NOTE:Don't forget to join my Patreon.com/Argonaut007 to get access to 10+ advanced chapters.
------
Chapter 62— Clash of Divinity
Diana's breath came in sharp gasps as she faced him.
Ares stood before her, eyes burning like molten fire, his aura warping the battlefield. Soldiers faltered, civilians screamed behind shuttered windows, and debris trembled under the pressure of his mere presence.
He smiled. A smile that did not promise mercy.
"I admire your courage, sister. Maybe Father is senile to let you roam outside his paradise," he said, his voice a rolling thunder that made the earth quake.
Diana's fists clenched. Her voice rang across the ruins:
"Don't blaspheme the name of God, King of Olympus, you bastard!"
The words struck him like a thunderbolt. Red energy flared in his eyes. His smile vanished, replaced by fury—a divine, unbridled rage that twisted the very air around them.
Ares advanced. No longer using weapons, his fists became the instruments of a god. His hands moved faster than sight could follow, striking with the weight of mountains, precision like the apex predator, strength amplified by the war raging around them.
Diana lunged. Her sword swung. Her shield raised. Every tactic she had learned—the strikes, the feints, the counterattacks—was nullified by his overwhelming power.
Every blow she landed barely grazed him. Every attempt to redirect his strikes left her staggering backward.
"Pathetic," Ares growled. "Strength without scale is meaningless."
The clash became brutal, intimate, and unstoppable.
He caught her in midair with a single hand, hurling her through a ruined building. Concrete crumbled. Dust and glass flew in all directions. Diana rolled through the rubble, sprang to her feet, and struck again—but he met her head-on, shoving her backward across another building. The impact tore the structure apart.
Mini earthquakes rippled with every blow. Soldiers lost footing, firing wildly into the sky. Civilians huddled beneath broken roofs, staring in terror as the two gods' battle reshaped the city.
"So sad to see you like this," Ares said, voice booming across the battlefield, his godly aura flaring. "So I will end you now, sister. Your divinity will make mine stronger."
Diana's eyes burned with defiance, despite the pain and exhaustion. Every technique she tried—spinning strikes, Lasso of Truth feints, shield blocks—was countered effortlessly.
Ares was absolute. He was war incarnate.
Buildings crumbled beneath her feet. Columns toppled. Smoke and fire swirled around them. Each clash birthed elemental chaos—miniature storms, collapsing walls, and bursts of earth as if the planet itself obeyed him.
"Your strength… your courage… is admirable," he whispered, grabbing her by the shoulders and slamming her into the ruins of a tower. "But futile."
The battlefield became unrecognizable. Soldiers continued their skirmishes in fragmented streets, bullets ricocheting off debris. Civilians hid in broken homes, screaming. Fires spread, fed by the divine chaos surrounding the pair. Ares' aura thrived on the violence. The larger the war, the stronger he became. Every scream, every explosion, every life in peril fueled his divinity.
Diana clung to consciousness. Sweat, blood, and ash streaked her armor. She dodged, struck, and countered, but her mind screamed in frustration: nothing worked. Every move she made was anticipated and overpowered.
"I won't… give up," she whispered, teeth gritted.
Ares' laugh was cold and godlike.
"You cannot win. Not here. Not now. Your divinity will only strengthen me!"
He raised both fists, forming a crushing strike aimed to obliterate her. The ground shuddered beneath them, cracks spreading like lightning across the battlefield. Buildings trembled and shattered. Soldiers and civilians alike were caught in the shockwave.
Diana's eyes widened as she realized this was his finishing move—a strike designed not merely to kill, but to consume her, absorb her divine essence into his own.
"No…" she whispered. Her body tensed, every nerve screaming. "I… will… not… die!"
And then—
A sound like a cannon splitting the sky cut through the chaos.
A figure erupted from the smoke and debris with impossibly fast speed, fist cocked, eyes blazing with determination.
Von-Ra El
"Don't you dare kill my woman, weakling!"
His punch landed squarely on Ares' chest. The shockwave tore through the battlefield like a meteor strike. Rubble exploded in all directions. Smoke and dust obscured the two gods as Ares was sent skidding back, stunned for the first time in centuries.
Von-Ra's entrance was heroic, exaggerated—the kind of cinematic moment where a single figure stops the unstoppable. Armor glinting, fists radiating power, he landed in a stance that screamed defiance and raw strength.
"I warned you," Von-Ra shouted, voice echoing across the battlefield. "Leave her. Or face me."
Ares rose slowly, red eyes burning brighter than before. His aura flared, massive and divine.
"Interesting… another challenger," he growled. "You dare interfere?"
Von-Ra's expression did not waver.
"I don't care if you are a god. She is mine to protect. Now get your ass out of the way."
The battlefield seemed to pause for the briefest of moments. Smoke hung like curtains. Fires roared. Dust spiraled in chaotic patterns, yet all eyes—soldier, civilian, and god alike—were fixed on the two figures facing each other.
Diana, panting, bloodied, bruised, glanced at Von-Ra. Relief, hope, and disbelief danced across her expression.
"Von-Ra…?" she whispered.
"Hold on," he said, voice low but fierce. "I've got this."