(~˘▾˘)~~(˘▾˘~)
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Diana had heard about Hercules since she was young.
Zeus, the king of the gods, had one of the most powerful offspring born to a mortal, a famous hero in the human realm, but she had never heard of the Twelve Labors.
"Your mother didn't tell you, which is normal. After all, one of the Twelve Labors was to obtain her magical girdle," David said with a smile.
"There's no need for a daughter to know about her mother's embarrassing failures, and also..."
"And what?" Hippolyte looked at the young man in the hall who had a playful gaze, her heart shaking, a hint of panic flickering in her eyes.
Did he know something else?
Impossible, only the gods knew about that incident.
Faced with Diana's questioning, David chuckled but didn't answer.
If Hippolyte had told Diana about this myth, she would undoubtedly ask how Hercules defeated her mother.
Some of the details would be quite embarrassing.
'Diana is the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyte, while Hercules is Zeus' son. But Hercules once came close to 'capturing' Hippolyte, although that was before Zeus.'
Diana would learn about her true origins sooner or later, and her idealized image of her mother in her heart will probably shatter by then.
'But if you think about it, it's not surprising given the behavior of the Greek gods.'
David sighed.
Hercules was a prime example. He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene, who was the granddaughter of Perseus, making her a great-granddaughter of Zeus.
As for the fact that she was the wife of the king of Thebes, it was nothing in comparison.
"The Twelve Labors: skinning the invulnerable Nemean lion, slaying the monstrous nine-headed Hydra with its venomous fangs, capturing the hind of Ceryneian alive, capturing the Erymanthian Boar alive...blah blah blah... and finally, bringing back the three-headed hound Cerberus from the Underworld."
David casually listed the Twelve Labors that Hercules had endured. Diana grew more astonished as she listened, recognizing the names of terrifying monsters from the myths she had heard since childhood.
These trials would have been challenging even for gods, especially the last one. Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the realm of Hades, was the pet of the lord of the Underworld. She couldn't fathom how Hercules accomplished that.
Diana looked at her mother with a mix of shock and amazement, finally understanding why her mother had changed her stance.
"But what achievement could be harder than the Twelve Labors?" she asked.
"Outsider, you don't need to complete so many trials. You only need to complete one thing, and we will crown you," Hippolyte proclaimed loudly.
"And that is—to kill Ares, the God of War, who still roams the world!"
The hall seemed to explode with the sound of thunder as the mighty Amazon warriors heard the name. Their bodies trembled, and fear coursed through them hearing the name.
For a moment, the hall was deathly quiet, as if afraid that the Queen's utterance of his name would summon the evil gaze of Ares.
"Ares, killing the Ares who slew even the Heavenly Father Zeus!" Diana's heart shook, and she couldn't help but speak.
The Amazons revered and respected the gods of Olympus—Almighty Zeus, Poseidon the god of the sea, Apollo the sun god... All those powerful gods had been slaughtered by one individual thousands of years ago.
That individual was the firstborn son of Zeus and Hera, the god of war, Ares.
"Ares represents war, conflict, slaughter, and chaos. He embodies power and authority. He craves bloodshed and carnage, the embodiment of human disaster..."
Diana recited the terrifying words she had heard about the firstborn son of the godfather since she was young.
"I make Ares disappear from this world, and the Amazons will submit to me?"
Ignoring the fearful reactions of those in the hall, as if he had never heard of Ares' reputation, David spoke his name as if it were an ordinary name.
From his mouth, killing the god of war seemed like an ordinary matter.
It aligned quite closely with David's assumptions.
Among the formidable men and monsters the Amazons had faced, they had all perished, leaving only Ares. What other trial could there be?
'Killing Ares...'
Gods couldn't be killed, they simply faded away, vanishing into obscurity, and only truly 'die' when no longer having any believers.
'If I were to 'kill' Ares, he would return to Mount Olympus in the Realm of The Gods, but I think the other gods he has killed would probably immediately imprison him.'
