As people who have worshipped Poseidon for countless years, the Atlanteans sensed the Sea King's presence just moments after Thea did. Several figures who appeared to be priests were bowing toward the distance.
Poseidon didn't manifest directly—he merely projected his voice. "Mortals, why do you waste seawater so recklessly? Do you dare disrespect the ocean's majesty?"
His voice sounded muffled, as if speaking through a blanket. From Poseidon's perspective, this was probably just humans being idle again, playing their usual game of land reclamation.
Every drop of seawater corresponded to a portion of his divine power—the very foundation he used to counter Zeus and Hades. If they reclaimed land while he slept, he couldn't do anything about it. But now that he'd awakened, he wouldn't let humans do as they pleased.
His true form still rested in the ocean's depths, maintaining a state of light sleep. What came this time was merely an avatar. He hadn't expected another deity on the surface, and he hadn't bothered with divine detection—just as Hades had initially overlooked Thea, Poseidon didn't have the habit of constantly casting detection spells at everyone.
He had no idea that a goddess was currently preparing to "reason" with him. His original plan was simple: make an appearance and leave.
But Thea wasn't about to let him escape. She activated her divine power at full strength, directly shattering the Atlanteans' protective barrier. Her time was precious—she had no patience for lengthy negotiations. To prevent them from attacking recklessly, she needed to make a statement they couldn't ignore.
Her piercing gaze swept across the Atlanteans, finally settling on the magical trident in Orm's hands. This ambitious yet incompetent second prince was far less honorable than his brother. He flinched slightly under Thea's scrutiny, instinctively tightening his grip on the weapon.
That'll do. Thea extended her left hand. Under the invisible wave of force, Orm's trident flew into her palm with a whoosh.
A magical trident? After a brief inspection, she sneered. What magical trident? The thing reeked of demons!
She'd originally planned to just throw it back as a warning, but demonic involvement changed her mind.
Demons were enemies of order. Kill them on sight—you couldn't go wrong.
This trident wasn't just demon-forged—there was even a weakened soul trapped inside, constantly devouring Orm's flesh and blood to restore its own strength.
"Kid, you'll thank me for this later!" Thea gave Orm an enigmatic smile, gripped the weapon at both ends, and began applying pressure while her divine power invaded the trident's interior.
The demon inside was horrified beyond measure. The nameless demon had no idea where this divine power came from—it only felt like being burned alive by flames.
Facing total annihilation, it stopped hiding. A phantom appeared above the trident, struggling desperately to escape Thea's grasp.
Simultaneously, it began draining Orm's life force through their soul connection. The poor prince screamed and collapsed.
A prolonged struggle would have caused irreversible damage to Orm. Fortunately, the gap between Thea and this nameless demon was insurmountable. This demon was roughly on par with Chato Santana—El Diablo—from the Suicide Squad.
Thea's divine power worked like a millstone. As both sides exerted force, the demon was ground to dust.
With the demon destroyed, the trident was no harder than chopsticks in Thea's hands. It snapped in two with a crack.
"Your brother was corrupted by a demon. He'll need some time to recover," Thea explained to Aquaman and Atlanna.
Everyone had seen the demon's phantom draining Orm. Learning that a demon had twisted her son's (brother's) nature, both mother and brother breathed sighs of relief. That explained it—only someone under demonic control could commit such atrocities.
As for the actual truth? They'd handle that themselves.
Orm was critically injured, and several of the old councilors, somewhat intimidated by Thea's display, hurried to carry him away for treatment.
The humans showed no intention of attacking either. Thea ordered them to stand by while she seized this brief window to deal with Poseidon.
Following the trail of his divine power, she descended. Her pursuit was so blatant that even someone as oblivious as Poseidon couldn't miss it.
"Which pantheon do you belong to?" Not knowing the pursuer's intentions, Poseidon's avatar conducted a scan. The more he probed, the more shocked he became. The divine power following him was abundant—while there were subtle differences between various divine powers, the avatar could confirm this was a true god.
Power was the foundation of dialogue. Unable to gauge her background, Poseidon spoke politely.
Thea was equally surprised. The ocean typically evoked images of raging waves—wild and unrestrained. Yet now, whether due to age or lack of confidence, Poseidon seemed... subdued.
Still, when someone shows you respect, you should return it tenfold. She could play the ruthless card, but she could also act the lady.
"Your Majesty, Sea King, I come at the request of Queen Hera to invite you to join us in striking against the Underworld."
"Ha!" The divine power coalesced into human form—a dashing old man with a full beard.
His tone turned harsh. "My dear sister became queen? How is it that she now wields such authority that she can command me?"
Thea was about to continue persuading him when he suddenly raised a surge of seawater. "Leave my domain! You're not welcome here."
Torrential water rushed toward her. Thea wasn't afraid of this avatar—it wasn't even as strong as Diana. The question was his true form's power level. If it was only on par with the First Born, she had nothing to fear. But if he was truly formidable, she'd have to give up. Erring on the side of caution, she let the current carry her away for now.
The wave swept her thousands of miles in an instant, carrying countless bewildered fish along with her.
The old sea god was cunning. To prevent Thea from tracking him, he fled south at high speed.
Thea chuckled softly. Hera had told her Poseidon's approximate location—definitely not the sea region where his avatar currently was. Besides, his obvious misdirection suggested he was afraid of her following him.
She'd already memorized his divine power signature. Now she drew the Holy Sword to amplify her perception, searching for the Sea King's true form.
Her psychic tendrils extended infinitely. Countless fish became her eyes and ears, revealing hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean territory.
As she searched, one fish suddenly vanished from her perception. Thea smiled knowingly. There it is. He was hiding in an ingeniously designed subspace.
Like an arrow released from its bow, she dove rapidly toward that vanishing point.
Divine power fluctuations couldn't fool anyone. Poseidon's avatar had thought he could lure away this troublesome visitor, but Thea had still discovered the clue. He had no choice but to turn back and intercept.
Thea quickly realized her underwater speed was far inferior to his. Despite his avatar being weaker than her and much farther away, he still reached the vanishing point first. When Thea arrived, she found the old man standing there, glaring at her furiously.