was no answer of any kind , further angering Jason , " I didn't ASK for that witch to fall in love with me ! I didn't KNOW she was a psychopath ! I didn't know she would do all those horrific acts of violence ! Am I truly being punished for her crimes while she escapes scot free and unpunished ? Is THIS the justice of the gods ? " He continued .
Again , there was no sign of any response , the raging fire in his soul seemingly extinguished , Jason fell to his knees defeated , covering his face with his hands as he quietly began to sob . He had lost his kingdom , his reputation , his children and now that he was abandoned by the gods who he once thought would forever aid him , he truly had nothing left to his name .
Slowly , Jason crying ceased and he lifted his face from within his hands , a look of pure hatred as strong as acid replaced the previous one of self pity on his once handsome face as he began to cackle deliriously , " Hehehehehehehehehehehe ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! So THAT'S how it's going to be , is it Hera ? You expect me to go off and die in a ditch after I have served your needs ? OH NO NO NO NO ! That's NOT how this will end ! " He said as he got to his feet with a maniacal spread across his face and the vengeful fire in his soul reignited stronger and fiercer than ever before .
" MARK MY WORDS HERA ! I will NEVER forget this insult ! YOU HEAR ME ? Even if it takes me YEARS , even if it takes me DECADES , or even after my DEATH , I will NEVER rest until you and EVERY OTHER shitty god up there in Heaven who so casually toys with the lives of mortals is DEAD AND BURIED ! One day , you will STARE IN HORROR at the monster you have created through your folly ! And by then it would have been FAR TOO LATE for any regrets ! " And with those words , Jason stumbled out of the temple laughing like a mad man and disappearing into the dark of the night .
Hera , who had of course been listening to Jason's every word up in the Heavens above , but chose to just ignore his rant at the time , scoffed at her former champion's declaration . The foolish man should have been grateful that the gods had not punished him for his various crimes , especially for defacing their temples . And who was he to talk about abandoning others ? Had he not also left Medea despite the numerous occasions where he only managed to pull through due to her aid ? Humans really were a bunch of unaware hypocrites .
However , Jason's last words unnerved her , he had been deadly serious about making her and the rest of the gods pay . That fire in his eyes and the venom in his words as he made that promise were proof enough . But of course he was just a mere human after all ? There was no way he actually could pull something of that sort off in a million years , right ? There wasn't going to be any serious consequences from these events , right ?
Of course , Hera was gravel mistaken , and her past would indeed come back to haunt her . For the moment he arrived in Valhalla , Jason immediately sought out his ex-wife Medea to enact his revenge on her , and despite the sorceress having a multitude of dark magic and spells on her side , the fallen heroes' rage and vengeful fury saw her lying dead in an alleyway with her neck crushed and broken .
Afterwards , a single blade was stolen from the Forge of Hephaestus , and with it , Jason began to go on a murderous killing spree across the Heavens . It did not matter if he and his victim had any sort of bad blood or history between them , if they were a god of any sorts , he would go ahead and murder them in the most gruesome ways possible , for in his eyes , every god were cocky bastards who treated humanity as though they were simple playthings . It was not until his subsequent battle with the three Archangels dispatched to go and deal with him , was the newly dubbed ' God Butcher ' finally arrested and imprisoned for his crimes , locked away in Tartarus , with those who still remembered of his monstrous deeds praying that he never escaped .
Till now …..
( Present Day )
Back in the battlefield , Hel now only stood a foot away from Jason , as he gazed upwards at her , his hateful glare met her face looking down upon him with a mixture of contempt , disgust and …. Pity ?
" I don't know what kind of injustice or crimes have been committed against you for you to harbour such a deep resentment against the gods to the point you murdered six innocent people . But I do know this . " The Queen of Helheim said solemnly .
" Holding on to your hatred won't do you ANY good , believe me . I too have had certain gods do me a great wrong , and I too have felt the poisonous feeling of hatred take root within my mind and soul . But holding on to your anger is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies , a wise Underworld Lord taught me that long ago . No matter HOW many innocent gods you murder in cold blood , you won't regain whatever you have lost , and you certainly won't be hurting those who have truly earned your ire . So I hope that in your final moments , you will be able to make peace with yourself and your crimes . " And with that Hel raised her halberd above her head , preparing to bring the blade down on Jason's neck to finish the battle .
