"It seems Athena is preparing to make her move in the next human era."
Inside Hecate's Tree Palace, Ares's true form was discussing this topic with Hecate:
"Zeus sealed the thing she threw inside to the very bottom of the box, and he even deliberately warned Pandora not to open that box. I suppose this time, when Pandora's Box opens, Athena's item won't be able to come out."
"If Tartarus manages to analyze that thing from the yusei Star Ark, we might be able to understand its purpose, and thus Athena's objective," Hecate said to Ares, propping her chin on her hand, holding an ink brush, and lying on her hammock. "But why are you telling me all this? I won't get involved in your struggles."
"I need someone to confide in, Teacher," Ares sighed. "An ordinary god like me, with such fragile psychological resilience, would go insane if I had to play a role for too long."
"You, with fragile psychological resilience?" Hecate wrote the last stroke on the papyrus in front of her. "Oh, stop talking about that. Come take a look. I researched that 'Magic Circuit' thing you mentioned last time, and I found it's actually quite useful."
After speaking, she gathered the scattered papyrus sheets on the hammock, arranged them in order, stacked them, and handed them to Ares.
"What? You've even created a Magic Circuit?" Ares's spirits lifted, and he quickly took the stack of papyrus from Hecate, muttering as he looked through it, "Let me see…"
After all, these things were the foundation of the future Magic world. It was difficult to research them from scratch, but once Hecate had actually created them, understanding them wasn't hard. Ares carefully read through the material once, then understood its operating principle.
"This thing, it was the Rubik's Cube you brought back from the yusei Star Ark that gave me the inspiration," Hecate said, wagging her finger. "Look, isn't that Rubik's Cube covered in various patterns? I tried following that pattern, and found that running magic that way indeed made it faster. I optimized it a bit, and it became this. This Magic Circuit can convert other energies, like heat, mental power, or life force, into magic. However, I think in our current environment, this circuit is useless."
"Indeed, but it won't be in the future." Ares nodded, then thought for a moment and added, "Teacher, can you help me create a few such Magic Circuits inside my body?"
"I can," Hecate asked, puzzled. "But I still don't understand what you plan to do with such a thing?"
The Moon Goddess's vexation was quite normal in the Age of Gods. After all, even Magic users of the Age of Gods inscribed Magic Circuits onto tools. Ares's behavior, in Hecate's eyes, was like asking her to help him get a tattoo, and a full-body one at that.
In terms of magic absorption and conversion efficiency, Ares's divine body was immeasurably stronger than a Magic Circuit.
"I definitely have power to convert," Ares earnestly requested. "Please, Teacher, guide me!"
"Alright, alright." Hecate waved her hand. "First things first, this thing has to be carved directly onto the body. Unless it's created from scratch, the inscribed person will feel intense pain. Don't hit me later."
"Hmph, you underestimate me, Teacher," Ares said disdainfully. "I, Ares, am a dignified God of War. How could I not endure a little pain?"
He had his confidence, because the God of War's divinity had indeed given him a high degree of pain tolerance.
"You said it yourself," Hecate jumped down from the hammock, found her slippers, and then took out some suspicious tools from a nearby cabinet. "Then come with me."
Ares followed Hecate closely into a side room within the Tree Palace. At some point, Hecate had turned this side room into something resembling a sickroom. In the center of this room, there was a bed woven from vines, on which the Moon Goddess had laid a mattress stuffed with wool.
Upon arriving, Hecate patted Ares's lower back, then pointed to the bed and said, "Lie down."
Ares complied, and as he lay down, he calmly extended his hand to Hecate, saying, "Teacher, come on. I endured being struck by lightning. I don't believe this tiny Magic Circuit—Ah!!!"
Hecate raised a hand and pointed, and several magic chains appeared out of thin air, binding Ares's raised arm to the bed. She said, "Don't move! Otherwise, don't blame me if I slip and carve crooked."
…
"Phew…"
Several hours later, Hecate, covered in sweat, climbed down from the equally sweaty Ares.
At Ares's earnest invitation, the Moon Goddess also took her tools and, without hesitation, carved Magic Circuits into every corner of her disciple's muscular physique.
Now, Ares's entire body, covered in Magic Circuits, looked like a homunculus straight out of the Einzbern Family. He dared say that his current Magic Circuits were definitely more numerous than Ilya's; after all, Ilya was just a little loli, while he was a nine-foot tall man, so there was no comparison in terms of sheer volume.
Moreover, his Magic Circuits were created by the Goddess of Magic from the Age of Gods, and their quality was absolutely of the highest standard, matching his main divine body.
"It's done."
The Moon Goddess said to Ares, while tidying up the blood-stained tools:
"You are now a walking Magic Circuit. What exactly do you want to do with this? Begin your performance."
"Mhm."
Ares lay on the blood-soaked mattress, panting for several breaths. Once the pain in his body gradually subsided, he slowly sat up from the mattress, then clenched his fists and began to imagine.
Within everyone's mind, there is a "mechanism" to activate their Magic Circuit. This mechanism is usually a specific image, such as a gunshot, or a knife piercing the heart.
However, what appeared in Ares's mind at this moment was a fiercely burning flame. When this flame ignited from the lightless darkness, the Magic Circuits within Ares's body activated at that moment.
Hum.
Due to the excessively high quality of the Magic Circuits, dense, shimmering patterns appeared directly on Ares's body, covering him entirely. These patterns flowed with a magical glow, making him look even more like a robot.
And after activating his Magic Circuits, Ares did not stop. He took a deep breath, then silently activated another power within his body.
Magnetic Field Rotation, fifty thousand horsepower.
Sizzle—
As the power of the Magnetic Field appeared within his body, and Ares's cells rapidly rubbed together with the Magic Circuits activated, a wondrous phenomenon occurred: the Magnetic Field within him began to combine with magic under the influence of the Magic Circuits, transforming into an even more wondrous power.
Ares maintained this state, glanced at Hecate, who understood and raised her hand to open a portal to Tartarus.
After Ares passed through this portal to a secluded corner of Tartarus, he used this combined power of Magnetic Field Rotation at fifty thousand horsepower and magic, and casually punched a nearby mountain path.
Whoosh!
Accompanying his fist, a translucent force shot out, landed on a certain mountain wall in Tartarus, then silently disappeared into the wall. Moments later, with a rumbling tremor, the mountain wall suddenly collapsed violently, turning into ruins that crashed onto the ground.