Chương 44: Issue #43: X, Ares.
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(General P.O.V)
The terrain was filled with roiling hills- just a collection of rocks and boulders dotting the landscape, and barren ground that nothing could really grow in.
The depression from two of these hills formed a deep valley, shrouded in a perpetual bloody mist that hang near the ground.
And at the center of the valley was a ruin. The remains of a temple with half destroyed statues and monuments.
That said, there were signs of recent occupation as a large black tent, surrounded by dozens of smaller ones, stood amidst the ruins.
A short distance from the small camp was a large ditch.
It was the beginning of the night, and around the ditch stood hooded figures, some holding onto torches that lit up the crater in it's entirety.
They seemed to be waiting for something.
And that something turned out to be a flash of red light, as the ditch pulsed with immense magical energy.
Right at the back of the file and rank, a woman seated in a lotus position in front of a half destroyed statue of Hecate, opened her eyes, an eager smirk coloring her features.
"She's here."
The woman muttered. Finally, her chance at revenge.
-0-
The last thing Diana remembered was jumping at the suit of armor, her sword poised to strike it on the middle of it's chest and obliterate the damn thing.
Then there was a flash of red and the surroundings had changed.
She had stumbled as she regained her footing, her Godslayer sword and Laso of truth held in each hand.
The place she found herself in, was a ditch.
One with strange figures standing at the edges of the rim, chanting in a language she didn't understand.
Damned magicians.
This had to be a trap. One orchestrated to get her and sisters here.
She was glad she had the foresight to order them to stay back as she went into the village alone.
They could do more for her out there than here.
But...she had also very likely left them alone to fend off Vandal Savage and whatever other forces were under Ares' command.
She shouldn't have trusted the Immortal so easily, even with the Laso vouching for his innocence.
While it could reveal someone's deepest secrets, that depended on the nature of the question in the first place.
Dammit, she should have asked him if he was planning on betraying them. But without context, that kind of question would have spoiled their chances at an alliance.
No matter. Her focus had to be on moving forward, Pillyphus was resourceful enough that Diana could trust her to catch up.
In the meantime, she would do everything in her power to end this.
With the armor lying under her foot, kept in place by her sheer strength, Diana turned to the mouth of the crater.
"Ares! show yourself! You owe me a life, dear brother."
She growled, glaring at the magicians, who were yet to stop chanting.
In fact, their voices had risen in volume.
Diana's instincts screamed at her to do something.
Just as she was about to jump from the base of the ditch and wreak havoc, the chanting instantly stopped.
Her features twisted in pain.
Agony struck her out of nowhere. She grunted, staggering as her head felt like it was being split into two.
It was the kind of headache that made one nauseous.
And Diana had never had such an headache before.
Not even the concussions she sustained during sparring with her sisters had ever brought on such torment.
She fell to one of her knees, stabbing her sword onto the ground. The pain was blinding. It was the worst thing she had ever felt.
"This is certainly a sight."
A rich voice mused, making Diana growl, stumbling to her feet with a snarl despite the pain.
"You called, granddaughter?"
A statuesque figure, with glowing golden hair and a facial structure that defied mortal standards of beauty gloated from the mouth of the ditch.
Diana looked up with bleary eyes and saw the shirtless figure sliding the slope and into the base, with a short sword in hand.
He was tall. And the feeling he gave off was a bit similar to Hades and all the other Gods she had seen before.
Although, the God in front of her gave off a wilder and more savage aura.
He smelled like blood.
"Ares, finally you face me."
Diana straightened to her feet, breathing out as an iron glint appeared in her eyes.
She revealed her hand, the Laso of Truth wrapped around her wrist. The pain assaulting her mind had subsided under the effects of its power.
And the hooded figures who had been sustaining the mind attack on her, seized up, all of them falling like Puppets cut from a string.
"HORSE FUCKING SHIT!!"
A loud curse emanated from a distance away.
Only to be superseded by laughter as Ares, reached the base of the crater, clapping the sword to his chest.
"Nicely done Granddaughter! I told Circe her little mind tricks wouldn't work with that Laso on you! It's good to see Hippolyta's whelp is as ferocious as her mother."
