บท 136: Chapter 136 Hollow Earth
Hidden realm ....
Hollow Earth .....
What looked to be the habitation of a small civilization stood in the primitive forest of the underground world. Situated in a small valley surrounded by hills from all sides, the large city structure carried an archaic design that was reminiscent to the Gods of old.
There were tall buildings supported by equally tall columns. Built with intricate detail, symmetry, harmony, and balance.
Smaller buildings that had a courtyard and some a miniature garden within. And of course, the main palace that served as the resting grounds of the main ruler.
And it was in this building that an old-looking man sat with a terribly gloomy look in his eyes. His beard was pale white, his hair carried many traces of the color gray.
He wore not battle armor, but the standard Greek robes worn by those of royalty and high standing among the Olympians.
The open robes clearly revealed the shrivelling muscles that seemed to lose more strength with each passing year.
The man who sat in the middle of the throne room was the true body of Ares, the Greek God Of War.
As a cosmic being with great power and longevity, Ares, the son of Zeus who should have lived to see the end of the universe now looked older than his recently resuscitated father.
The air around him shook under the influence of divine might, showing just how bad of a mood he was in at the moment.
Zeus was alive. Through the sight of his avatar, he confirmed that the last person he wanted to see was still alive and kicking.
The palms of the War God clenched into fists subconsciously.
He thought he had done it. He thought he won.
During the time of the Great War against Darkseid, Ares, who grew stronger in the midst of conflict, gained more power than he ever had before.
His thoughts couldn't help but return.... Trying once again to recall the feeling of having it .... So much .... Back then.
It was ..... Intoxicating. So much so that it nearly drove him mad.
Inadvertently leading him to rekindle previously forgotten ambitions. Taking advantage of this power, he waged war against his own kind and set out to slaughter the Olympians.
With each God that fell at his sword, his power grew stronger and stronger. Apollo, Hercules, Hades, Poseidon ..... Kin who he could never hope to match before, none of them could now pose a threat when placed against his War Axe.
Hercules divine strength was shattered under his relentless blows. The God of the sea was pierced before he could react, Apollo's strongest attack could hurt him gravely but his half brother had barely entered the mode of victory when was reborn without injury.
Everything healed.
The shocked eyes when he slashed him in half... Ares would never forget. He relished that moment.
How the son who was always favored by his father, the strongest, the most promising, was cut down under the weapon of him, the despised one who never got along well with the rest of the Olympians.
That hot headed fool Triton was even worse than Hercules.
He gathered his followers and marched to Olympus. His father gathered the Gods and attacked as well. It was one of the greatest battles to ever be recorded in the history of the multiverse.
Ares loved war ..... He cherished it.
Both fought fiercely as everyone else but them died on that battlefield or were too injured to come to the aid of their respective parties.
In the end, in the battle with the All-father, he emerged victorious. Managing to land the finishing blow that would end his father's life, but not before Zeus struck a devastating attack of his own during his final moments.
The power within that strike was devastating that the Skyland was ripped apart. Ares fell to the earth, crashed into the ocean and slept at the bottom of the sea for nearly a thousand years.
And when he awoke, he immediately suffered from the sequelae. Many more years passed and Ares could only watch while trying his hardest to recuperate from his injuries.
He thought he would heal eventually. But it seemed like luck wasn't on his side.
Soon, he realized something that truly scared him. He was ... dying.
With the fall of the Gods after a thousand years and the development of humans, the Olympians were directly reduced to nothing more than myths. If the absence of faith was all, it wouldn't matter. But with the development of humanity and the absence of wars, his already weakened power grew weaker and weaker.
To the point where he almost lost his life at a time.
And so, he provoked wars in the world in an attempt to survive. It worked. World war l and ll were successful. Unfortunately, a new development occurred before the third.
Superheroes.
Thump!
A wave of energy pulsed from his body unconsciously at the thought.
If Zeus and Apollo disdained the heroes who the mortals likened to Gods, then his emotion towards them were pure, unbridled anger and rage.
The arrival of Superman started everything. They solved calamities, stopped conflicts, actively tried to seek world peace.
The villains who wreaked havoc were stopped due to their actions, and warring countries had to put aside their differences under the Justice League's unintentional deterrent power.
With how weakened he was now, this was no worse than killing him.
Zeus was always first on his list of hated enemies. As for Superman and his merry men and women, even Apollo had to step down to third place.
With their intervention, his plans to regain his strength were stunted. Now, he received even worse news.
Zeus was supposed to be history, or so he thought. The arrival of his father had greatly spoiled the cards in his deck.
One among two variables that recently emerged.
At that moment, a ray of sinister light emerged from the sky, prompting the God of War to look upward.
Tentacles made of dark red energy appeared within the hollow world and beamed down to the throne room, a few meters away from where Ares sat.
The God of War didn't respond but watched indifferently.
"Hehehehe ... How's it going, your Godliness?" Before the tentacle beams fully converged, a weird, very disturbing cackle emerged from within, causing his ears twitch in annoyance.
Resisting the urge to make a face, Ares looked at the newcomer who was walking towards him with a sinister grin.
"You're still here, huh? The place really looks too shabby .... Ummm and deserted. You should give it a new decoration....".
