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Chapter 259: You Want to Give It a Shot Too?
Orin Vale strode through the capital and the royal palace as if he were on a walk after dinner, seemingly not even bothering to lift a finger the entire time. He walked up to the innermost palace, and with a flash of light, his form shrank as he descended straight into it.
Guards were still stationed inside, all elites armed with various pieces of Apokolips equipment. Most of them wielded energy weapons; some were equipped with power enhancements, others with speed-enhancing gear. A considerable number also piloted heavy exoskeletons, waiting for their enemy's arrival, fully armed inside three-to-four-meter-tall suits of heavy armor.
However, not a single one of them could even catch a glimpse of the enemy's shadow.
The main gate they were focused on hadn't even opened. An afterimage penetrated the door panel directly, like an incorporeal phantom. The ghost-like shadow flashed out, sweeping through the great hall like a red and silver storm.
No one saw how they were taken down. But when they came to their senses, the entire team's defensive line had crumbled. Elite soldiers were sent flying, and the heavy mechs had been reduced to piles of scrap and metal debris. It was as if a traceless typhoon had roared past, leaving only a scene of utter devastation in its wake.
Finally, there was the throne, which was where Steppenwolf was located.
But the moment it passed through the door, the afterimage came to an abrupt halt. As if appearing out of thin air at the entrance of the great hall, lightning from an unknown source surrounded Orin Vale from all directions, binding him in place like some kind of iron chain.
His body was rigidly fixed in place, yet it still maintained the blur of high-speed motion and a surrounding electric current. It looked rather bizarre, like a snapshot of a figure in high-speed motion captured by a camera lens.
"Ha, I told you this would work!"
The New God named Madman was overjoyed, laughing heartily.
"This is a speedster trap specially designed for you guys who like superspeed. It only activates when a sufficiently high speed is reached. It's a high-speed trap I specially prepared..."
"Cut the crap, Madman!" Steppenwolf bellowed. "Fire!"
The two New Gods were jointly manning a massive, cannon-like weapon. As the device was operated, the space around them seemed to distort. A small, pitch-black sphere spiraled out from the dark cannon barrel, striking the immobilized Orin Vale square in the chest.
The red and silver body was immediately sent flying backward, crashing through walls and buildings with a series of booms before flying straight out of the structure. Then, it exploded violently in mid-air, a black hole bursting forth. Boundless gravity pulled him in, and then it contracted into a single point in space, vanishing without a trace.
"It worked!" Madman laughed. "I told you, my designs have never failed. The Astronomical Ray will open a singularity, a space from which not even light can escape. No matter how strong or fast he is, he can never get away!"
Before Steppenwolf could respond, Orin Vale's voice sounded from behind Madman.
"Whoa, that sounds pretty impressive. But the energy frequency of that last shot seemed a bit unstable. There's a risk of it losing control, you know. And that shot must be its limit, right? The power module is about to burn out. Looks like a one-time-use weapon? Not very good..."
Madman hadn't noticed anything was wrong, but upon hearing a technical question, he replied subconsciously, "Oh, that was due to the time crunch. You know that idiot Steppenwolf told me to research a way to counter that Ultraman within a few days, but that freak's abilities are too numerous and varied, with no obvious weakness. My resources were limited and I was short on time..."
"A stupid boss, huh? I get it. Looks like bosses are the same all over the universe." Orin Vale nodded with deep empathy. "But honestly, the black hole trick is a bit uncreative. I don't think it's very good.
I had a friend who also ran into a black hole. It even had a name, Bashumon. In the end, my friend just poked it with a spear and it exploded.
I had another friend who ran into a black hole, which also had a name, Sphias. In the end, he blasted that black hole apart with a single light ray..."
"Nonsense, how could that be... huh?"
Glancing at Steppenwolf's wide-eyed, stunned expression, Madman, who had been engrossed in the academic discussion, finally reacted.
Wait a minute, there were only two of them here, him and Steppenwolf. So who was that talking behind him?
Madman whipped his head around, and his pupils immediately contracted, widening into the same saucer-like eyes as Steppenwolf.
He saw Orin Vale.
That red and silver form, with its steel-like skin, was the very figure he had just blasted out of the gate and into a singularity with his Astronomical Ray mere seconds ago.
And now, not only was he standing here completely unharmed, but he was also calmly discussing technical issues with him...
What kind of absurd development was this?
What happened to the space that not even light could escape? He had clearly seen him being sucked in, so how the hell did he just respawn behind him in the blink of an eye?
