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Chapter 261: That Lord
"So, you were in Steppenwolf's hands this whole time?"
Orin Vale asked, looking at Batman, who had suddenly appeared beside him.
"The trail from Intergang led to Dehryan, but there's something very strange about this place," Batman said in a cold, flat tone. "Dehryan is almost completely cut off from the outside world. If something were to happen, it would be even more difficult to obtain intelligence from the outside."
"So you decided to go deep behind enemy lines and figure out the situation from the inside." Orin Vale understood and nodded.
It was indeed a very Batman move.
It was an iconic moment that comic fans were already accustomed to: the Justice League's Seven Giants in a team fight. But if you counted carefully, there were only six of the Seven Giants on screen. Only true fans knew that Batman was flanking the enemy's rear.
With the Justice League's star-studded roster, there weren't many conventional villains who could defeat them in a frontal assault. If they ever took a moment to review the main reason for their team wipes at the start of every major event, the first would surely be that everyone was thinking, "With a lineup this stacked, how could we possibly lose?" Consequently, everyone would decide to just coast, assuming someone else would carry them. This often led to them inexplicably losing the team fight after a series of bronze-tier plays.
As for the second reason, it was undoubtedly the disadvantage of being in the light while the enemy was in the dark. Logically speaking, even if they were slacking, the Justice League's base lineup was so strong that it wouldn't be easy for the average person to ambush them. The villains who succeeded often had some special, bizarre methods, making it easy to score a first-encounter kill when everyone was off their guard.
This is where the importance of a crafty veteran becomes apparent. Batman could often carry, partly because he was blessed with plot armor, and partly because the sneaky one was always flanking while his teammates took all the hits. With his teammates absorbing the firepower up front while he picked off enemies from the rear, it wasn't entirely unreasonable that he could lead the team to a comeback.
"But you went pretty deep undercover, huh? You didn't even tell Alfred?" Orin Vale asked.
"Dehryan's signal to the outside world was cut off. I have The Satellite, but the people of Apokolips were monitoring this area. I couldn't risk it," Batman stated coolly. "It also took me a while to earn Steppenwolf's trust, identify his ultimate weapon, and devise a countermeasure."
"That's already very impressive," Orin Vale said.
Batman shot him a sideways glance, his face expressionless, and said nothing.
But in his mind, he was probably thinking, *Likewise.*
Compared to his own intricate operation of flanking, stealing equipment, and pushing the limits, it felt like Orin Vale simply smashing his way through the front gate to get here was somehow more impressive...
Although Orin Vale felt that Batman didn't necessarily trust him (but he didn't think it was personal, since the guy was like that with everyone), their previous collaborative experiences didn't seem to be without benefit. Otherwise, the old, awkward Batman would never have said so much to an Alien.
During their conversation, they were also monitoring the Madman—the only New God left in the Royal Palace. This New God, unlike the hard-headed Steppenwolf, had raised the white flag of surrender at light speed when he saw the situation was dire, expressing his willingness to fully cooperate with the Organization's arrangements.
So now, he was contacting all the war zones through the highest command channel, ordering all units to cease resistance and remotely disabling all weapons of Apokolips technology.
As each war zone complied in sequence, a war was snuffed out in its cradle before it had a chance to fully erupt.
"Alright, now for the last area," the New God said with utmost cooperation. "Once this is taken care of, the threat will be completely eliminated... Huh!?"
The Madman abruptly stopped speaking, his pupils constricted, and he clutched his head, letting out a strange cry. A chaotic energy burst from within him, and some kind of formless spiritual fluctuation erupted outward.
Batman's right hand warily reached for the belt under his cape. But Orin Vale raised a hand to stop him, saying, "Wait, it's not him doing something. Something is happening *to* him."
"What do you mean?" Batman frowned at him.
The Madman clutched his head, crying out in agony, "He's here! He's here! That Lord is here!"
"That Lord," Batman repeated the name.
The Madman clutched his head, rolling on the ground in pain. "I'm sorry, great one... I didn't betray you, it's just—Ugh, AHHHHH!!!"
The Madman's pupils constricted, his arms shot out, and his body tensed, twitching in a violent spasm.
Realizing something was wrong, Orin Vale immediately stepped forward, grabbed the Madman's body, and in a flash, vanished on the spot with a spatial ripple. The next moment, he had already appeared high in the air, dragging the Madman with him.
In the millisecond of that instantaneous movement, the Madman's body was incinerated into ashes.
The fluctuation of The Source erupted astonishingly, spreading across the surface of the Earth once again. Orin Vale observed and recorded the entire process and its data fluctuations, then flew back into the palace in a flash.
