However weak Steppenwolf might be in comparison to others, he was still Yuga Khan's brother, Darkseid's uncle. His starting point was extremely high. Having survived for such an immense span of time, the sheer accumulation of divine power would be terrifying.
Thea didn't believe she could definitely beat him. She needed more preparation.
Ordinary soldiers could learn a few more spells or sharpen their blades in their spare time.
She couldn't. She had already reached a very high level—taking even one more step forward was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Just look at Steppenwolf, who had ascended to godhood countless ages ago. Now he was hiding in his basement, desperately practicing with his bloodthirsty great axe. That alone proved the point. He wasn't confident he could handle Thea despite her having ascended less than two years ago, yet he had no path for improvement either.
Accumulating power for tens of thousands of years might only refine technique and sharpen equipment. Beyond that, Thea estimated the divine power accumulation increased total combat effectiveness by perhaps ten percent at most.
The laws of the world both favored and constrained the gods, preventing them from growing without limit. Whether New Gods or Old Gods, all operated within this framework.
But this wisp of pure Shadow gave her an opportunity. The laws couldn't restrict it.
Thea now visited whenever she had time. The beast-demon manifestation of the Shadow she didn't bother with—she'd set up an infinite-loop dream for it. Go wild with killing and destruction in there. Just don't disturb me.
"What exactly am I supposed to comprehend from this?" Thea reclined, pondering. The Shadow seemed to constantly transmit some profound, mysterious truth, yet whenever she tried to decode it, she found only confusion.
This thing's level is too high! Her decoder was running an outdated version and couldn't read the data. That was the only way she could console herself.
Facing this power that existed outside the rules—power that didn't play by any rules—she had no good approach for now.
Here was a mountain of treasure, yet every time she entered, she could only leave empty-handed. The frustration was deeply discouraging.
Fortunately, she was easygoing by nature. Seeing that direct comprehension wouldn't work, she didn't get overly dejected.
Next, she began an indirect strategy—using the various rules she'd already mastered to compare and verify against the mysterious power within the Shadow.
She started with Trade and Wealth, naturally. The result was touching... Thea concluded that neither God nor the Great Beast needed trade, nor did they need wealth. Her divine domain showed absolutely no resonance with the Shadow.
Next, she could only turn to the Emotional Spectrum. Without relying on a power ring, she'd mastered three and a half of the seven emotions. Not a bad achievement.
Fear? Did those two great beings even have fear? One look from either of them could make Parallax flinch. Scratch that one...
Compassion? Thea smiled bitterly. She needed compassion; they didn't.
The half-mastered Rage wasn't worth embarrassing herself with. In the end, she approached the Shadow with a sliver of hope—literally, the emotion of Hope.
Whether it was the World Will that had granted her Hope pulling strings for her, or the great beings taking pity on her and giving her hope—yes, the literal meaning—then something finally happened.
When her blue light representing Hope touched the Shadow, it finally produced a slight change under Thea's ecstatic gaze.
Deep, murky darkness surrounded her. Above, below, left, right—all was ink-black void. Super-vision ineffective. Psychic probing ineffective. She tentatively felt around with her hands.
In that space between real and illusory, she seemed to spend an eternity. When she regained awareness, she found herself back in a city.
Where is this? Was something teleporting me just now?
Based on her understanding of magic, it didn't seem like teleportation. Her body hadn't entered this place—it was more like her soul?
"Thea! Come on!" While she was still dazed, she heard someone calling her name. Looking over, a young woman with a few freckles on her face was waving at her. The woman looked familiar, but she couldn't immediately place her.
"Coming!" Before Thea could respond, a girl beside her walked quickly toward the freckled woman—dark brownish hair, wearing a school uniform with a deep blue jacket over a white shirt and black tie, paired with a plaid pleated skirt.
The freckled woman pulled something small and indescribable from her bag. The girl with her back to Thea deftly slipped it into her backpack and handed over a small wad of cash.
Am I being shown my own past? What's the point of this?
Thea had already figured it out. The girl with her back turned—brownish-black long hair, wearing a school uniform, walking with her chin up and an air of casual indifference—that was herself. Just some timeline's Thea 1.0.
Thanks to countless movies and TV shows, she was familiar with this kind of plot. All she had to do was follow Rebellious Thea, and everything would become clear.
Ordinary school days. Watching her younger self sit in class, bored out of her mind in that uniform, Thea found it amusing despite being an invisible observer.
The next day passed uneventfully. This Thea was clearly affected by news of her father and brother's deaths. She spent the whole day in a daze, then went wild after school. Thankfully, Moira's strict upbringing had held—she hadn't done anything too cringeworthy.
What exactly am I supposed to see? Thea had to ask herself this question.
Of course, she didn't expect an answer. If a man in black with "Great Beast" written on his forehead suddenly popped up, now that would be terrifying. This was fine...
Time flew by. Thea watched like a bystander, shadowing Rebellious Thea 1.0 everywhere she went.
Five years passed in a blink. When she followed Rebellious Thea out the door and saw that gray-haired middle-aged man in the distance, she finally confirmed it: this was Earth-2's Thea. The poor soul who'd been stabbed to death by Dark Thea. And that middle-aged man outside was Old Robert, returned from his training.
Time accelerated further. Old Robert continuously struck down criminals while waging his war of vengeance against Malcolm. What he didn't know was that during his final confrontation with Malcolm—when he accidentally killed Moira while taking down Old Malcolm—Rebellious Thea had been watching from nearby the entire time.
Witnessing this human tragedy unfold, then learning her true parentage from Moira's deathbed confession, Rebellious Thea completely broke down.
Old Robert still treated her as his own daughter, but Rebellious Thea couldn't bear that deep affection. Two awkward years passed. Just as the rift between father and daughter was about to heal, an ink-black sword covered in blood-red runes killed her.
This was Thea's first time seeing her Dark counterpart. Black armor, cold eyes. If her own Holy Sword form was like Artoria, this one was the Dark King herself!
I probably... maybe... possibly... definitely can't beat her!
Dark Thea certainly wasn't a deity—that was beyond question. But her power... Thea sensed something similar to the Spectre. Both possessed the ability to manipulate and casually rewrite rules.
Her counterpart hadn't pursued divine power or divine domains. Instead, she'd reached somewhere far more terrifying.
Eliminating several impossible options and connecting the dots, Thea formed a rough hypothesis. Eclipso! This Dark version had been possessed by Eclipso!