Beyond the Limit (DC)

Chapter 258: 258

The man who appeared wore gold armor that covered his entire body, complete with a winged helmet and matching winged boots.

A brilliant red cape draped over his armored torso, fastened by a large golden brooch. He wore a red kilt, and in his right hand, he held a staff-length golden caduceus.

Hippolyta and the Themyscirans immediately dropped to their knees, fists to the ground in deference.

Queen Anahid bowed her head as well, not daring to invoke the wrath of a god. The Amazons of Bana-Mighdall wore somber expressions.

Joseph knew he had to be careful. One wrong move could escalate this into a divine conflict—and he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could oppose the Olympians alone without consequence.

He wasn't even sure how much support the Egyptian gods would offer, or if they would deny any involvement altogether. The only one he had interacted with was Thoth, and Thoth hadn't explicitly asked him to intervene.

"Lord Hermes," Hippolyta said in Greek.

Hermes ignored the greeting. "You failed to answer my question. What is the meaning of this?"

Wonder Woman rose from her kneel and flew closer to him. "Lord Hermes, the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall have willingly submitted to us. They will follow us to Themyscira, and their Golden Girdle of Gaea will be returned as well. There is no need for bloodshed."

"Stand aside, Princess Diana. The Amazons are under orders from Hera herself, on behalf of the All-Father, Zeus," Hermes said.

"That can't be..." Diana murmured.

"It is," a new voice said.

Clad in a floor-length white silk gown with a sophisticated wrap-around bodice, Hera stood with regal poise. Her statuesque beauty was underscored by a golden diadem set with a brilliant red gem. Long, wavy hair framed a face of divine intensity.

"Hippolyta, you are ordered to eradicate the Lost Tribe who have abandoned both the way of the Amazons and the gods."

Hippolyta looked conflicted. She glanced at her daughter, then at Queen Anahid and the city behind her, before speaking again. "Goddess Hera... this is something I cannot do."

"So be it—"

Flames erupted from Hera's eyes, engulfing Hippolyta and forcing a scream of pain from her lips.

"Mother!" Diana shouted, reaching for her sword, ready to strike the Queen of Olympus.

The flames ceased, revealing Hippolyta collapsed on the ground. Steam rose from her body, her skin burned in several places—though her clothes remained somehow untouched.

"They will march without you," Hera continued coldly. "Refuse me again, and I will kill you."

Hippolyta still looked defiant. "I will not murder the descendants of my sister to satisfy your ego. I will take this to Zeus."

Diana clearly got her sense of justice from her mother.

"Will you now?!" Hera's eyes flared once more.

Joseph tensed, ready to intervene—when Hera suddenly turned to the god beside her.

Hermes raised his caduceus, and a blue portal opened. On the other side stood a man with long, flowing silver hair and a meticulously groomed white beard, exuding ancient authority.

He wore a jagged golden crown shaped like stylized lightning bolts and wide golden bracers on his forearms, marking his status as King of Olympus.

His attire was simple: a pale grey-white toga draped over a powerful frame, paired with leather gladiator sandals. Seated on a high-backed stone throne atop a circular dais, he leaned with bored indifference, his gaze sharp and dismissive.

Unlike Hera's blazing presence, his felt cold—like the calm before a devastating lightning strike.

Even through the portal, Joseph could feel the overwhelming presence of the King of Olympus.

"Let's speak to him together," Hera said.

Zeus barely looked up. "Why do you trouble me with this nonsense? I care nothing for the affairs of mortals and Amazons."

"All-Father... please, let me explain—" Hippolyta began.

"Enough. If this mortal refuses the will of my wife, then be done with her."

Hermes stepped forward with a smirk, reaching for Hippolyta—

—but Wonder Woman caught his arm mid-motion.

"Zeus, King of the Gods... we do not submit to your decree. Instead, we demand this matter be settled by trial through combat," Wonder Woman declared.

Hera and Hermes bristled at the defiance, but Zeus simply watched, mildly intrigued.

"The gods accept your terms," he said lazily, leaning on his arm as though already bored.

"Good. I volunteer—" Wonder Woman began.

"Tread carefully, princess. Your actions will have consequences," Hera said darkly, her gaze shifting pointedly toward the Themyscirans behind her—warriors now torn between their queen and their gods.

Wonder Woman hesitated, clearly conflicted.

A hand settled on her shoulder.

"I will be the champion of the Bana-Mighdall," Joseph said, descending as he dropped his intangibility and invisibility.

Some relief flickered across Queen Anahid and her people—but not much. They didn't believe he alone could stand against the Olympians.

To be fair, neither did he.

"You finally reveal yourself, New God," Hermes sneered. "I can smell the Duat on you, boy. Did the Egyptians send you to do their bidding?"

As the messenger of Hades, Hermes guided souls to the underworld and carried messages between realms. He also delivered dreams from Morpheus to mortals. Dimensional awareness was well within his domain.

Joseph ignored Wonder Woman's curious glance.

"No," he replied calmly. "I'm here of my own volition. My mother was one of the people you're trying to exterminate."

He stepped forward, meeting Hermes' gaze.

