Deadshot looked down at Rick Flag, whose eyes remained wide open in death, and felt a touch of lament. They had fought for quite a while; although the man's marksmanship wasn't on par with his own, he had a sharp tactical mind. Even when at a disadvantage, he had fought courageously without retreating. From one mercenary to another, he was an opponent worthy of respect.
But... his excellent marksmanship, battlefield awareness, and sharp wit offered no defense against the true enemy. Faced with that ridiculously powerful "Man in Yellow," Flag was instantly a corpse with a mere flick of a finger. All those hard-won skills he'd honed over a lifetime never even had a chance to be displayed. It was a clean, efficient, and utter defeat!
He sighed, feeling it was a pity for an opponent he respected. However, Deadshot had seen countless people die before his eyes in his lifetime; he wasn't about to let something like this shake his resolve. He took out his phone and snapped a few photos to prove he was the one who made the kill, ensuring he could collect his payment upon return.
His mindset was similar to Deathstroke's—especially after witnessing Thea's overwhelming power, he was even more convinced that he was just here as a side character. Now that he had a kill to his name, he could go back, take the money, and leave.
"Huh?" Just as he was about to leave, he happened to spot the left arm that Enchantress had severed herself. The freeze gun was highly efficient; the stump within the block of ice was still emitting wisps of black smoke, which looked particularly distinct against the transparent ice.
Take it! Whether to keep it as a trophy or turn it over to A.R.G.U.S., he hadn't decided yet, but taking it back couldn't hurt.
Leaving aside how Deadshot extracted the severed arm from the ice, Thea took longer to catch up this time due to Rick Flag's desperate interference.
Unfortunately, Rick Flag's sacrifice didn't hold much significance. Enchantress's power was severely depleted; she could no longer maintain high-frequency teleportation. Her teleportation distance was getting shorter, and the intervals were getting longer.
Due to the high consumption of stamina and magic, and knowing full well Thea was chasing her, she was forced to stop and rest briefly after every single teleport.
"Damn it!" Enchantress had rested for less than ten seconds before Thea caught up. They fought and paused intermittently; Thea was in near-perfect condition, while her opponent was at less than thirty percent of her peak strength.
The more she saw it, the more Enchantress's teleportation began to reveal its secrets to Thea. Although Enchantress's spells leaned more towards witchcraft while Thea used magic, different paths lead to the same destination. She was certain that, once she sat down and dissected this fight later, her spatial magic would reach a new level.
"Run! Go ahead and run!" Thea was no longer engaging in close combat. This creature's teleportation was truly unpredictable; fighting her up close was a sheer waste of time. The freeze gun's fire rate was insufficient. The best weapon to deal with her was the divine longbow paired with light-attribute magic arrows.
Hovering twenty meters above the ground, she drew her bow and loosed an arrow the moment Enchantress showed her head. Thea felt a bit of the old sensation of riding her glider board across Gotham.
"Boom!" "Clang!" Explosions and impacts echoed constantly around them. Their path looked like it had been carpet-bombed, littering the ground with craters. Presumably, the future city reconstruction would provide Queen Consolidated with yet another contract.
"Damn rat, you're dead!" Thea was shooting happily when she suddenly realized something: the opponent was currently female and had committed heinous crimes. She fit perfectly with the doctrine of the Goddess of the Hunt and the requirements for the Arrow of Vengeance.
Unlike the time she was thrashed by Ares and had to accumulate divine power for a counter-revenge, this was a one-sided beating. If anything, Enchantress should be the one seeking revenge on her, so the power accumulation function wouldn't trigger.
She was simply fulfilling the Goddess's doctrine: punishing a defiled, wicked woman.
"Hehe..." Thea pulled out one of the only two dark crimson arrows in her quiver. This arrow was half again as long as a standard arrow and required the bow to be fully drawn. Once the target was locked, it possessed auto-tracking and sure-hit attributes.
Ares had been able to split off most of his divine power to create a clone and fool the divine arrow back then, but surely you, some ancient African witch, wouldn't have that kind of ability, right?
When the bowstring was drawn to its limit, Thea used the Eye of Horus to lock onto Enchantress, who was about to flee the city. Pointing the bow diagonally toward the sky, she silently recited the Goddess's prayer, Enchantress's face floating in her mind. It's her. She must die!
As this thought emerged, the Arrow of Vengeance seemed to sense her intense fighting will. Red mist wrapped around the ordinary arrow shaft, and countless profound runes surfaced on the arrowhead. Thea glanced at it only once and looked away; this knowledge was not something she could master yet. Like this sharp arrow and Diana's Lasso of Truth, they were creations of "Rules" superior to mere divine power—unique and uncopyable.
"Die!—" Thea roared. Her right hand released the string, and the dark crimson arrow traced a graceful arc, shooting off into the distance. The air, the earth, and the rivers seemed to resonate with her command of "Death." Birds, beasts, insects—all sentient creatures—received a warning in their hearts. The weak crouched on the ground; the strong looked around nervously. The entire city fell into a brief tranquility under the might of this single arrow.
What is that?! As the strongest sentient being in the city currently, aside from Thea, Enchantress felt the arrow's presence most acutely because it was coming for her!
A deadly chill and pure killing intent rolled together, racing straight toward Enchantress. It was pure killing intent, cold and absolute, with no hint of malice—only a concept stripped down to its core: I want to kill you, and you must die!
Enchantress disregarded her injuries and desperately performed several large-scale, long-distance teleports, trying to evade the arrow. But as she teleported, the arrow miraculously teleported as well. The distance between them shortened rapidly. Enchantress felt she had never been in such danger in her centuries of life. This killing intent was utterly relentless; it only wanted the target dead, even if they fled to the ends of the earth.
"I won't die! I still have a way!" Enchantress spat out a grotesque straw doll. It was pitch black and looked exactly like Thea did when they first met. Enchantress reached up, gouged out one of her own eyes, slapped it into the straw doll's body, sprayed several mouthfuls of black blood onto it, opened a remote portal, and threw the doll inside. Then, she stared nervously at the sharp arrow.
However, she was disappointed. Ares's divine power could deceive the Arrow of Vengeance, but her witchcraft was of a much lower tier. The substitute doll could indeed avoid some fatal attacks ordinarily, but today she was facing neither magic nor divine power, but a higher-level Power of Rules.
Only rules can contend with rules. The dark crimson arrow knew no mercy, no sympathy; it was both the judge and the final executioner.
"Pa!—" All sentient beings seemed to hear a crisp sound, like a hammer smashing glass. Enchantress used her own body to give the final, living proof of the Goddess of the Hunt's doctrine. The arrow pierced through her chest. There was no blood in the wound, no tissue or organs, as if that spot had originally been nothing but air.
Enchantress blankly covered the wound but touched only emptiness. Her body was rapidly dissipating.