Diana often sparred with Thea, so she had plenty of experience dealing with elemental energy. Mera's hydrokinesis was merely troublesome for her, not fatal. Her shield blocked the volley of ice and water arrows, while the Sword of Hephaestus slashed continuously, forcing Mera to mobilize massive amounts of water to form shields for defense.
On the other side, the battle between Thea and Aquaman was far from soft and delicate. Lightning was known for being unruly and thunderous. Energy exploded, sound and light dazzled—their fight hit white-hot intensity almost immediately.
Aquaman had been beaten into confusion by these two women; he had long forgotten what he originally intended to do. Thea, on the other hand, wanted to see just how strong the touted Trident of Neptune really was. The lightning arrows in her hand didn't stop, firing one after another. Occasionally, she condensed her own magic into the arrows to give Aquaman a surprise attack.
"Get down here if you have the guts!"
Aquaman was being beaten passively. He was nearly invincible in water, but his strength dropped significantly on land. Most critically—he couldn't fly! After being used as target practice by Thea for so long, his already short temper could no longer be suppressed.
Hovering in mid-air, Thea didn't just shoot arrows; she occasionally threw out a few weakening spells. However, whether it was the Trident in hand or his Atlantean royal bloodline, Aquaman's magic resistance was surprisingly high. Among the people Thea had met, only Diana had higher resistance. Out of ten spells, nine were resisted, and the remaining one lasted for a very short time.
"Fear!"
Since pure magic couldn't take him down, Thea mixed emotional energy into her spells. The power of the Yellow Lantern Ring, aided by magic, poured endlessly into Aquaman's heart.
This time, he couldn't resist. The death of his father, the rolling eyes of the people around him, the betrayal of his companions—all kinds of miserable scenes circled in his mind.
"Arthur!"
Seeing her husband in danger, Mera finally broke through the Cheetah God's control. Her eyes regained clarity. Raising her arm, she took a slash from Diana hard on her bracer, then flew up, creating a massive amount of ice to protect her husband. Disregarding her own safety entirely, she stared vigilantly at Thea and Diana.
"Hmph."
Since it was a misunderstanding, Thea naturally wouldn't continue attacking. She turned to look at the prisoners.
What she saw made her blood boil.
Black Manta had been bound by Diana's lasso earlier, but as the battle escalated, Diana had tossed him to Aquaman's two companions to watch. Taking advantage of their distraction, Black Manta launched a sudden surprise attack, wounded Kahina, snatched the package from her back, and fled deep into the dense forest.
Ya'Wara had to take care of her injured companion and hold back her two jaguar pets. Her already not-so-bright brain completely short-circuited.
Thea originally wanted to chase Black Manta, but at this moment, Cheetah had broken free. Although there was still a lot of ice on her body, she could barely run.
"You dare run!"
Thea drew a lightning arrow and shot it, simultaneously calling Diana to chase!
Realizing the mistake they had made as a couple, Aquaman and Mera saw their companions weren't in fatal danger and helped intercept.
Cheetah was formidable, but her previous injuries were not light. Facing these four people, she couldn't beat a single one. She didn't make it three kilometers before being surrounded, beaten to a pulp, and captured once again.
This time, they didn't dare to be careless. Perhaps Cheetah herself wasn't much of a threat, but the Cheetah God possessing her was indeed troublesome—especially that silent, imperceptible method of bewitching minds, which annoyed everyone.
Fortunately, what magic couldn't solve, science could!
Thea told the Elk to go back to sleep, then rummaged through her spatial ring, picking out a few pieces of metal.
These pieces were specially manufactured by Batman to prevent Martian Manhunter's mind control. Composition unknown, origin unknown—solid bleeding-edge tech. Damian had swiped them from his dad to study the relationship between science and magic.
Thea modified them on the spot into a headband and jammed it onto Cheetah's head. From a distance, it looked like a high-tech sci-fi crown of thorns, but it effectively blocked the opponent's mental fluctuations from leaking out.
Trussed up like a dumpling, Cheetah was bound tight. Thea finally stood up to greet the others.
The brown-skinned woman, Ya'Wara, apologized to Thea first. Her jaguars had been bewitched first. The two cats, now free from control, looked very pitiful, bowing their heads cooperatively and whining, begging for forgiveness.
Thea had a lot of love for animals now—she had contacted elks, gorillas, sharks, and unicorns. Stroking the big heads of the two jaguars, she felt the texture was quite nice. She pondered asking Ya'Wara later if she had any cubs; maybe she could take a cub home to raise for fun.
The two jaguars had broken claws and missing teeth, and their bodies were dirty. Thea casually threw two Cleanse and Heal spells on them. Their bodies recovered visibly.
Beside them, Kahina clutched her shoulder, which had been pierced by Black Manta. Looking quite pitiful, Thea thought about it and threw a healing spell to her as well.
The two sides exchanged names. Thea gave her real name, expecting to receive gasps like "It's you!" or "Impossible!" But their reactions made her jaw drop.
These people were either hermits, jungle recluses, or simply underwater dwellers. They had never heard of Thea's name.
A bit depressed, Thea went aside to tease the two jaguars. Once she'd healed them, the jaguars grew a lot closer to her. If not for their deeper bond with Ya'Wara, they might have gone back to Star City with her directly.
The others didn't have her leisure. Kahina recounted how she had been chased by Black Manta all the way. She was happy when her mortal enemy was caught by two passersby, but she didn't expect a melodramatic mess of a battle to follow. The prize slipped through their fingers, and not only did the duck fly, but it also wounded her and snatched a Golden Seal—one of the Dead King's artifacts.
"This lady's artifact," Kahina pointed at Diana, "made Black Manta tell the truth. He wants to collect three artifacts, open the tomb seal, find the Dead King's Seventh Artifact..." Kahina recounted everything she knew.
"I will gather my companions and deal with Black Manta together!" Aquaman issued a declaration, his blood boiling. Mera looked at him with eyes full of love.
Thea curled her lips watching them. Several metahumans carrying a pile of divine artifacts ganging up on a normal person, yet you shout so self-righteously. Do you have no shame?
"Do you need our help?" Thea stayed silent, but Diana, with her surplus of justice, spoke up.
"We don't need your help, Greek." Mera looked at Diana with some vigilance.
There were too many women around her husband. Kahina and Ya'Wara claimed to be her husband's companions, but she had never heard him mention them. Mera, fallen into blind love, was like a female beast, scrutinizing every woman approaching her husband.