Darkseid's punch hit nothing but air. Thea manipulated the soul ocean to flow around his attack, the surging waves gathering tremendous force before crashing over him.
His right fist whiffed completely, throwing his stance off-balance. The left hand couldn't suppress Diana either. With souls in sync, one pushed while the other pulled—the two goddesses combined their strength to drag the mountain-like Darkseid into the soul ocean.
Wailing souls vaporized instantly on contact with Darkseid, but there were just too many! Thea had also mixed a large portion of Greed divine power into the soul ocean. Even Darkseid got confused, twice almost believing there were treasures at the ocean floor, reaching down to grab them.
Fortunately, the Dark Lord wasn't your average deity. He quickly came to his senses, realizing he'd been toyed with, and attacked the soul ocean in venting fury. Diana reverted to human form, removed her guardian bracelets, and shouted as she pressed down on Darkseid's neck, trying to force him completely underwater.
On the other side, Thea also manipulated the waves into several tentacles that grabbed Darkseid's limbs, coordinating the pull downward.
Once half his body submerged, discomfort flooded through him. Darkseid naturally resisted, and for a time the two women were locked in a stalemate with him.
Though the Dark Lord struggled mightily, he'd lost the initiative. Situated within the soul ocean and constantly facing harassment and erosion from the dead, he couldn't break free quickly.
Without hesitation, Thea—carrying Darkseid—transformed into a gray-white river flowing toward the horizon. That was her pre-set battlefield, where many more techniques awaited the Dark Lord's "testing"!
Watching this scene, Steppenwolf—currently engaged with Superman—nearly dropped his jaw. His boss wouldn't... wouldn't actually lose, right?
His battle-axe, which had been whirling impenetrably, revealed an obvious opening. Superman caught it instantly. Superman was desperate too—failing to take down this small fry for so long meant countless human coalition soldiers dying every minute and second. He felt sick about it.
Fortunately Steppenwolf didn't hear his thoughts, or he'd definitely curse—You're the small fry! Your whole family is small fries!
Both fighters favored aggressive styles and were originally evenly matched. But now with Steppenwolf's momentary distraction, Superman immediately seized the advantage.
Banking on his invulnerability, Superman grabbed Steppenwolf's axe-wielding hand and punched him square in the face.
Steppenwolf, a battle-hardened veteran, had extensive experience with this situation. He reached back for his greatsword, ready to teach this rash Superman an unforgettable lesson.
But his hand grasped empty air. Huh? Ah! He suddenly remembered—Thea had somehow stolen his greatsword last time. He didn't have a sword today!
CLANG! An earth-shaking impact. Steppenwolf took a solid punch to the face, blood and several teeth spraying everywhere.
At least his experience served him well—he counterattacked, slashing Superman and opening a twenty-centimeter (eight-inch) gash in the blue suit. Blood trickled out briefly before healing automatically.
"Damn Kryptonian!" Superman's martial skills still fell short of Steppenwolf's, but he relied on healing abilities stronger than even gods. Steppenwolf felt like he was trying to grab a turtle—nowhere to get purchase.
Unfortunately, the battle had to continue. Though worried about the overall situation, he had to keep fighting.
The result was disappointing. He wanted to drag things out, but Superman couldn't wait. Every scream from the ground reached his ears—the human coalition had already suffered at least a hundred thousand casualties.
Batman's strategy of first concentrating elite forces to annihilate the enemy's main army, then wheeling around to mop up—Superman didn't entirely agree. Rather than annihilating enemies, why not just drive them off?
But seeing not just the Lanterns fighting desperately now, but even Batman himself leading remaining command staff to join in blocking the rear forces—Lex Luthor, Amanda Waller, all wielding handguns in combat just to buy the main force time—Superman couldn't say anything.
Thea and Diana were fighting the fiercest enemy far away; he couldn't help immediately. Flash was carrying Harley Quinn in a weird position with a giant chasing them—they didn't seem in danger.
Defeat Steppenwolf first, then join the human forces to end this war quickly. The burden is heavy! Superman told himself, filled with a sense of duty.
Mind made up, he stopped worrying about injuries and started trading blows with Steppenwolf head-on.
Two punches for one axe hit. One kick for one punch. Exchanging injury for injury. Superman began a war of attrition.
Facing Superman's deadly serious eyes, Steppenwolf cursed internally. The opponent had no divine power whatsoever, but this physical attack power pushed to extremes made him suffer terribly.
His originally imposing armor now looked like garbage-pile salvage, damaged in multiple places. Steppenwolf could only continuously use divine power to repair his body. In less than two minutes, a full third of his divine power had drained away!
With no human battery to recharge and only a pitiful Hatred Godhood, this divine power would take him decades to recover. Now this blockhead—this idiot Superman—was burning it all away.
He was this miserable, but Superman wasn't comfortable either. Steppenwolf's axe was named the Heaven-Shaking Earth-Shattering Axe—a bit edgy as names go, but the power was real.
Superman had taken six or seven axe strikes, one nearly breaking his ribs. His blue suit had become shredded cloth, his red cape torn with three holes.
He'd tanked it all through Kryptonian superhuman recovery. Superman held back from lethal force—by his estimation, fighting this recklessly should make the enemy flee. But why wasn't this axe-wielder running?!
Superman had super-vision; Steppenwolf likewise observed in all directions. Normally encountering a madman like Superman, after a few exchanges proving he couldn't win, he'd retreat. Having lived countless millennia, he valued this old life highly. But how could he run now? How dare he run?!
In the distant sky, Darkseid had finally stopped playing the stoic minimalist. The Dark Lord was now battling Thea intensely—dark power versus soul power. From afar, the horizon roiled with dark clouds and rampaging black energy, faintly carrying siren-song temptation. Periodically Diana's lightning and the Dark Lord's Omega Beams flashed through.
While his boss fought so desperately, if he fled? What would be the consequences?
Steppenwolf didn't dare imagine. Defecting to Highfather was even more absurd—he and Highfather had a wife-killing blood feud! Defecting would mean dying even faster.
Attack? Seems he couldn't win. Flee? Can't run yet. Steppenwolf had no choice. He wanted to stall, but Superman kept attacking like a maniac. His heart felt so tired!