With a mighty swing , Hel brought her weapon down upon the God Butcher , expecting to hear the blade tear into his flesh as she beheaded her wounded opponent . Instead all the Queen of Helheim heard was a heavy " CLANG ! " echo throughout the arena .
" No , you ain't finishing me off THAT easy bitch . '' came Jason's voice , as it was revealed to Hel and the audience that the God Butcher had blocked the heavy blow single handedly with his left gauntlet , with Hel's halberd now lodged deep in the armor without it harming Jason's flesh or skin . Slowly , the God Butcher rose to his feet , his wounded shoulder seeming to no longer have any sort of effect on him at all . And with a mighty grunt of effort , he dislodged the blade stuck in his gauntlet with a simple flick of his arm , sending Hel stumbling back a few feet away from him .
" I told you at the start of the battle didn't I ? I don't intend on leaving this realm of existence without TAKING ONE FINAL GOD DOWN ! "
The humans in the audience cheered at their representatives' sheer tenacity and willpower , they still had a fighting chance to win this match !
Hel sighed , " Foolish mortal , hate has caused many problems in your world , yet it has never solved one . Why do you insist on holding on to your anger ? Regardless , you still stand NO chance of beating me ! " She said confidently as she resumed her fighting stance , ready to engage in combat once more , till she noticed something different about the God Butcher's appearance .
Throughout the time Hel had taken while walking towards Jason and her talk with him , the God Butcher's armor had seemed to darkened alongside his expression . At first Hel had dismissed it as the lighting of the battlefield , but now it became evidently clear that the changes weren't just because of the light , for Jason's armor which was once a beautiful pearl gold color , had somehow darkened into a sinister pitch black with a new bloody red coating on his accents .
" W-what ? How ? When did this happen ? " Hel questioned incredulously as Jason gave a cruel chuckle .
" Oh I see you have FINALLY noticed this ? Well it TOOK you long enough ya dumb broad ! Now you will know the TRUE meaning of FEAR ! "
As he said this , long black tendrils of smoke began to seep out from each piece of Jason's armor , first covering the parts of his body where he wore them . Before expanding and snaking all across his body . Soon the black smoke covering Jason had now engulfed every part of his body save his head , turning into a swirling mass of pure darkness . The God Butcher began to cackle wildly as the black cocoon that surrounded his body seemed to shift and pulse as if something within was trying to burst out .
" You've met my Divine Weapon the Heroes' light already , Queen of Helheim . As well as the boons of the various gods who once lent me their strength and skills . But truth be told , that was simply my weapon in its WEAKENED form , representing me back when I still naively believed that the gods actually gave a FUCK about me ! But now , since you so KINDLY reminded me of all those wonderful bad memories , and why you gods need to be slaughtered . I think that it is only right that I should introduce you to the stolen powers of the various gods whom I've MURDERED all those years ago ! All thanks to the TRUE form of my Divine Weapon , …. "
" THE HEROES' BLIGHT ! "
Hel's eyes widened in fear as the dark mass covering Jason's arms dissolved , revealing that the gauntlets that he once wore now had completely disappeared , but even more shocking was the fact that Jason's arms also had completely changed in appearances . Instead of regular human arms , the God Butcher now possessed huge muscular beefy arms as thick as tree trunks with thick coarse gray fur sprouting all over them , connected to each arm were giant paws with long gnarled fingers , each ending with black filthy jagged nails that were as deadly as they looked . These once belonged to the savage Egyptian God of Baboons , whose arms Jason had brutally torn off , before the God Butcher snapped his neck like a twig .
" BOON OF THE MURDERED GODS : CLAWS OF BABI ! "
Next to dissolve was the black smoke covering Jason's legs , revealing legs not that of a human , but rather the brown furry hooved feet of a large goat .That had once been attached to the tricky Greek God of the wild , before the God Butcher ripped those legs off him to prevent him from escaping and proceeding to stomp on his head till he no longer drew breath .
