The Argo Heroes rested for a night in the camp of the gods' army, as arranged by Ares.
There, they experienced what life in the gods' legion was like, dining and drinking with Giants over five meters tall, and freely conversing with centaurs, Nymphs, and minor gods from the wilderness, spending a truly wondrous night.
While the Heroes rested, Ares was not idle. He certainly wouldn't trust anyone else to scout the Snake-Footed Giants on the Pallene Peninsula. Therefore, Jason and the others were merely a diversion; he himself was the one truly doing the scouting.
Moreover, testing the internal strength of the Pallene Peninsula was not Ares's true purpose for this trip. His real objective was to transport weapons and equipment to the Snake-Footed Giants and, incidentally, act as their strategist.
Although these Snake-Footed Giants were strong, they were just a bunch of brainless simpletons. Without someone to command them, they would hardly threaten Zeus's rule, so Ares didn't mind serving as the "strategist" for these Snake-Footed Giants.
For these two purposes, Ares spent the night crafting a strong, ordinary Greek body and made it his clone.
The next morning, the God of War summoned the Argo Heroes and introduced them to the clone he had created overnight.
"This man is my subordinate. You can call him Ephialtes. Today, he will serve as my eyes and go with you into the Pallene Peninsula."
After Ares finished his introduction, he immediately manipulated his clone to step forward and shake hands with Jason:
"Respected Heroes, I am pleased that you can contribute to the God of War. Your virtues and courage fill me with admiration. From now on, I will rely on you."
Ares fully utilized the experience Perseus had gained from flattering Athena, and soon, his clone, Ephialtes, integrated well with the Argo Heroes.
Then, he himself slowly spoke to Jason and the others:
"I have asked my teacher to open a hidden passage to the Pallene Peninsula nearby. Ephialtes knows the place; you just follow him when the time comes. Once the mission is complete and you return, I will have your rewards ready here for everyone."
Hearing Ares's promise, the Argo Heroes were greatly excited. After all, this was a powerful main god personally making a promise to them, and according to legends throughout the Greek World, although this main god was violent and bloodthirsty, he had never broken his promises.
Thus, the well-prepared Argo Heroes, led by Ephialtes, left the gods' camp and made their way towards a deep forest nearby.
...
Meanwhile, in the Goddess of Wisdom's temple on Olympus, an inexplicable force enveloped the temple, quietly isolating it from Zeus's detection range.
The timing of this force's arrival was also extremely precise, occurring exactly when Zeus left Olympus to seek pleasure in the human world. During this period, Zeus would certainly be too busy to pay attention to the situation on Olympus. Otherwise, given his vigilance towards Athena, upon sensing that Athena's temple had slipped from his perception, the God-King would absolutely go to the temple to check the situation.
As Athena stepped into her temple, she looked up to see the three Goddess of Fate perched on her divine throne. The eldest sister, Atropos, stood on the left, the third sister, Kroto, stood on the right, and Lachesis, the second sister who governed "the present," was seated on her divine throne.
The three sisters' expressions looked somewhat displeased. Clearly, they had come today to demand answers from Athena.
However, Athena's expression remained normal when she saw the three sisters. She showed no signs of nervousness about being questioned by her "client." She walked to a corner of her temple as if nothing had happened, skillfully retrieved a water pitcher, and poured water into a cup.
She simultaneously asked the three sisters:
"Welcome, would you like something to drink?"
Bang!
Lachesis slammed her hand heavily on the armrest of Athena's divine throne, her voice filled with anger ringing out directly.
"Athena, stop playing dumb with us! You promised to help us twist fate, but look at you, what has become of the fate of the Argo Heroes?"
"The Argo Heroes, what about them?" Athena asked softly.
"The Argo Heroes have already been taken by Ares to the Pallene Peninsula today, preparing to help him deal with those Snake-Footed Giants," replied Atropos, the eldest of The Fates. "Athena, do you have nothing to say about this?"
"Hmm, anything to say?" Athena pondered, then said with a light chuckle, "Ares is quite perceptive. He truly knows that only mortals can deal with those Giants."
"That's it?" The youngest, Kroto, sounded a bit angry too. She questioned, "Ares has already twisted the threads of fate into a tangled mess, and you, our representative, tell us that's all you have to say?"
"Then what can I do?" Athena shrugged. "If I had the ability to defy heaven and change fate, Zeus would have been replaced by me long ago."
"Useless!" Lachesis cursed, "Indeed, you and your mother Metis are both—"
Whoosh!
Before she could finish her sentence, a golden light suddenly streaked past her face, embedding itself deeply into the backrest of Athena's divine throne.
It was a spear, still enveloped in a divine aura.
Lachesis touched her cheek and then saw red on her palm. Her eyes widened, and she angrily shouted at Athena, "Athena, you dare—"
"Do you think I dare not?"
Athena's face was cold as she looked at Lachesis, enunciating each word: "Next time, I'll be aiming for your throat!"
Lachesis met the Goddess of Wisdom's gaze, and the killing intent in those eyes made her tremble all over.
"Alright, calm down everyone."
Atropos took out the Goddess of Fate' bronze staff and lightly tapped it on the temple floor. Then, she looked at Athena and softly asked, "Has the situation developed according to your plan?"
"I didn't say that. It's just that Ares is too formidable; I can't outplay him," Athena replied. "But you don't need to be disheartened. I have a method that can directly help you solve all the troubles he has accumulated, once and for all."
"What method?" Atropos asked.
"Well... you'll have to pay in advance," Athena said with a smile. "Once I implement this method, there's no turning back. I don't want you to give me an empty promise later. If you cut Zeus's thread of fate, I'll tell you this method."
Atropos hesitated, and the three sisters exchanged glances, having already communicated through their unique method. Then she cleared her throat and said to Athena:
"Twenty years, that's our limit."
"Agreed." Athena nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect for Zeus and Ares, father and son, to be buried together."