Thea carefully examined the expressions of the surrounding women. A chaotic blend of pain, numbness, and cruelty. It was hard to read them, but one thing was certain: joy was a foreign concept here.
This did not align with the teachings of the Moon Goddess. Her doctrine was about joyful maidens of the forest; this group was miles away from "joyful."
"What do we do?" Diana shot Thea a quick glance, her question obvious.
Thea shook her head slightly. She could already feel a faint ripple of divinity in the air. Weak, but the underlying malice was glaring. They ostensibly worshipped the Moon Goddess, but only the leaders knew what evil god they were actually serving.
"Ms. Leita, which deity is enshrined in the center of your square? Aren't you Christians?" Thea asked the old woman knowingly. She was the nominal organizer of this school and the foster mother of Cheetah (Minerva).
The old woman feigned a kindly demeanor, but as her lips parted slightly, two canine teeth flashed with a piercing cold light under the moon. "We are an ancient people. The world calls us the Amazon tribe. As for whom we worship, it is the Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt."
Holy crap! These people have zero shame.
Thea's expression carried obvious suspicion, but her excellent acting skills quickly turned that suspicion into shock.
Her shock was fake, but Diana's shock was real. Diana, who had been keeping a poker face, couldn't help but look the old woman up and down upon hearing this. Unfortunately, no matter how she looked, she couldn't find a trace of aura on the old woman that matched Themyscira.
A cheap knockoff meeting the genuine article. Thea didn't know what to say to this bunch of imposters. She could only gape in feigned astonishment.
The old woman saw their expressions and felt it was normal. This was exactly the look thrill-seeking American college students should have. Their camp had "entertained" many such young people so far.
Clap! Clap!
The old woman clapped her hands cheerfully. Instantly, many women holding bows and iron tools surrounded the two.
"Come participate in our Great Hunt! You city dwellers should fully enjoy the fun of nature. Come on, run!" The old woman signaled the crowd to open a path leading deep into the forest. She looked at the two "prey" with malicious intent, expecting to see panic-stricken expressions.
However, the two acted as if they hadn't heard or seen a thing. Thea scanned the circle. Their bows and arrows had stone tips, and the archers were all thin, weak women. Let alone two non-humans, even Tommy or Laurel could come here and cut through them like butter.
Unlike Diana, who had the blessings of the gods naturally—she didn't need to study them, just use them—Thea's divinity was a patchwork quilt. Scraping a bit from here, absorbing a part from there... her research into divine mechanics was likely unrivaled in the current age.
Although there was some divine presence in this camp, most of it emanated from the area itself. None of the women present had the qualifications to become a host.
Originally, Thea wanted to play the innocent victim to get information out of the old woman. But she didn't expect the opponent to be so impatient; barely two sentences in, and the fangs were already out. Thea could only abandon the initial plan.
You like to play rough? Then we'll play rough.
The old woman maintained her sanctimonious facade for a while but found the opponents weren't afraid at all. Strange? Past young people would have peed their pants and run forward trembling by now. Why weren't these two afraid?
A murmuring whisper came from the air, soft as the wind. But falling on Leita's ears, it was like a thunderclap. She reacted immediately, ordering, "Attack!"
Although the women felt this broke the usual routine, they mechanically drew bows and released arrows. Dozens of arrows fired in a ragged volley toward the two women.
This level of attack was pathetic. Thea raised her left hand. A small cyclone appeared around them, sucking in all the arrows.
With a clench of her left hand, the cyclone trembled violently, and the arrows caught in the wind were shattered directly.
"Blasphemers! Kill them!" The old woman shouted loudly while retreating rapidly.
Thea couldn't let her run. "Honey, you take that one."
Diana had been holding back for a long time. She threw out the Lasso of Truth, trussing the old woman up like a turkey and dragging her back to their side.
"Kill them! Kill them!" The old woman, mid-air, was still roaring loudly. If one ignored her previous attempt to flee, one might actually think she was unyielding rather than cowardly.
The leader being captured in a single encounter didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the remaining women. Their numb, sluggish faces were replaced by fanaticism. Cold light shone in their eyes as they rushed toward the two.
Even many children picked up stones from the ground, trying to attack them.
"Stand down!"
Thea completely unleashed her aura. The power of fear instantly centered on her, emitting invisible waves in all directions. The women closest to her were scared stiff instantly. The women further away stumbled and staggered. Clearly, their minds had received a heavy blow, but their bodies were still controlled by the evil god, preparing to continue the attack.
"Quite stubborn..." Thea observed her battle results. The evil god here, if she had to guess, was the so-called Cheetah God.
How ironic. The prey pretending to be the hunter to enjoy offerings. She didn't know if this entity was a Native American deity or a totem animal spirit similar to those in Africa.
"Let me give you a bigger surprise!"
Thea put on the Yellow Lantern Ring, amplified her emotions a hundred times, and used Martian Manhunter's method to release a wider-range psychic shock.
The invisible shockwave swept through everyone's hearts like a hurricane. This time, regardless of distance or age—except for Diana, whose resistance to fear was outrageously high thanks to their "sparring"—everyone dropped like flies.
These people weren't physically injured. Since their minds were controlled by the evil god, it meant the full power of the shockwave was borne by the evil god. The people just needed to rest afterward, and they would be fine.
But the evil god was in for a world of hurt. Splitting its consciousness into hundreds of parts to control these believers was its fatal flaw. Its original consciousness might have been able to contend with Thea's psychic shock, but divided into a hundred parts, its resistance was invisibly weakened a hundredfold. Resisting this would be impossible.
Crack... Crack...
The sound was initially very subtle, but later became louder and louder.
The statue of the Goddess of the Hunt cracked open, revealing a large gap. A pure black cheetah rolled out from within.
The cheetah's eyes still carried the gleam of intelligence, but it dimmed quickly. It seemed to want to memorize the faces of Thea and Diana firmly. Then, it collapsed headfirst and couldn't get up again.