Duke burst into the enemy camp like a tiger among sheep, cutting a bloody path through the German ranks.
Darkness was an extraordinary power.
Its greatest abilities were draining strength, suffocating enemies, and stealing life itself.
At the same time, it could condense into blades of darkness that sliced through flesh with terrifying speed.
Most forms of physical damage simply couldn’t affect it.
Black mist slithered through the German soldiers like living serpents.
Anyone brushed by it had their life silently stolen away without a sound.
The Maxim machine guns fell silent.
The pressure weighing on Diana instantly disappeared.
Logan and Victor, who had been pinned down moments before, climbed back to their feet and leapt into the German trenches.
The Allied troops immediately surged with renewed morale.
“Come on!”
“They did it! Charge!”
The final assault began.
Forward!
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
Victor let out a feral roar and hurled himself into the trench like a raging beast.
His claws slammed onto the heads of two German soldiers, driving them straight into the ground with enough force to burst their skulls.
“ROAR!”
He was a beast in every sense of the word.
Once the scent of blood ignited his killing instinct, he became nothing more than a merciless machine of slaughter.
Inside the trenches, every swipe of his razor-sharp claws effortlessly claimed another life.
One slash…
A throat was torn open.
After watching him cut down several soldiers, Diana frowned slightly.
She didn’t like what she was seeing.
Victor was on their side, but compared to him, Logan’s bone claws—though equally lethal as they pierced enemy chests—felt nowhere near as savage or bloodthirsty.
She had disliked Victor from the moment they’d met.
The thick aura of bloodshed surrounding him was unmistakable.
Only someone who had slaughtered thousands could possess such overwhelming killing intent.
“Duke!”
With Allied soldiers already flooding into the trenches and the German defenses collapsing, the remaining enemies could be left to the others.
She called out to Duke.
“Hm?”
After dropping the soldier in front of him, Duke drifted over.
In his Darkness form, he could become intangible mist or reshape himself into a humanoid silhouette.
In that state, he had no facial features—just a figure made entirely of black mist.
Of course, he could also mimic other forms.
Like a dragon…
A black dragon.
Though that was mostly for show.
It looked intimidating, but didn’t actually make him any stronger.
“They ran that way!” Diana pointed toward a tunnel leading away from the battlefield.
“Is that the road to Veld?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s clear the way. Logan, Victor—move!”
“Got it!”
“GO!”
Diana launched herself into the air with a mighty leap.
Like the Hulk, she soared nearly a hundred meters in a single bound, as though gravity barely existed.
The sight left the two brothers speechless.
So that’s the daughter of Zeus?
Earlier they’d watched her get pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire and had secretly thought:
Even gods are afraid of bullets?
We’ll kill the bastard and use his skull as a chamber pot.
But seeing her now…
It was obvious she hadn’t even begun to use her true strength.
Shaking their heads, they hurried after her.
As for Duke…
They had already experienced his Darkness firsthand.
When that black mist wrapped around their throats, all strength vanished from their bodies in an instant, as though every ounce of power had been drained away.
Only because they were mutants had they managed to force out enough strength to resist.
Ordinary people would have been completely drained to death.
Steve watched the four race ahead and gritted his teeth.
“We’re going too! Move! Move!”
He knew it.
His repeated “cold” decisions had reduced Diana’s opinion of him to rock bottom.
But he’d made those choices for the mission.
I have to find a chance to explain.
Behind him, Sameer glanced at his old friend and quietly shook his head.
Trying to win over a goddess?
That wasn’t happening.
He still didn’t know Diana’s true identity, but with strength like that…
Calling her a goddess didn’t seem exaggerated.
A real goddess.
Not the kind in pin-up magazines.
“You stay here. I’ll go ahead.”
Fortunately, Diana remembered to leave a quick instruction for the four-member “weakling squad.”
Duke naturally knew the German soldiers posed no real threat to her superior combat skills.
Still, he followed to fight alongside her.
Or rather…
To support her.
He had no intention of stealing her spotlight.
This counted as a bit of training for Diana.
Even if the challenge wasn’t much.
Besides…
He needed experience himself.
In the center of Veld Town, before the great clock tower, an armored vehicle poured out relentless fire.
A cannon mounted on top.
A Maxim machine gun below.
Diana knew this was the greatest threat on the battlefield.
One careless moment…
Her shield was blasted out of her hand by a shell.
She became furious.
Breaking into a sprint, she lowered her shoulder and slammed directly into the armored vehicle.
BOOM!
The supposedly impenetrable armor crumpled inward from the impact.
Not far away, Logan had just dropped another German soldier when he froze.
“…Can you do that?”
“What?”
Victor turned his head for a look.
Then he froze as well.
Because Diana had actually lifted the armored vehicle over her head—
—and hurled it several meters through the air before smashing it into the ground.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me…”
“Ah, damn it!”
Distracted for a split second, Victor took a bullet through the shoulder.
The four-man “weakling squad” stood there dumbfounded.
Steve: “…”
Sameer: “…”
Charlie: “…”
Chief: “…”
Before any of them even had a chance to join the fight, the remaining enemy soldiers had already been wiped out by Duke, Logan, and Victor.
Duke, meanwhile, suddenly remembered he still needed to farm talent points.
Bang!
A civilian collapsed to the ground.
“Diana! Up there!”
Duke pointed toward the clock tower.
“Sniper!”
Bang!
Another shot punched straight through Duke’s body.
Of course…
It did absolutely nothing.
He simply stared back with his permanently “dark” face.
“What the hell is that thing?”
Bang!
Another shot.
You’re really getting carried away, aren’t you?
“Diana!”
Duke clasped both hands together to form a foothold.
At that moment, the two understood each other perfectly.
In the original story, Steve, Sameer, and the Chief had boosted Diana into the air with a metal shield.
Now…
Diana planted her foot on Duke’s hands and launched herself skyward.
He could have dealt with the sniper himself.
But such a classic scene deserved to be recreated.
BOOM!
Diana smashed straight through the top of the clock tower.
The entire roof collapsed, sending clouds of dust billowing into the sky.
“…She’s okay, right?”
Victor stared in amazement.
“She just collapsed an entire tower.”
“She’ll be fine,” Logan answered calmly.
As the dust slowly settled…
Diana stood proudly atop the ruined clock tower.
Looking down at the townspeople—
Cheering.
Applauding.
Weeping with joy.
Throwing themselves into the arms of reunited loved ones.
For the first time…
She truly understood happiness.
Using her own strength to help others.
Receiving their heartfelt gratitude in return.
It was a wonderful feeling.
Click.
“Thank you all.”
The elderly photographer lowered his camera with trembling hands.
“It’s an honor to take your picture. Thank you.”
A single old photograph remained.
Unlike in the original story, there were no longer just five people in it.
Standing to Diana’s left were Duke, Logan, and Victor.
To her right stood Steve and the rest of his team.