Later, he was imprisoned here by Ares, with no one able to approach him. He had sustained himself solely on his hatred for Ares, otherwise he would have gone mad long ago.
But now that his enemy was dead, and his friends and family had left him, Hephaestus temporarily couldn't find a reason to continue living.
Fortunately, Dane had considered this situation beforehand. He took out Ares's battle-axe, allowing Hephaestus to see it.
This axe was also crafted by him, so he understood this weapon very well; even Ares himself didn't understand this weapon as well as he did.
Therefore, when Dane took it out, Hephaestus almost immediately saw that Ares's divine soul was residing within this battle-axe, though this divine soul was muddled, seemingly without its own will.
A divine light flashed in Hephaestus's eyes, dazzling like lava. His large head strained to move in front of Dane, staring intently at the axe.
"Yes, I think you can see that Ares's soul is imprisoned on this battle-axe. If you agree to my terms, the Ares inside will be yours..."
"I agree!" Hephaestus's voice boomed like a bell, agreeing instantly.
Dane was equally decisive; he threw the battle-axe, and the God of War's power wrapped around the axe, severing all the surrounding chains. When the last chain broke, Hephaestus was finally freed. He couldn't help but let out a roaring cry.
His voice pierced through the volcanic palace, echoing across the entire Devils Island.
Hippolyta, who was working, looked up, her gaze solemn, towards the direction of the volcano.
"It's Hephaestus's voice..."
She had seen this God of Craftsmanship more than once during the era of gods and humans living together; many precious Amazon weapons also came from the hands of this deity.
However, the volcanic temple was a forbidden area set by Ares, and they had been unable to enter it for thousands of years, but now Dane had entered.
It was unknown whether this was a blessing or a curse for the Amazons?
Back inside the palace, Dane did not retrieve the battle-axe but left it for Hephaestus.
"I have already handed his soul over to you. He is now an idiot, so you can do whatever you want with him.
As for this battle-axe, I hope you will melt it down and create a new weapon. By the way, do you know how to process Ninth Metal?"
Hephaestus gave him an affirmative answer: "As long as I have the materials, I can make anything you want!" This was his pride as the God of Craftsmanship and the God of Fire.
"Very good, I will find that metal as soon as possible. You can prepare to open the furnace."
This volcano was not only Hephaestus's energy source for maintaining his divine power but also his forge.
He was the God of Fire; wherever there was Fire, he could obtain the basic energy to sustain his existence.
He was also the God of Craftsmanship; wherever there were ores, he would not lose this divine status.
The volcanic region happened to meet his needs for maintaining his divinity, so Hephaestus, even after regaining his freedom, had no desire to leave this palace. He also didn't want to see the Amazons, these creations of Ares.
At this moment, he stared at Ares's axe in his hand, wondering how to deal with him.
Suddenly he asked, "Can you restore his sanity?"
Dane looked at him in surprise, and when he saw the burning fire of hatred in his eyes, he understood the meaning of this request.
So he didn't speak, but once again used the Gift of Life to modify the God of War's sanity, though he still sealed his magic knowledge, habitually playing it safe.
Ares, whose sanity was restored, immediately screamed: "Hephaestus! You're free!"
Hephaestus bared a terrifyingly wide grin; his uneven teeth and the charcoal-black gaps between them made him look utterly evil.
Ares seemed to already foresee his fate, and he screamed again: "No! You can't do this!"
Dane glanced away, no longer interested: "I won't interrupt your game. Remember what I told you."
Hephaestus waved his hand, indicating no problem.
As the artisan god who forged countless divine weapons for the gods, he understood many enchanting magics, and his treasure chest also contained many tools for modifying and processing souls.
Dane turned and left. At the palace's main entrance, he could still hear Ares's soul screaming, a sound only he could hear, and it was quite noisy.
But considering Hephaestus's grievances over so many years, he didn't blame him for disturbing the peace.
Back at the Amazon Royal Palace, Diana and Zatanna were both gathered around a magic crystal ball, watching the excitement, mainly observing Barry and a girl "dating." Who said goddesses don't follow dramas? They were watching quite happily.
"I'm going out for a bit. Do you want to come along?"
Diana thought for a moment and said, "I want to stay with the Amazons. I have a feeling they might play a role in the future."
