Chapter 82: Arrogant!
Passing through an invisible curtain, David finally found Themyscira.
"The scenery here is truly like paradise."
Especially after traversing the gloomy, wind-battered, and wave-crashing world outside, the mere presence of a barrier revealed a sky without clouds, where sea and sky merged into an impossibly pure blue.
Chirp chirp!
The wind blew gently, seagulls called out, and they flew through the sky with graceful, unhurried movements.
In stark contrast, what he had just experienced felt like an illusion, as if he had instantly traveled to another world—a paradise.
"A man?"
Diana, who had been standing idly, blinked in confusion and stood up from the cliff edge.
Doubting if she was hallucinating, she saw an outsider entering Themyscira from the outside.
Bang!
Diana, clad in a golden, form-fitting battle skirt and wearing a starlight coronet, leaped from the several-dozen-meter-high sea cliff. She landed on the beach like a cannonball, her long, slender, and well-proportioned legs steadily absorbing and neutralizing the immense force of her descent.
"Are you a man?"
She examined David with novel curiosity and delight, as if she had encountered a new and exotic creature.
"Short hair, no curves on your chest, an Adam's apple on your throat, and sharp features—you're exactly like the men in the paintings."
Her thousands of years of monotonous life had finally been disrupted by a splash of novelty, a change that had entered her world.
[Curiosity from Diana +85, Delight +81...]
"Of course, I'm a man."
Wearing a coronet, battle skirt, and a golden rope tied around his waist, David, beautiful and heroic, smiled with a hint of surprise.
He hadn't expected the first Amazon he met upon arriving at Themyscira to be Wonder Woman.
He had even considered the possibility that Wonder Woman might have already left the island, experiencing different encounters due to the ripples in time he had caused, and gone elsewhere.
"Is that very unusual?"
"No, there are many men, but this is the first time I've seen a man. There are no men on Themyscira."
Diana's gaze was filled with surprise.
"How did you get in?"
"Could it be that, as my mother sometimes worried when looking out at night, the divine power of King Zeus has been weakening over the millennia, and the magical barrier can no longer protect Themyscira for long?"
She examined David from head to toe, her gaze lingering on his Adam's apple and face, murmuring excitedly.
"Men seem to be even more handsome than depicted in the paintings. But why don't you have a beard?"
Doubt flickered across Diana's face, as this was different from what she had seen in the paintings.
"Because I'm not old enough yet."
Being asked why he didn't have a beard could easily conjure thoughts of eunuchs in the court. David replied to the innocent, girlish-looking Wonder Woman with a hint of exasperation.
"How old are you? Three thousand years old?"
Diana asked curiously, stating an age that, to her, seemed quite young. The Amazons were an immortal race; everyone here had lived longer than Ra's al Ghul.
"He's gained immortality at the cost of his personality being twisted from his constant immersion in the Lazarus Pit. Everyone here has it."
A flicker of something unusual crossed David's eyes. Especially for Diana, the offspring of the King of Gods, Zeus, and the Amazon Queen, a few thousand years was nothing for her long, almost endless lifespan.
"An immortal race, how wonderful."
The corners of his mouth curved into a smile. As long as he could conquer the Amazons, the people on the island would perpetually provide him with the emotional points he needed, without end.
"Wait a moment, your body is so powerful that you can run on the sea?"
The man's gaze seemed a little sinister; for some reason, Diana felt a chill run down her spine. Like a startled, bristled female leopard, she took a step back, assuming a fighting stance.
"Mother has been worried about the weakening of the magical barrier, and Ares found us. Could you be Ares!"
Her naive mind found a plausible explanation. David looked at the untainted innocence in Diana's eyes, speechless for a moment.
"Diana, stay away from him!"
The sound of hooves thundered, and a queen, still alluring with a majestic and heroic aura, rode a warhorse, leading hundreds of valiant Amazon warriors. She had sensed the magical barrier being touched and that someone had intruded upon Themyscira.
The magic barrier reacted violently, clearly not a mortal who stumbled in.
Hippolyta, facing a grave threat, rushed with part of her army to the wide cliffside. She saw her daughter standing with the outsider, only a few meters apart. Her face changed drastically, and she shouted.
"Archers, prepare!"
A group of valiant Amazon warriors raised their bows. Their muscles, sculpted in beautiful, powerful lines, pulled the bowstrings with a grating sound. Arrow after arrow, glinting with cold light, aimed at David on the beach.
Dust kicked up by hooves from behind, and more stern-faced female warriors continued to arrive.
"Outsider, state your identity!"
Hippolyta drew her sword, her eyes blazing, and pointed at David as she shouted.
Since he wasn't mortal, the chance of him arriving here by accident was too small.
She prayed he wasn't a vanguard for Ares seeking Themyscira.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two arrows landed at David's feet, carrying a clear warning. He raised an eyebrow, dismissing them as if they were mere twigs stuck in the ground.
[Alertness from Hippolyta +10.1, Hostility +5.1...
Alertness from Antiope +6.5... Alertness from Critella +2.2, ...]
A cascade of emotion points flashed by, so fast David could barely keep up.
The emotion points this group of Amazons could provide easily surpassed what Clark could offer during intense moments.
"Looks like I came to the right place, Themyscira."
Not all the Amazons were here yet.
Whoosh!
Diana whipped the Lasso of Truth from her waist, cleaving the air as she sharply swung it at David, intending to help her mother and people subdue the outsider.
"Is this the Lasso of Truth?"
David reached out, catching the rope with lightning speed. The golden, radiant Lasso of Truth wrapped around his arm. He examined it with slight curiosity, his eyes flashing.
The Lasso of Truth was said to have been crafted by Hephaestus, the divine craftsman of the Greek gods, using the golden girdle of Gaia, the Earth Goddess. It was unbreakable, indestructible.
"Legend has it that not even Heracles, the mighty hero, could break it, and anyone ensnared could only speak the truth."
She had intended to lasso David's waist and bind his hands, but she never expected him to catch the Lasso of Truth. Shock appeared on Diana's beautiful, heroic face.
"Since I came of age, no one on the island has been able to keep up with my speed, not even my mother."
"Outsider, who are you?"
Seeing David touch the Lasso of Truth, the queen, who had ruled the Amazon tribe for ten thousand years with bravery and wisdom, seized the opportunity to demand an answer.
"What is your purpose for being here!"
Diana pulled with all her might, trying to drag David down and pin him beneath her feet. However, with a surge of effort, she found she couldn't move him.
The Lasso of Truth felt like it was wrapped around a towering mountain.
A strange sensation filled him, urging him to speak his true thoughts, making it difficult to resist.
"My identity? You don't need to know that..."
Diana increased her strength. David glanced at her and then casually threw the rope away. His gaze fixed on Hippolyta on the cliff, as if he hadn't seen the hundreds of fierce female warriors aiming their bows at him. He smiled.
The Lasso of Truth, one of the artifacts wielded by Wonder Woman in the comics. Superman's supposedly indestructible physical defense was often breached, but the Lasso of Truth had almost never failed.
He didn't doubt the rope's capabilities.
Seeing David break free from the rope, Hippolyta's eyes narrowed, believing she wouldn't get any useful information.
But David's next words made her face change instantly, and a host of Amazon warriors glared at him angrily.
"... You only need to know that I'm here to conquer you Amazons."
Standing on the beach, David spoke slowly, stating his purpose directly.
As soon as his words fell, the air fell silent. The next moment, the emotion points flashed even faster, like an uncontrolled flood pouring down. The hostility of thousands of enraged Amazons surged like a tide!
"Arrogant!
Kill him!"
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