Chapter 281
Talos—a war machine gifted to King Minos of Crete—was a weapon that intercepted and repelled any ships and armies attempting to invade the island. It was said that it could sink vessels by hurling massive boulders and incinerate entire battalions within a several-kilometer radius by unleashing the heat stored within its bronze body.
Even the Argonauts, one of the most renowned and powerful hero groups in all of Olympus, had to exploit its weakness to defeat it. A head-on confrontation was deemed impossible.
Had Heracles still been part of the expedition, they could have stood a chance. But by the time the Argonauts encountered Talos, their ranks had already dwindled.
“Well-crafted. In terms of craftsmanship alone, this is on par with Daedalus,” Hades remarked. But then, he added a cautionary note. “Talos is, at its core, a weapon crafted by the gods. Without the blessings of the gods or the intervention of fate, it can never be truly complete.”
Hearing this, Arktur, the Grand Elder of Jehoia, humbly asked, “In that case, may we ask for your divine blessing, Lord Hades?”
“No.”
“If it is a matter of offerings or rituals, we could—”
“That’s not the issue. The very foundation of Talos conflicts with my authority,” Hades explained.
Talos, the bronze giant designed by Hephaestus, was classified as an artificial lifeform. Whether it had blood flowing through its veins or possessed a soul mattered little—so long as its creator, a god, recognized it as a living being, it was categorized as such.
Hades was a god of death—not just any god of death but the highest sovereign of the Underworld. If he were to bestow a blessing upon Talos, the contradictory divine authority would clash within its body, reducing it to a pile of worthless scrap.
“To complete Talos, you will need the aid of an Olympian god of life or a divine artifact imbued with their power. The stronger the divine authority, the more powerful and perfected Talos will become.”