Zatanna, hearing her say this, also thought and said, "Since Diana is staying, I'll stay too. Otherwise, I'm afraid those Amazons won't make it through..." Diana's training intensity was indeed a bit high; it was aimed at training superheroes.
She was somewhat dissatisfied: "They are too lax! If they can't handle this intensity, how can they claim to be Amazon warriors?"
Diana must have been demanding the Amazons meet the standards of Artemis or Big Barda. Let alone them, it would be difficult to find a few warriors in the entire World who could compare to those two.
Dane understood their thoughts: "Since neither of you are going, then stay here. If anything happens, you can contact me through the Magic Box."
Zatanna and Diana nodded. As they watched him, Dane flew into the clouds, disappearing directly into the sky.
"You know, do you think he might also..."
Diana frowned slightly: "No, right? There's no woman here who could be worthy of him."
Zatanna turned her head, looking at Barry in the magic crystal ball, but hinted meaningfully: "That's not necessarily true~"
Dane couldn't hear their silent criticisms. He was now flying towards a certain direction, which was the direction Mazahs had fled.
The Crime Syndicate couldn't find the hidden Mazahs, but the magic of Devils Island had been monitoring him, allowing Dane to discover his hiding place.
Coast City, Hal felt he had integrated into the city. Although he and Martin Jordan didn't get along very well, Jessica seemed to have changed her opinion of him.
He didn't know why; perhaps out of pity or some other emotion, he hoped to reverse people's impression of "Hal Jordan."
On this day, Hal unconsciously walked to Carol's residence. He couldn't be blamed; the two most familiar places to him in Coast City were his own home and here.
Hal didn't want to see things he didn't want to see. If Carol was different from his impression, he felt he would go crazy, so he turned and walked away.
But coincidentally, Carol had just driven home from Ferris Corporation and saw him.
"Hal?" Carol asked, surprised.
The Hal Jordan in this World had a completely one-sided crush on Carol, so they were not in a romantic relationship.
And because "Hal Jordan" had once stolen commercial secrets from Ferris Corporation, he was almost beaten to death by the boss, Ferris.
"You still dare to come back?"
Carol got out of her car, hands on her hips, looking at Hal. She felt a sense of disappointment towards Hal Jordan, wishing he could be better. He clearly had great flying talent but was as timid as a mouse.
Hal didn't understand what she was saying, but he knew that whatever Carol was saying, it wasn't meant for him, but for another "Hal."
So he said, "You've got the wrong person," and tried to leave.
However, Carol immediately scoffed: "Do you not even have the courage to face me now? I thought you would be more respectable after becoming the Power Ring."
Hal turned his head in surprise: "Power Ring?"
Carol raised her head proudly: "Did you think I wouldn't recognize you just because you changed into a bodysuit? Your aura is too unique; I saw right through you at a glance."
She and Hal met almost every day at the company. She knew his vulgarity and timidity very well. In the past, she disliked such people because they were from two completely different Worlds.
But it was different after Hal got the Power Ring. Even with the Power Ring, Hal's gaze towards Carol was still disgusting, which was also why Carol was able to discover his true identity.
However, Ferris wanted the Power Ring, and Carol also wanted to study the power of this ring, hoping to use Hal to allow Ferris Corporation to extract greater benefits from the ring.
For this, Carol didn't mind giving Hal a little taste of sweetness, which was why she specifically got out of her car today to talk to this loser. For profit, she was willing to make a small sacrifice.
"I think you must be mistaken."
Hal still said this, which made Carol displeased. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed the Hal opposite her suddenly looked up with a serious expression, gazing at the sky.
Carol followed his gaze and saw a man hovering in the sky—it was the Power Ring!
"Carol..." The Power Ring's state seemed off, as if he was somewhat disoriented.
Carol was a little bewildered. She looked at Hal beside her and said incredulously, "You're not..."
"No, clearly I'm not."
Hal smiled, a confident and sunny smile that was indeed not one the man Carol knew could display. It even made Carol's heart beat a little faster.
"Carol, I can't take it anymore. I need you. I want you now!"
The Power Ring seemed to have truly lost his mind, directly charging towards Carol, seemingly intending to abduct her.
"Look out!"
Hal instinctively lunged forward, shielding Carol in his arms.
With a "boom," a Power Ring grazed past them, crashing into the concrete and sending up a shower of debris and dust.
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