She focused her super-vision with full intensity. Massive amounts of magical power poured into her eyes. Through the divine artifact's channel, her gaze penetrated the spatial barrier, and her eyes met those of the middle-aged, regal woman wearing peacock feather robes on the other side of the mirror.
Queen of Gods Hera, casually observing their movements, hadn't expected to be attacked. Orange energy wrapped in fear emotion struck her directly. Even deities couldn't resist fear, especially one whose power was down to less than ten percent and who'd never been known for strong willpower.
Still, immortal life brought huge advantages. Divine pride prevented her from falling into self-denial like China White. With some difficulty, she reached out and closed the divine mirror's channel.
So this was Hera. Thea silently assessed her. The ill-reputed Hera had revealed her true strength in their brief exchange. Calling her weak would have been an exaggeration, but she was far from invincible.
Moreover, Hera felt more like a mage than a deity—one who relied on technique rather than raw divine power. Whether her original divine power was insufficient or there were other reasons remained unknown.
Originally, she'd wanted to teleport directly there, but the opponent had retreated quickly, decisively closing the channel.
Mount Olympus' location wasn't in traditional geographical space—without precise coordinates, she didn't dare teleport rashly.
The sense of being watched vanished. Everyone present except the still-ordinary Zola could feel it.
Hermes didn't know what had happened, but he could guess Hera's attention withdrawing definitely wasn't from benevolence or peace-seeking.
Watching Diana stare at him, ready to dump the burden called Zola on him, his mind raced through countless thoughts. He actually came up with an explanation.
Putting on a righteous tone, he said: "I'll take Zola away, but Hera has already noticed Paradise Island. You must warn your mother to be careful." He made as if to leave.
As expected, Diana immediately grew alert at Paradise Island's mention, grabbing his arm somewhat nervously. "Paradise Island? You're saying Hera has already seen my mother!"
Hearing Hermes mention Paradise Island, Thea knew trouble was brewing. Having just lost a round, Hera might well vent on Paradise Island. In the original timeline, Hera had turned the Amazons into snakes and Hippolyta into stone. Who knew what she'd choose in this timeline? And better safe than sorry—Hippolyta and the others couldn't withstand even the current weakened Hera.
Diana wanting to return home was impossible to stop—she even had to approve. Thea sighed quietly.
Feeling Diana had fallen for it, Hermes wanted to cheer in triumph. After so much effort, countless brain cells dying, things were finally back on track.
"Thea, I need to go back. What's your opinion?" Diana urgently sought her lover's view.
Thea certainly couldn't oppose, but she wouldn't jump into their ambush unprepared either. Being able to win was one thing; fighting desperately was another. Having helpers and not using them—that was foolish.
"May I ask, which deities have awakened?" she questioned the god of speed and thieves, famous for well-informed intelligence. Gathering information was his business. If he knew nothing, that would be too suspicious.
Hermes hesitated but still answered: "Queen of Gods Hera, sun god Apollo, war god Ares, goddess of discord Eris, plus Hades and Poseidon should all be awake."
The list was longer than Thea had hoped. He only mentioned most of them. The agricultural goddess Demeter, who was in league with him—he didn't mention.
Nor did he mention the moon goddess who'd briefly been Thea's superior. But Thea hadn't sensed signals of the moon goddess descending. Did she feel her divine power was sufficient and wasn't getting involved? Thea considered this good news. The moon goddess still represented some mutual respect—crossing swords would be unfortunate.
"Ares..." Diana's expression now wasn't like a century ago when mentioning Ares was like mentioning her father's murderer, but it still wasn't pleasant.
Thea analyzed their strengths and weaknesses. The world had been peaceful a long time, plus the heavy losses from a century ago—Ares' situation was dire. The goddess of discord and agricultural goddess weren't known for combat. The only one requiring caution was sun god Apollo.
Unlike the moon goddess with scarce faith, the sun was an important prerequisite for Earth species survival. Even if modern society no longer worshipped sun gods, cumulative diffuse faith still existed. His combat power was hard for Thea to gauge.
If the two of them simultaneously faced four or five weakened deities, victory was truly uncertain.
Especially the sun god's combat power—she couldn't guarantee winning. Fortunately, this world was full of surprises. Thirty years ago, an alien spacecraft had landed on Earth, demonstrating Kryptonian prowess to Earthlings.
Thea's solution was recruiting a Kryptonian to fight the sun god. Considering Paradise Island combat and their exclusion of all males, Superman was directly eliminated. Between Supergirl and Faora, Thea chose Supergirl.
Not that Faora was weaker in combat, but she couldn't get away. Plus Faora's personality was too rigid—unsuitable for the equally rigid Paradise Island women.
Conversely, the ditzy, naive Supergirl was very suitable. Plus Thea remembered she'd visited Paradise Island in the original timeline—there shouldn't be major issues.
After explaining to Diana about finding reinforcements, Diana didn't fully understand Thea's cautious intentions but chose to trust after years together. She knew Supergirl, just not well.
Thea quickly contacted Kara Danvers, currently studying at National City University. They had a good relationship—Thea treated her like a little sister, often taking the girl out to eat. Kryptonians and Saiyans had similarities—both could really eat! Just treating her to one meal, the credit card numbers were heart-stopping. Ordinary billionaires couldn't sustain this diet.
Kara Danvers arrived quickly. Blue bodysuit, red boots, red cape, with a large S emblem on her chest—all replicas Thea had made based on Superman's suit. Though testing showed it wasn't as good as what Superman's father left him, the quality was still excellent, more than adequate for regular combat.
"How is it? Pretty impressive, right?" This was actually Supergirl's first time coming out to fight in her "exclusive equipment." She flew very fast. Upon arrival, instead of landing immediately, she flew two more circles in her red cape before descending. After greeting Diana, she asked Thea cheerfully.
Thea had plenty of ways to handle the eternally youthful Kryptonian. Coaxing and praising made Supergirl burst out laughing before she finally stopped.
Hermes' expression was somewhat strange. Initially he didn't know what they were waiting for. Thinking Diana had seen through the trap, he'd made several gestures to take Zola first but was stopped by Diana, who wanted everyone to move together. Only then did he relax.
Then learning there were reinforcements, he could only wait quietly.