With their target confirmed, Steve secretly let out a breath of relief.
He knew full well that relying on the "elite trio" he'd gathered to assassinate a Junker noble like Ludendorff was pure fantasy.
Dragging these two terrifyingly strong women into the plan cost him some dignity — but for his country and his people, a little sacrifice was acceptable.
What Thea didn't know was that, when the world finally returned to peace in the future, Diana would confront Steve with America's self-written history textbooks.
She'd demand he explain all the stories he fabricated back then.
Steve would be left speechless — and the two would sever ties for good.
Right now, though, Steve felt rather pleased with himself, unaware of the price he'd one day pay for today's careless lies.
As the small team crossed the battlefield and passed a ruined village, Diana faced her first major choice in life.
A disheveled woman clutching a child grabbed her.
"Please… help me. My house, my food — everything is gone. Please!"
Thea put on a sympathetic expression — but her mind was sharp with suspicion.
This woman had all her limbs, no injuries… yet instead of fleeing west, just ten miles to safety, she was hiding with her child in a frontline trench?
Her heart was way too big.
A hundred people had passed by already — and she grabbed Diana with perfect accuracy?
Too convenient.
Highly suspicious.
This wasn't the tug-of-war stage of the war anymore — it was nearly over.
The rear lines were already stable.
Anyone with sense would've evacuated.
This woman was practically performing her role — and Thea could only laugh inwardly.
"We should help her. She says her village has no food, and the people have become slaves. This is my duty!"
For once, Diana didn't consult Thea.
It was natural — but Thea still felt a little bittersweet.
Little white flower Diana is finally growing up.
Steve didn't realize this was Ares's test.
He stuck stubbornly to the original plan: pass through the village and move to the next safe point.
"How can you have no compassion?!"
Diana's brows drew together as she glared at him.
Then she turned to Thea.
"My sister… you'll support me, right?"
Thea pretended to struggle.
"Diana… the Queen forbids us from taking part in the war…"
Instantly, the light in Diana's eyes dimmed.
"But—I won't enter the war under the Amazon name."
Thea picked up a nearby rifle.
"I'll fight as a human. I told you — I will always stand with you!"
Her firm tone nearly made Diana leap with joy.
She turned to Steve and the others.
"And you?"
Steve, clinging to his dream of saving the world, avoided her gaze.
The three "specialists" didn't even bother — no one would risk their lives for a few hundred pounds.
Diana loosened her hair, letting the black strands fall around her shoulders.
She set Antiope's tiara, shed her coat, revealing her gleaming armor, and looked back over her shoulder.
"I'm going to save them."
Then she vaulted out of the trench and sprinted toward the German lines.
Thea followed with a rifle, firing supportively — or at least pretending to.
Unlike Themyscira, this battlefield wasn't hers to tear apart freely.
German soldiers here were real people with real futures — she couldn't risk killing the father or grandfather of some future major historical figure.
Reckless action could destroy the timeline.
Still, she couldn't refuse Diana's call.
So she chose the safest path — a seemingly bold, actually harmless performance:
Fight as a human, no divine bow, just a rifle.
Shoot wildly and hit nothing.
Perfectly acceptable.
And with artillery roaring everywhere, long-range spells would be lost in the noise.
Missing was easy.
Hitting corpses was even easier — and surely an already-dead man taking one more bullet wouldn't damage the timeline.
While Thea safely "paddled," Diana demonstrated exactly what a fully armored tank-warrior looked like trampling ordinary soldiers.
Block, deflect, parry — bullets met her bracers, artillery met her shield.
The Germans weren't weak; their machine-gunners howled as they unleashed streams of bullets at her.
Her advance slowed, shield firmly raised.
Like Captain America's shield but even worse — it had built-in aggro.
The Germans seemed to hate the shield more than anything; ignoring her long legs entirely, they poured every weapon they had into that one glowing target.
Thea felt a faint ripple of magic.
Steve suddenly looked fired up and leapt out of the trench.
His teammates, for some unknown reason, followed with newfound bravery.
Such unnatural behavior immediately caught Thea's attention.
A confusion spell?
No…
She opened the Eye of Horus and scanned Steve.
Ha.
A phantom battlefield shimmered above his head — countless soldiers fighting.
The God of War's domain.
So Ares had given him a little push.
Thea didn't intend to break it — Steve now had a low-level war blessing.
As long as he didn't jump into a cannon barrel, he shouldn't die.
Still… it wasn't very strong.
The other "specialists" barely showed any war-phantoms at all.
Their courage probably came more from loyalty to Steve than divine influence.
Individually, they were weak — but their charge was the final straw.
When "Chief" hurled a grenade into the German trench, Diana seized the opportunity and stormed inside.
Sensing victory, the Allied trench commander immediately ordered a full assault.
Thea held her rifle and charged, keeping up appearances.
"Diana, are you alright?"
Thea checked her over — not even a strand of hair out of place.
A true divine body.
"I'm fine. We're heading to that village!"
After witnessing the power of human weapons firsthand, Diana finally had confidence — she wasn't even scratched.
She led the rush into the small German-occupied village.
Unlike her, Thea didn't have divine armor and wasn't nearly as reckless.
Her body, enhanced by divine power, could withstand bullets, but getting hit hurt.
She kept her distance as they entered the village.
The battle was exhilarating for Diana — but suffocating for Thea.
This German soldier looks promising — big forehead, might be somebody's important ancestor.
This boy looks too young — spare him.
Eventually, Thea just stopped fighting altogether.
She shouted for the villagers hiding in their homes to come out and, using her powerful mental abilities, led a massive group through alleys and ruins.
There were so many people that even Diana stopped fighting and focused on covering their retreat.