Victor's declaration that he had come to conquer the Amazons ignited instant fury among the warriors of Paradise Island.
"Man, you have no idea what you're dealing with," Queen Hippolyta said coldly, her expression filled with anger as she raised her sword.
Whoosh!
Hundreds of bows were pulled tight until the strings curved like full moons. A moment later, thousands of arrows ripped through the air, streaking toward Victor in a deadly storm.
Diana hesitated for the briefest moment.
Her expression showed faint reluctance as she moved quickly aside, her body as agile as a hunting cat as she rolled away from the path of the incoming arrows. This was the first outsider she had seen in thousands of years—and the first man she had ever met face to face.
Unfortunately, the stranger had spoken words that enraged her mother and the entire tribe.
The arrows screamed through the sky with overwhelming force. Each one carried enough power to pierce steel, and any ordinary target would have been turned into a bloody sieve in the next second.
Victor didn't move.
He simply stood there as the arrows struck him.
Not one pierced his clothes.
The sharp arrows that could punch through iron walls instantly lost all their momentum when they hit his body. One after another they fell harmlessly to the ground, drifting down like feathers.
Victor glanced down at the growing pile.
"As an immortal divine race, your arrows aren't even as powerful as raindrops," he said casually. "At least raindrops can still wet my clothes."
Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.
Arrows piled up rapidly around his feet until the sand was nearly covered.
A look of surprise flashed across Diana's face.
Even though she had been born stronger than every other Amazon, she could not simply ignore the arrows fired by her own people. Yet the man standing before her had done exactly that without even trying.
And strangely enough, he seemed to know about the origin of the Amazons.
"After all those attacks, it's only fair that I fight back," Victor said calmly.
The rain of arrows still continued, but he lifted a finger lazily and pointed toward the cliff.
Buzz!
A concentrated beam of cosmic energy shot forward instantly.
The edge of the rocky cliff exploded as if a grenade had detonated. Fist-sized stones blasted outward while the Amazon archers standing above were thrown backward in chaos.
Screams echoed across the battlefield.
Several warriors were knocked from their horses, while others slammed into the ground with blood running down their foreheads.
"Man, who are you?" Hippolyta shouted, yanking hard on her frightened horse's reins as her pupils shrank in shock.
The Amazons were not ordinary mortals.
They had been created by the Greek gods themselves. According to legend, the gods gathered the souls of women who had died tragically at the hands of men and combined them with clay and divine power to create the Amazon warriors.
Although they were women, every one of them possessed strength capable of kneading steel like soft clay.
The full-force arrow storm they had just unleashed was something almost no being on Earth could withstand.
Except the gods.
Victor chuckled softly.
"I already told you. You don't need to know who I am."
For him, coming to Paradise Island had only one purpose: to harvest an endless stream of emotional energy from the Amazons.
"There are two possible ways to do that," he thought calmly. "Positive emotions… or negative ones."
Respect, admiration, gratitude—those feelings were powerful but limited. A person could not remain grateful forever.
Hatred, on the other hand, was different.
Hatred and resentment could consume a person completely. They burrowed into the mind and refused to disappear, lingering far longer than pleasant emotions ever could.
People often forgot comfort quickly.
But pain and anger stayed.
Especially when the source of that pain remained right in front of them.
Victor had already decided which option he preferred.
Even so, he had no intention of going too far with these Amazons. They were innocent in many ways, and his goal was domination, not slaughter.
"Attack!"
Hippolyta's voice rang out again.
At her command, hundreds of Amazon warriors grabbed ropes and swung down from the cliffs, swords drawn as they rushed toward the invader.
Seeing her people charging into battle, Diana tightened the Lasso of Truth at her waist. A fierce fighting spirit appeared in her eyes as she raised her arms, the magical silver bracelets on her wrists gleaming in the sunlight.
Like a true warrior goddess, she leapt forward.
"Man, you are not allowed to harm my people!"
The warriors landed around Victor almost simultaneously and attacked from all directions alongside their princess.
Victor leaned slightly backward, casually avoiding Diana's first punch.
Then he struck back.
Buzz!
