"This armor design... It's something he left behind, isn't it?" Evil Superman wrenched out the spear with effort. Looking at the dark green spearhead, he gazed at the black-armored figure with a hint of nostalgia.
Old Batman's voice emerged from within. "That's right. This is the Anti-Superman Armor."
"Hmph. Anti-Superman?" Evil Superman quickly shook off his memories. "You have no idea what true power means!" He tried to slip past them.
Unfortunately, Superman in this world still wasn't skilled in martial arts. Old Batman and Old Green Arrow, relying on their power armor and seasoned combat expertise, managed to pin him down.
Val-Zod quickly rejoined the fight. Three against one—even Evil Superman couldn't break free immediately.
With so many people buying her time, Thea couldn't afford to waste a second on gratitude. She was stretched to her limit: maintaining the beam clash while gathering the world's soul power simultaneously. The good news was that Steppenwolf had devastated this world so thoroughly that even DeSaad's desperate interception couldn't stop more than a tenth of the souls. The soul power came flooding in practically on its own.
Keep going! Souls continued pouring into the holy sword—this world's Thea Queen, Batman, Diana, and countless strangers. They all cheered her on, every one of them expressing the same wish: defeat the enemy, save this world.
The light gathering on the holy sword grew ever brighter. The hopes and prayers of all living beings rode upon this single blade.
"Darkseid! Accept the vengeance of an entire world!" Thea swung her sword toward the heavens. A spark of light ignited at the blade's tip, then grew brighter and brighter until it transcended the very concept of light, carrying unstoppable force as it surged toward the Outer Sphere.
"Wretch! You're asking for it!" Darkseid could endure no more. Losing to Highfather wouldn't be shameful—they'd been rivals for countless eons. But taking a hit from a mere New God? His reputation would be ruined!
Fury flooded his chest. He withdrew his beams and channeled his power—the embodiment of absolute strength—and condensed everything into a counter-strike against the sword-light. The radiance, carrying the hopes of half a world and the prayers of countless souls, still couldn't withstand such overwhelming might. Before Darkseid's enraged blow, the sword-light shattered.
Yet consumed by rage, he'd forgotten about the enemy at his side. Seeing such a massive opening, Highfather didn't hesitate. His staff swung down heavily on Darkseid's shoulder.
Highfather had struck with too much force. The surface of his supreme artifact—the staff representing justice and righteousness—cracked. But Darkseid fared worse: his divine body was wounded. Self-preservation instincts kicked in, and he retreated directly to Apokolips.
Highfather hesitated briefly. Without his forces at hand, he didn't dare invade the enemy's stronghold alone.
The two supreme beings had only intended to test each other, yet the battle had turned unexpectedly savage.
Darkseid needed to heal. His divine artifact required repair as well.
Highfather looked toward Earth-2 with lingering concern.
Facing Darkseid's furious counter-strike, even with the entire world's will helping to share the burden, Thea couldn't withstand it. A mouthful of golden blood sprayed from her lips.
Her vision darkened. Her head felt heavy, her feet light. She wanted nothing more than to collapse on the spot. But with so many subordinates watching, pride kept her upright. Gripping her holy sword with both hands, she stubbornly refused to fall.
Is she really this powerful?! Watching the scene, Steppenwolf's eyes glazed over. Earlier, during the beam clash, Highfather had borne most of the pressure. With some generous self-flattery, one could claim Thea had "held off Darkseid."
That exchange had been mostly show. Steppenwolf could accept it. But now? Faced with Darkseid's rage-fueled punch, the two had traded blows directly. Despite looking utterly wrecked, Thea could now legitimately claim she'd taken a punch from Darkseid himself. No one would argue.
This woman might actually be stronger than me... Steppenwolf had to admit it. At the very least, he couldn't have survived a full-power strike from his nephew Darkseid.
Just as his mind wandered, he sensed malevolent intent rolling toward him from the Outer Sphere.
Highfather! Steppenwolf's heart seized with terror. Highfather was making a move on him.
In an instant, he connected all the dots.
Highfather wasn't breaking the agreement that supreme beings couldn't attack New Gods. Highfather upheld the principle of fairness and justice. His strike was in response to Darkseid attacking Thea—an eye for an eye. For the sake of balance, you hit someone, so I hit someone.
As for whether this also served as revenge for Steppenwolf killing Highfather's wife... only the parties involved knew that.
Though weaker than the spectral giant hand from before, Highfather still drove a palm strike toward Steppenwolf.
"Block him for me!" Steppenwolf screamed his command. He lacked Thea's capabilities—he could only use his subordinates as shields.
Vast numbers of Apokoliptian drones threw themselves at the giant hand regardless of casualties. Their efforts were minimal; even touching the hand's afterimage reduced them to dust. Just as Highfather was about to sneer, a figure shot skyward, catching the descending hand from below and holding it in a stalemate.
A mortal can do this? Highfather stared at this black-suited, red-caped figure in bewilderment, but still pressed down harder.
Evil Superman, suddenly bearing tremendous pressure, began to crack all over his body. After buying three seconds, he could endure no more. A look of release crossed his face as he crumbled to ash.
Steppenwolf used those precious seconds Superman had bought to barely dodge the direct impact of the giant hand. The shockwave still sent him flying several kilometers (about 3 miles).
Heart pounding, he looked at the crater in the ground. This attack had cost him his strongest fighter, and the shockwave had left him severely wounded. But the good news was: he was still alive.
Highfather glanced at the ashes that had been Superman, thoughtful. Missing Steppenwolf was regrettable, but rules bound him—he couldn't strike again.
This time, with Thea's help, he had wounded his sworn enemy. It wouldn't be right to leave her unrewarded. His gaze pierced through space to Earth-2. The Legion Commander stood there propped up by her sword, trembling pitifully, looking absolutely miserable. His heart softened with sympathy.
Perhaps harboring thoughts of recruiting her to fight Darkseid again someday—and having seen her Soul domain—he considered his own related divine positions, then selected a brilliant, indescribable sphere of light and tossed it down.
Thea had been playing up her pitiful state, and finally it paid off. When the light sphere arrived before her, she was genuinely shocked: Highfather was using Source energy as a reward.
"This is what you've earned. Justice requires your continued efforts." Highfather's voice was warm as always.
"End the battle as quickly as possible—we've already won this round. Also, this universe paid a tremendous price to resist Darkseid. Take care of them properly."
"Understood, Your Majesty!" Thea reached out and accepted the Source.
It wasn't a New Source; the information was directly readable.
Arts! Highfather had given her an Arts domain. In this era of chaos and war, this was arguably the weakest possible domain—its development potential far inferior to Trade and Wealth, let alone Soul.
Throughout history, even in ancient times and the age of the Old Gods, art deities had never been strong. Whether the Muses of Greek mythology or H'ronmeer of Mars, they had all started as art gods. Now one was comatose and the other had completely fallen to darkness.
Still, Thea didn't complain. When you had more divine positions, you could afford to be picky. She was nowhere near that point yet.
Trading blows with Darkseid had given her significant insights.
Darkness, Evil, Power, Tyranny, Slaughter—these were Darkseid's main divine positions. He probably had a few minor ones as well. Meanwhile, Thea only had Soul as a major position. Wealth was secondary, and her other two were mostly supportive in nature.
She gave the Arts domain a cursory glance—there really wasn't time for detailed study now.
Having received her reward, she couldn't keep playing the victim. Though her entire body still ached, she raised her holy sword high.
"Darkseid has fallen!"
"Darkseid has fallen—!!"