"Do not start, Klarion .....". The eyes of the old God narrowed aggressively as he looked at the dark-haired male with two horns protruding from the sides of his head.
Klarion, The Witchboy.
"Heh! What's got you in a mood?" With his beloved teekl being stroked in his arms, Klarion looked at Ares with slight puzzlement.
" ..... You know not .....". The low, deep voice that seemingly carried the vicissitudes of life fell into his ears.
"... how much I tire of your prattle". He uttered bluntly. Nevertheless, Klarion didn't seem to mind.
"Hey! That's rude. And don't be so pouty about it. It's not your style". The God Of War stared at the Lord Of Chaos expressionlessly. It was within Ares's nature to maintain a poker face after everything he had done and been through.
If not, there was no guarantee that his eyelids wouldn't twitch. Klarion's childish antics almost never ceased to amaze him.
For all the power he held at his fingertips, barely being able to express a fraction of it within this dimension, Klarion acted no different from a ten-year-old child.
He was a Lord Of Chaos that could destroy planets, galaxies, universes if he wanted to. Of course, that was in his true form outside the multiverse. As he was now, destroying the entire earth would take a considerable deal of effort.
That aside, no matter how he looked at him, Klarion seemed so unreliable.
"Enough. What do you want". Klarion was right. Now, he certainly wasn't in the mood to deal with him. There were more ... Pressing concerns to handle.
"So hospitable". Klarion remarked sarcastically. "That aside, Vandal wants to know when you'll be ready".
"Not now". The curt reply didn't sit so well with the Chaos Lord.
"He thought you might say that, but unfortunately, he quite urgently needs you to hurry".
Ares eyes narrowed. "Now was not the decided time".
"The arrangements need to be updated".
"What for?"
"See, A member of our association has indirectly provoked the person in question". The Witchboy said with a bright smile.
'Unreliable indeed'. The Old God snorted inwardly.
After so many years, Ares had Avatars inserted in many places on earth to facilitate the spread of war. It was also for this reason that he became acquainted with Klarion and The Light.
As such, Amari publicly executing Ocean Master over and over again had clearly fallen into his eyes. That was the moment he truly began to pay attention to this ... Otherworlder.
Amari never stated who he was after so Ares like the rest of the world, was unsure and cared little for the matter.
That was until Klarion came along not long ago with a man he remembered all too well. Vandal Savage.
After explaining their plight, they explained why exactly they were seeking for Ares.
A way to kill Amari. Simply put, they were looking for a weapon. Probably the most powerful weapon ever forged by the Great Olympian blacksmith God Hephaestus himself. Olympus's ultimate weapon, the legendary God killer.
What the powers Amari had shown, Savage had already placed Amari on the level of Gods. And what better way to kill a godlike being than with a God killer?
For now, the weapon was the only way they could think of to put an end to the plague that haunted them.
However, the Olympian Gods were dead. Something that only Vandal and Klarion were aware of. Or at least that was what Vandal thought.
Until Klarion showed him otherwise. As nominally the last living God of Olympus, the only person who would know of the weapons whereabouts was Ares himself.
At first, Vandal thought it would be hard for him to convince the God Of War to look the location of the God killer.
After all, the chance that he didn't know was there. And even if he did, why would he give it to them?
Contrary to their expectations, however, Ares agreed. The weapon was last located within the Forge Of Hephaestus before the great war thousands of years ago.
All Ares had to do was channel them there. But this wasn't an easy task.
Originally, Vandal was willing to show patience.... until Ra's Al Ghul called to relay Slade's dealings.
Now, he couldn't care less about Ares's feelings and sent Klarion to urge his acquaintance to hurry up.
Honestly, Ares looked down on these mortals who had come together just to fight against a mere group of Superheroes.
He similarly looked down on Klarion as well who cooperated with them despite having no clear goal.
No plans, no ambitions, he was there just for the fun of it. Nevertheless, disdain aside, Klarion was one of the two people he paid attention to and the only one he truly worried about.
Ares wasn't the all powerful God he once was, and he didn't have the capital to look down on the Witchboy anymore.
Among the lords of Chaos, Klarion was the only one who knew he was alive. With his character, he had convinced the Witchboy to keep it a secret. After all, he wanted to draw less attention to himself before he regained his strength.
Who knows what those Lords of chaos would do if they knew he was still alive. Probably blab it to the whole multiverse in fear that there wasn't enough chaos as it was.
Ares couldn't afford to break up with Klarion.
Plus, he had struck a deal with the light and to further his own goals, he needed their help.
"... So things need to be done with a little more..... Haste". Klarion finished.
"I am not ready, Witchboy". The God Of War uttered plainly.
"You have come at a bad ...".
Boom!
A loud tearing sound emerged from the sky, startling both figures.
"What the ...".
"Huh?"
Klarion turned around and Ares raised his head. The next moment, both their expressions changed drastically at the sight of a giant space crack emerging over hollow Earth.
On the other side, a giant dark red skeleton standing in the ocean came into view.
"He found me... Impossible". Ares eyes widened to the extreme.
Meanwhile, Amari who had torn open space looked set his sights on the Greek style palace.
"There you are". The giant skeleton stretched its arm and swung the golden barbed chain at the structure, descending onto the earth like God's punishment.
Bang! With one strike, the small city was destroyed.
....
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