Chapter 117: Ares' Army of Trolls

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"Know that I will kill your god if I have to. Maybe even if I don't."

— The Warrior of Light, (Final Fantasy XIV: Storm Blood)

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<(Bruce Wayne POV)> 

"Ares! How dare you cross the boundaries of Themyscira on such a holy occasion? You are not even allowed to set foot in the mortal realm, much less the home of us, the Amazons. Return to the gutter you crawled out of, "God of War", or you will soon be facing the might of the Amazons, the same might which banished you to the end of the Earth last time you tried this." Queen Hippolyta yelled in righteous anger as soon as she noticed Ares and his army stepping through the magical portal. 

"Queen Hippolyta, you are still alive! I thought that you would have surely been dead by now. But it seems like I was wrong. Well, no worries, we can easily change that. As for me being defeated, one of you insignificant ants might have been able to trick me last time but this time you won't be able to get rid of that easily "Queen" Hahahahaha." Ares laughed loudly before suddenly seeming to remember something. "Oh, and I brought one of your close "acquaintances" with me this time, he is quite excited to be able to play with you again after such a long time, isn't that right, Hercules?" The huge, armored figure of Ares asked in a sarcastic voice before looking at the portal he had just exited. 

The moment Ares completed his words, another figure, clad in golden armor exited the portal with a proud and confident grin on his face as if he was waiting in the queue. Despite his impressive muscular physique and moderately handsome face, something about the man just seemed wrong. In simple words, he gave off a strong feeling of a massive Grade-A asshole for some reason.

"It is so good to meet you again, Hippolyta. How are you? Did you miss me, the great Hercules? Or do you still foolishly believe that men like me are not superior to women?" The newly arrived figure confidently mocked the Amazonian Queen with a malicious sneer on his face. 

'For some reason, it suddenly feels like I am witnessing an argument between a hardcore misogynist and a devoted radical feminist.' I thought while doing my best not to interrupt their dialogue with some stupid joke. 

"By Hera, this is impossible. He is supposed to be dead. How in the name of the Gods is he here?" I could hear Clymene mutter in disbelief. She seemed to have even forgotten about me because of the unique situation that had developed. 

Hippolyta on the other hand had suddenly gone silent after noticing Hercules. However, the reason for her silence wasn't because of shock or surprise; judging from her face, it was because of anger. No, the Queen of the Amazons was beyond angry, it looked like the only things going on her mind after noticing Hercules were thoughts of revenge. 

She immediately wanted to kill him but was somehow able to stop herself from attacking him at that very moment, calming herself down for the sake of her people. She knew that she needed to act like a Queen, not a resentful woman. 

"You released him from the punishment that the Gods subjected him to after what he and his men did to us last time?" Hippolyta's words were as calm as the ocean while she asked her question, yet her voice sounded strangely ominous. "You even partnered with the disgusting disgrace of a demigod like him? Hah! The God of War partnering up with a demigod to defeat a mere Queen? Truly, how the mighty have fallen!" She mocked. 

"Only power matters, in the end, Hippolyta, nothing else... Now that I have recovered some of my powers after that Fury sealed them away during our final battle at the end of the world war, I am finally ready to restart my conquest of the mortal world. And for that, I have decided to use this island as my base." Ares made his intentions clear before raising his war axe in the air while signaling his troll army to move forward. "Go and enslave them all. Kill the ones who resist." He commanded with a thundering voice. 

As soon as he gave the order, hundreds of stone-skinned trolls instantly began to rush forward toward the Amazons, determined to forcefully take over Paradise Island from their control.

"SISTERS, TAKE UP ARMS. WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR HOME. BLOOD FOR BLOOD" Hippolyta yelled, her words audible to everyone present at the Colosseum as she herself pulled out a sword out of nowhere before brandishing it on the enemy army. Her words reverberating in the air were enough to quiet down the confused Amazons and raise back their confidence, prompting them to do the same with their weapons.

"Diana, you were asking me this morning for more responsibilities, right? You have your wish. You are now responsible for protecting your sisters and leading them in this battle against Ares and his army, my daughter. The others will follow your lead." Hippolyta commanded, her voice sounding more of a battle-hardened queen than a loving mother.

