"What? You want to learn magic too?"
Upon hearing Ares's words, the Olympus Gods were astonished.
In the impression of the gods, Ares was definitely the god least associated with magic, a skill requiring wisdom. He had always been synonymous with brutality and thoughtlessness. For him to say this now was like Arnold Schwarzenegger suddenly announcing to the public that he was going to become a magical girl.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Seeing the gods' reactions, Ares widened his eyes. "Am I, a main god, not worthy of learning magic?"
"Cough, that's not the issue." Ares's words had surprised Zeus too. He coughed, then quietly asked Athena, "Your spell, it didn't hurt his brain, did it?"
"Absolutely not." Athena quickly shook her head, denying it. "My spell isn't even directed at the mind."
"What do you mean? Do you all think I, Ares, can't learn magic?" Ares, meanwhile, maintained his persona with professional dedication. Standing in the God King's Hall, he ranted, "I'm telling you, Athena only beat me because she had magic up her sleeve, and my magic resistance was low. If I learned magic, would I still be like this?"
Although everyone felt there was something off about his words, they sounded quite reasonable.
"Ares." Zeus thought for a moment, then gestured to Ares. "How about this, there's nothing great about learning magic. I think with your might, learning it would be a complete waste. Come, I'll have your brother forge you a few more divine artifacts. What do you want? A new chariot, how about that?"
"No!" Ares waved his hand, angered. "Father, I am at least the son of Hera and you, the most legitimate Zeus's son in this God King's Hall. Why are you so biased towards Athena? It's bad enough that you carved out our divine duties for her, but are you not even giving us a chance to win them back ourselves? You're too biased!"
"Exactly!" Ares's words immediately garnered the agreement of Hera, who was most indignant about the matter. She looked at her husband and said, "Zeus, how can you be so biased against our son? I tell you, if he learns magic, he will definitely be stronger than Athena, and more like a God of War! You won't even give him this chance?"
Aren't I afraid that if he can't learn it, he'll throw a tantrum and cause me trouble?
Zeus listened helplessly to his wife's scolding, pondering how to placate her.
But at that moment, Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, now officially married to Zeus, stepped forward. She looked at Zeus and softly said,
"Zeus, just give Ares a chance. He helped our mother and son, and we owe him. My sister Asteria's daughter, Hecate, is the most powerful sorceress in this world. I will go explain to Hecate and let Ares try with her."
Hecate…
Hearing that name, Zeus showed hesitation. She was the most formidable deity in the world besides Athena, but when he saw his son, who resembled a red-haired gorilla, he lowered his guard.
[Judging from the previous duel with Athena, Ares's potential and strength are just so-so.]
He thought disdainfully:
[Even if I let him learn, the God of War doesn't have the patience or perseverance to devote himself to such a tedious path of magic. It's perfect; let him go bother Hecate, so that woman doesn't constantly conduct terrifying experiments.]
Thinking of this, Zeus immediately felt relieved. He nodded to Leto and then said,
"Very well, Ares, I'll give you a chance."
He looked at Ares and reminded him,
"But I must say, if you want to challenge Athena and reclaim your divine duties, you will only have one more chance. If you lose, then you must honestly accept your defeat and stop doing annoying things that disrupt the normal work of the gods."
"Yes, I understand!" Hearing Zeus's words, Ares was overjoyed. A triumphant smile appeared on his face, looking contemptible and ridiculous in the eyes of the gods.
Having gotten his wish, he came before the beautiful bright-eyed goddess, then leaned his head over, looking at her triumphantly, and laughed, "Just you wait, Athena! When I emerge from seclusion, your doom will have arrived! Hahahaha—"
With that, he left the temple on his own, just like the Ares of myth, reckless and devoid of manners.
Watching Ares's retreating figure, Poseidon let out a disdainful sneer. He said to Zeus,
"Zeus, look at your son; he's like an unevolved idiot."
"My son is not for you to talk about, Poseidon."
Zeus immediately retorted sharply to his brother:
"At least he's better than your sons, who don't even look human!"
The sharp confrontation between the two brothers at this moment showed the gods their hostile relationship. Seeing this, Hades, as the elder brother, and Hestia, as the elder sister, exchanged helpless glances and sighed simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Artemis looked somewhat worriedly as her mother, Leto, followed Ares out. She then asked her brother,
"Apollo, Hecate is temperamental. Will Ares upset her?"
"Who knows, but I think they might actually get along quite well." Apollo glanced at Zeus and Poseidon, who were glaring at each other, then at Athena, who stood smiling, and at Hades and Hestia, who were shaking their heads in resignation. Then he said with a smile, "Olympus isn't exactly a pure land either."
…
On the other side, guided by Leto, Ares quickly left Olympus and arrived on Earth.
At this time, there was no human activity on Earth, only various monsters born alongside the gods, and even more bizarre offspring produced by gods with peculiar tastes, like Poseidon, mating with monsters.
And Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic, now resided on such an Earth.
She lived in seclusion on the shores of the Oceanus, in a basin sealed by a magical barrier. On the other side of this ocean lay the Underworld, ruled by Hades.
Leto clearly frequented this place. Upon landing, she skillfully led Ares past the magical barrier and into Hecate's domain.
After crossing the barrier, this desolate basin revealed its true form. The basin was like a wonderland, with various dense thickets inhabited by many small but beautiful fairies and elves. Heavy immortal fruits hung from the branches, and the air was filled with much richer Aether than outside.
In terms of environment alone, this place was no worse than the gardens of the gods on Olympus. Deep within the dense forest was Hecate's palace, woven from magic and trees. At the palace entrance lay Cerberus, the future guardian of the Underworld, a three-headed dog. It was actually the pet of Moon Goddess Hecate.
Sensing the arrival of the two gods, Leto and Ares, the vigilant hound raised its three heads and looked in their direction with hostility. However, upon seeing that it was Leto, it showed a joyful expression, wagging its tail and licking its tongue as it ran to Leto.
"Good boy." Leto gently stroked Cerberus's head and then asked, "Is Hecate home?"
The three-headed dog nodded, then barked twice towards the palace. Then, a lazy voice suddenly echoed from within the palace:
"Cerberus, who's here?"
As soon as the words fell, a small figure slowly walked out of the palace.