As someone who frequently wrote transmigration novels, Duke had already begun adapting to this world the moment he opened his eyes.
The battle on the beach was at its fiercest.
When a spear pierced a chest, blood burst forth in a torrent—not like in the movies, where it looked as though someone had stabbed a mannequin.
Bullets flew through the air with endless biu biu biu sounds, and one Amazon warrior after another slowly fell.
Deep down, Duke felt that he had to act.
Perhaps he simply didn’t want to see Steve—the guy who had gotten his moment of glory only to blow himself up afterward—playing the hero again.
Or perhaps he wanted Wonder Woman to think more highly of him.
After all, she was a goddess he had admired from every angle countless times in his previous life—a flawless 360-degree goddess.
And she was a real goddess.
Once Philid Justin’s magic fused into his mind, he mastered it almost instantly.
His magic consisted of “Technique” and “Dark Script Magic.”
Technique — A type of barrier magic that allows the user to write “rules” and define an “area,” turning it into a trap for anyone who enters.
Those who step into the barrier become subject to a specific rule.
If they fail to obey it, they cannot leave the barrier.
The rules can even strip targets of their power.
For example, by writing the rule “Anyone who uses magic will suffer oxygen deprivation,” the target would begin suffocating after casting even a single spell.
And so on.
Dark Script Magic — Allows the user to inscribe “Dark Words” onto a target or themselves, causing whatever is written to become reality.
For example, writing “Terror” or “Agony” onto a target would inflict psychological damage.
Writing “Darkness” onto oneself would transform the body into a demonic form.
Looking at the faint black glow flickering around his hands, Duke found it astonishing.
It felt as though he could touch the very laws of reality.
The system hadn’t been wrong.
Technique was indeed a form of barrier magic.
Even among all magical disciplines, it belonged to the very pinnacle—the domain of Rules.
A true field-type ability.
Its growth potential was naturally immense.
However, barriers were troublesome things, and there wasn’t enough time to construct one now.
That left only Dark Script Magic.
First, he needed some protection.
Swish, swish, swish.
He rapidly wrote several words onto himself.
“Wings” — Grants the ability to grow wings and fly.
“Rejection” — Reflects incoming attacks.
“Hiss—haah… Hot! Damn, it’s burning me alive!”
It was his first time using magic.
His entire back felt as though it were on fire.
It was as if the blood in his body had instantly been heated to one hundred degrees Celsius, boiling furiously beneath his skin.
Then—
A pair of enormous black wings unfurled from his back.
Like those of a fallen angel.
Dark light shimmered across every feather.
The battle was raging too fiercely for anyone to notice him.
Only Queen Hippolyta, who was riding in with reinforcements, saw what had happened.
“!”
Before she could react, Duke spread his wings—
—and shot into the sky.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust swept across the battlefield.
Steve, fighting desperately below, suddenly saw a massive shadow flash across the ground.
His neck instinctively shrank back.
“Holy crap! What the hell is that?!”
He nearly got his head blown off by a bullet.
“Woohoo! This is awesome! So this is what flying feels like! Damn, this is amazing!”
For the first time, Duke truly understood humanity’s dream of flight.
Biu!
Bang!
Just as he was enjoying himself, a very mood-killing bullet slammed into his chest.
Thankfully, “Rejection” reflected the bullet away.
Otherwise, he’d be on his way to hell already.
Even so, getting shot left Duke somewhat dazed.
“Alright. Let’s finish this battle first.”
His body tilted forward.
Then he dived.
“Shit!”
The soldier who had fired was terrified.
The shot had gone off almost instinctively.
Now, seeing Duke plummeting toward him, he hurriedly raised his rifle and fired another round.
Bang!
Unfortunately for him, it was a bolt-action rifle.
One shot at a time.
If it had been a submachine gun, Duke—still unfamiliar with flying—might genuinely have been killed.
Duke swooped down, grabbed the soldier, and ascended once more.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
“Death.”
A Dark Word appeared on the soldier’s body.
“AAAAAH—ugh!”
His eyes bulged.
His scream stopped abruptly.
The rifle slipped from his hands as he desperately clutched his chest.
His face twisted in agony.
Death — Causes the target’s heart to stop beating, resulting in death.
“Now that’s useful.”
Duke grinned.
Then he released his grip.
The German soldier plummeted to the beach and hit the sand with a sickening thud, blood spilling from his mouth.
“Is this what falling from the seventh floor feels like?”
In reality, the man had died before he hit the ground.
“So Dark Script Magic can be used at range too?”
He stopped moving and simply hovered in midair, his wings beating steadily.
Both index fingers pointed toward the German soldiers below.
At his fingertips, circles of black-purple magical text slowly rotated.
Then—
Biu!
Biu!
Biu!
The spells struck their targets.
A bizarre scene followed.
Every soldier who was hit immediately dropped their rifle.
Some clutched their heads.
Others collapsed onto the ground and scrambled backward in terror.
Many shouted things like:
“Get away from me!”
“No! No! No!”
“Don’t come for me!”
“I don’t want to die!”
“Please spare me!”
And countless similar pleas.
Terror — Forces the target to see their deepest fear, destroying all will to fight.
“What the…?”
Steve—the one who happened to share Captain America’s name—froze for a moment.
Then he continued firing.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Heads exploded one after another.
Wonder Woman, meanwhile, stared up at the sky in astonishment.
What exactly had she rescued earlier?
Unfortunately, her distraction gave a German soldier an opening.
He raised his rifle.
Bang!
Duke had remembered this scene.
He had been watching closely the entire time.
The instant he saw the soldier aim, he instinctively cast another Dark Word.
Absolute Defense — Blocks all damage.
At Duke’s current Hero-class level, Absolute Defense could withstand a full-power attack from another Hero-class opponent.
Legendary-level attacks, however, were beyond its limits.
Unfortunately…
Antiope didn’t know that.
She stood in front of Diana.
The Dark Word had been inscribed behind her.
And even if she had seen it, she wouldn’t have known what it meant.
“NO—!”
She lunged forward.
Bang!
The bullet struck.
“NO!”
Diana was horrified.
She rushed forward and caught Antiope’s collapsing body.
Blood soaked her hands.
Warm, endless blood.
Weak.
Helpless.
Terrified.
“No… no… no, Antiope… Antiope…”
She tried desperately to cover the wound.
But no matter how hard she pressed, the blood kept flowing.
She could feel Antiope’s life slipping away.
She could feel the warmth fading from her blood.
“Diana… it’s… time… you must…”
“What? Antiope, what are you saying…?”
Fuck!
Hovering above, Duke felt thoroughly depressed.
He had forgotten about this scene.
Then again, even if he had remembered, he probably wouldn’t have cared.
What was Antiope compared to Wonder Woman?
If Antiope hadn’t jumped in front of the bullet, Diana might have been the one who died.
For all he knew, Diana’s healing factor might not even be able to recover from a gunshot wound.
Wait…
Wasn’t this actually an opportunity?
With that thought, Duke folded his wings and dived.
He landed beside the German soldier, snapping the man’s neck with a powerful kick.
Then he hurried toward Diana.
“Uh… I… I… can…”
Huh?
How do you say “I can save her” in English again?
Duke froze.
The situation was urgent, and in his panic he completely forgot that Wonder Woman spoke hundreds of languages.
Including Chinese.
Since this was an American movie, he had subconsciously assumed everyone only spoke English.
“Ah, forget it!”
Scratching his head, Duke quickly knelt down and began writing Dark Words into the sand around Antiope.