DOTM: Chapter 171/172

Chapter 171

Ludendorff died so suddenly that even Diana didn't have time to react, and the surrounding soldiers were stunned. On the ground, his wide eyes seemed to reflect the unwillingness of a general who had failed to achieve his goal.

His unwillingness was exactly why Ethan felt satisfied. He had come here specifically to stop Ludendorff from launching gas bombs at civilians.

As for the war in Europe, Ethan didn't care about justice or evil. In essence, there was no justice in this war. If it were a normal battlefield, no matter how many people died, he wouldn't bother getting involved.

But attacking civilians made him deeply uncomfortable, and Ludendorff's actions crossed that line, so Ethan had intervened.

"I feel like something's wrong."

After killing Ludendorff, Diana stood silently. She didn't believe that the dignified God of War could be killed so easily by her, so she had remained alert, anticipating Ares's sudden appearance.

But after waiting for a long time with nothing happening, Diana realized something was off. She looked down at the body beneath her feet and began to doubt her own judgment. Was this man really Ares?

She glanced at Ethan, who had already retracted his wings. The blazing flame wings had reverted into a regular cloak, swaying gently in the cold wind. Ethan didn't offer any answer to Diana's question.

Although there had been a slight deviation from the original plan, he wasn't going to change his decision.

"You'll have to judge for yourself, Diana."

Ethan looked at the surrounding German soldiers, who didn't dare to attack or retreat, and waved at one of them: "Where is your weapons warehouse?"

"To the northeast… about one kilometer from here."

Ludendorff had ordered Dr. Maru to manufacture a large number of new gas shells. Naturally, these shells wouldn't be stored in this small castle. They had to consider transport for testing purposes as well. Based on this, it was easy to infer that the warehouse wasn't far.

This matter had little to do with Ethan, he was just helping out in passing. After getting the information, he stayed there and waited for Steve and his group, gave them the warehouse location, and went back to playing the bystander.

For the rest of the time, Diana remained very quiet. The surrounding soldiers were tempted to launch a surprise attack while she seemed distracted, but a strange feeling kept warning them: if they made a move, they would die a miserable death.

The feeling was strange, but no one dared to act on their thoughts.

This was, of course, Ethan's doing. His mental suppression technique was a crude application of psychic power—basic and lacking sophistication. It only had an effect when the target was already mentally unstable. Normal people wouldn't be influenced.

Furthermore, the method caused no actual harm. If the opponent was dull or reckless and chose to rush in, Ethan would simply kill them the conventional way.

Time passed, and the soldiers gradually dispersed. With the help of his glasses, Ethan confirmed there was no one left in the castle. He marked the warehouse's location, Steve's long-pursued target, Dr. Maru, was over there. And, according to the original story, that was where Steve died.

Standing at the highest point of the castle, quietly enjoying the cool breeze, Ethan didn't interfere with Diana's thoughts. After a while, Diana returned, holding a few strange capsules.

"What are these?"

"I don't know. I found them on Ludendorff. Can you tell what they are?" Diana had already confirmed that Ludendorff was definitely not Ares. Her earlier thinking had been too naive. After calming down and reorganizing her thoughts, she realized that finding Ares on the battlefield wouldn't be easy, she had no idea what disguise he might be using.

Ethan took the capsule-like item and examined it using the potion knowledge he had learned from Akara.

His pharmacological knowledge came from Akara. Initially, he had focused on very niche areas, but later he taught himself more and developed his own insights. Analyzing unfamiliar substances like this was no longer difficult for him, he could even determine the specific effect with just a bit of sensing.

"A low-grade fortifying drug. It temporarily boosts a person's physical attributes."

These physical attributes included overall qualities like strength, agility, and reflexes, not just raw strength. When Ethan saw the capsule, he recalled that in the original plot, Ludendorff used this and was able to go a few rounds with Diana—even gaining the upper hand at first.

That was terrifying. Even though Diana in the original story was weaker than she was now, she still wasn't someone an ordinary person could fight. You could tell just by watching how easily she cut down enemy soldiers like mowing grass. And Ludendorff, already in the twilight of his years, certainly didn't have better physical condition than a frontline soldier. Yet with this tiny thing, he could battle Diana…

"Was this made by Dr. Maru?"

He didn't believe Dr. Maru had the ability to create something like this. He remembered that Ares had secretly used some kind of power to influence various people, making them believe they had sudden "inspiration" to develop powerful inventions, all to prolong the war. This drug was likely one of those.

Ethan thought for a moment but didn't share his speculation. He just explained the drug's general effects to Diana. After learning that the capsule could give ordinary people tremendous strength, Diana was first surprised—then curious: "Can ordinary human technology really create something so powerful?"

After all, she knew little about the human world and didn't notice the abnormality at first. But when Steve arrived and shared more information, Diana quickly realized something was wrong.

"This is Ares's conspiracy!"

Diana's words were firm now. This wasn't a question anymore. She stood in front of Ethan, holding the inconspicuous capsule in her hand.

