The magical double fired a volley of magic missiles, hitting the enemy square on. Seizing the moment the opponent lost his footing, Thea lunged with the God-Killer sword, piercing his chest and ending the monster.
Damn it. It really is Trigon!
Thea examined the monster she had just killed. Horns, white hair, three pairs of eyes, dark red skin. This had to be one of the Sons of Trigon.
What a pain!
Watching the corpse sink into the ground, Thea shouted to Nightwing, "He's not dead! He can absorb all negative emotions in the area to regenerate. You just have to stall him!"
Nightwing had already seen the enemy Thea just 'killed' drill out of the ground unscathed. He nodded. "Leave it to me."
He brandished his escrima sticks and engaged the Son of Trigon.
With his help, Thea could finally restart the sealing process. The barrier, which was almost closed, had been damaged again by the surprise attack. Both sides entered a stalemate once more.
Unknown caster on the other side, can you hear my voice?
Just as Thea was struggling to push the entity back, the faint voice of a young girl echoed in her mind.
Who are you?
Thea was swamped. She had to coordinate spells between her main body and her double, while sparing a bit of attention for Nightwing's battle. The enemy kept firing dark red energy beams; Nightwing, a mere human, was struggling to hold on.
Phew! Thank goodness. You have telepathy. You're stronger than I imagined. The one currently trying to drill into your world is the greatest demon in the multiverse, named Trigon.
The girl's voice sounded visibly relieved. She had been terrified that no one on this side could respond. Now that they could communicate, the odds of winning had increased significantly.
Thea, however, felt zero joy. She just felt incredibly unlucky!
It was supposed to be a simple rescue mission for Jason and Yao Fei, maybe a relaxing countryside getaway to Nanda Parbat. A happy day trip! How did it turn into two worlds joining hands to seal an Arch-demon? The script changed too fast!
The one communicating with her was, without a doubt, Raven, the Demon's daughter. Somehow, Thea's group had inexplicably stuck a foot into Raven's debut event of sealing her father, opening up a second front for Trigon, leading to this mess.
I know Trigon. An interdimensional Arch-demon. My seal is almost complete. What's your plan? Thea sped up her hand movements. Her double even found time to cast a few speed and protection buffs on Nightwing.
What I'm saying is... I can't hold him back anymore!
The girl's voice and the sound of the barrier shattering rang out simultaneously.
A dark red hand, ten meters long and two meters thick, burst violently out of the barrier. The aura accompanying the hand was filled with burning pain and wailing souls.
Thea was startled and nearly cursed aloud. If you can't hold him, say so earlier!
"Why did you come over too?" Thea stared speechlessly at the girl who had materialized—she looked only eight or nine years old.
"I came to help you! I'm very strong."
The girl, wearing a black cloak that covered everything above her nose, cast a few restrictive spells as she spoke, binding the demon that was chasing Nightwing.
Thea nearly choked.
"Help me? Help me, my ass! Shouldn't I be the one helping you? How did I become the lead tank here? What does this have to do with me? What logic led you to believe you're helping me?"
Looking at the gigantic hand, one could imagine how massive the main body was. Thea pointed at the hand, asking in disbelief, "Can't you seal this big guy?"
Young Raven looked at Thea like she was an idiot. "How could I seal Him? I was just stalling before. He is the greatest demon in the multiverse."
"Don't look at me with those eyes! I know what you're thinking." Thea was extremely annoyed.
Young Raven glanced at her. The big beauty and the little beauty both huffed "Hmph!" at the same time, turning their heads in opposite directions.
Thea looked at the crumbling barrier. Without Raven's restraint on the other side, the enemy's breakthrough speed was accelerating.
Thea knew Trigon's power. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash combined couldn't even scratch his defense. In the eyes of Trigon's main body, those three were just slightly stronger ants. Totally unworthy of His personal attention.
As for Thea? Don't even mention it. If Trigon fully emerged, the best strategy would be to grab Moira and run for the hills!
But the problem circled back: She had to beat Him back and seal Him before He fully emerged. The Nanda Parbat node was broken; repairing it would take time. Holding off Trigon while repairing the wall? Besides those few entities whose names could not be spoken, Thea didn't know who else had that capability.
Seal... Seal?
Thea stared at the Dead King's Scepter she had acquired just two days ago. She hadn't figured out the sealing function inside the staff yet. Was it destined for today?
As her involvement in events increased, Thea grew more confused. The original timeline definitely didn't have her participation, so how did they handle this?
Or was the timeline with her participation the real one, and the others just stories in movies and comics?
She waved the scepter gently, forming waves of obscure energy in the air.
"What are you doing?" Raven asked.
"Sealing Him!" Thea answered concisely. She flew up, using the scepter like a spear, and stabbed it into the giant hand.
The feedback from the scepter was vague. Not that it couldn't do it, but that it had failed.
"Hold Him down for me!" Thea commanded Raven. After all, Her Highness the Princess had been tangling with her dad for a long time; she might not be able to handle the whole body, but handling one hand should be fine, right?
Raven raised her chin arrogantly. She lifted both arms, and a massive shadow rose behind her. A pure, humanoid dark energy construct—her Soul-Self—pinned down the struggling giant hand, leaving only the wrist exposed.
"Pinned. Watch this!"
Thea roughly understood the principle of the scepter. It could seal, yes, but it had a probability mechanic. Sealing Trigon in one go was impossible; this was the Dead King's Scepter, not God's Scepter!
Thwack! Failed.
Thwack. Still failed.
Thwack... Thwack...
Thea treated Trigon's hand like a slab of pork, stabbing it with all her might, again and again.
The scepter's sealing probability was touching. Every time she stabbed, Gideon calculated the success rate.
From Thea's estimated 20%, it plummeted to 0.025%...
"Hey, can you do this or not?" Raven, the snarky girl, asked.
"I can! Almost there!" Thea was sweating buckets. She had no idea if she could do it. If there were any other way, she wouldn't be doing something this stupid.
Just as Gideon calculated the probability dropping to 0.0007%, a massive ball of non-elemental energy suddenly gathered on the scepter.
Like a curtain rolling back, the energy wrapped around the giant hand, tumbling forward and surging toward the other side.