Diana rushed back and forth through the billowing yellow poison gas.
Everywhere her gaze landed were villagers collapsed on the ground—men, women, old, young, noble, common—none spared, all fallen upon the land that had raised them.
"Was all of this destined to happen?! Why didn't you stop them!?"
When she reached the village square and saw a lone figure standing upright, her heart leapt—
But as she drew closer, she saw it was Thea, silently watching her.
Diana's voice burst out in fury.
Thea had been watching from afar using the Eye of Horus.
She originally thought Captain Steve would rush in and reason with Diana, but the patriotic young man hadn't followed her at all.
Thea knew she had slandered poor Steve so many times that their relationship was now at the "nod politely if we pass each other" level.
Expecting him to risk his life for that was a hopeless dream.
I still changed history…
Thea didn't know whether to feel relieved or regretful.
But seeing Diana wandering in anguish through the ruins, she understood—
this accusation could only fall on her shoulders.
She stepped calmly into the poison haze.
With the air dispersing it, the gas thinned visibly.
Thea had once eaten the swamp monster's gift-fruit; she wasn't fully immune to all poisons, but her resistance was absurdly high. Combined with her enhanced physique as a divine chosen, this diluted gas couldn't harm her at all.
Facing Diana's question, she could only answer with silence.
"You could have stopped this!"
Diana grew angrier by the second.
Her fist shot forward.
Thea had expected this.
In the original timeline, Steve had nearly been punched as well—but Diana probably spared him because of his fragile mortal body.
Now that the role had been swapped to Thea, the experience was far less pleasant.
Any explanation she offered now would sound weak and feeble.
And honestly… Thea did want to see how powerful Diana had become after leaving Themyscira.
Standing still like a punching bag, like those movie scenes where the hero silently endures?
Sure—but Diana's strength was way too high for that.
Across the entire multiverse, there were a few beings who could let Diana punch them full-force and stand unfazed.
Thea was definitely not one of them.
Not yet.
So even before stepping into the poison fog, she had already layered herself with every enhancement spell she knew—strength, speed, durability.
Feeling still uneasy, she even armed her mechanical prosthetic onto her right arm.
Now, facing Diana's grief-fueled punch, Thea didn't hold back either.
A resonant BOOM blasted out.
At the point of impact, the compressed air exploded outward, scattering the poisonous mist.
Diana staggered back two steps—
Thea was sent flying more than three meters, flipping midair before landing lightly.
Her Silver Moon Bow was already in her grasp, and a dark-smoke arrow shot forth.
"You missed!"
Diana deflected it with her bracers.
"How could I, my knight?"
Thea answered with a sweet, playful smile.
Before the last syllable fell, a surge of black mist wrapped around Diana.
"Black mist again? This trick didn't work on me even back on Themyscira. Have you forgotten?"
Diana was completely unaffected.
Seeing Thea draw her divine bow, she unsheathed her sword and lifted her shield, ready for the next arrow.
But Thea didn't shoot.
Instead, she traced elegant runes through the air.
"Black Mist Binding—Second Tier!"
She released a spell she had personally developed.
This improved version borrowed the structure of her old black mist to create an upgraded technique—
one that had once nearly driven Oliver Queen into mental collapse on Purgatory Island.
And now, enhanced by the Constantine family manuscripts and the night's divine-chosen bonus, it was another thirty percent stronger.
Even Diana's divine body was frozen for a full second.
"A fine spell… but that's all it is!"
Though Diana's abilities leaned toward warrior-type demigod, she had sparred with Thea enough to understand her casting principles.
Seeing Thea stop firing arrows, she immediately realized lingering in the mist was a bad idea.
She stomped hard, leaping high into the air to escape the fog and recover her rhythm.
"Ai… I told you before—if you can't turn midair, jumping straight up like that is stupid."
Thea teased her, already sidestepping well outside Diana's landing range.
"Let me show you my latest research. Phase Three—
Shadow Replication through Dark Fog."
She aimed her right hand at the airborne Diana.
Dark runes flared.
Thick black mist gathered around Diana.
"What is this?"
Diana landed but didn't immediately attack.
For a moment, it felt like they were back on Themyscira—those carefree days of sparring and sunshine.
"This is a three-stage spell created from my talent, the chosen's nature, and a pile of divine-study notes!
Come, dear—try it for yourself."
Of course, Thea would never admit she'd modeled it after Moria's Shadow Fruit.
Black smoke billowed from Diana's body, merging with her shadow on the ground.
In less than a second—
a pitch-black silhouette, carrying a sword and shield, identical in posture to Diana, stood before her.
Diana flinched at the sight of a shadow that vaguely resembled her.
But she quickly recovered, raising her shield for combat.
Thea gave a mental command.
The shadow lunged with Diana's own swordsmanship.
"So this thing really is my shadow?"
As the fight dragged on, Diana began to calm.
She understood that fate couldn't be blamed on Thea.
But falling slightly behind irritated her pride—
which was why she refused to apologize first.
Thea had only created the spell recently.
She hadn't expected to test it so soon—
but Diana foolishly stayed inside the black mist long enough to trigger the full sequence.
"Of course! Borrowing the Hunt Goddess's authority, the black fog extracted a bit of your divine power and blended it with my magic. It then separated out your shadow—
so this guy has your exact skillset.
How is it? Maybe eighty percent of your level?"
While analyzing the spell effect, Thea didn't stop attacking.
With the shadow tanking Diana's melee, Thea's barrage of magic merged with her archery—fire arrows, wind arrows, light arrows, enchanted bolts—raining down relentlessly.
Diana was speechless.
She didn't dare take Thea's magic arrows head-on, and every attempt to bypass the shadow was blocked.
Their skills were identical—
sword and shield clashing in a perfect mirror match.
And since the shadow borrowed her power, she fought with one part missing.
Thirty exchanges passed, and she still hadn't beaten the counterfeit.
"A brilliant duel indeed—Diana of Themyscira, and the chosen of Artemis.
Would the two of you care to pause for a moment?"
Just as Diana finally gained the upper hand and the shadow was about to crumble—
a limping old man stepped out from the poisonous mist.