Kaius stared at Faora-Ui, who was wiping seawater off her face with a smug smile. He smirked and said, "Thanks for helping me bring the spaceship ashore. If you surrender now, I might consider sparing your life."
"Sparing my life?" Faora-Ui scoffed. "With all due respect, your fighting skills are laughable. I've been trained in combat since birth, and I have a hundred ways to kill you and everyone here!"
She tilted her head, stretching her neck with an audible crackle like popping beans, and scanned the crowd coldly as if already deciding how they would die.
Kaius shrugged nonchalantly and pulled a lead box from his pocket. "I only need one way to defeat you," he said, opening the box. "And trust me—that's more than enough."
Inside the box was a green necklace.
At first, Faora-Ui's face remained defiant, her lips curled in a mocking grin. But the moment her eyes landed on the necklace, her expression shifted. In an instant, her strength drained away. She collapsed to the ground, trembling and unable to stand.
"What... what did you do to me? My strength... it's gone! What did you do?" she gasped.
Kaius calmly placed the necklace around her neck, its faint green glow intensifying. The radiation made her writhe in agony. "You're a Kryptonian," Kaius said. "To die by kryptonite... well, it's fitting, don't you think?"
As Faora-Ui groaned in pain, the Amazon archer who had been aiming at Kaius dismounted her horse and approached him quickly. "Please," she said urgently, "tell us more about these demons."
Kaius waved her off. "I don't know much, and honestly, there's nothing you can do to help."
His mind wasn't on the Amazons. Faora-Ui was just one of Zod's soldiers. Two had already fallen on Earth, and Zod himself would surely arrive soon, likely with an army of Kryptonians. Kaius couldn't be certain of how things would unfold.
If Clark returns in time, we'll stand a chance, he thought. But what if he doesn't?
This parallel universe could be one where Zod succeeds, conquering Earth and rebuilding Kryptonian civilization. Or perhaps it's one where Superman turns dark after Zod kills his parents, establishing the oppressive Superman Regime. With so many possible outcomes across parallel universes, Kaius couldn't afford to take anything for granted. Fortunately, he still had kryptonite. If he prepared well, even without Clark, he might just survive the coming storm.
"Diana, we should stay out of this," the Amazon queen said, stepping forward. "This man will handle it. It's not our fight."
But the young archer shook her head resolutely. "Look at that woman," she argued, pointing at Faora-Ui. "She just lifted hundreds of tons with ease. Can you imagine the power of the demon she intends to summon? This is the work of Ares—only he would provoke war and plunge the world into chaos!"
Kaius's eyes widened. Diana?
He turned to the girl and asked, "You're Diana? Daughter of Hippolyta?"
The question stunned the Amazons. Diana and the queen exchanged grave looks.
"Stranger," Hippolyta said sternly, her gaze narrowing, "how do you know my name and my daughter's?"
The Amazons had been hidden from the world for centuries. For an outsider to know their names was unthinkable.
Kaius ignored her question, focusing on Diana instead. "Answer me—are you Princess Diana, daughter of Hippolyta?"
Diana fluttered her long lashes, her expression serious. "Yes," she said finally. "I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, princess of the Amazons."
Kaius's thoughts spun. Wonder Woman?
He looked around in disbelief. This world... it's incredible. One moment I'm chasing a Kryptonian spaceship through the atmosphere, and the next, I've crash-landed on Paradise Island.
Falling onto Paradise Island wasn't the most troubling thing. The most troubling thing was Diana—future Wonder Woman—shooting an arrow straight at Kaius's chest.
In the mainstream timeline, Diana left Paradise Island during World War I, accompanying Air Force officer Steve Trevor, and became a pivotal figure in the war.
But here? Diana was still on Paradise Island.
Had she returned after the war? Or perhaps she had never left?
Kaius leaned toward the latter. He hadn't sensed the awakening of divine power in Diana.
As the daughter of Zeus, Diana was a demigod with immense potential and destined to become one of the most powerful superheroes.
"This doesn't make sense," Kaius muttered to himself. Then he shrugged. Upon further thought, it didn't need to make sense.
All inconsistencies could be attributed to the theory of parallel universes. Compared to things like Hydra Captain America or the blackened Superman of the Injustice League, a Wonder Woman who never left Paradise Island seemed relatively simple to deal with.
Diana noticed Kaius's distracted expression. She stepped forward, waving a hand in front of his face before planting her hands on her hips. "Your turn," she said firmly. "Tell me how you know my name."
Kaius rubbed his temples. He needed to come up with a convincing explanation. After all, this might be his best chance to unlock Diana's Character Card.
"Because I received an oracle," he said finally. "Diana, the world is on the brink of catastrophe. Ares, the god of war, has bewitched a powerful demon—General Zod. Soon, Zod will arrive on Earth, intent on destroying all humanity. But there's hope. The key to preventing this disaster lies in a girl named Diana—you. It's your destiny to save the world!"
Queen Hippolyta rolled her eyes dramatically, but the young and eager Diana's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Is this true? Is this my destiny?" Diana asked, turning to her mother with a solemn expression. "Mother, do you remember the story you used to tell me? You said that even though Zeus defeated Ares, one day Ares would return to fulfill his mission, plunging the world into chaos!"
Hippolyta sighed heavily. "It was just a bedtime story, Diana. The age of gods is long over. Ares will not return."
"But mother," Diana argued, unwilling to accept her mother's dismissal, "you told me that the purpose of the Amazons was to stop the god of war. As Amazons, it's our responsibility!"
Hippolyta exhaled deeply, clearly frustrated. "Diana, you can't believe everything a stranger tells you! We don't even know if what he's saying is true."
Kaius, who had been silently observing the mother-daughter quarrel, interjected. "If you want the truth, why not start with her?" He pointed to Faora-Ui, who lay crumpled on the ground, barely conscious. "She's Zod's soldier and knows everything about his plans."