Wait.
Madman thought about the seemingly casual yet utterly absurd lines the other had just spoken, and his heart trembled.
Stabbing a black hole to death with a spear and blasting one with a hand-generated beam—these were things that anyone with a shred of sense would think was pure nonsense.
But on second thought, a person who was in a black hole one second and then respawning behind you the next... also seemed pretty absurd.
So, could it be possible... that those absurd words... were actually true?
In an instant, those seemingly nonchalant words transformed in Madman's eyes into a display of muscle, a threat of the utmost terror.
Worst of all, this threat seemed exceptionally convincing, backed by the proof of his opponent's recent action!
Of course, Orin Vale was telling the truth, but he was just casually complaining about the unscientific nature of many of his Ultraman seniors' feats.
He hadn't, however, just performed a heaven-defying feat like blasting a black hole apart.
In truth, Orin Vale had already seen the trap laid out in this room with his X-ray vision long before he entered. The one who had just taken that combo was merely another high-speed afterimage.
"For Darkseid!"
Steppenwolf let out a great roar, simultaneously pulling out his great axe. He pounced fiercely, his strike descending with immense force.
He looked ferocious and powerful, and someone who didn't know better might even think he resembled a valiant lion. But Madman knew that wasn't the case.
He knew Steppenwolf. From that twisted face, from that crazed roar, he could hear... fear.
Sometimes, a beast's roar isn't for posturing or intimidation, but simply an instinctive reaction to being excessively frightened. Like a defeated dog barking wildly by the roadside, it was really just roaring in a fierce tone—
"—Stay away from meeee!"
Without even turning his head, Orin Vale's arm shot back like a spring, delivering a punch.
*Bang.*
A heavy blow resounded, and a transparent shockwave nearly blew the roof off. The terrifying impact ripped up all the floor tiles in the room, grinding them to dust. Steppenwolf crashed through a wall and was sent flying out, disappearing from sight.
With a casual punch, Orin Vale retracted his fist, shook his hand, and glanced at Madman. "You want to give it a shot too?"
Madman was staring in shock at the incredible wreckage and the hole that had been blasted open. Hearing this, he quickly shook his head.
"No, no, I'm good." He managed to squeeze out a smile. "Let's just keep talking about black holes."
(end of chapter)
Orin Vale strode through the capital and the royal palace as if he were on a walk after dinner, seemingly not even bothering to lift a finger the entire time. He walked up to the innermost palace, and with a flash of light, his form shrank as he descended straight into it.
Guards were still stationed inside, all elites armed with various pieces of Apokolips equipment. Most of them wielded energy weapons; some were equipped with power enhancements, others with speed-enhancing gear. A considerable number also piloted heavy exoskeletons, waiting for their enemy's arrival, fully armed inside three-to-four-meter-tall suits of heavy armor.
However, not a single one of them could even catch a glimpse of the enemy's shadow.
The main gate they were focused on hadn't even opened. An afterimage penetrated the door panel directly, like an incorporeal phantom. The ghost-like shadow flashed out, sweeping through the great hall like a red and silver storm.
No one saw how they were taken down. But when they came to their senses, the entire team's defensive line had crumbled. Elite soldiers were sent flying, and the heavy mechs had been reduced to piles of scrap and metal debris. It was as if a traceless typhoon had roared past, leaving only a scene of utter devastation in its wake.
Finally, there was the throne, which was where Steppenwolf was located.
But the moment it passed through the door, the afterimage came to an abrupt halt. As if appearing out of thin air at the entrance of the great hall, lightning from an unknown source surrounded Orin Vale from all directions, binding him in place like some kind of iron chain.
His body was rigidly fixed in place, yet it still maintained the blur of high-speed motion and a surrounding electric current. It looked rather bizarre, like a snapshot of a figure in high-speed motion captured by a camera lens.
"Ha, I told you this would work!"
The New God named Madman was overjoyed, laughing heartily.
"This is a speedster trap specially designed for you guys who like superspeed. It only activates when a sufficiently high speed is reached. It's a high-speed trap I specially prepared..."
"Cut the crap, Madman!" Steppenwolf bellowed. "Fire!"
The two New Gods were jointly manning a massive, cannon-like weapon. As the device was operated, the space around them seemed to distort. A small, pitch-black sphere spiraled out from the dark cannon barrel, striking the immobilized Orin Vale square in the chest.