"Circe is here?" Diana's face twisted in an expression of furious disbelief and idgnation.
She remembered Persephone saying something about Ares initiating the attack on Hades Palace, as a distraction for him to steal the souls of the dead.
Circe was apparently one of said souls.
"It doesn't matter."
The princess affirmed.
"If she stands with you then she dies, just like you will!"
The ditch gained a trench as Diana burst apart the ground, lunging forward in a fast dash.
Ares kept the smile on his face, casually leaning back and dodging the high kick that sailed over him.
Diana snarled as she missed, landing on the other side of the ditch, before running along the slope, her Laso already in her hand, and the sword in its sheath.
Killing him was too easy! She was going to capture him and make him bleed.
Its what Kane would want.
It's what Kane would...do??
Huh? The Laso pulsed even more brightly.
That was another mind attack, like the one from before! Luckily the Laso of Hestia did more than just make someone reveal their deepest secrets.
The Laso could also protect the user from mental manipulation as long as they were touching it.
They had given up on trying to cause her pain and were instead hoping to mess with her judgement.
Fuck that.
Ares was going to die. Right here and now. It's what she had been training for.
She launched the Laso out, towards him.
"Speed, a quarter of Deimos."
He casually observed her, the ground rising up in a wave of sand to form into a battalion of soldiers with shields, forming a dome around the God of War.
The Laso bounced off the protective dome.
With a frustrated snarl, Diana launched off the bank of the ditch, flying at Ares with her sword drawn out, and her shield on the left hand.
The aura around her screamed murderous intent and the wind itself seemed to aid her forward.
There was a flash of light, followed by a large explosion that spread outwards, blasting apart the ground and widening the crater.
The dust settled revealing a shocked Diana, the sharp edge of her blade pressed against Ares' neck.
The Godslayer sword was a divine class weapon, and yet- It had failed to penetrate his skin.
"Striking power, a bit above Deimos. But not nearly enough."
Ares stated while smirking.
The princess grit her teeth, pressing in with all her power. The ground under her feet cracked and shattered.
But it wasn't enough.
With a loud yell, Diana kicked out, her heel landing on the God's chest. To no effect.
She let loose a hundred lethal attacks in the span of a few seconds, but none of her hits could get through his defense.
"Battle I.Q less than expected."
Ares stated while still smirking, much to Diana's mounting anger.
The Princess poured her all into another kick but Ares heaved, throwing her away from him by merely pushing out his chest.
Annoyed, Diana spun in the air and landed gracefully, her Laso shooting out and covering the distance between them before encircling Ares' wrist.
If direct attacks didn't work, she would use the environment to her advantage.
She tried to pull with all her might, veins jutting out across her arms.
"Strength, half of Deimos."
Ares termed, simply tugging his large arm and pulling the Princess to him faster than she was expecting.
At the same instant, Ares took a leap, meeting Diana in mid air with the hand gripping his short sword pulled back.
BWAM!!!
The blow struck true, his fist landing on Diana's cheek and blowing her away, dazed.
Her arms grew lax. And the weapons she was holding onto fell out of her grasp. The Godslayer sword and shield dropping to the ground.
Before she could go far- carried by the momentum of the blow, Ares pulled her to him again, his large palm closing over her face.
BAM!
He then proceeded to slam her onto the ground so hard, that the earth shook.
Lying on her back, hair in a loose fashion, Diana tried to get back up, only for her limbs to give out.
"Durability, less than a quarter of Deimos."
Ares coldly observed, shaking his head with something akin to disappointment.
"Ares I'll kill..."
Diana's growl of rage was cut off as Ares raised his heel and the last thing, the princess saw was the bottom of his sandal.
-0-
With green robes flowing around her, the witch of Aeia flew forward, her face set in a sadistic sneer.
Finally, Hippolyta's daughter was in her grasp.
To be honest, when Ares made the offer to give her freedom in exchange for servitude, she had only jumped at it for this particular reason.
To get back at the ones responsible for her death in the first place.