"So we need to capture Dr. Maru."

With a new lead, Diana found renewed purpose. She and Steve quickly came to an agreement: capture Dr. Maru.

This time, Ethan simply provided the storage location of the gas shells, then quietly followed Logan again. Charlie and Samir, however, kept glancing back at him. At first, he responded with a friendly smile—but after a few times, he couldn't be bothered anymore.

"They think you're a divine messenger now."

"I know. This isn't the first time."

Logan took another puff of his cigar. The battle belt that was originally meant for storing magazines and grenades was now packed with cigars. He could light one up anytime, anywhere.

Ethan had no objections to that. Once the gear was handed over, he didn't care how it was used. Still, he hadn't gained much new understanding of spatial energy lately, so he hadn't been able to make a better space storage device. That left him a bit frustrated.

Considering how much more stuff he needed to carry these days, he figured it was time to expand the ring's capacity.

Thanks to Ethan's mad rush and work, the team arrived at the gas shell storage area. It was more of a base than a warehouse. Aside from the numerous warehouses, there was also an airstrip, where various vehicles and bombers were parked. Countless soldiers were busy loading equipment and weapons onto the aircraft.

"What are they doing?"

"Preparing for an assault."

"Where are they attacking?"

The group exchanged glances. No matter the destination, with that many gas bombs, the result would be a massive death zone—no survivors.

"We have to stop them."

"How?" Samir didn't think they could stop such a massive offensive, unless every one of them was like Diana or Ethan.

Along the way, Steve had told them Ethan was a magician. At this point, no one doubted that mages existed. They just wondered whether "magician" was even an accurate description of Ethan.

Sometimes they even considered whether God himself had grown tired of what the Germans were doing and sent messengers to punish them.

"A direct assault."

The group's discussion didn't affect Diana. She had been thinking the entire time. She realized that finding Ares was nearly impossible, so there was only one option left: force Ares to come to her.

Ares must fear her. The moment she revealed herself, the God of War would target her. All she had to do was keep sabotaging his plans—until he had no choice but to act.

The poison gas created by Dr. Maru would make the war even more tragic. A war that could have ended would continue and grow even more horrific, likely part of Ares's plan.

So the solution was simple: destroy this attack, and Ares would likely appear.

"I'll create a distraction. You go destroy the bombs."

Under Ethan's guidance, Diana had improved more than just her combat abilities.

"It's a bit crude and simple but I like it."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 172

Diana's plan was very simple, and Logan liked it a lot. After hanging around with her these past few days, his hands were starting to itch.

It just so happened that this operation required more people. Even though Steve and his team weren't sure of Logan's abilities, they were still happy to have another helping hand.

As for Ethan, who didn't voice any opinion, they understood that this time he was only concerned with Diana. Although they were still unsure about the existence of this so-called Ares, they gradually realized that they were facing a terrifying enemy, one far beyond what ordinary soldiers or even Ethan would bother to deal with.

Diana's combat power wasn't something regular soldiers could handle. Even with solid defenses, it was meaningless. Having basically tapped into her demigod power, Diana didn't care at all about bunkers or sentries meant to stop regular humans.

Rampage was the most accurate word to describe Diana's current state. Even the most advanced chariots of the era posed no threat to her—instead, they became her weapons. No one knew how many people she had hurled to their deaths using the very chariots meant to stop her.

With Diana drawing all the enemy's attention, Steve's group managed to infiltrate the bomb storage site undetected and this time, they just happened to run into their target: Dr. Maru.

The moment Dr. Maru saw Steve, she sensed something was wrong. A cautious and perceptive chemist, she tried to escape as soon as she realized the situation. If it had only been Steve and the others, she might have gotten away but with Logan on the team, there was no chance.

Not wanting to be teased by Ethan later, Logan charged in immediately. Ignoring the surrounding gunfire, he pushed through and knocked Dr. Maru out cold with a single punch.

The surrounding soldiers were stunned when they realized their bullets had no effect. Then they were taken out by Charlie, Samir, and the others, who turned to watch in shock as the bullets Logan had taken were slowly pushed out of his body. The bloody wounds healed gradually until there wasn't a single trace left.

"So… Steve, are none of your friends human?"

Steve was also stunned. He could only shake his head. "I don't know either."

Then everyone turned simultaneously to Laura, who was casually walking around. She was holding Auriel, glancing around curiously and occasionally poking at the piles of gas shells.

"Hey, Laura, those aren't toys to mess with."

"I want to find something interesting to bring back. It's always so boring on the ship." Now that Laura had become more lively, she began to want her own toys like a normal child. But Ethan's ship didn't have anything like that, and although Paradise Island had enough space for her to run wild, it wasn't exactly filled with playthings.

Logan didn't know how to deal with kids, though Laura was technically his daughter to some extent, so he pushed the problem to someone else. "Go ask Ethan. I'm sure he'll agree to something like that."

