AM I SUPERMAN?

Ares roared in defiance, but his cries couldn't halt Kaius's attack.

Boom!

Kaius's fist crashed into Ares' chest with the force of a meteor, shattering the God of War's armor. The impact left a gaping wound in Ares' torso, exposing ribs and a faintly beating heart. Blood flowed freely, glistening like molten gold against the battlefield's light.

Despite the devastating injury, Ares remained on his feet, his fiery gaze locked onto Kaius. "Impossible…" he rasped. "How do you wield divine power? Who are you?"

"You can call me… Godkiller!" Kaius replied coldly. He made no effort to explain the true source of his power—his advanced system. Instead, he reached into Ares' chest, his hand wrapping around the god's heart. With a sudden squeeze, he crushed it into nothingness.

Hiss!

The blood of the gods sprayed across Kaius's dark suit. Ares dropped to one knee, clutching his ruined chest, his breaths labored.

Diana sprinted over, her eyes widening as she examined Ares. "Why isn't he dead?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief. The gaping wound in his chest, his missing heart—none of it had finished him.

Kaius frowned. "If smashing his heart won't kill him, maybe vaporizing him will."

With that, his eyes glowed red as beams of intense heat shot forth, engulfing Ares. The god's body was consumed by the searing light, vaporized in an instant.

But even as his form disappeared, Ares' voice echoed in the air, dripping with malevolence. "You mortals cannot kill a god, least of all me—the God of War. War doesn't need armies or battles. It exists wherever there is conflict, destruction, and chaos. And the greater the strife, the stronger I become."

Ares' voice grew louder, his tone triumphant. "After the Dusk of the Gods, I slumbered. World War I and II restored only fragments of my strength. But the invasion of Darkseid's forces… oh, that was better than a thousand armies. It awakened me completely. I am now stronger than ever before!"

Thunder rumbled across the sky as a bolt of lightning struck the ground where Ares had stood. In an instant, his form reappeared, whole and unscathed. His armor gleamed, repaired by divine energy, and his eyes burned with newfound power.

"Mortal," Ares growled, hovering above the ground, his body crackling with silver lightning. "You dare challenge a god's dominion? You will regret your arrogance!"

Raising his arms, Ares summoned a storm of divine lightning. The bolts coalesced into spears of crackling energy, which he hurled toward Kaius and Diana.

Kaius darted aside with super-speed, dodging the spears as they slammed into the ground, leaving smoldering craters in their wake. Even with his resilience, Kaius knew he couldn't withstand the full force of Ares' divine lightning.

Diana stepped forward, placing herself between Ares and Kaius. She raised her Bracelets of Submission, forged by the gods themselves, and clashed them together.

Buzz!

A shockwave of divine energy erupted from Diana, neutralizing the spears mid-flight. Ares sneered but didn't waver.

Kaius shot forward like a missile, the air cracking as he broke the sound barrier.

Boom!

His punch landed squarely on Ares, sending the god hurtling backward. The impact created a massive shockwave, flattening the battlefield around them. Ares crashed into the ground, carving a deep trench as his armor shattered once more.

But even as Kaius stood over him, victorious, lightning rained down from the heavens. Ares' wounds closed, his armor reformed, and he rose again, unscathed.

"It's useless," Ares taunted, his grin widening. "Gods don't die. We persist as long as conflict exists. And in a world like this, I will never fall."

Kaius's expression hardened. "The gods don't die? Then tell me, Ares, where's Zeus? Where's your father and the rest of your so-called pantheon?"

At the mention of Zeus, Ares faltered. His sneering confidence wavered, and for the first time, he looked uncertain. "Father… the gods don't truly die. One day, we will rise again, and the glory of the Age of the Gods will be restored!"

Diana stepped forward, her voice trembling with anger. "My mother told me the truth about you, Ares! You are the one who killed the gods! Zeus himself had to use his last divine power to stop you and cast you down. You're the source of all evil!"

At her accusation, Ares' confident demeanor faltered. His eyes widened in disbelief. Since the Dusk of the Gods, he had been in deep slumber, awakening only briefly during the chaos of the world wars. Yet now, he was being accused of a crime so monumental it shook even his hardened soul.

"What nonsense is this?" Ares bellowed, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and confusion. "I didn't kill the gods, Diana! Zeus is my father—our father! My divine power comes from him! How could I kill him?"

Diana's defiance turned to confusion. "What?" she snapped. "Zeus is our father? My mother told me I was crafted from clay and given life by the gods!"

Ares sneered. "Oh, foolish younger sister. Of course your mother would say that. She was imprisoned on Paradise Island by my mother, Hera. She hated Hera and me alike, so she spun her lies to protect you from the truth!"

Diana's face contorted in a mix of disbelief and rage. "You're lying!" she shouted. "My mother told me Zeus placed us Amazons on Themyscira to protect us, not imprison us!"

Ares' expression twisted into disdain. "Protect you? Zeus was a coward. Hera wanted vengeance against Hippolyta, so he hid you all away under the guise of protection. And yet, here you stand, oblivious to your true lineage."

Their argument escalated, words turning into blows. Diana's Sword of Hephaestus shattered against Ares' war-forged armor, forcing her to resort to her fists. She slammed her knuckles into Ares' face with enough force to crack stone.

Nearby, Kaius watched the two siblings battle with a bemused expression. "This mythology makes no sense," he muttered to himself. "It's like it's from an alternate version of an alternate version."

Finally breaking away from Diana's assault, Ares wiped the blood from his lip and turned to Kaius. "You, mortal, seem to have some intelligence. You want to know about the Dusk of the Gods?" His tone shifted, growing quieter, almost reverent.

Kaius nodded. "What happened? What brought it about?"

Ares' gaze darkened, and for a moment, the air grew heavy with unspoken pain. "It was an invasion from a higher plane," he said, his voice low. "They came, beings beyond even the gods' comprehension, and they destroyed us. That was the Dusk of the Gods."

Diana froze at his words, her anger momentarily replaced by curiosity. She still couldn't accept Ares' claim that Zeus was her father, but the mention of the gods' downfall intrigued her.

Kaius's expression sharpened. "An invasion from a higher plane?" he asked. "Was it the forces of Apokolips? Darkseid or Steppenwolf?"

At the mention of the New Gods' names, Ares visibly recoiled. His eyes darted to Kaius, filled with a rare hint of fear. "How do you know those names?" he demanded. "Where did you hear of them?"

Kaius smirked and pointed at Diana. "She told me. Apparently, her mother was full of stories about the Age of the Gods."

"What?" Diana's brow furrowed in confusion. "I've heard of Steppenwolf, but who is Darkseid? And why don't I remember telling you anything about them?"

Kaius shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint smile. "Maybe it slipped your mind. Or maybe I pieced it together myself."

The tension hung thick in the air, the atmosphere so awkward even Ares momentarily forgot his fury and stared at Kaius with a baffled expression.

Diana eventually broke the silence. "If this invasion caused the fall of the gods, what makes you think it couldn't happen again?"

Ares straightened, his earlier arrogance returning. "The world is ripe with conflict. War breeds chaos, and chaos draws power. If another such invasion occurs, it won't be the gods who are targeted—it will be mortals like you."

Kaius stepped forward, his voice steady. "Then we'll be ready. Your age is over, Ares. This is the age of heroes."

Ares smirked but said nothing, the lightning surrounding his form crackling ominously. As the storm clouds above gathered, it became clear that this fight was far from over.

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