But Diana didn't look so happy after getting the responsibility she so much craved. For the first time since I had met her, she looked unsure of herself as she looked at the massive army of trolls advancing towards them. "And what about you, mother? Won't you join the battle as well? Defeating Ares without you would be..." 

"Possible, it would be very much possible if it is you. I believe in you as much as I believe in myself. You are the bravest woman I have ever known with the heart of a hero. If anyone can defeat Ares, it is you, my child." Queen Hippolyta tried her best to encourage Diana. "Also, always remember, Diana, the blood of a god flows through your veins. And only a God can kill another God." She completed, prompting her daughter to nod. 

"And as for me, I'll be taking care of an old enemy of Themyscira. It is high time that Hercules pays for all his old crimes and gets the punishment he truly deserves." Hippolyta utters with venom in her voice as she slips open her royal fur coat leaving her impressive Amazonian physique clad in a luxurious golden armor in full display.

'Interesting. It seems that despite Diana being the Champion of Themyscira, this is the first true war she would be participating in. But is she blindly believing in her daughter's ability, wise for the Queen or is she doing this just so that she can freely pursue her own vengeance against Hercules?' I silently pondered to myself.

"And what about the prisoner, my Queen? Should we use the man as bait or...." 

"Take him back to the prison. This is not his war. He doesn't deserve to get killed while fighting it." The Queen ordered after taking a glance at me. 

"Actually, I want to fight. I don't want to go back to that prison. That prison is so boring that it might kill me faster than this war. Plus, I am warmed up for some action, I am not going back to my cell without at least killing a few of those rock monsters... Also, I know that I may not look like it, but I am something of a warrior myself." I finished with a mental grin at finally being able to say those words.

"... Fine, do whatever you wish but remember, if you die, it is on you. I won't feel even the slightest bit of pity upon your death." Hippolyta clarified. "Diana, get him a weapon. Just make sure he doesn't get to use it against one of us. I still don't trust men." She warned before mounting a horse standing nearby and riding away in the direction of Hercules. 

'Wait, how did that horse get there without alerting my senses?' I internally wondered before finally deciding to chalk things up to magic and the supernatural.

"Everyone, take up your weapons and tighten your armors. We will be fighting the army head-on. I will take care of Ares while all of you annihilate his army. Remember, I don't want to lose even a single one of you, sisters, so protect each other's backs while out there." Diana took up the charge. Despite not being as commanding as her mother's, her words were still enough to do the trick and encourage the other Amazons, giving them more confidence to fight. 

Satisfied after seeing the effect of her words, she shed her robe and the royal clothes she was wearing, revealing her iconic red and golden Wonder Woman armor underneath. Currently, Diana was no longer just the princess of Themyscira. Right now, she was Wonder Woman, the champion of the Amazons.

"Do you prefer a sword or spear?" She asked before gesturing to two different weapons in her hands. 

"I don't need a weapon. I have mine." I answered after I was done checking out her amazing bod... armor, yeah, of course, I was checking out her armor. "I have my own," I explained further before finally summoning the nanobots out of my body. 

Almost instantly, nanobots began to cover my entire body, making it look like thousands of microscopic bugs were crawling all over me. I wouldn't use one of my regular armor designs for a fight here. No, I needed something stronger and... more suited to the environment, something that could pack a punch while also giving me better protection from these monsters and gods. 

'I guess it is finally time to go medieval.' I thought as I mentally selected one of the many medieval-design templates, I had designed for situations like this.

Soon, I was entirely covered in what looked like a bulky medieval armor that made me look almost as big as the Mountain from Game of Thrones while also giving a strange feeling like I was some sort of dragon slayer.

'Maybe I should have gone with the Berserk design.' 

"Wow, is this magic? You are a sorcerer? Why didn't you tell me before?" Diana asked, extremely surprised at my sudden costume change.

"Nope, it's science," I answered truthfully before summoning both of the All blades into my hands, flames licking out from the tip of their fiery red blades. 

"THIS is magic." 

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