"Lord Jason!"
On the deck of the Argo, witnessing Jason being punched to the ground and stepped on by Rozen, Medea exclaimed in shock.
"...!"
Atalante, engaged in a high-speed exchange with Rama, also paused. After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and stopped fighting with Rama.
"What?!"
Arjuna, who had been releasing thunderous arrows towards Karna incessantly, instinctively ceased his attack and looked in this direction with amazement.
With all opponents halting their battles, the fiery Karna and Rama, holding the Immortal Blade, also came to a stop.
"Roar!"
Only Berserker, devoid of any rationality, continued to roar furiously. Seeing Rozen stepping on Jason and not stopping, he appeared to charge toward Rozen in a fit of rage.
"Don't even think about it!"
Scáthach wouldn't let Berserker charge at Rozen uncontested. Her magical spear flashed, and with a crimson thrust, she forcefully repelled Berserker in a resounding clash.
Thus, everyone turned their attention to Rozen's direction, expressions ranging from surprise to disbelief.
Clearly, no one expected that Rozen, this human Master, would take down the enemy's king.
"You... how dare you treat me like this...!?"
It was only at this moment that Jason realized what had happened. He roared angrily at Rozen, who remained indifferent.
"Shut up!"
Rozen exerted a bit of force under his foot, making a series of "crackling" sounds from Jason's chest, as if his sternum was about to fracture, causing Jason to scream in pain.
"It hurts...! It hurts...! Stop it...! It hurts so much!"
Jason kept on screaming. The pain wasn't just physical; it was a continuous mental trauma.
For someone like Jason, who held himself in high regard, the current situation was something he couldn't bear.
Being stepped on by the human Master he had always looked down upon, and now, howling in such an undignified manner, Jason felt like he had lost even the will to live.
In this moment, Jason believed that everyone, both allies and enemies, was looking at him with eyes filled with pity, sympathy, and even contempt.
This made Jason unable to endure, and he kept struggling.
Unfortunately, no matter how Jason struggled, he couldn't break free. Even though Jason was a Servant with exceptional physical abilities, this kind of thing should never have happened.
However, Rozen had already enhanced his physical abilities using the techniques of "Rigid Body" when he stepped on Jason. If represented by the parameters of Servant abilities, his Strength could easily reach a rank of D. Plus, Rozen still had numerous techniques for enhancing the body that hadn't been used yet. Even for a useless Servant like Jason, solely relying on this was enough for Rozen to control him.
So...
"Your king is now in my hands. Do you still intend to continue the fight?"
Rozen maintained his position, pressing down on Jason's chest and issuing this warning to the Greek side's Servants.
This left everyone momentarily silent.
Arjuna, Atalante, and Medea wore expressions of disappointment.
Scáthach, Karna, and Rama, on the other hand, relaxed their features.
"I never expected you to be this strong, Master."
Rama expressed a mix of surprise and delight.
Even Karna, to some extent, showed surprise, and a rare smile appeared on his handsome face.
Only Scáthach, who already had some knowledge of Rozen's capabilities, smiled at Rozen's decisive capture of the enemy leader.
"Tsk...!"
Naturally, as an enemy Servant, Atalante clicked her tongue.
"While knowing that you're useless aside from piloting a ship and daydreaming, I never thought that during the battle, our enemy's human Master would take you down, Jason."
Atalante uttered these unpleasant words, leaving Jason in seething hatred.
"Lord Jason!"
Medea looked bewildered, unsure of what to do.
Observing this, Rozen addressed Medea directly.
"Have the Dragon Tooth Warriors stop, Princess."
Rozen delivered this threat with an undeniable tone, applying a bit more pressure under his foot, causing Jason to groan again.
Unable to do otherwise, Medea raised her hand, signaling for all the Dragon Tooth Warriors to simultaneously stop their actions.
With the legion of Dragon Tooth Warriors ceasing their charge, Mash was finally able to leave the battlefield and return to Rozen's side.
"Senpai."
Mash let out a relieved sigh as she called Rozen.
Rozen nodded at Mash, then continued with a threatening tone.
"Tell Berserker to stop as well. Although he's already in a state of madness, as one of the Heroes of Argonauts, that great hero should still listen to your orders to some extent, right?"
