This battle had become impossible to win.
Though the enemy hadn't resurrected, they still clung to the battlefield through sheer soul power, capable of fighting for a while longer. The Apokoliptian demon army, already suffering heavy casualties, now faced a Magic Legion with fully restored morale and numbers. They crumbled almost instantly.
Steppenwolf watched his forces retreat in disarray. When Thea moved to surround him, he immediately ordered a full withdrawal. Defeat wasn't terrifying—Apokolips had endless fodder to spare. What terrified him was losing generals. The old wolf intended to live a few more years yet.
On the other side, the Great Sorcerer DeSaad, despite having the upper hand, was equally afraid of death. He abandoned the two struggling New Gods and fled alongside Steppenwolf.
The Apokoliptian demons on the battlefield scattered like the apocalypse had arrived, turning tail and running.
The Magic Legion's morale soared. Despite their devastating losses, they mustered 120 percent of their remaining strength to pursue.
Thea didn't need to chase anyone—she didn't have the energy for it anyway. Her divine power, magic, and spiritual force had all bottomed out. If another New God appeared now, she'd have to open a portal and run.
Fortunately, every enemy commander was wounded, each more severely than the last. That was the only reason she could maintain her commanding facade until the battle ended.
Steppenwolf didn't dare linger. He regrouped with the equally battered DeSaad and led what remained of his forces—with over half of them casualties—back to Apokolips.
When the fighting ended, Thea collected the numerous souls into her Treasury Dimension, planning to relocate them to New Genesis later. To her, souls were a form of wealth—she just couldn't bring herself to harvest them from her own people.
As previously agreed, the Magic Legion's mission was complete once Steppenwolf retreated. They would not participate in Earth's internal conflicts.
The remaining Earth villains scattered like rats. The only notable achievement was Caitlin teaming up with Hawkgirl to kill the evil version of Killer Frost.
Cleaning the battlefield and collecting fallen comrades' remains, the Magic Legion had won—but the casualties were staggering.
Starting with Legion Commander Thea herself, fifteen high-ranking mages had fallen. The survivors were almost universally wounded. Over a hundred thousand elite soldiers lay dead, pushing the legion's casualty rate to fifteen percent.
Orion's Father Guard had suffered even worse. To protect the Magic Legion, the Guard had stood on the front lines against the strongest enemies. Of thirty thousand soldiers, only a few hundred remained. Orion himself had been hacked by Steppenwolf until he resembled a bloody mess—covered in blood, most of it his own.
The Magic Legion lacked close-combat capability. Thea gazed at the massive losses with a heavy heart. Many of the fallen had been incredibly talented. Her original plan for the legion was simple: stand in the back, cast spells, done. She'd never anticipated close-quarters combat.
Facing Apokoliptian demons numbered in the hundreds of millions, problems emerged immediately.
The mages were fierce—that was beyond question. But their firepower advantage had never materialized. Steppenwolf's first charge had inflicted catastrophic losses, and everything afterward had been sustained only by burning through gemstones and high-ranking mages holding the line.
When she reorganized the legion, close-combat units would need to serve as the first line of defense.
While Thea reflected on her mistakes, the legion members didn't blame her. Victories had been too rare, and this was a major one.
When Thea announced that the Highfather had wounded Darkseid, many of his devoted followers began showing signs of becoming her devoted followers instead.
Even those who'd lost loved ones considered this a precious victory. Sacrifice didn't frighten them—nothing was too great to give for justice. That was how ordinary New Genesis citizens thought. Besides, the souls had been preserved. They could accept this outcome.
The army rested on the battlefield for a day. Meanwhile, the Flash lived up to expectations—using the stolen Speed Force combined with Cisco's vibrational powers, he defeated Reverse-Flash.
At the final moment, Barry still couldn't deliver the killing blow. Instead, he threw Reverse-Flash to the Time Wraiths, who dragged him away and transformed him into the Black Flash.
This universe had suffered too much damage. First Nabu had absorbed half the power of Order. Then Thea and Darkseid had clashed, their rule-laden energies overwhelming the world. Finally, the sword strike carrying hope and dreams had shattered. The surface appeared normal, but reality teetered on the edge of collapse.
Having received considerable benefits from the world's will, Thea couldn't watch the entire universe explode into dust.
She drew the holy sword again, gathering the scattered sword-light that Darkseid had shattered.
"A mass of energy formed from holy sword-light... I'll call it the Holy Light!" Her head throbbed too much for creativity. She shamelessly borrowed the name.
She placed this light—infused with the world's will and countless souls—at the ruins of Metropolis. The Holy Light would slowly repair the world's damage and restore hope and courage to this reality. Whether ordinary people could use it to become paladins remained to be seen.
"Take care, old Robert." The time for farewells had finally come. Thea sent the main forces back to New Genesis first, then said goodbye to the familiar faces one by one.
"Take care of your family. Seeing you... makes me glad." Old Robert embraced Thea warmly and patted her back.
Old Batman and his son looked like they'd been carved from the same mold—even at this moment of parting, they wore their masks, their jaw lines rigid, confirming their stoic natures.
Thanks to New Genesis medical technology, his depleted lifespan had been largely restored. Conservative estimates gave him another decade or more.
She shook his hand. Knowing he wouldn't visit Batman in her world, Thea didn't bring up the topic.
She bid farewell to Hawkgirl, Khalid, Alan Scott, and Dr. Harrison and his daughter, then finally took the Flash's team back to the original timeline.
After wandering around a bit, she found this Earth remarkably peaceful—prosperous economy, stable society. Thea's entire body ached. She planned to keep Valkyrie close for the night, rest, and return to New Genesis tomorrow.
"Where did you go this time? You seem... stronger." In the quiet of night, Diana asked softly.
She was happy her beloved was growing stronger, but the widening gap between them left her feeling anxious.
Thea slapped her forehead and sat up abruptly. Before, she'd had no way to help Diana develop her Source. Now she'd cultivated one herself—she had plenty of insights to share.
She pulled out Steppenwolf's massive blade and handed it to Diana. "Take a look at this sword."
The Valkyrie examined it, her beautiful brows furrowing. "I really don't like the energy on this blade."
She thought her beloved was offering her a weapon. If she didn't like it, she didn't like it—no need to pretend otherwise.
Though straightforward by nature, she still worried about upsetting her love. She glanced at Thea cautiously.
"Silly!" Thea looked at her adorable little struggle and couldn't help kissing her forehead.
Ahem. She cleared her throat. "This sword killed Diana Prince in another world. That's why you hate it."
The Valkyrie's eyes instantly lit up. She'd been lounging lazily in bed but shot upright, causing certain indescribable parts to bounce accordingly—making Thea's heart itch.
"You went to a parallel timeline? What was it like?"
"Listen to me..." Having obtained the Divine Position of Arts, Thea's tongue had grown more eloquent. She rattled off a description of Earth-2.
"Part of that Diana's soul should still linger in this sword. If you can communicate with her, your Guardian Divine Position should fuse completely very soon."
Thea was certain of this. Diana's starting point had been too high. But all things in the universe maintained an invisible balance—the higher your start, the harder it was to advance. A hundred times harder than Thea, in fact.
Without experiencing the journey from weak to strong, even with divine power long ready to bloom, she lacked the crucial breakthrough in mental state. Unable to shatter her inherent limitations—that was the real reason Diana hadn't reached New God status.