The shockwave from his fist swept across the ground like a violent storm. Sand and broken stones blasted outward in a wide fan-shaped arc.
Every Amazon warrior charging toward him was hurled backward instantly.
Their bodies slammed violently against the rock walls surrounding the beach, cracks spreading through the stone like spiderwebs.
Diana continued attacking without pause.
Her fists moved faster than bullets leaving a gun barrel, striking with blinding speed. In fact, her movements were so fast that they nearly surpassed Victor's own.
Boom!
Their fists suddenly collided.
The impact sounded like an explosion.
White sand erupted beneath their feet and shot more than ten meters into the air like a tidal wave blasted upward by a bomb.
Diana's expression remained steady.
She didn't even step back.
Instead, she launched another fierce attack immediately.
Victor raised an eyebrow.
Unlike Clark, who was still young and far from reaching his full potential, Diana had already lived for thousands of years. Her body and combat instincts had matured to an extraordinary level.
Aside from the hidden divine potential she possessed as the daughter of Zeus, her physical strength alone was already extremely close to Victor's own.
"But that's still the limit," Victor thought calmly.
His eyes narrowed.
His punches grew heavier and heavier with every exchange. Each strike carried the weight of a falling meteor.
Gradually, Diana began to falter.
Her feet slid backward across the sand under the growing pressure.
"Outsider, die!"
During their clash, Amazon warriors continued leaping forward with furious cries, swinging their swords at Victor. He ignored them completely.
Their blades struck his body but lost all kinetic energy instantly. With a simple backhand strike, Victor knocked them aside one by one, sending them crashing unconscious to the ground.
On the cliff above, Hippolyta gripped her reins tightly.
Her brow furrowed deeply.
More Amazons rushed forward to support their princess, but each time they charged, they were thrown back even faster. Broken bones and twisted limbs left many warriors unable to stand again.
"His power… it's increasing," Diana realized.
The force pressing against her felt like an unstoppable mountain moving forward.
Shock filled her eyes.
The strength behind Victor's attacks was already enough for her to resist with difficulty, yet it continued to rise with every passing second.
"Is he some kind of monster?"
Despite the pressure, Diana felt excitement rising within her.
This was the first opponent in her life powerful enough to challenge her completely. Instead of fear, her fighting spirit only grew stronger.
"Man, you're a worthy opponent," she said with a fierce grin. "Since I became an adult, I've never had such a satisfying fight."
Her eyes flashed.
"If I defeat you, I'll ask my mother to spare your life."
Victor's fist slammed downward again.
Diana crossed her arms and raised her silver bracelets to block it. The impact sent a terrifying shockwave across the beach, but the bracelets absorbed much of the force.
Victor noticed something.
With his strength, he could easily wipe out entire groups of Amazons with a single attack. Yet he had deliberately avoided killing anyone.
Diana had seen it clearly.
He wanted to conquer them without slaughtering them.
Boom!
"You're overthinking things," Victor said coldly.
He suddenly increased his strength and punched downward again.
Diana could barely withstand the overwhelming force. Her legs buckled, and she dropped to one knee in front of him as the ground cracked beneath her.
"When I defeat you," Victor continued calmly, "you and your mother will kneel before my throne."
He looked down at her.
"Just like you are now."
"You're unbelievably arrogant!"
Anger flashed in Diana's eyes as she struggled back to her feet, determined to teach the man in front of her a lesson.
But the moment she stood up, the pressure pushed her back again.
Victor's body began radiating waves of purple cosmic energy. His eyes glowed with a deep violet light, making him appear like a divine being descending to the mortal world.
Each attack he delivered was more terrifying than the last.
Under the relentless force, Diana was steadily driven backward across the beach. Without the magical silver bracelets absorbing part of the damage, she would have already been knocked unconscious.
Every time Victor attacked, she raised her bracelets to block.
The impact felt like being struck by an endless tidal wave. Part of the force vanished into the bracelets as if swallowed by deep water.
Victor frowned slightly.
When Diana threw another punch, he suddenly grabbed her arm and stopped her movement completely.
His gaze shifted to the bracelets on her wrist.
"So these are the protective silver bracelets."
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.