Instantaneous movement.
Batman watched from the side, silently committing this newly observed skill to memory, preparing to add it to his little notebook of Ultraman archives.
"What happened?" Batman asked.
"He exploded. Some kind of psychic influence, perhaps implanted in his brain from the very beginning."
"Related to the 'That Lord' he mentioned?"
"It should be. Pal, have you dealt with the signal jamming?" Orin Vale asked.
Pal quickly replied, "The signal within the Royal Palace has been restored. The A.R.G.U.S. Outpost is showing abnormal Boom Tube readings. Transmitting the footage now."
Orin Vale waved his hand, and light particles materialized out of thin air, transforming into a transparent, floating screen. It was a live broadcast of the main battlefield.
And then they both saw it.
The demon god of destruction.
A few minutes earlier.
The main battlefield should have been the first to be settled. The group of superheroes, who had split up to destroy the three Boom Towers, had converged in one place, deciding to clash head-on with the Dehryan army.
In fact, the superheroes had already gained an absolute advantage even before the Madman had disarmed them and issued the surrender command. This contingent was the fastest to surrender after receiving the order—in truth, some had entertained the thought long before the command center gave the order.
After all, not everyone could hold on in a fight against these god-like beings, neither physically nor mentally.
It was while they were taking prisoners and clearing the battlefield that the strange event suddenly occurred.
First, an endless dark cloud appeared, looming in the sky like a giant beast, forming a massive, dark vortex, like an invisible giant hand manipulating the chaotic situation.
Lightning flashed through the air like the rage of a Celestial, tearing across the sky like a sharp sword shattering the void. Illuminated by the electric arcs, the dark cloud resembled a vast army that blotted out the sun and sky, composed of countless giant beasts from Hell. They were thirsty, they were watching with greedy eyes, awaiting the arrival of their king.
Then, the dark cloud began to swirl.
As if a deep vortex had been pierced through it, a white, yet sinister, light emerged, accompanied by a tornado-like hurricane. The energy storm raged across the wasteland, roaring as it whipped up clouds of dust, as if it wanted to devour the world.
And what appeared within that storm was the Demon God who brought destruction.
A hulking, pitch-black body, crimson eyes, and the Omega symbol that represented annihilation. Merely standing on the earth felt like the declaration of a planet's doom.
The God of Apokolips, Darkseid.
(end of chapter)
"So, you were in Steppenwolf's hands this whole time?"
Orin Vale asked, looking at Batman, who had suddenly appeared beside him.
"The trail from Intergang led to Dehryan, but there's something very strange about this place," Batman said in a cold, flat tone. "Dehryan is almost completely cut off from the outside world. If something were to happen, it would be even more difficult to obtain intelligence from the outside."
"So you decided to go deep behind enemy lines and figure out the situation from the inside." Orin Vale understood and nodded.
It was indeed a very Batman move.
It was an iconic moment that comic fans were already accustomed to: the Justice League's Seven Giants in a team fight. But if you counted carefully, there were only six of the Seven Giants on screen. Only true fans knew that Batman was flanking the enemy's rear.
With the Justice League's star-studded roster, there weren't many conventional villains who could defeat them in a frontal assault. If they ever took a moment to review the main reason for their team wipes at the start of every major event, the first would surely be that everyone was thinking, "With a lineup this stacked, how could we possibly lose?" Consequently, everyone would decide to just coast, assuming someone else would carry them. This often led to them inexplicably losing the team fight after a series of bronze-tier plays.
As for the second reason, it was undoubtedly the disadvantage of being in the light while the enemy was in the dark. Logically speaking, even if they were slacking, the Justice League's base lineup was so strong that it wouldn't be easy for the average person to ambush them. The villains who succeeded often had some special, bizarre methods, making it easy to score a first-encounter kill when everyone was off their guard.
This is where the importance of a crafty veteran becomes apparent. Batman could often carry, partly because he was blessed with plot armor, and partly because the sneaky one was always flanking while his teammates took all the hits. With his teammates absorbing the firepower up front while he picked off enemies from the rear, it wasn't entirely unreasonable that he could lead the team to a comeback.
"But you went pretty deep undercover, huh? You didn't even tell Alfred?" Orin Vale asked.
"Dehryan's signal to the outside world was cut off. I have The Satellite, but the people of Apokolips were monitoring this area. I couldn't risk it," Batman stated coolly. "It also took me a while to earn Steppenwolf's trust, identify his ultimate weapon, and devise a countermeasure."
"That's already very impressive," Orin Vale said.
Batman shot him a sideways glance, his face expressionless, and said nothing.