"I will fight for the right of the Bana-Mighdall to relocate to Themyscira peacefully—and to continue worshipping the Egyptian gods. If you accept, then choose your champion."

Zeus looked at Joseph through the portal with clear boredom. "Normally, we gods would not be permitted to fight mortals directly in divine challenges. But it is clear you are no mere mortal. Hermes—are you willing?"

"Yes, Father," Hermes replied with a vicious smile. Then he raised his voice for all to hear, his words magically translating into a language everyone could understand—as befitting the god of interpretation.

"The matter of whether the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall will move to Themyscira or be punished for their sins shall be settled by trial through combat! One champion from each side... to the death!"

Joseph raised an eyebrow. That had clearly been intentional. While New Gods were evolved mortals connected to the Source, the Old Gods derived power from worship and magic. They could not be truly killed unless their divinity was absorbed and their worshippers eliminated.

Diana looked worried. She clearly hadn't expected the gods themselves to intervene—or for things to escalate this far when she had asked him to protect the Bana-Mighdall.

Hermes continued, "I will represent the righteous Olympus, and—"

"Joseph," Joseph interjected helpfully.

"Iosif of Bana-Mighdall will represent the sinners and traitors to Olympus. Queen Hera will serve as officiant. Let all bear witness," Hermes finished.

"Are we finished here?" Zeus asked.

"Yes, husband," Hera replied with a pleased expression. She already considered Hermes' victory assured.

The portal showing Zeus vanished instantly.

Diana pulled Joseph aside. "Joseph, call off the match. I will beg the Olympians to take whatever punishment is necessary. I don't want to explain to Kori how I allowed you to die."

"I appreciate your concern, but relax. You heard Hermes—he said he smelled the Duat on me. I've already died, and I have ways to come back. And that's worst-case scenario. Who says I'll lose? This will be over in a few minutes at most."

"Evacuate the premises so the match can begin," Hera commanded.

Diana gave him a firm pat on the shoulder in solidarity with an expression that said she wanted to know more about his previous death later before leaving with her mother and Queen Anahid.

Once the nearest people had retreated a considerable distance, clearing the area, Hera's eyes glowed as she summoned a ring of fire roughly five hundred yards in diameter and 50 feet tall, enclosing them at its center.

"Regretting your decision, New God?" Hermes sneered as the base of his caduceus transformed into a blade. "For interfering in the affairs of the Old Gods, you will pay with your life."

"You're not god enough to kill me... but you're welcome to try," Joseph replied as his Nova Force flared around him in a blaze of blue.

Hera's form began to fade as she spoke. "Begin the combat to the death."

Joseph immediately surged forward, tapping into the Speed Force.

"A speedster?" Hermes mused. "Impressive effort."

In the next instant, an armored hand filled Joseph's vision.

Joseph tried to go intangible, shifting into the Mirror Dimension—

—but Hermes' hand still caught his face.

His momentum reversed instantly, and he was slammed headfirst into the ground with meteor-like force.

'Damn. Is Mirror phasing only useful against scrubs? Every high-tier being seems to have a way around it,' Joseph thought irritably.

He felt no pain—his body, integrated perfectly with Shockwave's technology, redirected kinetic force outward, even converting some of it into Nova Force—but his pride took a hit as his head was held down.

'If he can perceive me in the Mirror Dimension, it makes sense he can interact with me too—as the god of travelers and boundaries. Rookie mistake on my part. But what's with that speed? I guess Mercury isn't Captain Marvel's patron of speed for nothing. The limited Speed Force alone won't cut it.'

'Nova. Max out predictive analysis.'

//Understood, sir.//

Joseph immediately intensified his Nova Sense within Hera's boundary. He normally kept it dampened to avoid sensory overload—like what had happened to Match after Joseph repaired him—but now he let it expand fully.

He could hear every grain of sand shift, taste the direction of the wind, smell the subtle currents of magic.

And he became acutely aware of the sharpened edge of Hermes' caduceus aiming straight for his neck.

Joseph didn't dodge.

Instead, he fired.

Twin beams of Nova energy burst from his eyes, burning through the earth before bending—curving sharply at ninety-degree angles as they redirected toward Hermes' orifices.

Joseph could survive a punctured neck and recover within a minute.

But could Hermes survive Source energy burning him from the inside?

Joseph still remembered the agony of Grail's Omega Beams—worse because he had absorbed part of them. Hermes armor didn't cover everything and he had no obvious defense against something like this.

The grip on Joseph's helmet vanished instantly. Hermes wasn't willing to gamble.

The Nova beams pursued him, but Hermes deflected them with his caduceus, redirecting them into the ground. The resulting explosions carved deep craters and fused the surrounding sand into glass.

Joseph rose from the crater Hermes had slammed him into, floating upward with a sharp, devious grin.

Hermes was wary of the Nova beams.

So why not overwhelm him with Nova Force?

Hermes' eyes widened as thousands of glowing blue blades materialized overhead, illuminating the night sky like a field of stars.

'I'll call this one… Arrows of Judgment,' Joseph thought.

//But they aren't arrows.//

'Don't question my genius.'