Ares!
Oh come on—why did he show up early!?
Thea's mana was noticeably drained at this point. She immediately dispersed Diana's shadow clone, returning Diana's divine power and restoring part of her own magic.
Seeing that Ares wasn't attacking right away, Thea hurried to Diana's side.
The two of them had no real conflict—Diana had just thrown a brief tantrum.
With the real enemy now in front of them, Thea felt much safer standing beside DC's number-one frontline warrior.
"How did he get in here?"
Diana naturally didn't point her sword at Thea. For all their bickering, they had the kind of rapport where they "argue at the head of the bed and reconcile at the other."
But seeing the limping old man step into the yellow gas, she was stunned.
The poisonous fog still covered the entire village.
Their earlier fight had only thinned it from deep mustard-yellow to pale yellow.
So how was a limping old man strolling in like this?
Thea wondered the same thing.
So… he didn't bother disguising himself anymore?
You can walk right in—then what's with the limp?
Too deep into character?
In truth, Ares's true body was being blocked by the gods, so he didn't care what Thea or Diana saw.
But Thea remembered the universal rule: villains die from talking too much.
So she swallowed the truth back down.
If Ares wanted to ramble his villain monologue, let him ramble.
She needed time to recover mana—especially after casting the heavy-cost shadow mimic spell.
So Thea stayed silent, gripping her divine bow tightly, putting on a façade of extreme tension.
Ironically, her acting completely wrong-footed Ares.
He hadn't been paying her much attention before—but after witnessing their brief exchange earlier, he was finally alarmed.
Combining the traces around the battlefield, he made a rough but accurate deduction:
This girl who followed Diana was no nobody.
Especially after seeing Thea clash fists with Diana.
Someone who could block Diana's rage-filled punch?
That already placed her far beyond the limit of normal humans—or even Amazons.
Even though she was far weaker than Ares, among mortals she was undeniably a powerhouse.
And then he saw the Silver Moon Bow in her hand—
and instantly recognized the mark of a divine chosen.
In ages when gods still walked the earth, every divine chosen was a hero acknowledged by multiple tribes.
Only the most exceptional mortals could even compete for that position.
"Ladies, it's me—Sir Patrick Morgan. We met in London."
Even though Ares now took Thea more seriously, divine arrogance still pushed his attention toward Diana.
He bowed with gentlemanly elegance.
"You're not mortal…
You're Ares! You've been by our side this whole time!"
Diana had always been sharp.
Combined with Thea's tense posture, there was no room for doubt.
"The villagers—you killed them!"
Her fury finally found its target.
Divine power surged through her entire body, and an overwhelming aura crashed toward Ares.
So this was the legendary power explosion.
Her main target was Ares, but the shockwave still blasted outward in all directions.
Thea instantly triggered an air-shield spell, blocking most of the impact.
The rest she endured using her body.
Barely managing to stay rooted to the ground, she resisted the urge to stagger backward.
Even Ares—facing her full momentum head-on—was caught slightly off guard.
His hat was blown away.
But Ares was still the ancient God of War.
His reputation wasn't for show.
Even if this was merely a minor avatar while his true body slumbered, his dominance hadn't diminished in the slightest.
His eyes gleamed with vicious light.
He braced his feet like nails in the earth and endured the full force of Diana's aura.
At this point, anyone could tell something was wrong with him.
Ares dropped the fake frailty.
His back straightened.
His posture no longer resembled a limping elder—
he stood like a spear planted into the earth, small in stature yet towering like a monument.
Thea had to admit she had badly underestimated him back in London.
He had layered seven levels of disguise.
Each layer looked like the true face, making anyone believe they had seen through him—
but they had only peeled back another mask.
She had only seen four or five of those layers.
His true strength was far beyond that.
But honestly?
That just made it more exciting.
She didn't have the overwhelming magic she once unleashed against Horus—
but this time she wasn't alone.
With Diana here, all she needed to do was deal damage happily.
Thea retrieved her atomized hoverboard, reverting it to physical form, hopped onto it, and rose three meters into the air.
She drew her bow, aiming from afar.
She could fly with her own magic, but it was exhausting.
In terms of speed and maneuverability, she was still much better on her hoverboard.
Ares's gaze was sharp—he immediately analyzed several things from her posture.
He had seen the mechanical arm earlier.
It gleamed silver but gave off no magical aura.
He originally assumed it was some kind of accessory.
After all, he'd seen women in the East wear gold rings stacked up their entire necks—
so he assumed Thea's silver arm was some cultural ornament.
But now, the flying board shocked him deeply.
He had lived among mortals for centuries; he knew human technology.
This flying board had no wings, no fuel, no visible propulsion.
Tell Ares this was invented by mortals of this era?
He'd believe it.
A single conclusion formed in his mind.
Ares stared up at Thea.
"Chosen of Artemis… did you come from the future?"
Thea waited for Diana to initiate combat and couldn't care less about answering.
She neither nodded nor shook her head.
"So—
an Amazon from the future…"
Ares's gaze moved to Diana again.
"In that case… that means I win today!
You came back from the future to stop this outcome, didn't you!?"
The more he spoke, the more convinced he became.
It fit Thea's appearance and timing perfectly.
Fate must be on his side—
today, he would triumph.
He didn't lower his voice at all, speaking loudly and confidently—
clearly trying to create psychological pressure.
Diana fell for it instantly, anxiously turning to Thea.
"I'm really just passing through…"
Thea muttered weakly.
Neither of them believed her.
To be honest, Thea admired the god's imagination.
How did he reach such a ridiculous conclusion?
But thinking more carefully…
his reasoning wasn't entirely wrong.
How did she end up here, anyway?
With the gods' secret manipulations layered on top of each other, even Thea wasn't sure whether she'd arrived here entirely by accident.