A dragon fire cover-up

"I misunderstood you. I thought you were just chasing a pretty face. I'm sorry," Merlin apologized to Roland.

"I'd rather you hadn't explained—" Roland's expression darkened. "Now I'm even more pissed off."

Wonder Woman withdrew the Lasso of Truth binding Justin Knight and asked Roland, "Who are you? How did you know who I was?"

"My name's Roland. We came to stop King Arthur's resurrection," Roland explained.

"Then where is King Arthur?"

"We already killed her."

Wonder Woman shared what she had discovered with Roland and the others. By chance, she had learned that her half brother Ares was once again trying to start a war in the mortal world.

Conflict in the human world was the source of Ares's power. The more wars there were, the stronger he became.

The unusual developments in England had alerted Wonder Woman that this was the key to the incident. She had rushed over, encountered Justin while he was searching for the mastermind, and fought him.

"Ares. So it was him." Realization dawned on Merlin. "I never imagined that stirring up wars in the mortal world would no longer satisfy him. Had my king been resurrected, this war might well have engulfed the gods."

"Was King Arthur that powerful?" Roland asked, taken aback.

"The one you fought was my king before her resurrection was complete."

Merlin continued, "If she had fully returned—well, I'd have had no choice but to deal with you as Great Britain's chief magician."

"He's Merlin?" Wonder Woman nodded. "He certainly doesn't look like anyone respectable."

"You're right about that... Have you tracked down Ares?" Roland asked.

"He might have taken mortal form and hidden himself among the people," Wonder Woman said thoughtfully. "I'm planning to investigate the British Ministry of Defence next. There's a good chance he's hiding there."