After secretly escorting Medea back through the night and returning to the Argo, I took a brief rest.
And the moment the sun rose, we headed for the field that had been designated as the site of our promised showdown.
Far across the plain, two bronze bulls were visible, stamping the earth and spewing flames from their mouths.
Behind them stood the King of Colchis and his army, wearing sly smiles as they waited for our ruin.
Jason, pale with fear, stole a glance at me.
“Astellon... are you really sure about this? Those bulls aren’t just beasts...!”
Instead of answering, I smeared the oil Medea had given me over my sword and armor.
Then, with my silver hair whipping in the wind, I stepped forward.
“Jason, stay back. A king’s trial is finished by the king himself.”
A hot wind swept across the plain.
That wind carried more than mere heat; it bore a suffocating pressure.
From the distance, the two great bulls charged toward us, trampling the earth beneath their hooves.
Boom!
With every stamp of their feet, the ground caved in.
And in the next instant—
Fwoooosh!
Flames bursting from their nostrils warped the air, scattering in every direction.
“...”
I watched the spectacle in silence, then slowly raised my sword.
I could feel someone behind me drawing in a sharp breath.
It was Jason.
“Astellon... those things...”
I tilted my head slightly and replied, “They aren’t beasts. They’re monsters.”
Then, I took a step forward.
The instant one of the bulls recognized me, its red-hot eyes flashed.
KWAANG!
It shattered the earth, barreling straight toward me.
I drew in a breath.
Hot.
This was no ordinary flame.
It was fire laced with magical energy.
In that moment, I felt the blaze sweep across my armor, which was coated in Medea’s oil.
Sssshhhk.
The heat that should have seared my flesh slid over my armor as though skimming across glass.
“...Just as I thought.”
I muttered low and twisted my body aside.
KRAK!
The bull’s horn swept past me, and the ground behind me exploded apart.
I did not miss the opening.
The explosive force of the charge.
The linear nature of its movement.
“...Here I go.”
I planted my foot and drove straight into the bull’s flank.
A second charge.
This time it was faster.
More savage.
As though it existed solely to trample me into the dirt.
But I did not retreat.
Instead, I took one more step forward.
I could hear Jason’s horrified cry from behind, but I had no room to spare for him.
“...If you intend to block my path...”
I lowered my sword and deliberately exposed myself within the bull’s field of vision.
Its gaze locked onto me completely.
Good.
Just like that.
“...Then learn exactly what the price is, beast.”
KWAAAAAANG!!
A head-on charge.
At that moment, I pivoted my foot and turned my body halfway.
Then, I reached out—not with my sword, but with my hand.
KRAK.
The bull’s horn was caught in my grip.
The instant I seized it, the impact surged through my entire body.
My bones rang.
It felt as if my muscles would tear apart.
But I clenched my teeth and spoke as though it were nothing.
“...Heavy.”
But.
I did not take a single step back.
“...Kneel.”
I said it low, but with absolute clarity.
“You...”
I poured on more strength.
The bull’s massive body tilted ever so slightly.
“...are something I shall rule.”
In that instant—
KWAAAAAAAANG!!
The bull’s enormous frame buckled to one side, slamming into the earth as if forced to its knees.
The shockwave burst outward in all directions.
With a thunderous roar, the earth screamed.
Through the thick cloud of dust, my silver hair gleamed in the Colchian sunlight. I stood there, my back to the world, having pinned down the overwhelming mass of the bronze bull with a single hand.
Every sound that had filled the plain vanished at once.
“Impossible... he... did that...?!”
From afar, Jason, who had been frantically devising a strategy, muttered in a voice that sounded like a scream.
But the one most stunned of all was the King of Colchis.
He gripped the armrest of his throne so tightly his knuckles whitened, unable to believe the sight of his bronze bull being crushed like a common animal by a foreigner’s hand.
The heat and vibration of the bronze traveled through my palm and shook my whole body, yet I did not even blink.
My hand, coated with Medea’s oil, did not burn; instead, it was chilling the bull’s magical energy into submission.
“To call yourself a monster... you clearly don’t know your place.”
I roughly twisted the horn of the kneeling bull and turned my head toward the other.
Seeing its companion subdued, the second bull snorted flames in fury and charged at me.
Whoosh—!
Using the horn of the first bull as a lever, I launched myself into the air.
Spinning once in midair, I landed lightly on the back of the second bull and threw the steel yoke I had prepared in advance over both of their necks at once.
“Now, it’s time to plow the field, you bastards.”
At my words, the bulls that had been raging only moments before fell silent, as if by magic.
They became docile, beginning to plow the plain with unnatural obedience.
Wherever the plow passed, the raw earth was turned over, leaving behind strange traces of magical power.
The heroes, Jason among them, burst into cheers, while the King of Colchis watched on in stunned silence.
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