" BOON OF THE MURDERED GODS : HOOVES OF PAN ! "
After that , the smoke that covered the God Butcher's lower regions where he wore his warskirt disappeared as well . However , unlike the previous two , his armor still remained on him . The difference this time was the addition of the long and gigantic five segmented tail of an oversized scorpion , with a large curved stinger located on the end , filled with venom waiting to be injected into an unfortunate victim . This tail had once belonged to one of the legendary scorpion folk of the Mesopotamian Pantheon that guarded the gates of the Sun God Shamash , the unfortunate individual had gotten his tail ripped off by Jason , before the God Butcher used it to impale and kill the miserable beast itself .
" BOON OF THE MURDERED GODS : STING OF THE AQRABUAMELU ! "
Last but not least , Jason's breastplate revealed itself from the smoke , it too had not disappeared with the smoke that once covered it . Instead , sprouting from , and folded behind his back were three large pairs of majestic and beautiful wings each a plumage of white feathers with a slight tint of gold at the tips . The wings shined with holy power , bringing awe and wonder to any who lay their eyes upon it . These , of course , were the wings of the three aforementioned Archangels . Camael , Jophiel and Zadkiel , whose wings Jason had cut off after their long and brutal fight which had rendered him weak enough to be subdued by the other gods . But now those wings that had once opposed him in battle were now attached to the God Butcher's own back .
" BOON OF THE MURDERED GODS : WINGS OF THE ARCHANGEL ! "
Finally , Jason lifted his huge paws , and slowly raked his claws across his blonde hair and scalp . And as he did so , a strange looking helmet began to materialize atop his head , covering the entirety of the God Butcher's face and head . As Hel took a closer look , she was horrified to see that the helmet Jason wore , was in fact the large haunting skull of a ram , lower jaw and all . With huge curling horns on each side of his head , and deep empty eye sockets that acted as the visor of the morbid helmet . And as soon as this process was finished , Jason's arms dropped back to his side as his whole body seemed to shudder and freeze , his head dropping back down to face the ground .
Both gods and humans in the audience gazed in fear at the monstrous amalgamation that stood below them , the large hulking beast seemed to stand completely still as a statue , not moving a single muscle . Tentatively , Hel called out to the thing that was once Jason , " H-hello ? Jason ? Are you still there ? "
For a few moments , nothing happened , and an uneasy silence filled the arena . Had the transformation somehow killed Jason ? Was that why he wasn't moving anymore ?
Then out of nowhere , Jason's entire body began to shudder and writhe as his limbs began to move once again . Shaking his head from left to right , before focusing his attention back upon his opponent and opening his mouth to speak . But much to everyone's horror , the voice that echoed out from within the ram's skull didn't exactly sound like Jason , it was indeed his voice . But it sounded as if someone had taken a recording of him speaking and turned it all garbled and disjointed , like the frequency of a broken radio . And as he spoke , the jaws of the skull he wore eerily began to move in tandem to every word he said , as if they were his actual mouth and lips .
" Jason is no more , Every trace of humanity in his body is now DEAD , and only I REMAIN ! " The monstrous being announced , as it unfurled its mighty wings . The icy ground below him cracking with a loud , " CRUNCH ! '' As he took a step forward with his two new gigantic hooves . His massive claws outstretched and ready to strike down any in his path , and the massive scorpion tail behind him raised , its stinger ready to strike .
Hel unwittingly took another step back at the sound of his voice , away from this monstrous behemoth that stood before her , her primal instincts telling her that this thing was extremely dangerous and she should proceed with the utmost caution , " T-then who the hell are you ? " she whispered fearfully as even Fenris began to whimper and whine in terror .
Though the ram skull lacked any sort of lips , Hel could almost swear that it seemed to be grinning evilly as it answered her question with a booming cackle .
" I am THE GOD BUTCHER ! "
Oh man , big apologies to everyone for taking much longer than I usually do to post this chapter . I fell sick with a nasty fever rendering me unable to write for a whole day , and then afterwards I began to visit my relatives houses for Chinese New Year , which made the time I had available to write this chapter scarce . And then just two days ago I got a massive headache which further prevented this chapter from being finished . So to make up for the longer wait , I made this chapter much longer than any of my previous ones , hope you enjoy !