'They're here.'
She had already heard her mother talk about the enemy invasion, so the moment Diana saw the silver passage, she immediately knew what was happening.
Steppenwolf had arrived.
She instantly wrapped the Mother Box with the Lasso of Truth. At the same time, a dark figure crashed down from the Boom Tube like a falling meteor.
Diana had just pulled the Mother Box away when the stone platform that held it shattered into pieces. A large hand reached through the flying rubble and grabbed nothing.
Holding the Mother Box in her arms, Diana drew her sword and looked at the intruder.
Blue energy glowed in Steppenwolf's eyes. He straightened up, tightened his grip on the Electro Axe, and looked at Diana.
He let out a surprised sound, "Amazon. You carry the scent of the Old Gods."
"The blood of the Old Gods flows through you. You are a Guardian."
Diana raised her sword and pointed it at Steppenwolf, feeling that something was wrong.
The figure before her was far more oppressive than her mother had described, and his appearance had changed somewhat as well.
"Since you know that, then you should understand."
"The Amazons' Mother Box will never fall into your hands."
"Leave now."
"As someone from another world, you won't gain anything here."
Steppenwolf remained unmoved and spoke in a deep voice, "You are the ones who know nothing."
"The Great Darkness is about to descend."
"Even the Old Gods will vanish in the cleansing flames before long."
"This world will join countless others and become part of his domain."
"And you, a mongrel who merely carries the blood of the Old Gods, cannot stop any of it."
Steppenwolf then looked out the window toward the bay engulfed in battle, "Besides, your people are dying miserably."
"Don't you intend to save them?"
Diana tightened her grip on the Mother Box, "If the Mother Box falls into your hands, my people will still be wiped out, won't they?"
Only then did the corners of Steppenwolf's mouth lift, revealing a savage smile.
"You're right!"
He suddenly leaped high into the air, gripping the Electro Axe with both hands. Red-gold lightning burst from the weapon as he brought it crashing down.
The Amazon palace exploded.
Red-gold lightning surged from deep within the palace and spread in all directions. Arcs of electricity shot everywhere, shattering and scorching everything they touched.
A figure burst out of the explosion.
Diana!
Holding the Mother Box, she landed in the plaza outside the palace. Looking up again, she saw that Steppenwolf had already chased after her.
The powerful lifeform from Apokolips smashed through countless massive boulders. With a wave of his hand, the Electro Axe roared forward, wrapped in red-gold lightning.
Diana jumped while holding the Mother Box, causing the axe to miss.
But when the axe struck the ground, lightning erupted. The entire plaza split apart and exploded into fragments.
As Diana jumped, Steppenwolf also leaped.
He jumped higher and farther than she did.
In an instant, he was above Wonder Woman.
His thick arm swept sideways.
BANG!
Still holding the Mother Box, Diana was knocked back to the ground and crashed into the broken plaza. The impact sent the Mother Box bouncing into the air before it rolled away.
Steppenwolf landed and walked toward it.
Reaching the Mother Box, he bent down to pick it up.
At that moment, Diana swung the Lasso of Truth around his foot and pulled hard, dragging herself toward her enemy.
With a shout, Diana slid past Steppenwolf's feet, knocked the Mother Box aside, and slashed at his hand with her sword.
But she failed to cut it off.
She only scraped a trail of sparks from his palm.
Seeing this, Diana withdrew the Lasso of Truth and threw it again. It wrapped around one of Steppenwolf's large horns, and she used it to pull herself upward.
Just then, Steppenwolf swept an arm across the area. His fingers passed through the spot where Diana had been moments earlier, carving several trenches into the ground.
Diana landed on Steppenwolf's back.
Half-kneeling there, Wonder Woman raised her sword and prepared to stab down.
Steppenwolf reached behind him, grabbed Diana, pulled her off his back, and slammed her heavily into the ground. Then he lifted a leg and kicked.
The kick released a shockwave that sent Wonder Woman flying like a ball.
Diana plowed a trench a hundred meters long across the ground before bouncing up, rolling, and landing.
She let out a grunt and looked up.
Steppenwolf was already reaching for the Mother Box again.
Diana swung the Lasso of Truth and threw it.
The loop caught the Mother Box.
With a hard pull, the Mother Box flew back toward her.
She grabbed it, turned, and ran.
Before she could get far, wind roared above her.
Steppenwolf descended from the sky and blocked her path.
Diana threw the Mother Box onto the ground and planted a foot on it.
Then she spread her arms and shouted through clenched teeth.
The Bracelets of Submission slammed together.
CLANG!
A powerful shockwave crashed into Steppenwolf's body.
Even after being enhanced by the Mother Box, Steppenwolf had no choice but to raise both hands in front of himself. Yet the shockwave still forced him backward.
His huge feet pressed into the ground, carving two trenches over a hundred meters long before he finally stopped.
He looked at Wonder Woman and roared.
"Enough!"
"You're wasting my time!"
Blue sparks burst from Steppenwolf's eyes.
Blue patterns lit up along the two curved horns on his head. Then a fist-sized mass of blue lightning between the horns rapidly expanded.
Before Diana could even react, the mass of lightning exploded.
A raging stream of blue energy erupted from it.
Like a cannon blast, it struck Diana directly.
She only had time to raise her bracelets in front of herself before the torrent of energy sent her flying.
It felt as if a meteor coming straight at her had crashed into her.
An irresistible force hurled her into the distance.
At that moment, Hippolyta, who was fighting on the beach, sensed something and glanced back toward the palace.
She only saw a blue stream of light stretching across the sea and sky.
Then the stream expanded and exploded into countless fireballs, dazzling to behold.
Near the palace.
The stream of light vanished.
The sparks in Steppenwolf's eyes dimmed slightly.
He snorted and walked over.
First, he picked up the Mother Box that Diana had been holding down with her foot.
Then he retrieved his Electro Axe.
After that, he summoned a Boom Tube.
A silver-white pillar of light immediately descended from the sky.
Steppenwolf raised his head.
His figure flashed once and disappeared into the Boom Tube.
On the sea outside Themyscira.
The ocean reflected the colorful fireballs scattered across the sky.
At this moment, a black dot appeared beneath those fireballs and rapidly grew larger in the reflection on the water.
The next instant, Diana fell into the sea and continued sinking under the force of the impact.
The blast had knocked her unconscious.
But the stimulation of the seawater finally woke her.
She quickly held her breath and swam toward the surface.
A short while later, Wonder Woman emerged from the sea.
She looked toward the palace and was about to leap out of the water when a heavy sound of something cutting through the air came from above.
Before she could look up, she saw a figure descending from the sky toward the palace, which had become a ruin.
[🎉 Shoutout to Cesar and Kai for joining p@treon. Thank you very much 🤗]