The night covered in snow did not become brighter. The dark clouds shrouding Metropolis plunged everything into deep darkness. Diana slept restlessly, in her dreams shifting between the pained expressions of her injured sisters and Shiller with his indifferent yet ambiguous smile.
Suddenly, the sound of an alarm pierced the air, sparking a flurry of lights. Diana was startled awake. She rushed to the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked outside. A building was billowing smoke, and blazing flames illuminated the night sky.
Countless police cars and fire trucks converged in that direction, but Diana sensed something unusual. She didn't even have time to change; she just grabbed the Fire God Sword closest to her and flew out at top speed.
The building was severed in half, and it was about to crash onto a fire truck. A figure swept by, lifting the fire truck up. Diana glanced at Hal, who was glowing green all over, and nodded gently at him.
Quickly, Ron flew over as well. Clearly, they had all been suddenly awakened; a battle during the day had drained a lot of their physical strength, and they had slept deeply that night. They didn't have time to change after waking up, appearing at the scene of the incident still in their pajamas.
When the building collapsed, Diana realized that this was no ordinary fire. On one hand, although this was the city center of Metropolis, it wasn't the financial district; no one was working here overnight. With no one in the building, a fire was unlikely to start. On the other hand, the flames weren't strong enough to cause the building to collapse, yet it was split in half.
"Could it be Shiller released Doomsday again?"
Diana swore that if she saw Shiller this time, she would definitely punch him. But as she turned around the stairs, what she saw was not that giant figure, but another unfamiliar monster.
He had a strong build, but unlike the immense Doomsday, he was only slightly taller than an ordinary human, yet his oppressive force was undiminished. He wore metal armor full of spikes all over his body, and two huge horns bent backward on his head, with a menacing face.
When he looked over, Diana felt a chill in her heart. His eyes were filled with ferocity and cruelty. Instinctively, she raised her arm to block, but the opponent's speed was too fast. With a "boom," Diana was directly slammed into the ground.
She spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to raise her shield to block the next strike, but her face became paler, and her arms started to tremble.
Fortunately, her teammates arrived just in time. Ron, like an arrow leaving the string, flew over and crashed heavily into the monster's waist, forcefully knocking him away. Hal seized the chance to pick up Diana and placed her behind their lines.
Barry went to retrieve the Lasso of Truth and tried to use his old trick again. But as the blue flash reached the monster, the opponent swung a large hand. Barry was directly struck out from his Divine Speed, tossed in an arc in mid-air, and then fell heavily to the ground.
"Ugh!!!!!!" Barry let out a wail. Hal quickly rushed over, lifting him up as well. When he put Barry down, he found that blood began to foam out of Barry's mouth. He gasped in shock, then shouted, "Barry is injured!"
"Take him to the hospital," Diana shouted from where she lay on the ground, "Hurry! It will be too late!"
Diana had seen many casualties on the battlefield; Barry's was clearly a case of ribs puncturing into the lungs, and once blood entered the respiratory system, it would be over. Hal had no choice but to hold Barry and leave.
Arthur also did not care much, summoning the sea water like he did during the day, intending to trap this new monster with it. But Ron shouted to him, "Don't!!"
The next second, Arthur was also smashed into the ground, his golden trident slipping from his hand. The sea water instantly lost control, pouring down like a waterfall from mid-air, submerging the nearby streets.
Ron shot another laser beam, but the monster agilely dodged. Ron squinted his eyes, reading into the monster's heart, and then called out his name: "...Savage Wolf."
Nobody had any recollection of this name, but the monster named Savage Wolf looked back at Ron and said, "You've heard of me?"
Ron was still carefully searching his memory, but soon found a terrifying shadow in the depths of it.
"Darkseid..."
Upon hearing that name, something seemed to click in Diana's mind. She struggled to climb off the ground, kneeling and gasping for breath, using the last of her divine power to charge with her Fire God Sword.
However, her full-force strike was blocked by Savage Wolf with his arm, sending her flying away. Savage Wolf kept turning his head as if searching for something. Soon, his eyes locked onto Victor in the air.
"Ron!!! Take him away!!!!" Diana shouted hoarsely, "Get him out of here quickly!!!!"
Ron also seemed to pick up on Diana's thoughts; without hesitation, he whooshed to Victor's side. Victor seemed to want to resist, but Ron growled lowly in his ear, "Go!"
Ron quickly took Victor away. Savage Wolf seemed furious that Diana had ruined his plans, turned back to grab her by the throat, and picked her up. However, upon seeing her face, he seemed to remember something.
"Are you an Amazonian? What's your connection with Zeus?"
Diana struggled incessantly, unable to utter a single word. Savage Wolf continued to ask, "Where's the Mother Box?"
He loosened his grip, and Diana fell to the ground. She gasped for a few breaths, coughing as she said, "I knew it... Apocalypse Star, Darkseid. You all just won't give up..."
"All powerful forces in the cosmos should belong to the great Dark King," Savage Wolf said disdainfully, "or should they remain with you fragile insects?"