Having gotten a promise, Laura happily let go of the bombs and followed Logan obediently.

After successfully capturing Dr. Maru, their new headache was figuring out how to handle the massive number of bombs.

"My God, they were going to attack London!"

Charlie, who was inspecting the area, had somehow found a map. On it, London was circled in red. Anyone with a brain could understand what that meant.

"Thank goodness we stopped this insane plan."

Because Diana and Steve had reached the base earlier than in the original plot, none of the bombs had been activated. Most were still stored in the warehouse and hadn't yet been loaded onto the planes. Given Diana's combat strength, London was in no danger.

Now the problem was with them. It was impossible to carry all the bombs away, and leaving them for the German army was even worse. The simplest solution was to destroy them.

"How can we destroy these gas bombs without harming the surrounding area?"

"Fire."

While none of them were experts, a few had some basic chemistry knowledge. Once they realized the bombs were filled with flammable substances, the answer was clear.

"Gather them all and burn everything down..."

Steve began organizing his team to start the process. But then there was a loud boom, followed by a shockwave that made everyone stagger. While the others were still confused, Logan immediately realized what had happened and rushed toward the warehouse doors.

Steve had a vague sense of what it could be and followed Logan to the gate—only to witness a scene he would never forget.

Diana floated in the air, golden light radiating from her body. Opposite her stood a man he knew very well—Sir Patrick.

"Sir? Why is he here?"

Steve was a smart man. He wasn't British, and he didn't hold any blind loyalty to Sir Patrick. Seeing the man suddenly appear here, without any signs of surprise or panic at Diana's appearance, Steve instantly knew something was wrong.

"Because the Sir Patrick you're talking about is the Ares Diana's been looking for."

Ethan was now standing at the warehouse entrance as well. The entire base was in chaos. German soldiers didn't know what to do in the face of this sudden turn of events. Their highest commander, Ludendorff, was dead, and the person meant to oversee the bomb loading—Dr. Maru—was missing. Without orders, the troops had no idea what they should do.

This disarray among the German soldiers made it easier for Steve and his group to act. They didn't have time to worry about Diana facing the God of War. Their top priority was to gather and destroy all the gas bombs to ensure not a single one remained. Only by doing that could they eliminate the threat entirely.

If the enemy lost this weapon and could no longer inflict mass casualties on Britain, then the German defeat would be inevitable, and the war would end soon—exactly what Steve had always hoped for.

Thanks to Ethan's various interventions, Steve didn't develop any romantic connection with Diana this time. And given Diana's current divine appearance, it was clear that they were not from the same world. What Steve didn't realize was that, because of Ethan's involvement, he'd somehow escaped his tragic fate, avoiding a fiery death in a gas-laden plane.

While Steve focused on the war and peace, Ethan was more interested in the strength of the God of War.

The result was disappointing. This Ares was completely unworthy of the title. In the original story, he could at least put up a fight against Diana. But now, facing a much stronger Diana, he didn't even have a chance to counterattack.

Still maintaining his Patrick disguise, Ares was beaten like a dog. Enraged, he finally revealed his true form, but it didn't help.

Also, since Diana now knew that the so-called "Godkiller" sword didn't actually exist and that she herself was the ultimate weapon against Ares—she had no expectations for that ordinary longsword. So when Ares shattered it, Diana showed no shock at all. Instead, she immediately took out the Battle Cross that Ethan had given her and slashed at Ares without hesitation.

Ethan, watching the battle from a distance, still had the leisure to analyze each of Diana's strikes.

"If she slashed just a little further to the left, Ares would've been converted into the Goddess of War."

Logan, also watching, was a little let down by both Ares and Diana. He had expected something more impressive from a so-called god, but this level of combat wasn't enough to awe him.

Whether it was donning heavy armor or turning his surroundings into various weapons, Ares's tactics were laughable against Diana. Even the lightning he had inherited from Zeus was useless. The moment he cast it, Diana would catch it and fire it back at him.

Unlike the original version, where Diana blasted Ares to ash, this time, with greater control over her powers, she didn't kill him immediately. Instead, she stood before the dying Ares and said something to him.

Because of the distance, Ethan and Logan couldn't hear what was said. They only saw that Diana then used the remaining piece of the sword to kill Ares—turning the broken sword into the true "Godkiller"—before finally disintegrating Ares's body with white lightning.

"Why'd she do that?"

Logan's question didn't get an immediate answer until Diana landed in front of the two of them and gave them the answer directly.

She tossed the remaining fragment to Ethan, then gave him a particularly smug smile.

"Are you satisfied with my tuition fee?"

Ethan immediately understood. Diana had deliberately stained the sword with Ares's divine blood before giving the broken sword to him.

"Far exceeded my expectations."

Ethan didn't act modest. He pulled out a box, placed the fragment, now just the hilt and a portion of the blade—inside, and stored it in his space storage ring.

"How did you know I wanted this?"

Diana gave Ethan a radiant smile.

"Because I'm smart."

(To be continued.)