Such a waste of talent!
Thea sized up the Middle Eastern woman. She had run two hundred meters away, realized the pursuer wasn't following, circled back, and returned. Not knowing the strength of Thea and Diana, this woman quite loyally drew a scimitar, preparing to go up and help.
Thea hurriedly pulled her back. Are you kidding? A regular human beating Diana?
Black Manta was indeed strong, arguably an underwater version of Batman. But the major premise was preparation: knowing the opponent's intelligence and crafting a pile of specific black-tech equipment. That was his secret to victory. Right now, knowing nothing about his opponent, trying to beat a fully god-geared Diana on land while wearing a diving suit? That was simply a pipe dream.
Moreover, Thea initially hadn't recognized this woman, but now she finally recalled some plot points. This was Kahina, one of Aquaman Arthur Curry's initial teammates—six people forming a team called "The Others."
Unfortunately, their team was weak as hell. Six super-powered individuals carrying six divine artifacts were wiped the floor with by Black Manta—an ordinary person. Thea felt that if she pulled her subordinates out for a 6v6, taking them down would be a walk in the park.
"Don't worry, my companion is very strong." Thea held back the woman, who was brandishing her scimitar ready to hack someone.
"Black Manta is a famous hunter; he..." Kahina hadn't finished her sentence when the situation on the field showed Diana already had an overwhelming advantage. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't continue.
Whether in strength, speed, or technique, Diana far surpassed Black Manta. The opponent wasn't a martial arts master; he was just an engineer bent on revenge, a treasure hunter. He was no match for Diana at all.
Lasers, nets, water jets—all kinds of methods were used. But his attacks, which had miraculous effects against Aquaman's squad, were completely useless against Diana.
The only thing worth praising was his diving suit. Unknown material. Diana spotted an opening and slashed diagonally with the Sword of Hephaestus. Immense force acted on the soft diving suit. A dent appeared clearly, but the suit's toughness and density were excellent; it dented slightly, then immediately returned to its original shape. It wasn't cut open.
"Anti-piercing, anti-slashing?"
Diana put away her shield and feinted with her left foot. As Black Manta dodged sideways, she clenched her right fist and punched toward his abdomen.
Since the opponent was just an ordinary human, she didn't use the power of the Bracelets of Submission; otherwise, thousands of tons of force would have snapped him in two.
This punch landed solidly on Black Manta's lower abdomen. The texture of the special diving suit was indeed excellent, but it was helpless against pure blunt force. Diana's normal strike was simply not something an ordinary person could take.
The opponent's helmet was airtight—excellent equipment for diving or underwater combat. But this time, it made him suffer. A mouthful of fresh blood surged up, but the mask's seal forced the blood back into his trachea, nearly suffocating him.
He wanted to cough but couldn't; wanted to swallow but couldn't. Daring not to linger in battle, he turned to run.
"Get back here! Speak, what is your goal!" Diana shook her hand, lassoing Black Manta back.
As she asked, the Lasso of Truth flashed with bursts of light.
"Collect the three artifacts of the Dead King, find the Seventh Artifact, rule the surface, kill Aquaman!"
Black Manta was truly startled. Despite his desperate resistance, the power of a divine artifact wasn't child's play. Even gods had to speak the truth before the Lasso; he, a mortal body, couldn't control his mouth at all. He spilled everything, one by one.
These words meant little to Diana. Kahina didn't understand the power of the Lasso and was skeptical. But falling on Thea's ears, they made her ponder.
Thea only knew the rough outline of Aquaman's story. The Dead King Black Manta mentioned was the first King of Atlantis (Atlan). She vaguely remembered that the Seventh Artifact was a Scepter. Its power went without saying, but wanting to rule the surface with just a scepter? One could only say he was dreaming.
Scepter? A Scepter!
A thought instantly flooded Thea's mind. While casting spells with a sword wasn't impossible, the style always felt more like a swordsman pretending to be a mage rather than a true Sorcerer! If she got that scepter, would her next spellcasting look much more aesthetic?
That thing has my name on it.
Thea nodded silently. Originally indifferent to this matter, her attitude changed instantly. She only remembered the Dead King's relics were left on some small island in the Atlantic. Aquaman's team of six knew the specific location; she didn't.
"Your enemy seems to be plotting a big conspiracy. Do you need us..." Thea put on her best "Good Samaritan" face and spoke to Kahina. But before she finished, she was interrupted by a burst of golden light.
Teleportation? Thea felt this remote rainforest clearing was getting livelier.
Golden light flashed, and a man and two women walked out. The leading man was bare-chested wearing green pants, holding a glittering golden trident upside down. Behind him was a red-haired woman in a green bodysuit wearing a crown. The last one out was a woman with warm brown skin and an anxious expression, two jaguars following at her feet.
Aquaman? How did he get here?
Although they hadn't met, his features were so obvious that Thea recognized him. The one with the crown behind him must be his wife, Mera. As for the last woman, Thea ignored her; undoubtedly another member of "The Others" (Ya'Wara).
She was sizing them up; Aquaman and his group were also looking at her. For a moment, everyone was a bit stunned. There were too many people on the scene! Thea's side had two, Aquaman's group had three, plus two prisoners: Cheetah and Black Manta.
Just as Kahina wanted to greet her companions, she saw Aquaman roar, raise his trident, and shoot a bolt of lightning as thick as a child's arm at Black Manta.
Although she felt Black Manta wasn't a good person, Diana felt that her prisoner shouldn't be touched by others. Her heroic eyebrows stood erect. Gripping her shield with her right hand, she slapped diagonally against the path of the lightning.
The first clash of two divine artifacts ended in a draw. The lightning was deflected. The massive energy beam fell into the rainforest, destroying countless trees along the way before vanishing from sight.
"Bastard! You dare stop me!" Aquaman's temper was as rough as ever.
Diana originally wanted to reason with him, but seeing his rude speech, she cut the crap. She bound Black Manta tightly with the Lasso of Truth, raised the Bracelets of Submission on her wrists, and blasted a surge of violent energy at Aquaman from meters away.
Aquaman didn't expect this woman to block his lightning. Feeling the invisible energy erupting from the bracelets, he didn't dare be negligent. He spun the trident like a windmill.
Crack! Crack! Amidst continuous explosive sounds, the trident was wrapped in a layer of golden light. As Aquaman spun it, the golden light resisted strenuously. Aquaman was pushed back thirty meters by the bracelet's energy before he stopped.
"Woman, you..." Aquaman calmed down a bit and tried to explain.
But Diana had zero patience left for casual sexism. Aquaman's words ("Woman") didn't make her comfortable; instead, they were even more ear-piercing. Without further nonsense, she slashed down head-on with her sword.