New Gods differed from Old Gods in how they applied their divine power. Old Gods' abilities were fixed—what they were, they stayed, with little change over time. New Gods, however, could evolve their powers based on personal understanding and development.
If Old Gods acted too recklessly and caused major destruction, they'd face suppression from the world's will itself.
New Gods faced no such consequence—as long as they believed they were right. In the original timeline, Highfather experimented with the Life Equation and transformed billions of people on an entire planet into monsters. When they couldn't be restored, he had Orion lead the cavalry legion in an extermination campaign. Because he considered himself righteous, nothing happened to him.
Old Gods couldn't operate that way. Athena turning the occasional person into a spider was fine, but if she transformed an entire city's population into spiders indiscriminately, she'd face serious trouble—possibly even death.
Thea's wealth attribute continued exerting its influence. Not only did it affect Apollo directly, but the other gods felt it to varying degrees as well.
Diana quickly dismissed the Amazons who'd gathered to watch. Their resistance to divine power was essentially zero—several warriors already wore expressions of obsession.
"Strange ability," Apollo muttered, having underestimated this power. The direct consequence was missing a shot, which threw him into Thea's attack rhythm.
Her whip danced through the air—left, right, up, down. The mesmerizing quality of wealth reflected everywhere through her magic, making even Apollo squint. He had to choose a general direction and use rapid-fire techniques to force Thea back.
Countless arrows blazing with searing light shot forth. Mount Olympus, normally starlit, blazed bright as day from their exchange.
Thea wasn't Kryptonian—she couldn't tank his light-infused arrows head-on. After dodging a dozen, inspiration struck. Her whip flicked out, catching the final arrow, and she activated her divine power.
The Solar Arrow's shaft fell into her hand. The energy attack dissipated when she grasped it, but the arrow itself remained. Thea finally discovered one aspect of her divine domain—inclusivity! Wealth had the characteristic of encompassing all tangible items and measuring their value.
Everything in the world with objective existence that could be traded could be collected, as long as it didn't exceed a certain threshold.
In theory, she could create a magical version of a money-summoning treasure...
The idea of forging her own divine artifact appeared in Thea's mind for the first time. She immediately began using this divine trait to attack Apollo aggressively.
Her earlier speculation matched reality fairly well. Apollo's divine arrows could be collected, but Thea had to expend her own divine power in exchange. It was more like forced buying and selling—the transaction didn't need to be equal, but both parties had to give something for it to complete. If the opponent exceeded a certain energy threshold, even wealth divine power would be helpless.
After she collected three arrows in succession, Apollo put away his bow and fought her in close combat, his entire body wreathed in flames.
Thea couldn't absorb this energy. She had to fall back on her old methods and trade blows with him move for move.
After ten minutes, both stopped by mutual agreement. Neither could defeat the other. Apollo had fought two gods consecutively and was running low on stamina. He left the scene in a huff.
Since he was now an ally rather than enemy, Thea didn't rush forward with taunts. She weighed the three arrows she'd obtained—all forged from quality materials and tempered in the sun. Good stuff.
She handed them to her personal master smith, Diana. The warrior goddess had an unusual passion for rare materials. Since Thea had secretly taken control of Ibn Trading in the interstellar merchant guild, Diana would periodically search the guild for rare materials. What followed was always buy, buy, buy.
She preferred weapons and armor over makeup—that was Diana.
Thea then went to find Hera and relay Poseidon's message, completing that task. Unfortunately, she'd already collected the reward. After exchanging pleasantries with Hera, she emerged to find Diana pulling Supergirl into a discussion with Ares and Heracles about the warrior's way. All four were deeply engaged.
This whole "warrior's way" thing was something she completely lacked—never had, never would. Run when you know the enemy is particularly fierce? Otherwise you're asking for death. But in Heracles' view, a true warrior in the strictest sense should have no fear, should give their all against every opponent. The weak deserved due respect, and one shouldn't retreat from the strong.
Ares, Supergirl, and Diana all agreed wholeheartedly. She appeared to agree while internally rolling her eyes.
Someone like Heracles would probably dare take an axe to a primordial beast if one descended.
Honestly, it was admirable. Unfortunately, she completely lacked such noble character. Still, it was useful for Diana, so she didn't interfere. After exchanging a few perfunctory comments about the warrior's path, she went off alone to study her divine power characteristics.
Tangible objects could be sold and traded. But what about intangible things?
Not necessarily impossible. Demons provided a new line of thinking—soul trading, the demons' favorite. So for the Goddess of Trade and Wealth, were souls on the transaction list?
Thea carefully considered it. The answer was yes!
Souls were possible, as were knowledge and memories. Combined with Morgan le Fay's spellbook she'd obtained earlier, with its numerous necromancy spells, she had a new research direction.
When Diana returned to their room that evening, Thea realized she really wasn't cut out for the path of light and righteousness—just a little casual research and she'd wandered straight into dark magic.
Over the following days, the gods entered a state of war readiness. Even Apollo, who'd been forcibly conscripted along with a hundred and twenty reluctant companions, took things seriously. Nobody jokes around with their own life.
Midway through, Thea returned to Earth to bring back the Flash, planning to counter Hermes' speed advantage. She introduced him to Supergirl with less than pure intentions.
Their first meeting made an excellent impression on both. Supergirl's sincerity and Barry's sunny disposition touched them both. Honestly, Thea never thought much of Iris. Supergirl paired with the Flash—now that had appeal! Compared to Iris, having Supergirl as a daughter-in-law wouldn't get objections from the Speed Force—in his mother's form—right?
Despite being optimistic about them, Thea still had some principles and didn't do anything too heavy-handed. Everything would follow its natural course.
Three days later, the army assembled. The two goddesses who'd fled earlier were forced to return as well.
Divine Queen Hera, Mighty Heracles, Sun God Apollo, War God Ares, Wine God Dionysus, Smith God Hephaestus, Agriculture Goddess Demeter, Discord Goddess Eris.
Eight Greek deities plus Thea, Diana, Supergirl, the Flash, and others led the massive army away from Mount Olympus to rendezvous with the Sea King.