"In short, I don't want to see you, Teacher Chiron, standing confused on the path of life one day, and I also don't want to see you suffer the pain of the Hydra's poisonous blood!"
Promise concluded, saying, "So, Teacher, stop resisting and come with me to rewrite your fate!"
Chiron sighed, looking at the young man who had now grown up before him.
In the end, he nodded.
In fact, Chiron knew in his heart that he didn't really have a choice.
When Promise stood in front him, everything was like an arrow already released from its bow.
So, it was better to go along with his wishes.
At least this way, as a teacher, he could accompany his student for a little while longer on his journey.
And in the end, he could take care of this student of his—so proud, yet so hard to let go of!
Later, Promise and Chiron went down the mountain together, heading to find a temple of Hestia and seek her help... The nine-headed Hydra was one of the most famous and extraordinary mythical creatures in Greek mythology, just like Pegasus.
Its most unique trait was that if you wanted to slay it, you had to cut off all nine of its heads at the same time.
Otherwise, no matter how many heads you chopped off, they would quickly grow back.
The foresighted Prometheus had told Promise that, to solve this problem, they would need the help of Goddess Hestia.
Hestia was the eldest of the Olympian gods, and, like Athena and Artemis, one of the three virgin goddesses.
Not only that...she was also universally recognized by the gods as the most cunning!
In Greek mythology, she was the goddess of the hearth and home, as well as the goddess of the sacred flame.
Her fire had the power to prevent the Hydra's heads from regrowing.
However, what Promise hadn't expected was that, on the way, he unexpectedly ran into the sea goddess Thetis, whom he had only recently bid farewell to.
The goddess appeared suddenly, looking very anxious, and she asked Promise to lend her a certain divine artifact.
That artifact was Hades' Helm of Invisibility...
"Strange, why would Goddess Thetis need the Helm of Invisibility?"
Seeing how anxious Thetis seemed, and trusting her deeply after getting to know her well, Promise didn't hesitate much before lending it to her.
But, looking at her back as she breathed a sigh of relief and left, he just didn't understand what was going on.
"Hmm... Promise, what I'm more curious about is why you still had that helmet in your possession?"
Chiron looked at Promise with a puzzled expression.
'Didn't you say you were going to return it to Hades?'
"...Teacher, if I said I didn't know why either, would you believe me?"
Promise raised his head and looked at the tall centaur, his eyes showing sincerity.
He really hadn't meant to hold onto the artifact... though the quality of this helmet was on par with the thunder of the king of gods Zeus and the trident of the god of the sea Poseidon, two of the most powerful divine relics.
It's just that every time, he simply forgot to return it!
"Whether I believe you or not doesn't really matter."
Chiron was speechless as he chuckled and shook his head, saying, "I'm just once again reminded of how much everyone dotes on you."
In fact, eveb dote on him so much that they were all waiting for him to ascend to godhood so, he could be with them forever.
When everything was over, if they realized he was no longer there...
One of the few who knew the truth, the centaur sage Chiron, abruptly stopped himself from thinking any further.
Because even he found that just thinking about it was a bit scary!
Half a day later,
When the long day finally came to an end, and the goddess of night arrived in the mortal realm, yawning and clearly looking unrested, bringing the night with her,
Promise and Chiron found the temple of Hestia.
In front of the altar of the temple, Promise searched around for a while but couldn't find anything to offer as a sacrifice, so, after hesitating for a moment, he placed a golden apple on the altar.
Though the apple had become quite common, it was still a valuable offering.
Just as Promise set it down, before he had time to offer his prayer,
"My child... you really are busy, aren't you?"
With a warm and caring "big sister" aura, the goddess Hestia appeared before Promise and Chiron.
Her pink hair swayed in the night breeze, and she wore a dazzling red dress.
She looked at Promise with a curious expression.
After all, things in the divine realm hadn't fully settled yet, though this particular matter didn't involve her much, which is why Hestia was so relaxed.
What's more, she had recently turned down the sea goddess Thetis, who came to find her not long ago, but she didn't expect to feel that Promise was looking for her now...
Indeed, the sea goddess Thetis had already met with Hestia, asking for the Zeus Stone, but Hestia had rejected her outright.
And the reason for the rejection was quite simple.
"I don't want to end up on that child Promise's scary little notebook. After all, we both know what happens to anyone who ends up on it—even the flawless goddess Athena got bullied because of it!"
Even though Hestia had a mischievous streak and even though she found the situation amusing, she had still directly refused Thetis.
This was the reason Thetis had appeared out of nowhere and borrowed Hades's Helm of Invisibility from Promise...
After a brief conversation, Promise explained why he had come to seek her help.
"I see, since it's a request from little Promise, of course I'll help."
When Hestia learned that Promise wanted her help to hunt the Hydra, she agreed without hesitation.
Later, during their journey, Hestia casually mentioned Thetis, and this led to her finding out that Thetis had borrowed the Helm of Invisibility from Promise.
Upon hearing this, Hestia furrowed her brow for a long time, but in the end... she chose not to say anything more.
Three days later,
In the afternoon, the sacred Pegasus carried Promise and his companions to the swamp where the Hydra lived, near the marshland called Lerna.
Upon arriving at the place, Chiron,
who had already decided to take the lead in the battle, was just about to discuss the the plan for hunting the Hydra with Promise, when he saw the boy take out that pristine feathered paintbrush...
"Teacher Chiron, you know, when we first came down the mountain,
I was so determined to be a strong and normal hero, just like Heracles and Theseus... But looking back at it now, I was just way too young!"
"Hmm... So?" Chiron asked, then blinked as he watched the boy take out painting after painting.
"So, Teacher Chiron, I've decided... I don't want to be a normal hero anymore!"
With that said, Promise tossed several paintings from his hand.
Suddenly, the hundred-eyed giant Argus, who had once guarded Hera's rival, emerged from the paintings.
And not just him—the guard dog of the underworld, Cerberus, and the moon goddess Artemis's favorite pet, the beautiful Golden-Horned Deer, all stepped out of the paintings as well, joining Promise.
The Golden-Horned Deer chirped happily and nuzzled against the boy's cheek.
Meanwhile, Cerberus looked around curiously, and when he saw the honey cakes Promise threw to him, his tail wagged enthusiastically.
The hundred-eyed giant Argus scratched his head, then waved a greeting to Hermes and Chiron.
"Let's go!"
Promise sat atop the Golden-Horned Deer, with Pegasus on his left and Cerberus on his right.
Beside him were, the hundred-eyed giant Argus, and his centaur teacher Chiron.
As he shouted with high spirits, "Let's go beat up the Hydra!"
At that moment, Chiron, who had been worried all along about whether he could protect Promise from the Hydra, suddenly felt some pity for the monster he had never met.