'Due to his proud nature, he would probably forever resent the mortal who killed him while he's imprisoned,' David's eyes brightened with intrigue.
This meant that he would have a constant source of emotional turmoil, a point that David found rather interesting. Even if Hippolyte hadn't brought it up, he already planned to do it.
And now, with the addition of 'legitimate' conquest of the Amazons, the last piece of the puzzle lay before him.
'Killing two birds with one stone...' his expression was neutral, not showing any joy or anger.
"...You seem to know a lot of secrets that mortals shouldn't know. But haven't you heard about the terror of Ares?"
Hearing David change his tone and see through her intentions, Hippolyte's expression barely shifted. As someone who had been a queen for thousands of years, she was not embarrassed and calmly asked in surprise.
"Strength and weakness, scary or not are not always relative."
"Ares might be terrifying to you, affiliated to death itself, but not to me."
David chuckled lightly, exuding immense confidence that refused to consider the firstborn son of the godfather as a fearful threat from myths.
Diana couldn't help but glance at him.
Although her mother hadn't mentioned Hercules' Twelve Labors to her, she had shared stories of other heroes from Greek myths when Diana was young.
Growing up listening to those stories, Diana admired the heroes who faced insurmountable challenges without backing down, aspiring to be like them—unafraid of any danger or difficulty.
The man before her was handsome and powerful, exuding the confidence to take on any challenge, much like the heroes she had admired in her childhood.
Diana, who was bound by the Lasso of Truth, shifted her gaze slightly.
"The Amazons despise lies!"
Looking at David's confident demeanor as he spoke, Hippolyte paused for a moment and then declared firmly.
"Outsider, the promises of the Amazons will be upheld until death!"
She responded to David's doubts.
As she finished speaking, the Amazon warriors in the hall also showed unwavering determination.
The Amazons had nearly been enslaved through deception before, so they had a strong aversion to lies—a tradition they upheld for centuries.
"Lies represent cowardice, treachery, the most shameful aspect of humanity!"
"Very well."
A hint of satisfaction played across David's face as he spoke slowly.
"I hope you will keep your promise when the time comes. Otherwise, I might just end up with an empty island, which would be quite dull."
As they heard his warning, a cold gaze swept through the room. Hippolyte and the Amazons all tensed up.
David's current power still had some way to go before matching that of the Heavenly Father Zeus.
However, thousands of years ago, Ares was able to kill Zeus because of his divine role—the god of war.
Whenever war occurred, Ares' strength would grow, amplified further when he was on the battlefield.
'In ancient times, Darkseid led his armies to invade Earth, a war that engulfed humans, gods, the Green Lantern, Atlanteans...'
'Ares' strength surged to unimaginable levels.'
Even Zeus had helped him fetch his axe during that battle. Ares, seemingly unhurried, took the axe from Zeus and looked as if he was the main force in the war.
David's eyes became distant as he continued.
'Almost cleaved Darkseid with an axe. Although the Dark God was only eight years old back then, it was still shocking enough.'
During that era, Ares' power far surpassed that of the other gods. It was possible that he had taken advantage of the newly increased strength after the war, launching a surprise attack on his father, mother, and siblings, sending them back to the Realm of The Gods to be reborn, and leaving only himself as a Greek god on Earth.
His achievements were nothing short of remarkable.
'But that's all in the past.'
He shook his head subtly.
In the present age, wars were infrequent on Earth, and Ares was no longer at his peak, probably not even as powerful as he was in the normal ancient times.
As for Ares' whereabouts, it wasn't difficult to guess.
David's gaze turned in a certain direction.
His line of sight seemed to pierce through miles, catching a glimpse of the eldest son of the Heavenly Father walking amidst corpses on a battlefield, listening to the symphony of gunfire and explosions like it was the most enchanting music, reveling in the scent of blood and the intoxicating sensation of the chaos.
'The god of war naturally resides where war takes place!'
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(~˘▾˘)~Don't forget to send your power-stones!~(˘▾˘~)