Adeline's wavering sword severed the throat of her companion, Crosta.
Crosta did not dodge. Her expression seemed as though she wanted to say something, filled with fear and pain.
Adeline had no energy to wonder why, because the man in the green suit was already running toward her, and she no longer had the strength to raise her sword.
He kicked the Blacksteel Shortsword from her hand, grabbed her by the shoulder, and began fleeing with her.
As he ran, he shouted, "Run! We absolutely cannot let ourselves get caught! If those Amazon bitches find out our sisters are among them, they'll be in danger!"
This was a conspiracy!
Adeline's thoughts instantly became clear. She understood everything, including Crosta's expression when she fell.
It was a simple conspiracy. The only difficult part was how that man had made Crosta stab her.
At the same time, curses came from behind them.
It was the other five. They had regrouped and heard those words.
"Adeline, you bastard!"
They charged over. Crosta on the ground had already become a corpse, though her skin was still warm.
Then they saw the man holding Nabu's Helmet supporting Adeline as they fled, and they "understood" everything.
"Kill them and take back Nabu's Helmet!"
The five formed a reunion formation, but a figure came tumbling down from the sky. He carried a long pole, one end fitted with an iron hook gleaming with oil.
The pole swept toward them at a tricky angle.
In that single strike, an Amazon warrior's ribs were pierced by the iron hook, and she was dragged to the ground.
The other four immediately focused themselves, preparing to ambush the young man in the gymnastics leotard first.
"Hah!!"
With a wet slash, a sword entered flesh. The Amazon warrior standing at the rear suddenly turned her blade on her companions.
She cut down one of them.
Only four remained standing.
The warrior with the longsword and the leotard-clad boy stood before and behind them, trapping the last two Amazon warriors.
The battle had shifted too quickly. No one could have expected their companion to suddenly turn her blade on them.
"Traitor!" The two Amazon warriors spat.
The companion who had lived beside them day and night had betrayed Themyscira? Betrayed her queen?
They would answer the traitor with blade and sword!
They would quench their fury with her blood!
"Finish them. We absolutely cannot let the news leak out. King Arthur's orders are to wipe them out here and bring Nabu's Helmet back!" Dick spoke the lines Li Zu had taught him with a blank expression, his tongue stumbling slightly.
With a small scheme, they disrupted the Amazon warriors' rhythm and made them suspect and slaughter one another.
Dick had not refused. He had been excited from the beginning, and he had agreed.
As long as he could have his revenge!
But the Amazon warrior who was "on his side" clenched her teeth as though she wanted to say something, yet could not open her mouth.
But the two Amazon warriors overlooked all those subtle details.
They had heard more important information.
"What? Arthur?"
They knew they had to survive and deliver the news!
The queen had expended no small effort to obtain the legendary Nabu's Helmet.
Find the traitors and take back Nabu's Helmet!
"Hah!"
As the shout rang out, the battle could no longer stop.
Li Zu supported the female warrior with a sword wound in her chest into a deep, shadowy corner.
She had lost too much blood, and her face was deathly pale. Even if left alone, she would die within seconds.
"So this was your plan? Make us suspect one another?" The female warrior sneered. "You have an ability that controls people. Crosta had something she wanted to tell me. I understood the look in her eyes. She did not attack me of her own will, and our general would never fall for such a low-level trick."
"But you still killed her!" Li Zu said, as if it meant nothing that his plan had been seen through.
He continued, "Your friendship and family bonds are as thin as paper. Let me make a pointless joke: only when you hold the upper hand will you unite. If danger appears, you'll definitely become a complete mess. Hey! Killing one another!"
"We would never suspect each other!" Adeline's face flushed. She refused to acknowledge the words of the demon before her.
"You really are a demon!"
"Since when was massacring everyone in a town heroic, while someone who has never killed a single person became a demon?" He shrugged, looking utterly innocent.
Adeline shut her mouth. Her breathing grew weaker, and her disadvantage in words made her clearly realize that she could not argue with this bastard.
"Besides, making you kill one another was not my original intention. It was only to make that grown boy who had just lost his parents feel a little better... You killed his parents and family. You can't stop someone from taking revenge, can you?"
Li Zu spread his hands.
Thud.
A large box appeared out of nowhere and smashed onto the ground.
He opened the box and placed the Toy Meat Saw in his hand inside.
From Adeline's angle, she could see that the box was already filled with plastic toys and plastic figurines.
"You turned Lanna into a toy!" Adeline grew even angrier, and her face became even paler.
"Time to go~"
Li Zu kicked the box.
The box was not closed. It seemed he still intended to put something else inside, and Adeline could guess her own fate.
"You want to flee from battle?" But Adeline was more concerned with something else.
Amazons not only despised schemers; they hated those who fled from battle even more.
"Of course not. Actually, I'd rather become a prisoner! That way, I can meet your queen, right?"
"Great Queen Diana possesses the Lasso of Truth. She can easily expose all your lies, and her fists can crush every one of your schemes!" Adeline said through gritted teeth, though unease still welled up in her heart.
Was this strange man, who acted without purpose, targeting Queen Diana?
Even though she believed in the queen's unrivaled power and was certain that anyone who dared provoke the queen would be walking toward death.
That feeling of unease did not lessen.
"Mm-hm~"
Li Zu seemed unwilling to continue this boring subject. He lifted the helmet with one hand and put it on his head. "This thing doesn't seem all that special?"
He shook his head hard. The slightly oversized helmet swung back and forth from inertia.
Yet his body did not change at all, nor did he gain any divine power.
"You are not the one chosen by Nabu, so you cannot gain that power." Adeline's breathing grew weaker, and her voice was very soft.
But she was destined to be disappointed. Li Zu was not saddened in the slightest.
Instead, he took off the helmet in disgust.
He crouched down and pressed his hand against Adeline's forehead.
"Sleep for a while. Perhaps you'll wake up again soon."
Adeline's consciousness sank into darkness. She knew that she was about to become one of this bastard's toy collectibles, forever placed in that dark corner.
She prayed to the gods for her soul to be freed.
Yet after a single instant of darkness.
Adeline's consciousness returned.
She was still wondering what had happened in that instant when she heard footsteps.
And the sound of waves, and the cries of her companions.
"I'm back on Themyscira?"
(End of Chapter)
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