In Bruce's eyes, Vera was incredibly powerful. Even that "Conqueror," or Clark, who had already left Earth, was no more than this.
With a single strike of lightning, she erased the entire dock. A huge whirlpool had even formed on the sea.
Power like this could only be described as terrifying.
Yet with her back to Bruce, there was no smile on Vera's face.
She scanned the seabed and saw Steppenwolf rapidly rising upward. After taking that attack from Mjolnir, Steppenwolf seemed completely unharmed.
"His defense has improved too."
"Besides his body being strengthened, there seems to be something strange about that armor."
Boom!
As she spoke, Steppenwolf burst out of the water, rising above Vera in a single leap.
He raised his Electro Axe high.
The axe was now releasing red-gold lightning wildly, but the lightning was being held together by an invisible force, gathering into a sphere around the weapon.
The sphere continued to expand.
In the blink of an eye, it had engulfed the axe and Steppenwolf's hands.
This red-gold sphere looked like a sun about to sink below the horizon.
It did not seem particularly dazzling, yet it contained terrifying energy.
Steppenwolf looked as if he were holding up a sun as he smashed it down toward Vera.
Vera snorted and raised Mjolnir to meet it.
The moment they collided, a wave of red-gold electricity exploded outward from the center of the two of them.
The surging lightning spread in every direction like countless snakes rushing forward.
Where it passed, flames scattered through the air.
Streams of fire by the tens of thousands fell from above.
The sight was alarming.
Bruce quickly raised the energy-absorbing bracers before his eyes.
A wave of current swept past him.
The bracers on his arms turned red, having absorbed a huge amount of energy and become overloaded.
Rumble!
The tower struck by the electrical wave began to melt and warp.
Steel deformed.
Stone shattered.
Part of the tower was cut away and tilted as it slid downward.
Bruce turned his head and saw the wave spreading deeper into Gotham City.
Buildings were sliced through the middle wherever it passed.
Lights went out.
The scale of destruction made Batman's expression turn grim.
Buzz!
A sound came from behind him.
Light entered the corner of his vision.
Bruce turned back.
A silver-white beam of light was descending.
The beam was hollow inside, like a passageway.
Within it, Steppenwolf slowly rose while holding his axe.
He was preparing to leave.
Not because he had been defeated, but because even after being enhanced by the Mother Box, he still could not fly.
And since the Mother Box was not here, he did not plan to waste time.
Steppenwolf's figure immediately shrank as he entered the Boom Tube and disappeared.
At this time, flames still filled the sky above the sea.
On the water below, Vera lay flat on the waves and spat out a mouthful of seawater.
"Damn it!"
"That idiot changed the plot so much that even Steppenwolf, the watchdog, has turned into a hellhound."
"Who knows what will happen next."
"I really want to kill that idiot!"
———
[Themyscira]
Like countless days before, today Themyscira was still clear and pleasant.
Under Zeus's blessing, the sea was crystal clear and the sky was spotless.
It looked like paradise.
But looking at such scenery, Helena could not feel happy at all.
It had been two days.
The "Conqueror" had been gone for two days.
She still did not know when he would return.
Or whether he would return at all.
She let out a quiet sigh.
She felt empty inside, as though something was missing.
"The promise we made wasn't fulfilled either."
"What promise?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Helena jumped and turned around.
It was Hera.
The Amazon warrior who shared a name with one of the Twelve Olympian Gods, the Goddess of Childbirth, walked over.
Helena quickly shook her head, "It's nothing."
"You're lying."
Hera set down her shield and spear.
"Are you thinking about him?"
Helena neither admitted nor denied it.
Instead, she asked, "What happened in the room that night?"
Hera's expression became unnatural.
She coughed lightly, "Nothing."
"You're lying."
Helena returned the same answer.
Then the two women laughed.
Thinking of something, Hera lowered her voice, "Men are really incredible."
"I didn't know before."
"Now I understand."
"He can make you very happy."
Helena looked at her longtime friend in surprise.
With a mischievous smile, Hera said, "Now I know why Princess Diana wanted to go to the world of men."
Helena frowned and was about to scold her.
Just then, a column of water suddenly shot up from the distant sea.
A submarine covered in flowing light rose from beneath the surface.
Water poured down from it.
The sea around it was illuminated by its glow.
Then riders mounted on sharks emerged from the ocean.
There were countless of them, forming a huge force like an army.
Helena stood up and said nervously, "Quick, sound the horn."
Deep within the palace.
The Mother Box was trembling slightly.
It sat on a stone platform.
From time to time, it shook, and the particles on its surface shifted.
Diana, fully armed, was speaking with her mother, Hippolyta.
Suddenly, a long horn blast sounded from outside the palace.
Diana's expression changed, "Has Steppenwolf come again?"
Hippolyta looked toward the Mother Box.
"No. If Steppenwolf had come, he would appear here directly."
"You stay here. I'll go take a look."
Wearing armor and carrying a sword at her waist, the Amazon Queen quickly left.
Outside the palace, guards had already brought over her warhorse.
Hippolyta mounted it and asked while riding,
"What's happening?"
"It's the Atlanteans, Your Majesty."
"They've appeared in the bay."
Hippolyta's expression changed.
"Atlanteans?"
"What are they doing here?"
Naturally, no one could answer that question.
Soon, Hippolyta led the Amazon army to the bay.
The Queen raised her hand, signaling the army to stop on the beach.
Then she saw a figure slowly rising from the Atlantean flagship.
It was a tall and powerfully built Atlantean.
He wore silver-black scale armor and a helmet and carried a silver-white trident.
He strode forward.
In front of the flagship, sharks continuously surfaced from the sea, forming stepping stones that joined together into a carpet.
He walked across them.
Reaching the beach, he struck the trident against the ground.
His voice rang across the entire bay.
"I am Orm, King of the Kingdom of Atlantis."
Hippolyta frowned slightly, dismounted her horse, removed her helmet, and walked onto the beach.
"Honorable King Orm, what does this mean?"
"Why is the army of Atlantis here? This is hardly the way one visits an ally."
The man also removed his helmet, revealing a handsome face.
"Ally?"
The young King of Atlantis gave a scornful smile, "That was in ancient times."
"Besides, you sided with the enemy and betrayed us, leading to Atlantis's Mother Box being taken."
"How do you Amazons have the nerve to call yourselves our allies?"