But in his mind, he was probably thinking, *Likewise.*
Compared to his own intricate operation of flanking, stealing equipment, and pushing the limits, it felt like Orin Vale simply smashing his way through the front gate to get here was somehow more impressive...
Although Orin Vale felt that Batman didn't necessarily trust him (but he didn't think it was personal, since the guy was like that with everyone), their previous collaborative experiences didn't seem to be without benefit. Otherwise, the old, awkward Batman would never have said so much to an Alien.
During their conversation, they were also monitoring the Madman—the only New God left in the Royal Palace. This New God, unlike the hard-headed Steppenwolf, had raised the white flag of surrender at light speed when he saw the situation was dire, expressing his willingness to fully cooperate with the Organization's arrangements.
So now, he was contacting all the war zones through the highest command channel, ordering all units to cease resistance and remotely disabling all weapons of Apokolips technology.
As each war zone complied in sequence, a war was snuffed out in its cradle before it had a chance to fully erupt.
"Alright, now for the last area," the New God said with utmost cooperation. "Once this is taken care of, the threat will be completely eliminated... Huh!?"
The Madman abruptly stopped speaking, his pupils constricted, and he clutched his head, letting out a strange cry. A chaotic energy burst from within him, and some kind of formless spiritual fluctuation erupted outward.
Batman's right hand warily reached for the belt under his cape. But Orin Vale raised a hand to stop him, saying, "Wait, it's not him doing something. Something is happening *to* him."
"What do you mean?" Batman frowned at him.
The Madman clutched his head, crying out in agony, "He's here! He's here! That Lord is here!"
"That Lord," Batman repeated the name.
The Madman clutched his head, rolling on the ground in pain. "I'm sorry, great one... I didn't betray you, it's just—Ugh, AHHHHH!!!"
The Madman's pupils constricted, his arms shot out, and his body tensed, twitching in a violent spasm.
Realizing something was wrong, Orin Vale immediately stepped forward, grabbed the Madman's body, and in a flash, vanished on the spot with a spatial ripple. The next moment, he had already appeared high in the air, dragging the Madman with him.
In the millisecond of that instantaneous movement, the Madman's body was incinerated into ashes.
The fluctuation of The Source erupted astonishingly, spreading across the surface of the Earth once again. Orin Vale observed and recorded the entire process and its data fluctuations, then flew back into the palace in a flash.
Instantaneous movement.
Batman watched from the side, silently committing this newly observed skill to memory, preparing to add it to his little notebook of Ultraman archives.
"What happened?" Batman asked.
"He exploded. Some kind of psychic influence, perhaps implanted in his brain from the very beginning."
"Related to the 'That Lord' he mentioned?"
"It should be. Pal, have you dealt with the signal jamming?" Orin Vale asked.
Pal quickly replied, "The signal within the Royal Palace has been restored. The A.R.G.U.S. Outpost is showing abnormal Boom Tube readings. Transmitting the footage now."
Orin Vale waved his hand, and light particles materialized out of thin air, transforming into a transparent, floating screen. It was a live broadcast of the main battlefield.
And then they both saw it.
The demon god of destruction.
A few minutes earlier.
The main battlefield should have been the first to be settled. The group of superheroes, who had split up to destroy the three Boom Towers, had converged in one place, deciding to clash head-on with the Dehryan army.
In fact, the superheroes had already gained an absolute advantage even before the Madman had disarmed them and issued the surrender command. This contingent was the fastest to surrender after receiving the order—in truth, some had entertained the thought long before the command center gave the order.
After all, not everyone could hold on in a fight against these god-like beings, neither physically nor mentally.
It was while they were taking prisoners and clearing the battlefield that the strange event suddenly occurred.
First, an endless dark cloud appeared, looming in the sky like a giant beast, forming a massive, dark vortex, like an invisible giant hand manipulating the chaotic situation.
Lightning flashed through the air like the rage of a Celestial, tearing across the sky like a sharp sword shattering the void. Illuminated by the electric arcs, the dark cloud resembled a vast army that blotted out the sun and sky, composed of countless giant beasts from Hell. They were thirsty, they were watching with greedy eyes, awaiting the arrival of their king.
Then, the dark cloud began to swirl.
As if a deep vortex had been pierced through it, a white, yet sinister, light emerged, accompanied by a tornado-like hurricane. The energy storm raged across the wasteland, roaring as it whipped up clouds of dust, as if it wanted to devour the world.
And what appeared within that storm was the Demon God who brought destruction.
A hulking, pitch-black body, crimson eyes, and the Omega symbol that represented annihilation. Merely standing on the earth felt like the declaration of a planet's doom.
The God of Apokolips, Darkseid.
(end of chapter)
