Chapter 69:

I'll Beat You First, Then Help You

DC: The Infinite Villain

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Ares, god of war, was the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and Hera, queen of the gods.

He was one of the twelve Olympians and Diana's half-brother. He often moved through the human world, provoking war. The more war there was, the stronger he became.

When Steppenwolf invaded Earth long ago, Ares had been one of the gods who fought against him.

Turning inward after defeating an external enemy was not only a human trait.

Gods did it too.

Ares began challenging his father, Zeus. After Ares poisoned humanity and killed the gods, Zeus sacrificed himself and used all his remaining strength to repel him. At the same time, he left the Amazons a weapon said to be capable of killing Ares: the God Killer sword.

Trapped on Earth, Ares spent centuries planning wars and preserving his strength. During the First World War, he manipulated both sides into conflict, hoping to destroy humanity and plunge Earth into endless war.

Killing the gods.

Bringing down Zeus.

His record sounded magnificent, but a lot of it was inflated.

The sudden appearance of Eris, goddess of discord, had already proved the gods were clearly not all dead. As for that lecher Zeus, perhaps he had truly "died," but whether that death was real remained uncertain. There was a strong chance he had used Ares's hand to fake his death and avoid certain things.

The rise of the New Gods, for example.

Or the true crisis that would destroy the gods.

Either way, to Diana and Donna Troy, Ares was unquestionably powerful.

Under the night sky, a nimble figure moved rapidly across rooftops. Before long, Damon arrived near the battlefield.

Diana and Donna Troy rose again, refusing to yield. They glanced at each other's battered state and prepared to keep fighting.

At that moment, a figure dropped from above.

"Damon."

Diana frowned at the man standing between them and Ares.

"He is Damon Keller? The one who enslaved Themyscira and took you away?"

Donna Troy had heard about Damon from Hippolyta. When she saw him appear, joy flashed across her face.

"With his help, we can defeat Ares."

"He is not a good man," Diana said quietly, her expression complicated.

Then she raised her voice toward Damon.

"Why are you here? This is my fight."

"It can be my fight too," Damon said with a light smile.

Diana snorted.

"My affairs do not need your interference."

"So... I came to help him."

Damon casually pointed toward Ares.

Diana froze.

Donna Troy froze.

Ares froze too.

"You... came to help me?"

Ares pointed at himself as if the idea were absurd.

Suddenly, cars and metal all around them rose into the air and rushed toward him. As they moved, they changed and reassembled, attaching themselves to Ares like armor.

After a while, Ares stood armored and holding a massive axe, like a warrior in divine battle gear. The light in his helmeted eyes looked savage.

"I need your help, boy?"

"You do," Damon said seriously.

"Is that so? Then tell me. When they are no match for me, why would I need help from a human insect I could crush whenever I wanted?"

Ares stared at Damon coldly.

"Because..."

Damon spoke slowly.

The smile on his face turned cold, and he rushed forward.

"There are few humans who can reach your speed," Ares said proudly, mocking him. "Unfortunately, in my eyes, you are too slow. You cannot hurt me, because you cannot even break my armor..."

His words stopped.

His eyes widened as if they were about to jump from his skull.

In the next instant, his body bent backward.

The armor on his chest had been shattered by a fist.

How was that possible?

Feeling the force in that fist, as if it could punch straight through him, Ares stared at Damon in disbelief as his body flew backward.

At the moment he was thrown away, a hand caught his face and slammed him down.

Boom.

Before Ares could react, he was smashed into the ground. The impact caved the earth in and sent a wave of heat rippling outward.

Diana and Donna Troy retreated, bracing themselves, and stared at the shocking scene in disbelief.

"Because if I do not help you, I can only kill you."

Damon bent over, gripping Ares's face. The cheek guard of Ares's helmet had already shattered and pressed into his skin, making it hard for him to breathe. With a crack, the armor on his body broke apart completely.

Impossible.

Ares could not speak, but his eyes were full of shock and confusion.

Why?

"Right. I did not hear what you said just now."

Damon suddenly smiled brightly and lifted Ares with one hand.

Fragments of armor clattered to the ground.

"My speed was too slow? I could not even do what to your armor?"

"If I move too fast, how will you clearly see me beating you?"

Damon narrowed his eyes, holding Ares up as he turned to smile at the stunned Diana and Donna.

"If something that interests me starts becoming dull, I do not mind abandoning it halfway. So I need to make this more exciting. If I do not help him, I can only kill him and end the matter."

"Now..."

Damon held Ares close and asked word by word, "Do you need my help?"

Could Ares say no?

He could not understand how a human possessed power this terrifying, but his instinct was clear. If he refused, Damon would kill him.

And Damon could truly kill him.

Even though Ares was a god.

"I... need it."

Ares forced out the words with difficulty.

"That is more like it."

Damon smiled brightly and let him go. Ares fell to the ground.

"Cough. Cough..."

Ares coughed and painfully removed his helmet. The frightening wounds on his face slowly healed.