Grief. Rage. Confusion.
When the truth settled in Diana's mind, the emotions did not calm—they erupted.
A vast surge of divine power ignited within her, awakening, flowing, expanding—
—and then exploding outward.
BOOM—
The ballroom was obliterated in an instant.
Walls shattered.
The castle collapsed inward.
In the adjacent chamber, where Steve Trevor had been binding Dr. Maru, he stared in shock at Leon's headless body, the fury radiating from Diana, and Sir Patrick Morgan standing impossibly present.
"What just happened?!"
No god answered the mortal.
Diana rose slowly, eyes blazing.
"You… you're the real Ares!"
Patrick Morgan smiled faintly.
"Yes, my dear."
"You were warned not to interfere with the armistice I so carefully orchestrated."
"You refused."
"Now he's dead."
"That is your fault."
He extended a hand toward her.
"But all is not lost. Join me, sister. Together, we can end mankind effortlessly."
"Sister?"
Diana faltered.
"Oh?" Ares smirked. "So Hippolyta never told you of her affair with our father—Zeus."
He stepped to the shattered window, gazing upon fleeing nobles and weeping refugees below.
With a casual gesture—
Dr. Maru's bound body was torn from the adjacent room and dragged through broken stone into his grasp.
Her mask shattered in transit, revealing the grotesque scars left by her own failed experiments.
"Look at her," Ares said calmly.
"This is humanity."
"Weak. Cruel. Greedy. Self-destructive."
"I am not your enemy, Diana. Only I truly understand you."
He vanished from the window and reappeared before a mural resembling the Pietà.
"I sought to show the gods the ugliness of Father's creation."
"They refused to see."
"So I destroyed them."
"Now we are the last gods."
"You and I will deliver judgment."
Diana's jaw tightened.
"I am Diana of Themyscira. Daughter of Hippolyta."
"I came to fulfill Zeus's will."
"For the Amazons. For Leon."
"For justice."
"Ares—I will kill you."
She charged.
Her blade passed through empty air.
Ares blinked behind her.
"Give up, dear sister."
"Even among gods, there are differences."
"You are but a half-blood."
"Oh?"
Diana's grip tightened.
"You've made me angry."
She drove the Godkiller Sword backward with both hands.
Ares smiled dismissively—
—and caught the blade barehanded.
He had expected it to shatter harmlessly.
Instead—
Shhk—
The blade pierced clean through his palm.
Blood fell.
His expression froze.
"How…?"
"This sword is merely a ceremonial replica forged by Hippolyta!"
"The true Godkiller Zeus left… was you!"
"Die!"
Diana did not hesitate.
She tore the blade free, severing most of his hand, then swung downward for his skull—
BOOM—
Before the blade landed, a tidal wave of telekinetic force detonated outward.
Diana was hurled thousands of meters across the battlefield.
Ares rose into the air and pursued.
…
Back at the ruins—
Steve crawled out from beneath a collapsed wall, coughing dust.
"Oh my God…"
He stumbled toward Leon's body.
"Boss… you can't be dead like this…"
He pulled debris away.
"You promised to carry me to the top…"
"Gods don't die this easily… this makes no sense…"
Then—
He saw it.
Leon's headless body twitched.
Scattered crimson and pale fragments began to lift—
Reverse.
Reassemble.
Time itself seemed to rewind.
"Holy—"
The castle exploded again as shockwaves rippled outward.
Outside, Charlie lowered his rifle in disbelief.
"That was Diana… and Sir Patrick."
"What?!" Sameer shouted.
"Maybe Steve was right," the Chief muttered gravely. "Maybe they're gods."
"That's not funny," Charlie said weakly.
…
Miles away—
Diana crashed into the center of the battlefield.
Ares descended moments later, his severed hand already fully regenerated.
"My dear Diana."
"Only a god can truly kill a god."
"No mortal weapon, no matter how sharp, can change that."
"Zeus left behind a weapon to oppose me."
"And that weapon is you."
"Liar!"
Diana hurled the Lasso of Truth, ensnaring him midair.
"Speak the truth!"
Ares smiled.
"I already have."
"I am not merely the God of War."
"I am the God of Truth."
Silver lightning surged from his palm, racing along the Lasso—
—and into Diana.
The world shifted.
She stood within a vision.
A forest of vibrant life—
Then ruin.
Flames. Corpses. Rot.
"Humans stole this world from us."
"They destroy it day by day."
"I whispered inspiration to them—poison, weapons, ambition."
"But I never forced them."
"They chose."
"I merely arranged the armistice they would inevitably betray."
"Yet even that was insufficient."
"Until you arrived."
He extended a hand.
"Join me."
"We end suffering by ending its source."
"No more pain."
"No more cruelty."
"No more humans."
Diana's tears had not yet dried.
"Leon is dead."
"I care nothing for philosophy."
"You will pay."
She yanked Ares from the sky—
Slammed him into the earth.
The impact cracked the ground like an asteroid strike.
Bound in the Lasso, Ares rose calmly.
"How tragic."
Lightning exploded from his palm.
The force shattered the Lasso's hold.
The silver bolt tore toward Diana with killing intent.
This time—
She crossed her Silver Bracers.
Clang—
Golden and silver shockwaves collided.
The night became day.
Divine light scorched the horizon.
When the dust cleared—
The battlefield was gone.
In its place yawned a colossal crater, as if a nuclear detonation had struck.
Two gods stood within its center.
The true war had begun.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789