The sea wind from Paradise Isnd carried the fresh smell of grass as it swept across the floor of the training grounds.

  Diana Prince had changed into a linen-colored battle skirt with a wooden sword and fought three Amazon warriors at the same time.

  Diana's movements were sharp and relentless, and the sound of wood slicing through the air rang out continuously.

  Diana's eyes still looked focused and fierce, but deep inside, she seemed a little distracted—like her mind was somewhere else.

  There was an unmistakable frustration in her strikes.

  After more than a dozen exchanges, Diana deftly knocked two of the wooden swords from her opponents' hands.

  The third warrior tried to block, but Diana failed to pull back her strength in time and shattered the wooden bde with a single blow.

  The warrior who lost her sword looked startled by Diana's overwhelming presence. She stumbled back two steps and sat down hard on the ground.

  The other two quickly lowered their heads and helped their slightly stunned companion up. They looked worried as they watched Diana breathing heavier than usual.

  They didn't say anything, simply bowed in respect before quietly withdrawing from the training grounds.

  Diana stood there for a moment, lowering her sword and remaining still. A bead of sweat gathered at her temples as she caught her breath.

  She wasn't the same young girl who used to train here hundreds of years ago.

  If she hadn't deliberately restrained herself from using her divine strength, there would be almost no one on Themyscira who could practice with her.

  She lifted her gaze to the endless ocean in the distance. The wind swept through her dark hair, but the confusion buried deep in her eyes didn't fade at all.

  This was already her third day back on Themyscira.

  After leaving Boston in such a hurry, Diana rushed straight back to the nd where she grew up.

  During the day, she either practiced fighting with her sisters until she was completely worn out or sat alone on a cliff and stared at the sea, lost in thought.

  "Diana."

  A gentle yet authoritative voice sounded from behind her.

  Queen Hippolyta, dressed in a simir linen gown, approached slowly, concern evident in her eyes.

  She had seen her daughter's restlessness over the past few days and already understood that something was bothering her heart.

  Diana turned around, gave a slight nod of respect, and lowered her wooden sword, her tone calm.

  "Mother."

  Hippolyta stepped to her side, and the two of them gazed out at the sea together.

  "You've lived among humans for so long. I believed you had adapted to that world… perhaps even found the pce where you truly belong…"

  Diana's thoughts started to feel messy. The magic bracelets on her wrists felt a little cold, and that helped her calm down.

  "It's not about the human world."

  Diana's voice was slightly hoarse.

  "I've run into a problem I've never faced before. I don't know what choice I should make."

  "A problem?"

  Hippolyta pressed gently.

  "Is the Justice League in trouble, or did someone hurt you?"

  Diana shook her head, avoiding her mother's gaze.

  "Mother, I'm fine. I just need some time alone to think… and to clear my mind."

  Hippolyta studied her from the side and sighed softly.

  She understood Diana well.

  She also knew that the Diana standing before her now was no longer just a child.

  Diana was Wonder Woman who had to stand on her own in ways that went beyond what a mother could fix.

  "No matter what troubles you, you can always tell me. I only wish for you to be happy—not like this."

  Hippolyta's voice was filled with motherly warmth. Diana felt a quiet warmth in her chest and stepped forward to embrace her mother gently.

  "I know, Mother. I'm sorry for making you worry."

  Hippolyta patted her back and turned to leave, but before leaving, she gnced back once more with her eyes still heavy with concern.

  After her mother's figure disappeared, Diana returned to the edge of the cliff. She had just begun to steady her thoughts when the divine power within her suddenly wavered violently.

  A sudden wave of weakness surged through her. She stumbled and grabbed the stone fire pit next to her to keep from falling, her face turning pale.

  "Was I wrong… to be so harsh toward a child who never had a choice?"

  As Diana was starting to doubt herself more, the protective bracelets on her wrists suddenly buzzed fast, and their light grew very bright.

  "Who's there?"

