"Gods, behold this planet. The citizens of Muz, famed across the cosmos for their belligerence. They know neither reverence nor humility, and the very concept of glory is foreign to them. Now witness what the Life Equation can achieve in my hands!"
As he channeled divine power into the tip of his scepter, forcibly driving the Life Equation into action, countless rays of white light erupted outward. The world lost all color. Everything within sight turned a blinding white, shadows vanishing entirely. The radiance pouring from the scepter outshone a star ten-thousandfold, and the New Gods had no choice but to shield their eyes.
"People of Muz, you have been chosen. You have been blessed. You are the first in all the cosmos to receive salvation. Rejoice! Celebrate! From this day forward, you shall be reborn."
"You were once lesser, and I will elevate you. You were once lost, and I will give you purpose. You were once fragile, and I will... make you strong!"
"I am Highfather! From this day forward, every accident of birth shall be erased. All shall receive power equally! It is I who bestow it upon you!"
The light reached a blinding crescendo. Even Metron, lounging on his Mobius Chair with his usual air of superiority, had to throw up a hand to shield his eyes. He asked with some uncertainty, "Did it work?"
"Ha! The God of Knowledge doesn't know the answer? The Life Equation is beyond even your knowledge, isn't it? It worked! The cosmos will be saved because of this!" Highfather's laughter rolled like thunder. As the white light fell away, the scene that emerged left every New God frozen in horror.
Every sentient being on the planet had been remade. Fine robes and rags alike had vanished. The boundaries of class were gone entirely. Regardless of former station, every last one of them now wore identical uniforms, kneeling reverently toward Highfather.
The disparities they'd been born with had been forcibly rewritten. There were no longer any distinctions among the citizens of Muz. They had all become soldiers, loyal to Highfather alone.
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
"You—you erased their personalities?! You overrode the will of every single one of them!" Diana was the highest-realm deity present aside from Highfather, and she saw the truth at a glance.
The warrior goddess had never been this furious. She was utterly devastated, unable to comprehend how Highfather—always so compassionate, so just—could have done this. To disregard the will of every living being on an entire world and forcibly rewrite their minds.
What he'd done was worse than brainwashing. Every individual's form of existence had been overwritten. Height, weight, build—all gone. Lifetimes of memories, experiences, and knowledge had been wiped clean. They were no longer themselves.
The process was irreversible. An entire planet. Over a billion sentient beings, erased in a single thought, transformed into "blessed" soldiers.
The tragedy of it. The sheer evil.
Diana drew her sword with a sharp ring of steel and leveled it at Highfather.
"Where is your justice? Erasing their personalities—is that your justice? Answer me!"
She wasn't alone. The other New Gods stared at the transformed citizens of Muz with open horror, then turned those same stares on Highfather.
Even Ugga was wondering whether Highfather had been corrupted by that equation. Erasing the personalities of every intelligent being on an entire planet? How was that any different from killing them?
But Highfather's response left Diana—and every New God—bitterly disappointed.
"This is a necessary step! Only through this can I enforce my justice, my fairness! Why do you all look so troubled? Are you blind? Abolishing every class distinction, giving everyone an equal starting point—how is that a bad thing?"
"This is your fairness? Your justice? You've overridden their individual wills completely. How are you any different from Darkseid!" Diana was beside herself with rage.
Kyle finally grasped what had happened. He regretted handing over the White Lantern and despised this kind of evil committed in the name of righteousness.
Highfather was still expounding his theory. "Replacing everyone's idea of justice with my own—what's wrong with that? Giving them responsibility, preventing infighting, stamping out all evil—isn't that justice?"
"What about the balance of all things? Using this method to eliminate every dissenting voice—what difference is there between justice and evil? Your Majesty, come to your senses! The power has clouded your judgment."
Diana kept trying to reason with him. Lady Canopy of the Archer Legion and Malhedron of the Melee Legion could both see that something was deeply wrong with Highfather and spoke up in support of Diana.
Under normal circumstances, Highfather would have respected their opinions. Three of the four legion commanders opposed him—by any measure, the writing was on the wall. But he was not himself today.
"Balance? You've been brainwashed by that Death Goddess and her theories! What does life need? Do they need vengeance, conflict, and injustice? Shroud it all in justice—that's how you set them free!"
"Free will is sacred!" Diana was still mindful of their relationship, tempering her words as counsel rather than condemnation. Kyle had no such restraint. He pointed straight at Highfather's face and let loose.
The Life Equation had amplified Highfather's power enormously, but it had also sent his psyche into collapse. Rationality had all but evaporated. Seeing a mere mortal dare to shout at him, he raised his scepter without a second thought.
"Your mind needs purifying too! Let me erase all of your suffering!"
A wall of white light slammed toward Kyle. Diana raised her shield to block, but a figure stepped out of thin air directly in front of her, one hand raised, catching the blast with casual ease.
The white light flinched before her. As the genuine White Lantern, the Life Equation embedded in that light couldn't touch her in the slightest.
With weapons drawn on both sides, Thea finally made her entrance.
She wore her Goddess of Death regalia, standing before Highfather once more, regarding her former superior with a tangle of emotions. She caught the beam of white light as if snatching a toy, squeezed gently, and crushed it to nothing.
Ranked ninth in the Death hierarchy, she could now tap into a fraction of Death of the Endless's power. Her bottleneck had broken, and her strength was climbing at a staggering rate every day. She'd already surpassed peak multiversal and was steadily advancing toward omniversal.
Forget Highfather with his unstable grip on the Life Equation and his wildly fluctuating power—even if he'd fully stabilized, he wouldn't have stood a chance against her. What looked like a gap of half a tier was in reality an uncrossable chasm.
Where Thea's aura had once been sharp and imposing, it was now settling into something almost mundane. Compared to Highfather's energy spilling out in every direction, she looked almost mortal with her power drawn entirely inward.
"Your Majesty, it's been a while. And everyone else, you all look well." She greeted the assembled gods with easy familiarity.