Diana lay sideways on the ground, coughing violently. She propped herself up with one hand and glared fiercely at Savage Wolf, saying, "Zeus can defeat you once, he can defeat you a second time. Don't think you can take anything from here!"
Savage Wolf's expression turned cold. He walked to Diana's side, lifted his foot, and stomped heavily downwards. But just as he shifted his weight to exert force, Diana rolled over, kicked the foot he was standing on, and called back the Lasso of Truth with her hand. The lasso, like a nimble snake, wound up his leg to his waist and then directly bound his arms.
Diana flipped up and kicked him down. Yet in just those few seconds, the Lasso of Truth seemed about to snap. Diana thrust a sword into his chest, but the once invincible Fire God Sword only pierced a small section.
Stimulated by pain, Savage Wolf roared and broke free from the Lasso of Truth, landing a punch on Diana and knocking her down. But his action pulled at the wound in his chest, causing him to inhale sharply.
A green light lit up on the skyline, clearly indicating Diana's teammates were coming back for defense. Savage Wolf snorted coldly, saying, "You will regret opposing Darkseid."
After speaking, he leapt high and vanished into the darkness. Diana lay on the ground, struggling to breathe; she had completely exhausted her strength but still hadn't managed to hurt this monster.
Ron flew back and helped her up. Diana barely had time to catch her breath as she said, "I need, I need to return to the Amazons…"
"What the hell is going on?" Hal asked, "Do you know that monster?"
As Diana walked forward, she said, "He is a subordinate of Darkseid. Darkseid came to Earth many years ago, seemingly looking for something. The God Clan and other Ancient Relic Clan members drove them back. Unexpectedly, they've returned…"
"They're looking for the Mother Box," Ron said, "But in his memories, I didn't see what this thing is. They themselves seem to not know, only knowing it's hidden on Earth."
"Is Barry okay?" Diana asked. She seemed to change her mind, deciding not to go directly to the Amazons, instead taking out her phone to message her mother.
"He's fine, but his ribs are broken, he might need some time to recover," Hal said, "I placed a Protected shield there; no one can harm him."
"What's going on with Victor?" Ron asked.
Diana parted her lips. She knew Victor merged with the Mother Box to save his life, but she'd learned this information through Battleworld, and she had mentioned it casually while introducing Justice League members. However, explaining Battleworld-related matters was too complex, so she said, "Victor might have the secret of the thing they're looking for. I fear he'll be captured."
At this moment, Arthur returned with an equally poor complexion. Like Diana, he seemed weak and powerless, always coughing. Having taken a punch from Savage Wolf, the best outcome would be internal bleeding.
"Where the hell did that monster come from?! Don't tell me it's another official employee of A.R.G.U.S.! What the hell do they want?!" Arthur couldn't hold back his rage.
Diana closed her eyes and sighed, saying, "As expected, Doomsday was just a warning. Savage Wolf is stronger, and it's hard for us to deal with him."
"Savage Wolf was also brought in by A.R.G.U.S.?" Hal asked.
"No, if Darkseid wants to seize the Mother Box, he'll come sooner or later. But him coming at this critical moment might involve Shiller," Diana said, clutching her chest.
"What's special about this time?" Hal was still perplexed, "Though our relief plan didn't succeed, it didn't harm us. Doomsday was the same; though it took some effort, it didn't break bones. Arranging Savage Wolf to take advantage of this time doesn't make sense, right?"
"Perhaps, there's someone else seizing an opportunity," Diana said, "You must be careful. If anything seems off, notify your teammates immediately. Understand?"
No one refuted. The group returned to headquarters, nearly everyone was exhausted and some were injured. Everyone fell asleep immediately.
But the night was not peaceful. In his dreams, Arthur saw a tsunami engulf the Port of Mercy. His father and townsfolk were all submerged. He tried to wield the golden trident to control the seawater but found he was merely a normal person, helplessly sinking into the sea like everyone else, painfully drowning.
Diana returned to the battlefield. Soldiers collapsed in agony along the charge route. A young soldier's chest was filled with fragments, staring at her with desperate eyes. That face blurred and changed, quickly turning into her sisters' on Paradise Island. She walked among corpses, not knowing who the perpetrator was.
Ron dreamt of a fierce fire. His family struggled painfully in the flames, their skin gradually blackened, twisted as they ran toward him, but along the way, turned into charcoal. He lost himself amid endless pain, cries, and wails.
Victor returned to the car crash site. Only this time, he recalled more details; his mother's skin gradually peeled by glass fragments, her skull smashed, brain and fragments splattering, followed by her chest and arm. She turned to fragments before his eyes, and he was powerless.
When everyone awoke, they felt a mysterious terror. However, upon recalling, they vaguely remembered having a nightmare but not the specific content.
As they went downstairs, they saw each other's pale faces but thought it was fatigue from yesterday's battle. Each person held a cup of coffee, sitting at the conference table.