The red and silver body was immediately sent flying backward, crashing through walls and buildings with a series of booms before flying straight out of the structure. Then, it exploded violently in mid-air, a black hole bursting forth. Boundless gravity pulled him in, and then it contracted into a single point in space, vanishing without a trace.
"It worked!" Madman laughed. "I told you, my designs have never failed. The Astronomical Ray will open a singularity, a space from which not even light can escape. No matter how strong or fast he is, he can never get away!"
Before Steppenwolf could respond, Orin Vale's voice sounded from behind Madman.
"Whoa, that sounds pretty impressive. But the energy frequency of that last shot seemed a bit unstable. There's a risk of it losing control, you know. And that shot must be its limit, right? The power module is about to burn out. Looks like a one-time-use weapon? Not very good..."
Madman hadn't noticed anything was wrong, but upon hearing a technical question, he replied subconsciously, "Oh, that was due to the time crunch. You know that idiot Steppenwolf told me to research a way to counter that Ultraman within a few days, but that freak's abilities are too numerous and varied, with no obvious weakness. My resources were limited and I was short on time..."
"A stupid boss, huh? I get it. Looks like bosses are the same all over the universe." Orin Vale nodded with deep empathy. "But honestly, the black hole trick is a bit uncreative. I don't think it's very good.
I had a friend who also ran into a black hole. It even had a name, Bashumon. In the end, my friend just poked it with a spear and it exploded.
I had another friend who ran into a black hole, which also had a name, Sphias. In the end, he blasted that black hole apart with a single light ray..."
"Nonsense, how could that be... huh?"
Glancing at Steppenwolf's wide-eyed, stunned expression, Madman, who had been engrossed in the academic discussion, finally reacted.
Wait a minute, there were only two of them here, him and Steppenwolf. So who was that talking behind him?
Madman whipped his head around, and his pupils immediately contracted, widening into the same saucer-like eyes as Steppenwolf.
He saw Orin Vale.
That red and silver form, with its steel-like skin, was the very figure he had just blasted out of the gate and into a singularity with his Astronomical Ray mere seconds ago.
And now, not only was he standing here completely unharmed, but he was also calmly discussing technical issues with him...
What kind of absurd development was this?
What happened to the space that not even light could escape? He had clearly seen him being sucked in, so how the hell did he just respawn behind him in the blink of an eye?
Wait.
Madman thought about the seemingly casual yet utterly absurd lines the other had just spoken, and his heart trembled.
Stabbing a black hole to death with a spear and blasting one with a hand-generated beam—these were things that anyone with a shred of sense would think was pure nonsense.
But on second thought, a person who was in a black hole one second and then respawning behind you the next... also seemed pretty absurd.
So, could it be possible... that those absurd words... were actually true?
In an instant, those seemingly nonchalant words transformed in Madman's eyes into a display of muscle, a threat of the utmost terror.
Worst of all, this threat seemed exceptionally convincing, backed by the proof of his opponent's recent action!
Of course, Orin Vale was telling the truth, but he was just casually complaining about the unscientific nature of many of his Ultraman seniors' feats.
He hadn't, however, just performed a heaven-defying feat like blasting a black hole apart.
In truth, Orin Vale had already seen the trap laid out in this room with his X-ray vision long before he entered. The one who had just taken that combo was merely another high-speed afterimage.
"For Darkseid!"
Steppenwolf let out a great roar, simultaneously pulling out his great axe. He pounced fiercely, his strike descending with immense force.
He looked ferocious and powerful, and someone who didn't know better might even think he resembled a valiant lion. But Madman knew that wasn't the case.
He knew Steppenwolf. From that twisted face, from that crazed roar, he could hear... fear.
Sometimes, a beast's roar isn't for posturing or intimidation, but simply an instinctive reaction to being excessively frightened. Like a defeated dog barking wildly by the roadside, it was really just roaring in a fierce tone—
"—Stay away from meeee!"
Without even turning his head, Orin Vale's arm shot back like a spring, delivering a punch.
*Bang.*
A heavy blow resounded, and a transparent shockwave nearly blew the roof off. The terrifying impact ripped up all the floor tiles in the room, grinding them to dust. Steppenwolf crashed through a wall and was sent flying out, disappearing from sight.
With a casual punch, Orin Vale retracted his fist, shook his hand, and glanced at Madman. "You want to give it a shot too?"
Madman was staring in shock at the incredible wreckage and the hole that had been blasted open. Hearing this, he quickly shook his head.
"No, no, I'm good." He managed to squeeze out a smile. "Let's just keep talking about black holes."
(end of chapter)