  Diana snapped back to attention and quickly turned her head.

  From beneath the shade of distant trees, a familiar silhouette stepped slowly into the open.

  A man covered in bck armor stepped forward. The armor had terrifying thorn patterns carved into it and shone with cold metal light.

  Then, in the blink of an eye, the armor vanished without a sound, leaving behind a blond man dressed in a gray suit standing in its pce.

  "It's much more comfortable in this outfit."

  The man stretched zily.

  He moved one hand behind his back, and with the other hand, used his thumb and finger to rub his curled, golden mustache.

  Diana knew exactly who he was, but she didn't expect him to dare show up right on Themyscira.

  "Ares! How dare you break your vow and set foot in the mortal world again!"

  Diana shed out with the Lasso of Truth at her waist, snaring the God Killer sword she had left beneath a tree, and flew back into her hand.

  After she tightly held the hilt, Diana's racing heart calmed down a little.

  She had once forced Ares to swear an oath to never interfere in the affairs of mankind again.

  'Why would he now so openly defy a divine oath?'

  Ares lowered his hand from his mustache and let out a mocking scoff.

  "Break my vow? I never break my word. This is by Zeus's order."

  "Zeus's order?"

  Diana frowned with confusion.

  "Why would he send you? There may be conflict in the world of man, but nothing that requires divine intervention."

  Suddenly, Diana recalled Viktor killing the mortal vessel of the Goddess of Strife.

  "Is this about Eris? Her body was destroyed, but she didn't fully disappear. Are you seeking to use this to ignite war?"

  "Eris?"

  Ares waved a dismissive hand, studying his half-sister with amused interest as she stood ready for battle.

  "Eris is still sleeping and hasn't fully come back yet. And she is hardly important enough for Zeus to send me personally."

  After speaking, Ares stepped forward lightly. The sea breeze, once carrying the scent of grass and salt, fell utterly still.

  "The golden apple Eris lost did not merely contain divine power and magic. It also held a fragment of the Authority of Strife that Zeus himself once bestowed upon her."

  "And yet a mere mortal not only seized the divine power and magic within the golden apple, but somehow managed to lock away that fragment of the Authority of Strife. That is bsphemy against the gods!"

  Diana's instinct was to argue back immediately.

  It was not unusual for divine artifacts to be left in the mortal world, but Zeus had always been able to summon any authority contained within them with a single thought.

  'How did Viktor manage to prevent that…?'

  "Even so, Zeus has no right to send you to interfere in the affairs of mankind!"

  "Interfere?"

  Ares let out a low ugh as he heard an amusing joke.

  "The gods do not break their oaths. We have no intention of meddling in the mortal world. We merely intend to recim what belongs to us—and to punish the mortal who committed bsphemy."

  He slowly raised his right hand.

  A chain of golden runes appeared in his palm, radiating a sacred and overwhelming aura as they shifted and turned.

  "This kind of matter could have been handled entirely within the divine realm."

  Initially, Diana did not recognize the runes. She was only a demigoddess, raised on Themyscira, and there were many aspects of divine knowledge she had never fully learned.

  However, the moment the golden runes shot forward, they wrapped around her like chains... she felt a powerful pressure in her blood, and she instantly understood what they were.

  "Zeus's Oracle?!"

  Diana tried to swing her sword and cut the chains, but found her divine power completely suppressed by the Oracle. She couldn't access a single drop of it.

  In the next instant, the Lasso of Truth at her waist flew out on its own, seized by that Oracle, and bound her tightly. The God Killer slipped from her grasp and cttered to the ground.

  "No!"

  Diana struggled with all her strength, but it was useless.

  Ares stepped forward and grabbed her arm. A dark aura of bck light appeared around him.

  After the light faded, their figures vanished from the edge of the cliff together, and only the God Killer remained on the ground—and a sheet of parchment.

  As the sea wind started blowing again, the parchment slowly floated down through the air.