Thea sighed softly and withdrew from her state of absorbing divinity. Just like Diana, she couldn't immediately use this new power. This wasn't the Eastern world—where one could meditate, complete a few inner cycles, and instantly master newfound strength. This required time. A lot of time.
Even though she had only absorbed a small portion, her divine power still grew noticeably. Her usage time for the Eye of Horus would now be greatly extended.
Divinity was truly wonderful…
Too bad almost none of it remained on Earth.
The Isis Talisman stored in her spatial ring contained only magical power, not divinity. Thea went through the entire storyline she knew, searching for any half-dead god waiting somewhere for her to harvest—but no luck.
It might have looked like she had chopped apart gods twice now as easily as slicing vegetables, but gods were incredibly rare. Horus had only been summoned because Vandal Savage sacrificed endless lifetimes to call him down. How many Vandals did the mortal world even have?
As for Ares—he was allowed by the Olympians themselves to descend, and even then, it had taken him tremendous time and effort just to create a single avatar.
These two opportunities were flukes—pure coincidence coming together. Thea didn't expect she would ever meet divine essence again. But after absorbing it twice, she had completely shed her mortal nature. Once she fully absorbed Ares' divinity, she would still be far—very far—from becoming a true demigod.
But calling herself a divine-natured being?
No one would disagree.
Finished examining herself, she finally turned her attention to the sword in her hand. Having completed its god-slaying mission and broken its destined fate, the blade had finally shed all pretenses and revealed its true form.
All the shiny radiance that once covered its surface was gone—replaced by a deep, rich blood-red hue. As if sensing Thea's thoughts, the sword lengthened during its transformation, shifting shape from a Greek short sword into an English-style longsword.
After a brief mental exchange between wielder and blade, three black lines metaphorically slid down Thea's forehead.
Calling it a "God-Slayer Sword" wasn't accurate anymore.
Its main ability was now exactly one thing:
Kill Ares.
The sword now had a refined, elegant name:
Ares Must Die.
Its effect was absurdly overpowered—
It could ignore Ares' condition, form, defenses, or state, and kill him with a single strike.
But such a powerful property worked only on Ares.
Against any other god or mortal?
Just a regular magical sword.
Thea glanced at the spot where Ares' body had lain—now completely clean, not even a hair left. Her mouth twitched.
Where was Ares' divine kingdom located? Should she go there and stab him again?
Using her toes to think—obviously impossible.
Ares was Zeus' son. Even if she found his divine realm, the King of Olympus would never stand by and watch her stab his child to death.
Because it had been forged by Hephaestus, the sword retained one additional—but not very useful—function: it could absorb fire-attribute magic. Thea could pour fire magic into the blade, causing roaring flames to envelop it, making it look impressive when swung.
Yes… looking cool was basically its only remaining ability.
What am I supposed to do with you…?
Thea grumbled and stored the sword in her spatial ring.
Though it had escaped its destined destruction, it still could not be held by Diana. According to the sword itself, Thea would need to acquire power beyond divine authority to rewrite its original settings.
Activating the Eye of Horus, she gazed toward the horizon and saw Steve and the others trying to seize the plane carrying poison gas. Thea murmured a spell, influencing their minds—they would gradually forget her existence over the next three days.
It was finally time for farewell.
Thea lowered her head, unable to meet Diana's eyes.
"Come, my beloved. I will wait for you… Remember our century-long promise," Diana said gently.
"I will… I—"
Their atmosphere grew sweeter and sweeter, their faces slowly closing the distance. Their lips were about to meet when a sudden voice shattered the moment.
"Oh! Ares is dead! We're free! Woohoo—!"
Thea nearly drew the God-Slayer Sword again, glaring murderously at the Minotaur girl who had just popped out of a pit, hopping toward them excitedly.
The Minotaur froze, genuinely startled—because Diana was also glaring murderously at her.
Killing intent filled the air; nearby pebbles and rubble floated into the air under the pressure.
"W-What did I do?"
The Minotaur didn't know what was happening, but she could tell she was in trouble. She bowed repeatedly, her big watery eyes staring helplessly at them.
"Why are you still here?" Thea asked, though without anger. The Minotaur girl may have had unclear motives, but at least she had helped—if she had chased Thea with full force, the outcome might have been much worse.
Hearing Thea's tone, the Minotaur peeked up. Seeing most of the killing intent had faded, she relaxed and raised her head with a carefree grin.
"That idiot freed me, so of course I'm staying here! Where else would I go?" she said, as if explaining something painfully obvious.
"You're a descendant of Minos?"
Diana, who was well-versed in mythologies, circled the Minotaur with sparkling eyes—the same expression she had when she first saw a "man" on Themyscira.
The Minotaur grew uncomfortable under that curious gaze and finally confessed everything.
"So Hades' situation is that bad? Your people love living in labyrinths, but as your patron god, he no longer has the divine power to build any? And you think the shadow labyrinth I used earlier is suitable and want to stay there?"
Thea summarized the story. Thankfully the Minotaur spoke Greek, even if clumsily—eventually, she made herself understood.
Thea said a sentence, and the Minotaur nodded each time—her face full of hopeful anticipation by the end.
"That place belongs to Artemis. You still want to go?"
The Minotaur had been strong enough for Ares to consider as an asset. She might survive inside Artemis' domain, though becoming a ruler there was unlikely. But defection of this kind could cause unpredictable consequences.
As expected, the moment she heard it was the Huntress' territory, the Minotaur shook her head vigorously. She had an excellent sense of self-preservation.
After further discussion, Thea agreed to build a few automatically-shifting labyrinths in the mortal world for her. With the Queen Group's technology—and Gideon the AI—this would be easy. Three days for minor updates, five days for major ones.
Hearing this, the Minotaur cheered, jumped into Thea's spatial ring, and prepared to return to 2008 with her.
Finally getting this "combat asset" off her hands, Thea looked around and confirmed no one else was here to interrupt.
Then she wrapped an arm around Diana's waist—and kissed her.
Diana's lips were just like the woman herself—bold, noble, full of spirit. As their lips met, Thea felt coolness and clarity spread through her mouth. Smooth teeth, a slightly chilled tongue—the sensations overwhelmed her. The two held each other tightly, and neither let go for a long, long time.