Diana's plan was very simple, and Logan liked it a lot. After hanging around with her these past few days, his hands were starting to itch.
It just so happened that this operation required more people. Even though Steve and his team weren't sure of Logan's abilities, they were still happy to have another helping hand.
As for Ethan, who didn't voice any opinion, they understood that this time he was only concerned with Diana. Although they were still unsure about the existence of this so-called Ares, they gradually realized that they were facing a terrifying enemy, one far beyond what ordinary soldiers or even Ethan would bother to deal with.
Diana's combat power wasn't something regular soldiers could handle. Even with solid defenses, it was meaningless. Having basically tapped into her demigod power, Diana didn't care at all about bunkers or sentries meant to stop regular humans.
Rampage was the most accurate word to describe Diana's current state. Even the most advanced chariots of the era posed no threat to her—instead, they became her weapons. No one knew how many people she had hurled to their deaths using the very chariots meant to stop her.
With Diana drawing all the enemy's attention, Steve's group managed to infiltrate the bomb storage site undetected and this time, they just happened to run into their target: Dr. Maru.
The moment Dr. Maru saw Steve, she sensed something was wrong. A cautious and perceptive chemist, she tried to escape as soon as she realized the situation. If it had only been Steve and the others, she might have gotten away but with Logan on the team, there was no chance.
Not wanting to be teased by Ethan later, Logan charged in immediately. Ignoring the surrounding gunfire, he pushed through and knocked Dr. Maru out cold with a single punch.
The surrounding soldiers were stunned when they realized their bullets had no effect. Then they were taken out by Charlie, Samir, and the others, who turned to watch in shock as the bullets Logan had taken were slowly pushed out of his body. The bloody wounds healed gradually until there wasn't a single trace left.
"So… Steve, are none of your friends human?"
Steve was also stunned. He could only shake his head. "I don't know either."
Then everyone turned simultaneously to Laura, who was casually walking around. She was holding Auriel, glancing around curiously and occasionally poking at the piles of gas shells.
"Hey, Laura, those aren't toys to mess with."
"I want to find something interesting to bring back. It's always so boring on the ship." Now that Laura had become more lively, she began to want her own toys like a normal child. But Ethan's ship didn't have anything like that, and although Paradise Island had enough space for her to run wild, it wasn't exactly filled with playthings.
Logan didn't know how to deal with kids, though Laura was technically his daughter to some extent, so he pushed the problem to someone else. "Go ask Ethan. I'm sure he'll agree to something like that."
Having gotten a promise, Laura happily let go of the bombs and followed Logan obediently.
After successfully capturing Dr. Maru, their new headache was figuring out how to handle the massive number of bombs.
"My God, they were going to attack London!"
Charlie, who was inspecting the area, had somehow found a map. On it, London was circled in red. Anyone with a brain could understand what that meant.
"Thank goodness we stopped this insane plan."
Because Diana and Steve had reached the base earlier than in the original plot, none of the bombs had been activated. Most were still stored in the warehouse and hadn't yet been loaded onto the planes. Given Diana's combat strength, London was in no danger.
Now the problem was with them. It was impossible to carry all the bombs away, and leaving them for the German army was even worse. The simplest solution was to destroy them.
"How can we destroy these gas bombs without harming the surrounding area?"
"Fire."
While none of them were experts, a few had some basic chemistry knowledge. Once they realized the bombs were filled with flammable substances, the answer was clear.
"Gather them all and burn everything down..."
Steve began organizing his team to start the process. But then there was a loud boom, followed by a shockwave that made everyone stagger. While the others were still confused, Logan immediately realized what had happened and rushed toward the warehouse doors.
Steve had a vague sense of what it could be and followed Logan to the gate—only to witness a scene he would never forget.
Diana floated in the air, golden light radiating from her body. Opposite her stood a man he knew very well—Sir Patrick.
"Sir? Why is he here?"
Steve was a smart man. He wasn't British, and he didn't hold any blind loyalty to Sir Patrick. Seeing the man suddenly appear here, without any signs of surprise or panic at Diana's appearance, Steve instantly knew something was wrong.
"Because the Sir Patrick you're talking about is the Ares Diana's been looking for."
Ethan was now standing at the warehouse entrance as well. The entire base was in chaos. German soldiers didn't know what to do in the face of this sudden turn of events. Their highest commander, Ludendorff, was dead, and the person meant to oversee the bomb loading—Dr. Maru—was missing. Without orders, the troops had no idea what they should do.
This disarray among the German soldiers made it easier for Steve and his group to act. They didn't have time to worry about Diana facing the God of War. Their top priority was to gather and destroy all the gas bombs to ensure not a single one remained. Only by doing that could they eliminate the threat entirely.
If the enemy lost this weapon and could no longer inflict mass casualties on Britain, then the German defeat would be inevitable, and the war would end soon—exactly what Steve had always hoped for.
Thanks to Ethan's various interventions, Steve didn't develop any romantic connection with Diana this time. And given Diana's current divine appearance, it was clear that they were not from the same world. What Steve didn't realize was that, because of Ethan's involvement, he'd somehow escaped his tragic fate, avoiding a fiery death in a gas-laden plane.
While Steve focused on the war and peace, Ethan was more interested in the strength of the God of War.
The result was disappointing. This Ares was completely unworthy of the title. In the original story, he could at least put up a fight against Diana. But now, facing a much stronger Diana, he didn't even have a chance to counterattack.
Still maintaining his Patrick disguise, Ares was beaten like a dog. Enraged, he finally revealed his true form, but it didn't help.
Also, since Diana now knew that the so-called "Godkiller" sword didn't actually exist and that she herself was the ultimate weapon against Ares—she had no expectations for that ordinary longsword. So when Ares shattered it, Diana showed no shock at all. Instead, she immediately took out the Battle Cross that Ethan had given her and slashed at Ares without hesitation.
Ethan, watching the battle from a distance, still had the leisure to analyze each of Diana's strikes.
"If she slashed just a little further to the left, Ares would've been converted into the Goddess of War."
Logan, also watching, was a little let down by both Ares and Diana. He had expected something more impressive from a so-called god, but this level of combat wasn't enough to awe him.
Whether it was donning heavy armor or turning his surroundings into various weapons, Ares's tactics were laughable against Diana. Even the lightning he had inherited from Zeus was useless. The moment he cast it, Diana would catch it and fire it back at him.
Unlike the original version, where Diana blasted Ares to ash, this time, with greater control over her powers, she didn't kill him immediately. Instead, she stood before the dying Ares and said something to him.
Because of the distance, Ethan and Logan couldn't hear what was said. They only saw that Diana then used the remaining piece of the sword to kill Ares—turning the broken sword into the true "Godkiller"—before finally disintegrating Ares's body with white lightning.
"Why'd she do that?"
Logan's question didn't get an immediate answer until Diana landed in front of the two of them and gave them the answer directly.
She tossed the remaining fragment to Ethan, then gave him a particularly smug smile.
"Are you satisfied with my tuition fee?"
Ethan immediately understood. Diana had deliberately stained the sword with Ares's divine blood before giving the broken sword to him.
"Far exceeded my expectations."
Ethan didn't act modest. He pulled out a box, placed the fragment, now just the hilt and a portion of the blade—inside, and stored it in his space storage ring.
"How did you know I wanted this?"
Diana gave Ethan a radiant smile.
"Because I'm smart."
(To be continued.)
***
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