As they crossed the bridge into Belgium, Diana was stunned by the heartbreaking scene before her.
Even Venelia—now going by Duchen Carlos, who had become far more lively and carefree after leaving Themyscira—was left speechless by the bleak sight.
Wounded soldiers were everywhere.
Some had lost their ears.
Some had cracked skulls.
Others were missing arms or legs and were being carried away on stretchers.
Not one of them was uninjured.
The war was nearing its end.
Among the Central Powers, only Germany was still holding on.
Troops from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria had already begun withdrawing one after another.
And yet, despite the war finally coming to an end, not a single soldier wore a smile.
“This is horrible,” Diana murmured.
“This is exactly why we’re here,” Steve replied.
“Hah. You call this horrible?” Logan said indifferently as he carried a pack of supplies on his back.
“Trust me—you haven’t seen what real horror looks like.”
“I fought in the American Civil War. Weapons back then weren’t nearly as advanced as they are now.”
“One cannonball could wipe out everyone within dozens of meters. Sometimes they died so quickly they never even felt the pain.”
“But in those days, if a shell hit you directly, you might only lose half your body… and still not die.”
Everyone inhaled sharply.
Lose half your body…
…and still be alive?
Wait.
The American Civil War?
The one in the nineteenth century?
Hold on…
Didn’t that make the man standing in front of them…
…over a hundred years old?
Then again…
With actual mages walking around, maybe a century-old man wasn’t that strange…
No. It was absolutely strange.
Duke, however, knew Logan wasn’t exaggerating.
Back in 1861, firearms and artillery were still relatively primitive.
A cannonball often failed to kill outright, leaving soldiers horribly maimed instead.
Logan himself had once been blasted away by a solid iron cannonball.
Unlike modern artillery, which could erase a dozen men with a single explosion.
“Take my advice.”
“If you’re ever critically wounded on the battlefield…”
“The best outcome is to end your own life right there.”
“Because what comes afterward…”
“…is what true misery looks like.”
After saying that, Logan fell silent and continued walking ahead.
He remembered an old comrade.
That friend had once had a beautiful wife.
He’d been an officer during the Civil War.
After the war, he’d returned home blind and deaf.
The only way he could communicate was by feeling Braille with his fingers.
At first glance, it seemed his beautiful wife truly loved him.
After all…
She never abandoned him.
But the truth was the exact opposite.
Because of his disability, the government paid him a generous pension every month.
That money was the only reason she stayed.
She used it to support a young lover.
She even brazenly brought the man home and carried on with him right in front of her husband.
After all…
He couldn’t hear.
When Logan visited his old friend, he discovered the whole tragedy.
The young lover died on the spot.
As for the woman…
Logan left her fate to his friend.
Though blind and deaf, his friend had already sensed something was wrong.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot the woman.
She had been his first love.
They had once shared beautiful memories.
So…
He let her go.
The very next day…
He took his own life.
Later, Logan hunted the woman down and killed her as well.
His friend may have lacked the heart to do it…
But Logan refused to let her continue wasting the money his friend had earned with blood.
That was merely one story among countless others.
Those who survived the battlefield only to become crippled…
They were the ones who suffered the most.
The ones who died…
…were the lucky ones.
Diana remained silent.
She carefully pondered Logan’s words.
Of course, Logan hadn’t brought this up on his own.
Duke had specifically asked him to.
As someone who was, in many ways, similar to Diana, Logan possessed a lifetime of hard-earned experience.
Those lessons were exactly what Diana needed.
Duke himself was only a college student.
He didn’t think he was capable of guiding her properly.
So he had deliberately asked Logan to offer advice whenever the opportunity arose.
…
After a full day’s march, they finally met up with the others in the wilderness.
“You’re late.”
“We had to avoid an ambush, Chief,” Steve replied with a smile as the two embraced.
“It’s good to see you.”
“You too.”
“Oh, this is Diana, and her companion Duchen Carlos. These are Duke, Logan, and Victor—our teammates for this mission.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
They exchanged nods of greeting.
“So,” the Chief chuckled self-deprecatingly, “one Duke and one Chief. Seems we’re fated to meet.”
After a friendly meal together, Victor shrugged.
“So… our mission is really just to kill some doctor who’s obsessed with poison gas?”
“What happened to Ares, the God of War?”
Logan tried to stop him…
But it was too late.
“The God of War?” the Chief blinked in confusion.
“Who’s Ares?”
“I knew it…” Sameer rolled his eyes.
“Steve, you tricked me again.”
“No, I didn’t,” Steve protested innocently.
“I never actually said anything about Ares.”
“Yeah… technically, you didn’t.”
Sameer sighed helplessly.
He’d been expecting werewolves, vampires, or maybe the Headless Horseman.
Duke smiled.
“The mission really is to eliminate the poison-gas doctor and destroy whatever gas stockpiles we find.”
“I have a feeling we’ll meet Ares there.”
“The war is almost over.”
“If he doesn’t show himself now…”
“…it’ll be too late.”
Then he pointed at Diana.
“As long as Diana is with us…”
“…there’s no need to worry about Ares.”
“Because he’ll definitely come.”
Diana pointed at herself.
“Me?”
“You’re like a ten-thousand-watt light bulb,” Duke laughed.
“You’re so bright.”
“Don’t you realize it?”
“You’ll draw Ares straight to us.”
Only then did Logan and Victor finally understand.
Duke—not Steve—was the true center of this team.
Steve looked like the leader…
But in reality, he was more like the guide.
…
Early the next morning, the group finally reached the front lines.
The trench system stretched endlessly before them.
“What is this?” Diana asked.
“This,” Steve answered, “is the battlefield you wanted to see.”
“Where are the Germans?”
“A few hundred yards beyond No Man’s Land.”
“Come on, Diana.”
Just then, a woman holding a child grabbed Diana’s hand.
“Please… help us.”
“They’ve taken everything.”
“Our homes.”
“Our food.”
“The people who couldn’t escape have all been captured and turned into slaves…”
“Where?” Diana asked immediately.
“In Veld.”
“On the other side of No Man’s Land.”
The woman pointed into the distance.
Steve quickly stepped forward and pulled Diana away.
“We have to go.”
“The mission comes first.”
“We have to help these people!” Diana protested.
“They’re dying!”
“We can’t just ignore them!”
“The next outpost is at least a day’s journey away,” the Chief reminded her.
“Hurry it up!” Charlie urged impatiently.
“They’re starving.”
“The villagers have been enslaved…”
“I understand how you feel.”
“There are women and children!”
“We have to reach the next outpost before sunset,” Steve insisted.
“How can you say that?”
For the first time, genuine anger appeared on Diana’s face.
“What’s happened to you?”
He was ignoring the suffering right in front of him.
Pretending not to see it.
How could someone’s heart be so cold?
Perhaps Duke had been right after all.
To Steve…
Only the mission mattered.