The second summoned giant looked even more Martian. Thea felt she'd uncovered part of the truth.
She commanded the two giants to attack H'ronmeer, then dropped to one knee and placed her hand on the ground, using her compassion to reach out.
The ground first tested the waters, then quickly reached consensus with her. Thea rose silently to her feet.
The Martians could be said to be dead, and yet not entirely gone.
Their massive psychic power hadn't just helped H'ronmeer achieve rebirth and obtain the death domain. Concentrated together, their power had also replaced the original planetary consciousness.
H'ronmeer must die. That was the planetary will's only demand.
To achieve this goal, they'd interfered with his fusion with the fire element, leaving him stuck halfway—neither fully merged nor completely separated. Afraid they'd sabotage him further, he'd never dared enter the mental realm for deep fusion.
Twenty years ago, they'd also deeply hypnotized M'gann M'orzz, protecting this last Martian. Don't listen to H'ronmeer's bluster about her being a "collectible"—the fool couldn't even leave this cavern. Collect what?
Now Thea's intrusion gave them an opportunity—a chance for revenge.
Through her, the summoned stone giants unleashed triple their normal strength. Even knowing they were outmatched, they relentlessly hammered H'ronmeer.
With such reliable allies, Thea didn't drop the ball. She began charging Excalibur's power, preparing for a decisive strike.
This wasn't a video game where you dealt damage in increments until an HP bar emptied and your opponent simply fell over. That concept was absurd in divine combat.
She had to inflict lethal damage in one strike to end the battle. Otherwise, it would be like her fight with Mach'dhron on New Genesis—they'd fought for ages without either sustaining real injuries.
Now she was gathering the will of all beings through Excalibur. On Earth, this would require some effort, but here on Mars? Gather what? They'd already assembled, and they were completely forthright: as long as you can kill H'ronmeer, take all our psychic power—use it however you want.
After centuries of erosion, tens of thousands of spirits still retained intense hatred and hadn't been assimilated.
These were Mars' finest. Even if they weren't at the Martian Manhunter's level, they were the cream of their race. In terms of mental power? One Martian easily matched ten thousand humans.
A single Martian's psychic force could manifest physically, affecting the material world from the mental plane. Now the hatred of an entire race concentrated together, amplified a hundredfold by Excalibur's power—such immense psychic energy made even Thea's divine form feel heavy.
"Not enough. Give me more!" Her compassion emotion piloted the vengeful spirits of the genocide—a perfect match. Excalibur hungered for more, and Thea wanted to see how far her newly ascended godhood could push. She wanted more.
The planetary will was overjoyed. It had protected M'gann M'orzz, hoping the girl would one day grow powerful enough to carry its conviction and exact revenge, though the odds seemed slim. At least it was hope.
Now Thea had stepped up to help, and she was demanding more power? The planetary will began pouring energy even more frantically. An entire overpowered race's combined strength? Numbers couldn't capture it.
"Scum, out of my way!" H'ronmeer wasn't an idiot. Watching Thea build power like that, if he did nothing, he'd truly be a fool.
He retrieved a whip from the lava and wrapped it around one stone giant's head, yanking it directly into the molten pool. The other he blasted to fragments with golden flames.
"Insolent wretch!" Having dealt with the stone golems, H'ronmeer raised his whip and cracked it toward Thea.
The whip's tip carried massive flames—golden fire like countless tiny dragons clinging to the leather.
These visibly high-temperature flames weren't something Thea dared block directly. She leaped upward, dodging the whip.
But she'd miscalculated. The whip technique was crude, but the flames had their own unique properties.
The silver flames detached from the whip, wrapping toward her.
"Haha! See that? These are my Living Flames! You should feel honored to die by this technique!"
To evade these unknown flames, Thea could only fly higher, but the fire seemed sentient, reversing direction to pursue her.
Interesting! This flame was remarkably pure—something like a variant of mental fire. Most likely H'ronmeer had incorporated Martian psychic abilities into his flame domain, creating this unusual conflagration.
Thea tested several spells. Firestorm was directly neutralized by the Living Flames. Her Imprisonment spell, which could withstand several tons of impact, was simply burned through—barely any impediment. Wielding the increasingly heavy Excalibur, her mobility was severely restricted.
Left with no choice, she used her ring to create a construct, completely encasing the flames. Then she opened a portal and hurled both construct and Living Flames to a remote planet, planning to study them after the battle.
Trapped in lava and unable to relocate, H'ronmeer saw his ranged attacks fail. He grimly made his decision. He opened a portal from the void—ink-black darkness engulfed the surroundings, death miasma so thick it felt solid, permeating the underground cavity.
H'ronmeer shed his flame giant form and merged with the darkness. His voice no longer crackled like burning wood, taking on an ethereal quality instead. "Behold—this is death. I don't care what god you are. Today you're destined to fall here."
In the impenetrable blackness, only one light remained: Excalibur in Thea's hand. She examined her surroundings with interest.
The same thing looked different through different eyes, especially something as intangible as death. Thea hadn't encountered a single god who dared claim mastery over death, but viewing it from multiple angles had given her some insights.
H'ronmeer seemed to have gained inspiration from the genocide. The dense ink around her represented his understanding: darkness equals death. That was probably his interpretation.
But it wasn't just darkness. He'd also borrowed Martian psychic abilities, adding countless hazards within the blackness. Using Excalibur's extended perception, Thea "saw" innumerable shadow beasts prowling in the dark—creatures she'd never seen before, abstract and bizarre in form.
These were probably enemies the Martians had eliminated over their long history. Many beasts showed characteristics of space flight, reinforcing her theory.
Thea found herself at a crossroads: should she immediately release the light accumulating in Excalibur to break this barrier, or skirmish with the shadow beasts to build up even more power in the sword?