After years of quietly planning, of corrupting the minds of the few impatient Amazons in Themiscyra- she had all but ensured the destruction of her hated enemy.
Only to have all that go down the drain due to one Demigod and of all things, a Man.
To be fair, he hadn't been your average man. Too strong and too vicious.
The crowd of Magicians, also procured from the Underworld, parted as she walked through, already imagining the kind of torture-
Unexpectedly, she found Ares walking out of the ditch with Diana's limp form slung over his shoulder.
"Hehehe, sorry Circe but it seems you won't be having that revenge after all. Hehehe."
From her side, Phobos-that insufferable git mocked.
Circe said nothing. Were it not for his father, she would have already turned him into a pig.
Speaking of his father, the witch bowed in reverence as the God of War reached them.
"My Lord."
"Circe. I can't see why you struggled with her. For all her advantages my dear little granddaughter is terribly weak. I didn't even get a chance to test her sword skills."
The God of War complained, tossing the short sword in his arm away.
The sword flew and unexpectedly dug itself through one of the magicians. It pierced his head and came out of his chin.
The man convulsed before falling over, dead.
Despite the apparent killing, no one reacted.
"I apologize for my inadequacy Lord Ares. But the princess wasn't alone. She had a man with her. He was troublesome and moved like a seasoned killer."
Circe explained, remembering the sensation of a blade passing through her neck.
And those cold eyes...
"A killer?"
The God of War repeated,
"Interesting."
He passed by her and Phobos, the two of them falling in line behind him.
"Regardless Circe. If he was at the same level of power as the Princess you should have had no problem dealing with them both. You underestimated your enemies and lost."
Despite it being true, Circe grind her teeth in anger and frustration. She especially sent a scathing look at Diana's limb form.
"That said, it would be unwise to do the same."
Ares mused thoughtfully.
"Phobos!"
Out of nowhere, he called out his son's name.
Phobos meeped, trying to avoid being noticed but failing.
"I-I'm here father."
He said in a shaky tone.
"Square your shoulders boy."
Ares added after throwing a quick look at his son.
"Y-yes."
Phobos tried. He really tried. But it was clear to anyone that he was lacking in confidence before his father.
"Did you complete the task I assigned you?"
Ares questioned.
Phobos closed his eyes, letting out a very inaudible curse before he cleared his throat and said,
"Thh-ee Themisscyran ww-arriors escaped father."
He stammered, trembling inside the armor he wore.
"Huh? You let them go?"
Ares said in an even tone.
Phobos wilted under the glare.
"Well boy? Spit it out then."
His father's harsh tone jolted him up.
"It-it was Her-Herakles father. He-he went in charging and ma-managed to k-kill over 200 of them-them but-but in the ensuing chaos- we lost the rest over the highlands."
Ares expectantly raising his eyebrows at Phobos encouraged the God to go on.
"D-Deimos is- is leading a team of b-battle hogs and a squad of Spartans to hunt them down."
"Good. At least one of you is not a disappointment."
Ares grumbled.
"Now pack up the camp. We are leaving."
Phobos clearly struggling to keep stride with his father looked surprised.
"M-may I ask W-why Father? Didn't you need another batch of bodies t-teleported in? We s-still haven't met the quota of-"
"Fool." Ares sneered down.
"If you know anything about Amazons it's that they are relentless- and led by the sky itself."
He glared up, as if daring lightning to shoot down from the dark clouds.
"They will track us here. That's why I sent you to go and get them yourself Phobos! Herakles would be someone who they've no doubt devised a way to defeat. But your Fear divinity could have induced panic enough that you could have finished off every single one of them. You were the back up plan. And you failed."
Ares groused, now glaring down at his son.
Phobos shrank into himself even more.
The glare on Ares' face changed to disgust at his son's cowardly act. As if balking that something so snivelling could be his son.
"You are a God. Act like it."
The God of War outpaced the two, walking towards his tent, a bound Diana on his shoulders.
"Pack up."
Ares reiterated, not trusting his useless son to hear the first time.
"We're leaving this dump. Time to go to mount Etna."
He said to himself, eyes flashing with a glint of bloodlust.
"Time to cause chaos."
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