Diana froze at the sight of the open hatch, her mind racing.
If this really were Jack Kadere's doing, then she should have expected it. He was never someone who allowed himself to be read or predicted so easily.
Turning away from the hatch, Diana headed to find her aunt Antiope, hoping for a quick report on the island's defenses. But before she had taken more than a few steps, sharp screams echoed in the distance.
Her heart sank. "Something's wrong!"
In an instant, Diana sprinted toward the sound, her expression hardened and resolute.
The cries quickly roused others. Hera, Kate, Laura, Valentina Vostok, and a few more allies spilled into the open air. As they looked around, their eyes widened—the horizon was awash with crimson fire, a blazing wall that lit the night sky above Paradise Island.
"What's happening?" Kate demanded, grabbing a passing Amazon by the arm.
"That's the alarm!" the Amazon gasped. "The island is under attack!" And with that, she sprinted toward the front lines.
Kate exchanged a grim look with Valentina. The two nodded once, then immediately combined their powers, transforming into the dual entity Firestorm. Flames engulfed them as they rocketed skyward, leaving streaks of light in their wake.
From the heavens, the sight was grim: hordes of twisted monsters poured across the beaches and fields of Themyscira. They moved like a living tide, half-beast and half-man, grotesque shapes with the heads of jackals, bulls, and other predators, their bodies draped in muscle and sinew. It was as though the pits of Hades had been torn open and spat their horrors onto Amazon soil.
The Amazons fought bravely, blades flashing, shields raised high, their war cries ringing out across the chaos. Yet the enemy's numbers were overwhelming. Blood stained the once-pristine marble steps of the temples, pooling into streams that bubbled and frothed unnaturally. And from those crimson streams, new monsters clawed their way out, rising with snarls and shrieks.
"This reeks of the sea's power…" Hera muttered, her face pale. Then she froze, realization dawning. "No… not the sea. Poseidon is gone! Firstborn slew him!"
Diana's heart clenched.
Zeus, Hades, Poseidon—the three brothers who once carved dominion over sky, underworld, and sea. They had once bound Firstborn in the Earth's core, Poseidon guarding his artifacts, Hades watching the exit. But somehow Firstborn had broken free, reclaimed his relics, and turned on them.
If Poseidon and Hades had already fallen, then Olympus itself was all but doomed.
And now… now those horrors were here.
"Jack Kadere! Someone must call for Jack!" Hera barked suddenly, her eyes wide with urgency as she turned to Laura.
Laura stumbled a moment, then broke into a sprint toward the chamber where Jack had been.
The hatch hissed open before she reached it. Jack Kadere stepped out, irritation flickering across his features at the chaos raging outside. "They really don't intend to give anyone a moment's peace, do they?" His voice was calm, almost casual, though his eyes narrowed with sharp focus.
He glanced at Laura. "Keep the Disciple secure. Don't let anyone lay a hand on it."
Before she could reply, Jack's form blazed with nuclear light as he shifted into Firestorm. A trail of energy crackled behind him as he launched skyward to join the fray.
Now two Firestorms tore across the dark skies, their flames weaving into chains that wrapped around the monsters below. The fiery bonds held tight, searing and constraining, while blasts of energy rained down upon the abominations.
Jack hovered in the air, electricity beginning to spark violently around his body. He raised his hand, lightning cascading through his fingertips like a storm given flesh. With a single motion, he unleashed the fury.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bolts of lightning carved through the night sky, striking the monsters with surgical precision, never once touching the Amazons. Each blast shattered swaths of the enemy forces, leaving only scorched earth in its wake.
On the ground, Diana looked up, a small smile tugging at her lips. Her bracelets clashed together, unleashing a golden shockwave of divine energy. The tide of monsters before her disintegrated into ash. With the Hephaestus-forged God Killer sword drawn, she leapt into the air, landing deep into enemy ranks like a streak of silver.
"For the Amazons!" she cried.
"For the Amazons!" the warriors around her echoed, voices fierce with defiance.
Even as blood slicked the stones beneath their sandals, even as sisters fell beside them, not one Amazon faltered.
Nearby, Kate glanced at Hera, who stood still with her restored divine power glowing faintly, yet made no move to help. Hera clutched her child close, silent, unmoving.
"You would just stand there?" Kate spat. "Do you want the Amazons slaughtered? Don't fool yourself—Firstborn won't spare you. And if he doesn't, Jack Kadere certainly won't either."
Hera's lips pressed thin, but she gave no answer.
Then, the very air seemed to curdle. A wave of malice unlike anything they had felt before swept across the battlefield. The sky darkened, the ground trembled.
From the rivers of blood, something massive began to rise.
A hulking figure emerged, towering over two meters tall, its dark red flesh raw and skinless. Two jagged horns jutted grotesquely from the backs of its hands. A ragged, cloak-like mass fused with its body trailed behind it, swaying as though alive, with writhing tendrils of black muscle twitching from its edges.
Its face was almost unrecognizable as human. Bone and horn protruded grotesquely from its skull, forming a visage of unholy terror.
Diana staggered back a step, her breath catching in her throat.
"First… Firstborn?" she whispered in shock.
It hadn't even been a full day since she last faced him. Back then, though savage, he was still vaguely human. Now, he was a nightmare given form. In less than a day, he had slaughtered Apollo—who had already ascended as the God King—along with other Olympian deities. Poseidon and Hades might have shared the same fate.
How powerful had he become?
Diana gritted her teeth, drew a deep breath, and charged, sword raised.
The Firstborn's black tentacles lashed forward like lightning, striking her down and wrapping tightly around her body. It wasn't the Lasso of Truth, yet it drained her strength and life with terrifying speed.
Pfft, pfft, pfft—
The tentacles shot outward in a dozen directions. Amazons nearby were impaled in an instant, their flesh withering away until only skeletons remained, collapsing into dust beneath the monster's feet.
Diana struggled, slashing the Vulcan Sword to sever the tendrils, barely managing to break free. But she was instantly swarmed again by beasts that poured forth at the Firstborn's command. She fought furiously, cutting them down, but by the time she broke through, he had already reached the plaza. His massive hand closed over Hippolyta's head.
"Let her go!" Diana shouted desperately, sprinting forward.
The Firstborn turned his blood-red eyes toward her, his voice dripping with cold malice. "I don't want to rule. I don't want to be God King. I will destroy you all and stand as the only true power!"
His grip tightened.
"No!" Diana cried, dread seizing her heart.
Before the killing blow could land, a sudden burst of flame exploded between them. A fist struck the Firstborn square in the chest, knocking the giant backward.
"She still owes me a horse," Jack Kadere said casually as he stepped in, cracking his knuckles. "So you can't just crush her like that."
Relief washed over Diana as she rushed to her mother's side. But her breath caught the moment she saw it—Hippolyta, who had been turned to stone, was stirring. The stone surface cracked away, and glowing blue light radiated from her eyes.
"This… what's happening?" Diana whispered, stunned.
"Diana." Hippolyta's voice rang out, warm and familiar. Her statue-like body moved with uncanny grace as she turned to face her daughter.
"Mother, you… you're alive?"
"I don't know how," Hippolyta admitted, shaking her head. Her grip tightened on a long spear she picked up from the ground. "But I know one thing—Themyscira will never fall!"
The Amazons around them straightened, renewed determination flashing in their eyes. Even Diana's expression hardened, her resolve ignited by her mother's words.
"…Technically, I did already invade it," Jack muttered under his breath, just as the warriors' spirits were at their peak.
The tense silence that followed was broken only by the Firstborn's guttural roar. The battle for Themyscira was far from over.