By the time Duke flew to the small boat, Diana was already waiting there.
What surprised him, however, was that besides Steve—the man who happened to share Captain America’s name, who was busy handling the mooring ropes—there was another familiar figure.
Duchen Carlos.
Why is she here?
Is she coming too?
There wasn’t any time to think about it, though.
Diana walked over to him, but before she could speak, Duke reassured her first.
“She’s recovering even faster than I expected. She’s already awake. Based on my judgment, she’ll be able to leave the treatment area tomorrow and continue recuperating.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Oh, right. This… she asked me to give it to you.”
“The Starlight Tiara?”
Diana gripped it tightly in her hands.
It was the symbol of the greatest warrior.
She could feel the hopes Antiope had placed upon her lingering within it.
“Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
Just as they turned around, a rapid thunder of hoofbeats sounded from behind them.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Duke shrugged.
“Looks like we aren’t leaving just yet.”
Watching the Amazon Queen ride after them, Diana bit her lip before stepping forward to face her directly.
“I have to go, Mother.”
“Innocent people are dying every day. I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
“If no one else in the world is willing to stand against Ares…”
“Then I must.”
Duke simply stood nearby, watching.
Looking at Wonder Woman’s stubborn little face, he couldn’t help thinking that she was still incredibly innocent, stubborn, and unwavering at this point in her life.
“I know.”
“At least… I know I can’t stop you.”
The Queen slowly dismounted and walked toward Diana, her eyes filled with reluctance and sorrow.
“There are so many… so many things you still don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“I choose to fight for those who cannot protect themselves…”
“…just as you once did.”
Duke silently complained to himself.
Wonder Woman, there really are a lot of things you don’t understand.
Ignoring the advice of your elders always comes back to bite you.
“You know that if you choose to leave…”
“…you may never return.”
Watching her daughter drift farther and farther away like a kite with its string cut broke the Queen’s heart.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Of course…
Now she also had another concern.
In the original story, there had only been one spy.
That wasn’t much of a problem.
But now…
There was Duke as well.
“What good would staying here do?”
“When you enter the world of men, be careful, Diana.”
“They are not worthy of being saved.”
“You are my greatest love.”
“And today…”
“…you have become my greatest sorrow.”
“…”
After a simple farewell, Diana turned around…
…and strode resolutely toward the world of mankind.
“Goodbye, Your Majesty.” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”
Duke gave what he believed to be a gentleman’s bow.
In reality, it looked rather clumsy.
The Queen merely nodded quietly without saying a word.
In her eyes, her daughter’s departure wasn’t because of this mysterious man of unknown origin.
It was because millions of lives were being lost in the war beyond the island.
Duke was merely an unexpected variable.
Whether he existed or not…
Diana would still have left.
Besides…
He had saved her sister’s life.
Feeling a little embarrassed under her gaze, Duke gave an awkward smile.
“Goodbye.”
He turned to leave.
At that moment, the Queen called out loudly,
“Who… exactly are you?”
Without turning around, Duke simply waved.
“Just…”
“…someone with no home to return to.”
“…”
Someone with no home…
As the evening breeze gently rose, the little boat drifted gracefully over the sea beneath the moonlight.
Escorted by the moon, it slowly sailed away from Paradise Island.
Diana gazed silently toward the homeland where she had lived for countless years.
She watched as her mother’s figure grew smaller…
And smaller…
Until the boat finally passed through the island’s barrier.
Hidden by the surrounding mist, Paradise Island disappeared completely from view.
After collecting herself from her slightly melancholy mood, Diana turned around.
She found Duke chatting with Venelia.
“Carlos?”
“Why are you here?”
“I think you’re an interesting person.”
“Going out into the world might be good experience.”
Duchen Carlos replied.
(From this point onward, she will no longer be called Venelia.)
Duke felt utterly depressed.
Could it be that this Victoria’s Secret supermodel was really going to die on the battlefield?
She didn’t possess Wonder Woman’s overwhelming combat ability.
According to the system, she was only at the Elite level.
In other words, roughly comparable to Black Widow.
Even if the future Natasha Romanoff herself were dropped onto a World War I battlefield, one careless mistake could still get her riddled with bullets.
And unlike Wonder Woman, she didn’t even possess divine equipment.
This was basically asking to die.
“Carlos?”
“Venelia, when did you change your name?”
Diana asked curiously.
“He gave it to me.”
“Duchen Carlos.”
“I suspect he has improper intentions toward me.”
She burst into laughter as soon as she finished speaking.
One was named Duke.
The other was named Duchen.
Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought they were brother and sister.
Diana simply shook her head, uninterested, before turning toward Steve.
“How much longer until we reach the battlefield?”
“The battlefield?”
“Which one?”
Steve continued tightening the ropes securing the tiny sailboat, which looked as though it might fall apart at any moment.
“The Western Front stretches from the Alps all the way to the North Sea.”
“Then take us to wherever the fighting is fiercest.”
Diana’s fighting spirit burned brightly.
The two of them switched to speaking English.
Poor Duke had no choice but to rely on Duchen Carlos to translate for him.
Oddly enough…
The system clearly stated that touching anyone of Elite rank or above carried a small chance of obtaining one of their talents.
He had touched Wonder Woman plenty of times.
Yet he hadn’t obtained a single talent.
Well…
According to the system, when interacting with someone whose realm greatly exceeded his own, the probability of acquiring a talent was…
Practically zero.
But Duchen Carlos was only Elite rank herself.
Not just her.
Back on the island, Duke had deliberately shaken hands with nearly every Amazon warrior.
Even then…
He hadn’t obtained a single talent.
Surely Language Talent counted as a talent?
Amazons were born already capable of speaking hundreds of languages.
It was probably the most common and widespread talent imaginable.
Yet even that had failed.
Sigh…
The odds really were absurdly low.
“If you take me there…”
“I know I can find Ares!”
Steve stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Diana.
This beautiful woman…
Could she really have something wrong with her head?
Then again…
An isolated island inhabited entirely by powerful women dressed like ancient warriors…
And that mysterious man who could sprout wings and had smashed his airplane…
Everything he’d seen today had completely shattered his understanding of the world.
The only reason his worldview hadn’t completely collapsed was because years of military training had given him remarkable mental resilience.
“Ares…”
“The God of War?”
“Finding him is our responsibility.”
“Only an Amazon can defeat him.”
“With this sword.”
“Once I defeat him…”
“…the war will end.”
At this point, Diana was still an innocent young woman.
“Well…”
“I admire your determination.”
“But this war is a complete mess.”
“Neither you nor I can solve it.”
“We should return to London first.”
“Then we can find people who are actually capable of changing the situation.”
Although everything he’d witnessed had overturned his worldview…
Steve still didn’t believe the war had been started by some God of War.
Or rather…
He didn’t believe killing Ares would end it.
Wars were born from human greed.
Not from some so-called god of war.
Duke chose that moment to interject.
“See?”
“I told you.”
“He was never going to take you to the battlefield.”
“His real goal is simply to leave this place…”
“…and return that notebook.”
Duke smiled after saying that.
He had absolutely no intention of allowing Diana to develop any romantic feelings for Steve.