The God Killer shot straight into Diana's hand from a crack in space caused by the power of the God King.
The hilt felt warm in her grip, and the familiar divine power spread through her body, reaching her limbs.
Diana instinctively tightened her hold on the sword.
At the same time, a flash of silver light shot from deep within the temple, and the divine shield seated itself snugly against her left forearm.
However, at that moment, the gods standing in the shadow of the damaged temple turned their gazes toward the sky.
The space crack in the high sky not only didn't close but was still expanding.
Beneath the crack in space, with twisting light, Superman's blue figure flashed by. He was still fiercely battling with Zeus's remaining divine authority.
The entire realm started to ripple with tiny waves.
Then, Shazam's red figure, wrapped in thunder, charged in. He immediately spotted Viktor, covered in blood and seemingly on the verge of collapse, floating in the sky.
Lying on the ground were two bodies, one large and one small, causing him to gape in shock.
"What the hell? What exactly happened here?"
Shazam's exclamation echoed through the ruined plaza.
He quickly dashed over to Viktor, lifting one of his arms over his shoulder, and his voice was full of amazement.
"Dude, you're insane! You took down two gods by yourself? You're literally the coolest guy I've ever met!"
Viktor stared at the two bodies and shook his head slowly skeptically
Ares doesn't count. The Justice League's own records confirmed that as long as the concept of war exists, Ares can never truly die.
But claiming he'd actually killed Hercules and Atlas? Even Viktor didn't quite buy it.
The gods had been far too calm throughout the whole thing.
Moreover, two of them were sons of Zeus. If they'd really been killed, Zeus would never be this composed.
If Viktor really killed them, Zeus wouldn't have been so composed about it.
Wonder Woman still held her sword pointed at Viktor, standing across from them. Due to the divine oath, she couldn't withdraw from the fight.
However, Diana could still speak.
"They were all just using avatars made of divine energy , like the Goddess of Strife—otherwise, how would a mortal ever compete with a god on equal footing?"
Seeing that Shazam still didn't quite believe it, Diana couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.
"If he could actually kill the true forms of the two gods who gave you strength and endurance, how do you think you'd be standing right now?"
That finally put an end to Shazam's doubts. He still couldn't stop sneaking glances at the two bodies and muttering under his breath.
"These two are Atlas and Hercules? Wow, to be honest, it's the first time seeing them in person… in this weird way."
Shazam awkwardly raised his other free hand.
"They've just been lying there on the cold ground this whole time… isn't that kinda uncomfortable? Should I… say hi to them or something?"
Viktor closed his eyes and turned his head away while Diana, unable to turn her own head due to her "full combat stance," could only roll her eyes at Shazam.
Zeus, however, ignored the three of them talking, or rather, he no longer had the focus to spare.
He watched Superman forcing the rift open wider and wider. After a long silence, Zeus stopped pressing his divine power against the space entirely.
The rift instantly expanded into a massive portal. Superman stepped through into the divine realm.
Superman's blue eyes scanned Viktor's body, his x-ray vision cutting through layers of blood and torn battle suit.
The wounds looked horrifying, but there was no immediate threat to his life.
He slowly turned around, his gaze locking firmly on Zeus in front of the temple, his expression solemn.
The air pressure around them seemed to be dropping visibly.
"So, you are the legendary King of the Gods, Zeus? And you raised your hand against a child?"
Before Zeus could speak, Athena stepped out from the shadows of the temple.
"Superman, things aren't as they seem. The divine realm is just..."
"There is no need to explain, Athena."
A pair of massive, lightning-crackling eyes appeared in the sky. Zeus's voice cracked through the air like thunder.
"Superman, if you insist on disrupting the divine realm's rite today, then there will be no peace between the divine realm and the mortal world."
Zeus's figure on the ground vanished. Superman looked up at the sky without flinching.
"If the King of the Gods means that he would be willing to start such a war for the sake of harming a child, then you are welcome to step over my corpse first."
As the two sides faced off in a standoff, the distant roar of the Batwing finally echoed from behind the space portal.
Batwing shot through the space crack and landed steadily on the shattered ground at the edge of the plaza.
The hatch opened. Cyborg, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash, and others quickly jumped out.
After seeing the scene in front of them, they all froze in place.
The once magnificent temple had been largely destroyed, with the dome collapsed, columns snapped in half, the ground covered in deep craters and debris, and dried blood mixed together.
Superman seemed to be in a standoff with the pair of enormous eyes in the sky.
"Viktor actually managed to destroy all of this? I thought we were just coming to negotiate with the gods... Is there even anything left to negotiate now?"
Green Lantern instinctively tightened his grip on the Green Lantern ring, feeling a dryness in his throat.
Meanwhile, Flash crackled with lightning from his speed force, and his face filled with worry as he stared at the massive eyes in the sky.
"I swear this is one of the biggest things I've seen since joining the Justice League. We literally broke into Mount Olympus, and please don't tell me those eyes in the sky belong to Zeus."
Even though everyone was grumbling and complaining, the Justice League still quickly moved into position.
Even Aquaman silently raised his trident.
Just as the atmosphere grew more tense, Viktor's voice cut through the silence and shattered it.
"Ms. Prince, the premise of going all out is that both sides should be in a condition to use their full strength. Moreover, we never set a specific time or place for this fight."
The enormous eyes made of lightning in the sky suddenly turned toward Viktor.
"You personally promised to challenge seven gods!"
Viktor grinned with a strange smile.
"Just because I agreed doesn't mean I have to go through with it. Moreover, I'm this badly 'injured,' I simply don't feel like fighting today. By the way, Heracles mentioned earlier that this is the Hero's Rite, and at the very least, the person you're testing should qualify as a hero, right?"
"Unfortunately, whether you're talking about the classical heroes defined in your mythology or the modern superheroes of the Justice League, I don't qualify at all."
Every god present, including Zeus in the sky, froze.
It seemed like Zeus hadn't even thought about this, and his eyes stared at Diana, who also looked a bit confused.
"You are Diana's student. You confronted and overcame the Goddess of Strife. You did not steal the Golden Apple out of greed, and yet you still dared to enter the divine realm alone to save your teacher..."
The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, couldn't help but step forward.
"You are immune to magic, so we can't confirm your situation through any magical means. If you think you can outsmart us, it won't work. Diana's divine oath was bound under the fourth stage of the hero's rite."
Diana looked somewhere between amused and helpless.
"If the most fundamental requirement of the Hero's Rite is that the gods must first recognize the person being tested as a hero..."
The divine oath chains on Diana's hands and body silently shattered, and her sword and shield fell to the ground.
"Then I can only acknowledge that he is, in fact, my student."
Not far away, Hercules's and Atlas's bodies dissolved in the wind. The bloodstains sank back into the ground. Even the broken temple started to slowly rebuild itself.
In the shadow of the temple, Hercules nudged Atlas's knee.
"I told you Zeus wasn't going to pull this off. He was taking a shortcut."
After a moment, the Justice League members were filled with confusion and, along with Viktor, were forcefully kicked out of the divine realm.
...
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