Diana killing Ares would make her the War God—a trap Thea had to prevent. Five thousand years ago, that might have been an honor. But right now, with Old Gods falling and New Gods rising, becoming an Old God would be a curse, not a blessing.
The woman named Zola watched them changing clothes. In the dim night, she felt Thea's features looked somewhat familiar, though she wasn't certain.
Especially after seeing the two women's intimate relationship, she didn't want to speak up even more.
"How do we go?" Diana asked.
"I think this key can take me back," Zola quickly interjected.
Thea glanced at it. An exquisite magical artifact with no traps. She nodded to Diana. All three teleported away.
The moment they arrived, two arrows shot at them from front and back.
Thwack, thwack—two muffled sounds. Thea and Diana each reached out and caught an arrow, using the League of Assassins' famous arrow-catching technique.
Though the Demon's Head wouldn't stand a chance against either woman now, his martial arts were worthy of praise. Some technical skills were useful anytime.
As the person closest to Thea, Diana's martial arts had naturally been influenced. Facing the oncoming arrows, both chose the League of Assassins' catching method.
They casually tossed the arrows to the ground. Zola fearfully stepped back while the two women fearlessly watched enemies emerge from the shadows.
Click-clack—the sound of hard objects striking the ground. Two horses with powerful torsos and long limbs walked out, each carrying a mounted archer. But when they reached the moonlight, all three could finally see clearly—these weren't knights at all. They were centaurs.
Where a horse's head should have been, there was instead a human torso. The upper body was covered in mud and blood, the human head crushed like a watermelon, twisted beyond recognition. Their eyes were blood-red, their voices somewhere between human wailing and horse neighing.
"These aren't natural creatures. They look like some kind of magical construct," Thea said with disgust. She vaguely remembered some plot details. These two guys were sent by Hera, queen of the gods. The notoriously jealous queen naturally wanted to kill the pregnant Zola.
Regarding these Old Gods who only focused on their own little plots, Thea really didn't want to get involved in their mess. Their circle was too chaotic, like a family drama—they deserved extinction.
But Diana couldn't escape. In Hippolyta's words, this was her inherent responsibility. Though unwilling, Thea could only reluctantly jump in.
"A complete desecration of life," Diana said, carefully examining the centaurs. Their aura was full of madness and savagery. These things clearly couldn't be saved.
"One each?" Thea asked calmly. They exchanged a glance and understood each other. Diana struck first, throwing her shield to knock away an arrow, then leapt up and slashed her sword toward the neck.
Thea wasn't as imposing. These two centaurs just looked fierce. Combined with magic that had awakened their full potential, they were fearless—but their real strength was nothing special.
Lacking good armor, Thea wasn't fully equipped like Diana. She'd just changed into regular clothes before coming. With her diverse methods, she didn't really want to melee the filthy centaurs.
Her jade-white left hand opened. A chain formed from lightning roared out, whipping toward the centaur's head.
Sensing it couldn't take the hit head-on, the centaur—its mind filled only with killing intent—half-knelt on its front legs, lowering its body to dodge the chain while simultaneously drawing its bow and firing another arrow at Thea.
"Compete in archery with me?" Thea scoffed. Such a crude magical construct didn't deserve her shooting back.
"Return!" With a quick Reversal spell, the arrow reversed direction mid-air and flew back even faster. The caught-off-guard centaur was hit solidly. The arrow pierced through its human torso as thick, dark blood continuously flowed out.
Thea pressed her advantage. Reshaping the lightning chain that had swung empty, she threw a lightning spear crackling with electricity.
She wasn't sure where a centaur's vital spot was, but aiming for the head generally worked.
Thunk—the lightning spear opened a huge hole right through the centaur's head. The centaur swayed like a drunk, spinning in place before collapsing. Its limbs twitched a few times, then it completely lost signs of life.
Only then did Thea look toward the other side. Diana was equally fast. Three moves later, catching an opening, she dodged an attack with a sidestep, leapt up, her body tracing a beautiful arc through the air. With a wrist flick, she severed the centaur's huge, twisted head.
They finished the battle almost simultaneously. Bystander Zola finally remembered the blue-skinned person who'd saved her and rushed into her room.
The two women each delivered finishing blows to their enemies, confirming death, before following into the room.
Entering, the first thing that caught their eyes was someone lying on the floor—entirely azure blue, dressed in tattered rags like a beggar. The most eye-catching feature was that where feet should be, he had a pair of bird talons.
This was Hermes—though the god renowned across realms for speed wasn't in great condition.
A crudely made spear—same style as the equipment on the two centaurs outside—had pierced his body. The god of speed lay on his back, breathing faintly.
"Pretty convincing act. To make this family drama run smoothly, this one's really putting in effort," Thea thought privately. She casually examined him twice and could tell he was genuinely injured, and seriously.
This Hermes was much weaker than she'd initially imagined. The two centaurs at the door, while formidable, depended on comparison. Against ordinary people, they'd be invincible, but even moderately skilled heroes could take them down.
Thea felt Oliver could handle those two centaurs without much trouble. With proper backup, they could be defeated without casualties.
Two modified centaurs—such weak opponents—had nearly killed the Greek god of speed and thieves. It was hard to believe.
Divine power couldn't be easily violated, but neither would it hide itself. Hermes had some acting involved, but his real strength was truly painfully low. Though he tried hard to conceal it, rough power levels could still be estimated. Thea felt even counting his hidden strength, she could take on three or four of him.
In his prime, he had once been one of the Twelve Olympians, having blessed Diana. Now his divine power compared to Diana—it was like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish with any effort.