Thea had learned her lesson this time. She knew Superman was a bottomless pit—no matter how much energy she poured into him, he'd absorb it all. So she only healed him to about thirty or forty percent.
"Alright, that's enough. You can fly now, right? Go soak up some sunlight outside the atmosphere…"
Superman rose to his feet, his red cape lifting on its own—paired with that square jaw, he honestly looked ridiculously majestic.
"You know a lot about us. Is it because of the ring?"
"Yes, yes, it's the ring," Thea waved him off, not in the mood to chat. She shot back into the battlefield toward Parallax.
Even before she reached them, she could already hear Diana lecturing Kara nonstop.
"Your strength is too unfocused—"
"Your flight angle is wrong—"
"Don't rely on your durability to take every hit. Dodge when you should dodge—"
It was exactly the same way Thea had taught Diana on Themyscira years ago. And even though Diana could clearly tell Kara was an alien, she couldn't deny that appearances mattered—a lot. The girl's adorable face, her earnest energy, and her sunshine-bright enthusiasm made her look exactly like Diana had back then. Their first teamwork felt unexpectedly natural.
Thea conjured a massive golden dragon and dived straight into the fight.
Ideally, the Yellow Ring should create Diablo—the fear demon god from the dark world.
But…the guy's image was way too evil, not remotely aligned with justice.
So, dragon it was.
"Diana! How did you find us?"
The giant dragon seized one of Parallax's arms and slashed through it with a blade-like breath. Taking advantage of the opening, Thea called out.
"I heard you were planning to build the Artemis Temple. That's when I saw a glimpse of you…"
Diana lifted her shield to block Parallax's yellow beams. With his power drastically reduced, each attack carried far less force.
"…After that, I headed for America. I saw the live broadcast and came straight here!"
Thea noticed their energies shared a common origin—meaning her own attacks were a bit too weak. She summoned her divine bow, drew a lightning arrow forged from Zeus' power, and—using the dragon's incredible mobility—slipped into Parallax's blind spot.
She fired.
Thunder roared.
Facing a weakened Parallax, the lightning arrow tore a deep, dark wound across his massive face. Zeus's divine power continually drained his fear-energy, preventing the wound from closing.
"You've been gone all these years—where were you?"
A streak of yellow light sliced across the air. Thea had the dragon duck as she leapt upward, loosing a rapid volley of arrows mid-air.
"Africa, Europe, Asia—I've been searching for you everywhere!"
Diana's sword burst into flame as she slashed across Parallax's body.
Watching the two women chat casually while hacking away at a world-level fear entity made Kara feel extremely out of place. Her neck shrank down on its own.
As for Parallax—reduced to a side character in his own battle—he was furious.
"You insects! Don't ignore me! I'll show you my true—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because from above, something streaked downward like a meteor.
A red-and-blue blur slammed into Parallax with an earth-shattering BOOM, the impact rippling across the entire crust. Shockwaves blasted outward, pulverizing buildings into powder.
Dust clouded the sky. Only a flutter of bright red was visible within the storm.
"…He's way too strong…"
Thea conjured a small house and ducked inside with Diana. Kara panicked for a moment and dove in after them.
Not that the shockwave could actually hurt them—with their physical durability, even Thea could tank it—but the dust? The grime?
Absolutely not.
No woman wanted to come out of a fight looking like she'd bathed in concrete powder.
Honestly, Thea strongly suspected Superman's cape had some kind of built-in auto-clean function.
Once the dust cleared a little, the three rushed out—only to find there was nothing for them to help with.
Superman, recharged by sunlight, was a bit too energized. He grabbed Parallax and proceeded to beat him senseless. The technique looked crude, yet somehow…effective. Each punch carried its own strange rhythm.
Ignore defense.
Ignore intangibility.
Ignore decoys.
Parallax split off a clone form to confuse him—Superman spotted the real body instantly and pummeled him.
"I won't lose! A mere Kryptonian cannot be my match—!"
Parallax, an ancient Guardian who had lived billions of years, instantly recognized Superman's race. But the Kryptonians he remembered were never this strong.
Had this one mutated? Been enhanced? He genuinely couldn't tell.
A violent tremor spread from Parallax's body—his giant form shrinking rapidly, like a compressed spring about to snap.
"He's charging up something big. We're leaving."
Thea grabbed both women and pulled back.
Superman—who feared nothing but kryptonite—kept punching.
Then—
BOOOOOM!!!
A blast far stronger than Superman's earlier meteor-slam exploded outward.
Thea quickly conjured a new house—bigger, sturdier, more soundproof. The three dove inside.
Luckily, the explosion died down just as fast as it had erupted.
"Did he…self-destruct?"
Thea dashed out, flipping open the Book of Parallax to gather stray fear-energy—but the air held almost none.
"You two wait—I'm going in for a closer look."
She shot forward. Diana, of course, wouldn't let her go alone and followed immediately. Kara looked left and right before chasing them.
When they arrived, all three froze.
The massive cloud of fear-smoke that had filled the entire district was gone.
In its place stood something…insectoid.
A giant golden creature—about a hundred meters long, three meters tall, many-legged, many-winged. Its humanoid face looked aged and withered.
"Pathetic," Thea muttered—not about Parallax's power, but its host.
This Guardian's willpower was ridiculously weak.
Parallax's will had completely overridden him—only the face remained vaguely human. Everything else had been devoured.
She raised her bow and shot an arrow into the insect-Parallax, then checked her book.
Good.
Its energy was still harvestable.
"Alright ladies, let's finish him."
Diana didn't know what Thea's book was, but seeing how serious she was, Diana charged in. Without the smoke form, Parallax was fully physical—stronger physically, yes, but also much easier to hurt.
And Superman, Supergirl, and Diana were exactly the type who loved beating physical monsters to pulp.