If not, during the battle when Berserker was fighting against Rozen and Mash, he wouldn't have suddenly retreated.
This must be related to instructions given by either Jason or Medea behind the scenes.
"If you deny it, I won't be polite."
Rozen exerted force again, causing a loud crunch as he pressed Jason's chest, eliciting almost a scream from him.
"Stop... Stop it! Berserker! This is an order!"
Jason shouted in a mixture of terror and resentment.
"Roar!"
Berserker immediately roared lowly, madness swirling in his eyes, but ultimately chose to stop.
Subsequently, Scáthach left the battlefield but didn't return directly to Rozen's side. Instead, she calmly wielded her demonic spear, observing from the sidelines.
All the Greek Servants halted their combat actions with Jason under restraint.
Except for Arjuna...
"I'm not their companion to begin with. There's no reason for me to stop."
Arjuna seemed determined not to back down.
In response to this...
"That's not a wise decision." Rozen looked at Arjuna and continued, "If you want a fair fight with Karna, it's better to listen to me now. Otherwise, with Greece unable to fight anymore, and the four Servants here, do you think I'd be naive enough to let Karna face you alone?"
This made Arjuna reconsider.
At this moment, Arjuna's expression changed, and his gaze became filled with struggle and indecision.
As for Karna, as if completely accepting Rozen's decision, he stood there silently without uttering a word.
All fighting came to a complete stop.
"It's already stopped! Hurry and let me go!"
Jason yelled at Rozen, not wanting to maintain this humiliating state for another second.
However, Rozen completely ignored Jason, merely extending his hand, channeling magical energy, and drawing a runic symbol.
The runic symbol, like a stream of light, disappeared into Jason's body with a flick of Rozen's finger.
"What... What did you do to me!?"
Witnessing this, Jason was shocked, shouting with a mixture of fear and anger.
"Nothing."
Rozen remained indifferent, saying, "Just put a collar on you, so you'll obediently follow orders."
This statement left the entire scene in stunned silence.
"Obediently follow orders?"
Upon hearing Rozen's words, the people present were first stunned, then as if understanding something, some showed subtle changes in expression, and others squinted their eyes.
Especially Medea, as a divine mage of the Age of Gods, seemed to grasp Rozen's intentions from his actions, and a hint of fear appeared on her face.
"A collar... on me?"
Jason, feeling fearful as if facing an unknown future, spoke with trembling voice.
"What... What have you done to me!?"
Jason's voice was filled with terror.
Watching Jason in this state, Rozen sneered.
"I've just cursed you, just now."
Rozen straightforwardly revealed his actions.
"A curse!?"
Jason's face instantly turned pale with shock.
In this situation, Rozen explained without any reservation.
"It's a curse directly implanted into your Spirit Core, a runic symbol that administers judgment to sinful individuals, similar to executing a criminal. Once the designated time is reached, it activates, summoning judgmental lightning to shatter your Spirit Core."
In other words, Jason was essentially sentenced to death, awaiting the execution of the death penalty.
"And once the Spirit Core is shattered, do I need to spell out the consequences? I believe it's quite obvious."
Rozen smiled broadly at Jason, whose face turned an ashen shade.
Although Servants are already deceased individuals, and heroes, being Heroic Spirits, wouldn't fear death as much, Jason seemed to have discarded all heroic qualities. He was genuinely terrified.
It was precisely because of this fear that Jason had arrogantly thought he could threaten the neutral Servants here and make them submit to him to avoid death at the hands of the Celts.
On the other hand, the rest of the group found Rozen's actions perplexing.
"Why go to such lengths?" Atalante stared at Rozen, speaking frankly. "If you truly want to be our enemy, you could just kill us directly. Why this unnecessary curse?"
It was a reasonable question.
Since Rozen was currently holding Jason as a hostage, making the Greek side reluctant to fight further, Rozen could easily eliminate all the Greek Servants with his four servants under these circumstances.
So why add this unnecessary curse?
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
Except for Scáthach, who seemed to understand what Rozen was planning, watching with a keen interest.
Rozen spoke indifferently under the gaze of everyone.
"Who said I intended to kill you?"
Indeed, Rozen had no intention of resolving the Greek side's Servants.
At least, not now.
