Whether it was deliberately acting as a trailblazer, feigning defeat to Athena in a duel, or studying magic with Hecate and swearing an oath of eternal chastity to the entire world, Ares's ultimate goal was always to survive.
And the most secure way to survive, besides directly escaping this world, was to hide his true body and operate through created avatars.
Hecate, as the Moon Goddess of Greece, must have known something about this technique. Moreover, according to Ares's memories, in the later era of depleted great sources, there was still a high-ranking puppeteer known as the "Scarlet of Pain" who used a similar method to replace his flesh body with a puppet and prepared many backup bodies, thereby gaining the characteristic of being difficult to kill completely.
Ares didn't need any of that; he only needed a few shells that could hide his true self while being manipulated by his spirit.
Indeed, after he proactively inquired, Hecate merely pondered for a moment before agreeing: "Very well, it's about time you researched some of your own magic. I have indeed studied this area, and I will teach you when we return."
Thus, after Hephaestus and Aphrodite's wedding, and Ares presented a gift to his elder brother, Hecate and Ares left Olympus and returned to the Tree Palace on the shores of Okeanos.
Because Zeus was recently preparing to create all things, his "desertion of duty" as the God of War went unquestioned by other gods on Olympus. Zeus was even hoping Ares would behave himself during this period and not cause chaos on the land, saving him trouble.
According to Hecate's estimation, besides this reason, the gods of Olympus didn't question Ares's whereabouts probably because Ares's oath was truly too shocking to the divine hearts.
However, none of this concerned Ares. Upon returning to the Tree Palace, he immediately devoted all his energy to studying "life-saving magic" with Hecate.
During this process, he also didn't neglect his study of spatial-temporal magic. If one day he could successfully analyze the black crystal and escape this world, then he wouldn't need to force himself to learn magic that was already like advanced mathematics, causing him headaches.
Thus, another period of time passed. During this time, Ares had completely mastered the spiritual attachment magic taught by Hecate, and he had even innovatively modified this magic to be more convenient. He had also fully learned puppet magic.
However, the current Ares did not know the process by which Prometheus and Athena created humans, so he could not create a human body for himself. He could only first use some rare materials from the earth to create a disguised divine body slightly inferior to his own, and then inject his divine power and spirit into it, using it as his true form to be revealed to the outside world.
His true self continued to stay in Hecate's Tree Palace library. Recently, he had gradually shifted his energy towards this crystal. Through Hecate's magic and Hephaestus's material identification techniques, he had also made significant achievements in the analysis of the black crystal.
Through analysis, Ares discovered that this crystal was a substance born outside this world. Although he had not fully grasped all its properties, Ares had tested that it could absorb Aether and convert it into its own energy. When it had enough energy, it could penetrate the spatial-temporal barrier, taking surrounding objects with it to travel through space-time to other universes.
And now, this black crystal had been filled with energy by him using a spiritual pulse on the earth, ready for a second spatial-temporal travel experiment at any time.
However, how to find a suitable experimental site was a big problem.
In today's world, the sky, the earth, the Underworld, and the sea all have their masters. If Ares were to conduct experiments so brazenly in these places, he would likely be detected by Zeus and other God Kings.
In the Age of Gods, the God Kings' authorities were almost insurmountable. Apart from extraterrestrial beings like Youxing Vanguard and deus ex machina, the only ones who could defeat a God King were their own destinies, which were vaguely predetermined.
If Zeus were to discover him engaging in these covert actions, it would be fine if Ares could truly escape with this black crystal. But if he couldn't, he would probably be in Tartarus tomorrow morning, bearing heavy chains with his grandfather, second uncle, third uncle, and other Titans, enduring eternal torment.
After much thought, Ares still couldn't think of anywhere in this world where he could safely test the power of this crystal.
However, his concerns seemed to have been seen through by the Moon Goddess. Just as Ares was deep in thought, sketching the prototype of a secret magic laboratory that no one could discover on papyrus, Hecate suddenly called him out.
"I'm taking you somewhere today."
The Moon Goddess said, raising her hand to open a transfer gate:
"Follow me."
Ares didn't understand her meaning, but the Moon Goddess had already changed forms and walked in first. Considering that the Moon Goddess had no conflict of interest with him and should not harm him, Ares thought for a moment and then... threw in one of his own false bodies.
Although Hecate was his mentor, Ares currently lacked trust in all the gods of Greece. He would not actively harm Hecate, but while one should not harbor malicious intentions, one should also not be without caution. His relationship with Hecate was close now, but they had not reached the point of confiding in each other, so Ares decided to play it safe for now.
After controlling the divine body he had created to pass through the transfer gate, Ares found himself in the deepest part of the Underworld. Above was a sky made of rocks and gray mist, and on the ground were only endless rocks and sand, with countless biological skeletons buried within the sand.
There was no sign of life here. In the distance, in the deep darkness of this area, one could still see a river burning with flames. Surrounding the river was a towering copper wall, and beneath the wall, giants with a hundred arms could be seen patrolling back and forth.
That was the bronze prison where the Titans were confined, and this land, naturally, was the terrifying hell beneath the earth, Tartarus.
Ares withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked at the purple-haired goddess standing gracefully before him with her arms crossed. Hecate could naturally discern the authenticity of Ares's body, but she wasn't angry; she merely let out a disdainful snort from her nostrils:
"Look at you, and you call yourself the God of War?"
"I'm just following my true self." Ares spread his hands openly, saying, "Teacher, why did you call me here?"
Hecate maintained her posture of standing with crossed arms, turned around, and lifted her chin towards a spot behind her where there was a stone palace: "There, my secret laboratory. Here, you will definitely not be discovered by Zeus, Hades, or Poseidon. Whatever magic experiment you want to do, do it quickly. Stop making that miserable face all day, writing and drawing in my palace, wasting my paper."
Seeing Ares's surprised expression, Hecate added, "I saw through your thoughts long ago. Don't worry, I said before that as long as you swear not to oppose me, I won't care what you want to do. Use this laboratory yourself, and come out after you've finished your experiments. I won't watch you."
"Hecate..." A complex expression appeared on Ares's face. When he first arrived here, all he thought about was how to escape his future destiny, so he hadn't considered other factors. Even when building good relationships with Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, and others, he always carried a layer of caution in his heart. For these Greek gods whose values were so different from his own, Ares naturally felt that they were not on the same path.
However, Hecate's actions truly made Ares's heart waver a bit. The Moon Goddess clearly saw that Ares was secretly making small moves, but she still helped him conceal them and had no intention of questioning him about them.
"Don't worry." So Ares solemnly swore to Hecate: "I, Ares, swear to the world that I will never be an enemy of the Moon Goddess Hecate. Also, I will remember your kindness, and if you are ever on the verge of death in the future, I will find a way to help you."
"Hmph." Hearing Ares's oath, Hecate couldn't help but laugh: "Do you even know who the teacher is? Do I need you to save me? Little brat."