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.)
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