However, since Jason had willingly walked into the situation Rozen had carefully orchestrated, wouldn't it be a waste not to take advantage of it?
Rozen planned to use Jason as a hostage to manipulate and control the Greek side.
In short...
"What I want to deal with is the Celtic side, with the goal of retrieving the Holy Grail."
Rozen declared his intentions.
"You all will join me in facing the Celts."
That was Rozen's objective.
"Do you intend to use us to deal with the Celts?"
Atalante's gaze subtly changed.
"This..."
Medea was equally stunned.
"Roar!"
Berserker, unsure if he understood the current situation, let out a roar.
On the other hand, the rest of the group brightened up one after another.
"Did that guy plan to do this from the beginning?"
"To actually threaten Heroic Spirits..."
"What an impressive move!"
Inside Chaldea, Olga Marie, Roman, and Da Vinci, who had been observing the battle, were all pleasantly surprised.
Because if Rozen's calculations were successful, it meant that the Greek faction would become a powerful weapon in his hands.
At least, Jason, Medea, Atalante, and Berserker—the four Servants—would be under his control.
Add Mash, Scáthach, and Karna to the mix, and Rozen would have a total of seven Servants under his command.
This was undoubtedly a tremendous force that could crush the Celtic faction.
Naturally...
"Do you think we will succumb to your threat?"
Atalante spoke with a dark expression.
Not to mention Atalante, even Jason was not going to yield.
"I... I am the king of the Greek nation! How could I be so insolently...!?"
Jason shouted in excitement.
Unfortunately, based on the behaviors of these individuals earlier, Rozen had roughly identified their weaknesses.
"Even if you were to be killed, you aren't planning to compromise, right? Is that fine?"
Rozen first looked at Jason beneath his feet.
"If I'm not mistaken, the reason you decided to oppose the Celtic side and establish a Greek Pantheon in the south is to build a nation on this continent, isn't it?"
This is the wish that Jason was willing to die for.
For the throne, this incompetent prince made the daring decision to set sail, challenging the formidable task of obtaining the Golden Fleece, an achievement that many heroes and champions could not accomplish.
For the throne, he went all out, gathering numerous incredibly famous heroes from Greek mythology, forming the complete fifty-member "Argonauts" group. They endured countless hardships on their journey to Colchis.
Similarly, for the throne, even after returning home, Jason spared no effort. He had Medea solve numerous political adversaries, went so far as to abandon Medea, and married a princess from another country.
For someone like Jason, the throne was an absolute obsession and ambition.
Given this, upon manifesting with the group of "Argonauts," Jason immediately, without hesitation, chose to oppose the Celts, creating a Greek kingdom.
"If you die here, that wish of yours will never come true. You'll remain an incapable prince who couldn't become a king. Is that what you want?"
Rozen's questioning left Jason silent on the spot.
Then...
"You seem like you don't want to compromise with Jason, and you certainly don't want to establish a country on this continent. But you just said, 'If we don't do this, this continent will lose all hope completely.' That's your reason for assisting Jason, right?"
Rozen turned to Atalante, speaking with determination.
"Unlike Jason, who has ambitions, and Medea and Berserker, who blindly follow him, you have a clear will. You belong to the will of a hero."
From the words of this huntress, it was clear that she didn't want to see the Celts occupy this continent, slaughter all the indigenous people, and ultimately cause the entire Singularity to collapse, throwing humanity into chaos and despair.
Even though their methods differed, Atalante, like Rama, was a genuine hero who couldn't stand idly by in the face of suffering.
Therefore, Atalante chose to follow Jason's instructions in battle, aiming to help Greece resist the Celts, maintain this Singularity, and prevent its collapse.
"But this won't address the root cause. Only by defeating the Celts can this Singularity be repaired, and the foundation of humanity be reestablished."
Rozen addressed Atalante in this manner.
"So, are you really going to give up here and let this Singularity head towards collapse?"
Upon hearing this, Atalante also fell into silence.
And what could Medea and Berserker do when both Jason and Atalante fell silent?
In light of this, the Greek side collectively remained silent.
"To sum it up, you only have one path to take, and that is to join forces with me to defeat the Celts."
Rozen declared openly.
"Whether you choose to do so is entirely up to you."
Rozen concluded his words.
At that moment, the entire basin fell into silence.