Diana: "…That felt good."
"Haven't eaten?" Leon asked lightly.
"Put some strength into it."
He spread his arms, inviting Ares to continue.
"…Impossible…"
Ares knelt on one knee, leaning on the Godkiller Sword, breathing hard.
After a long moment, he stared at his own trembling hand—then at the ravaged, frozen battlefield behind Leon.
It wasn't that he was weak.
It was that this man was too strong.
With most of the old gods long dead by his own hand, and the Great War pushed to its current peak under his influence, Ares had already reached the limit of what he could achieve in this age.
Beyond this—
Lay apocalypse.
He suddenly threw his head back and laughed.
Victory was decided.
Leon was stronger.
Ares could teleport away at any time.
He did not.
The pride of the God of War would not allow retreat.
Even against Zeus, he had fought prepared to die.
Back then, they had ended in mutual ruin.
Now—
He accepted the outcome.
"What are you laughing at?" Leon asked.
Ares ignored him, turning instead to Diana in the distance.
"I lost this battle," he called out.
"But you did not win, my dear."
"Zeus' plan… will fail."
He laughed again.
Then—
No wind-up.
No signal.
A bolt of silver lightning shot toward Diana.
Leon's Ultra Instinct detected no lethal threat.
Still—
He activated Absolute Thought Acceleration.
Time slowed.
The lightning crawled.
Understanding dawned instantly.
"I see…"
Clock Over.
Time resumed.
The lightning entered Diana's body.
She felt no injury—
But something changed.
A pulse spread from her outward.
The battlefield resonated.
Power converged.
Her strength surged past what Ares had displayed moments ago.
Memories flooded her mind—
Divine knowledge.
Combat instincts.
Five thousand years of war.
Ares' life.
She cried out, clutching her head.
"What did you do?!"
Ares exhaled slowly.
"I am tired."
"A farewell gift."
He aged before their eyes.
Wrinkles formed.
His aura dimmed.
"The new age has no place for old gods."
"Will you become humanity's bridge…"
"Or its catastrophe?"
"I look forward to seeing."
He laughed weakly.
Diana's expression shifted.
She understood.
Leon's system chimed.
[Notice: Zeus' Daughter · Diana Prince has inherited the Authority of Ares.]
[Divine Title Acquired: God of War.]
Interesting.
The dragon slain—
The dragon inherited.
High above—
2B began her final incantation.
"Ancient god… sleep."
"Wanderer astray… embrace your end."
"Holy Spear—"
"Gungnir Smasher."
A pillar of light descended.
It engulfed Leon—
And the kneeling Ares before him.
For 2.5 seconds—
The world was erased.
When the light vanished—
A bottomless crater remained.
Leon stood unmoved, suspended where the ground had once been.
Before him—
Ares had been annihilated.
No body.
No spark.
No divinity left to reclaim.
Silence.
Diana stood at the crater's edge.
Her emotions were tangled—
Sorrow.
Unease.
Relief.
And love.
…
The system chimed again.
[Daily Check-In Available. Proceed?]
We just cleared the final boss. This better be good.
Open.
[Check-In Complete.]
Reward: Godzilla Template Fragment ×3
"…What?"
Leon frowned.
It was 1918.
The atomic bomb wouldn't exist until 1945.
Why was the Godzilla template advancing now?
Unless—
Ares' Authority of War had already passed on.
And nuclear fire…
Was now possible.
His gaze slowly shifted to Diana.
She stood frozen in thought.
"Leon…" she whispered. "After Ares died… I became the new God of War."
"What if I…"
"What if I become like him?"
Leon's armor dissolved back into casual clothing as he stepped forward.
He smoothed her furrowed brow.
"You're adorable when you overthink."
"Since when do you believe Ares' philosophy?"
He gently tugged her dusty cheeks upward into a smile.
"Power isn't evil."
"The wielder decides."
He met her eyes.
"Do you suddenly feel like destroying humanity?"
She shook her head vigorously.
"Of course not!"
"Then we're fine."
He slipped an arm under her knees and behind her back—
Princess style.
"Leon—what are you doing?"
"You."
"My spoils of war."
He grinned.
And shot into the sky with her in his arms.
…
That night—
Snow fell.
Unseasonal.
Soft.
War halted beneath its white veil.
Soldiers rested.
For once.
In the vast expanse—
No one noticed—
A few snowflakes stained red.
Diana grew that night.
Because Leon taught her things no Amazon manuscript had ever recorded.
And she learned eagerly.
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