"Oh my God…"
"I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Charlie rubbed his eyes furiously.
One blink—and the world had reverted to an Ice Age.
Everything was white.
Beautiful. Silent. Dead.
It was dreamlike… yet utterly devoid of life.
Human beings were so small.
How could they compare to the vastness of heaven and earth?
Only true gods could do this.
Charlie swallowed.
Beside him, Sameer quietly plucked a leaf-shaped crystal of frost from a branch. With wicked precision, he tugged open the back of Charlie's collar and dropped the frozen shard inside.
The icy crystal slid down Charlie's spine.
Straight to the crack.
"HISSS—!"
"Bloody hell! That's freezing!"
"Sameer!"
Charlie fumbled inside his collar, but the ice had already melted, soaking his underclothes.
"You were asking if this was a dream," Sameer shrugged smugly. "If you can feel cold, it's real. Otherwise you'd have wet yourself."
"Cheers for that."
Charlie lunged.
Sameer dodged.
Two grown men chased each other through divine frost like overgrown children—
Until Steve Trevor's voice cut through.
"That's the boss!"
He pointed toward the battlefield, pride unmistakable.
"What?!" ×3
"Are you kidding me?!" ×3
Even the Chief froze.
So… he wasn't joking about the god thing?
"What do we do now?" they asked in unison.
Steve tightened the rope binding Dr. Maru.
"If what Diana said about Ares is true… then we mortals stay right here and watch."
"…Fair." ×3
…
Back at the frozen battlefield—
The kiss broke.
Diana clung to Leon, tears spilling freely.
"I thought you were—"
Leon brushed the tears from her cheeks.
"Dead? Not so easily."
"I'm effectively immortal. A human weapon won't finish me. Not in a hundred thousand years."
Before he could finish—
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The massive glacier imprisoning Ares began fracturing.
With a thunderous detonation—
It shattered.
Ares emerged, gaze sharp.
"Who are you?"
Leon gently patted Diana's skirt, signaling her to step back.
The crystalline faceplate reformed over his features.
In full manifestation of the War God Armor, he advanced—each step heavy with presence.
"I am the son of Odin Allfather."
"God of Battle."
"Leon Stark Odinson."
"Impossible!"
"There is no Norse pantheon in this world! They are human myths!"
His expression shifted.
"An intruder."
"You do not belong here."
"Leave."
Leon crossed his arms calmly.
"Try."
"You have until that pillar of light falls from the sky."
"…What?"
Ares looked upward.
High above—
2B knelt astride Arcee – Motorcycle Mode, aiming the Holy Spear downward.
"Contract. Covenant."
"Phase One: Limiter Released."
"Seal—unbind."
"Phase Two: Divine Output Unlocked."
Terrifying divine energy condensed within the weapon's exposed barrel.
Ares felt it.
Felt danger.
"Not happening!"
He launched skyward—
—and was swatted down mid-flight.
BOOM.
He crashed into the ice.
Bast, in colossal black panther form, landed gracefully beside Leon.
Leon casually scratched beneath her chin.
Then resumed walking toward the crater.
Ares rose again—
—and was swatted down again.
BOOM.
The crater deepened.
The damage was minimal.
The humiliation was not.
"Damn you!"
Abandoning restraint, Ares targeted Leon directly.
The Godkiller Sword flashed in his hand.
This time, it did not resist him.
Good.
He attacked in a storm of slashes.
The blade that had pierced his flesh—
Surely it would cut Leon.
Even through that magnificent armor.
It did not.
Each strike landed—
Like wind on a mountain.
Useless.
Because—
Shield of Courage:
Belief is magic.
Under its amplification—
The War God Armor (Quality: Indestructible), enhanced by Vibranium kinetic absorption and divine rune reinforcement, converted every ounce of impact into nothingness.
Ares could not even move Leon.
Not one millimeter.
Perhaps, in raw divine scale, their gap was not so insurmountable.
But in this configuration—
Shield of Courage + War God's Shield · Aionsega (Guardian Seal active)
The result was absolute.
Before him stood not a man—
Not merely a god—
But a wall.
A Wall of Sighs.
A boundary he could not breach.
For the first time—
Ares felt something unfamiliar.
Despair.
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