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Chapter 266: A Public Shaming?
This was a battle that nearly transcended space itself.
From Earth to Mars, then flashing and trading blows all the way to Uranus, the fight continued to move farther and farther away.
To be fair, calling it a battle wasn't entirely accurate. Rather than an exchange of moves, it was more like Darkseid was fleeing while taking a beating. It wasn't that he didn't try to counter-attack, but the effects were less than remarkable.
By the time they reached Jupiter, Darkseid could still manage a 70% offense and 30% defense, but now, he was so overwhelmed with defending that he had no room to retaliate at all.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten his deadly Omega Beams. In fact, he had used them more than once.
And this led to a scene that the great Darkseid found even more shocking and incomprehensible during his invasion.
His Omega Beams, an attack that no matter in the universe could block, had been caught.
And with a bare hand, of all things!
No time-traveling speed, no flashy special abilities, just a bare hand. Orin Vale extended a single palm, as if making a "stop" gesture, and swatted away the Omega Impact.
At that moment, Darkseid's brain truly short-circuited.
Swatting away the Omega Beams with one palm?
Are you even human?
No, I should ask, are you even a god?
"This power... it's so strong." Even Superman, inside the pocket dimension, couldn't help but exclaim again. "Is this your energy too?"
"No." Orin Vale smiled. "This is yours. You just hadn't realized it before."
What could counter the Omega Beams was, naturally, the power of the Source. It was a power Superman was born with, but it had always been a nearly invisible passive ability for him.
Orin Vale himself only had a partial understanding of the Source. But thanks to the recent opportunity to observe the fluctuations of the Source released upon the death of several New Gods at close range, he had gained a preliminary understanding of this form of energy, even if the fluctuations weren't strong.
And with his Mind-Body Unity with Superman, he had the first chance to personally try and mobilize the power of the Source.
It wasn't exactly a refined application. To make an analogy, it was as simple and crude as Barry's early use of the Speed Force. This experience provided Orin Vale with more data and experience, while also making him realize that his research on the energy of the Source hadn't even reached a beginner's level. He still had a long way to go.
Of course, it was more than enough to nullify the Omega energy of a mere avatar of Darkseid.
"No... this is impossible," Darkseid, now covered in wounds, knelt on the ground. He glared at him, bleeding all over. "What in the world are you?"
This was an opponent he had never encountered before, one he could not comprehend at all. It was also the first time he'd felt an enemy might be even more dangerous than a New God.
But he received no answer.
Orin Vale's figure shot out again, trailing electric light. After being beaten all the way here, Darkseid's condition had severely deteriorated, and he could no longer keep up with his speed.
Orin Vale first hit him with another hook-swing combination, then grabbed and lifted him up. Wrapped in surging electric light, he shot into the sky, leaving Uranus in an instant.
The torrent of electricity plunged into a warped spatial vortex, performing an interstellar jump out of the Solar System.
Darkseid was one of the most outstanding among the New Gods. The chain reaction from killing him was on a completely different level than killing an ordinary New God.
In the major event "Darkseid War," one of Darkseid's strongest avatars in the multiverse confronted the multiverse's destroyer, the Anti-Monitor. The final result was Darkseid's defeat, and the death of that avatar caused the balance of the universe to be broken, leading to the collapse of reality. At that time, every member of the Justice League present had to ascend to a new divine position to temporarily fill the void.
Orin Vale assessed the Darkseid before him and concluded he wasn't as strong as that particular avatar. Based on his current research of the DC Universe's laws, killing him shouldn't lead to reality-collapsing consequences.
But to be cautious, he still had to pick a place far from the Solar System, or preferably, far from any innocent bystander civilizations that might be affected.
So, from another perspective, one could say he was picking out a grave for Darkseid.
During this time, from the perspective of certain civilizations in the galaxies he passed through, the scene was quite terrifying.
Of course, a low-level civilization like Earth, which couldn't even manage its own backyard, wouldn't even notice. But some of the more advanced civilizations could barely detect him as he passed through their related starfields, even if they couldn't keep up.
Take Almerac, for example.
The observer on duty for deep space monitoring was yawning, but when he noticed the anomaly in the starfield through his instrument, he was completely stunned. After rubbing his eyes to confirm, he leaped to his feet in terror.
"Sir... Sir!" he immediately patched into the emergency line.
"What is it? Did Parallax chase you or something? Why are you in such a panic?"
"It's Apokolips... the God of Apokolips! The God of Apokolips is here!"
"What!?"
The officer immediately panicked as well.
"Wait, it seems he just passed by... he's already gone now..."
"Huh?" The officer was taken aback.
The God of Apokolips, with nothing better to do, just came all this way to show his face and pass by?
"He didn't do anything?"
"His speed was immense; he only appeared for a moment. But according to the computer's calculations, his posture looked... a bit like..."
The Soldier looked at the intelligent reconstruction on their supercomputer, which showed Darkseid being carried like a little chick while passing by at light speed, and hesitated.
"A bit like he was being paraded for public shaming."
The officer: "?"
After another moment of stunned silence, the officer instinctively asked, "Who is he... parading?"
At the same time, he wondered which unlucky soul had earned such a distinction, to trouble the universe's most feared figure, That Lord, to personally come out and parade them for public shaming.
What could they have possibly done to deserve such treatment?
"N-no," the Minion stammered. "It looks like... That Lord is the one being paraded for public shaming..."
The officer: "???????????"
A similar scene unfolded not just on Almerac, but in many other civilizations he passed along the way.
Many civilizations witnessed such a scene.
A giant, glowing like a moving sun, was carrying the legendary Dark Lord Darkseid in his hand. He streaked through countless galaxies with sparks and lightning, as if making a demonstration.
One can imagine that the civilizations fortunate enough to witness this were all dumbfounded.
That was Darkseid, a renowned cosmic disaster, a name synonymous with darkness and destruction, the ultimate darkness that no one could stand against.
And what did they see today?
Light defeating Darkness?
Why am I having such a dream?
And which powerful being was that glowing interstellar giant?
After rushing all the way out of the Galaxy, Orin Vale finally chose an empty patch of space and let go of the bruised and swollen Darkseid.
He opened his arms, his whole body flickering with a golden radiance. Golden electric arcs leaped about as a torrential flow of energy was channeled into his arms.
Seemingly aware that the situation was hopeless, Darkseid no longer resisted, merely glaring at him with cold eyes.
"I will remember you. All of you."
He said icily.
"I will be back."
"I'll be waiting."
Orin Vale said faintly.
Then, he brought his arms together into a cross.
Giga Specium!
A strike that pierced the stars, accompanied by brilliant golden light and flashes of lightning, like a cascading waterfall of energy. The New God's body was instantly engulfed, annihilated into interstellar dust.
(end of chapter)
This was a battle that nearly transcended space itself.
From Earth to Mars, then flashing and trading blows all the way to Uranus, the fight continued to move farther and farther away.
To be fair, calling it a battle wasn't entirely accurate. Rather than an exchange of moves, it was more like Darkseid was fleeing while taking a beating. It wasn't that he didn't try to counter-attack, but the effects were less than remarkable.
By the time they reached Jupiter, Darkseid could still manage a 70% offense and 30% defense, but now, he was so overwhelmed with defending that he had no room to retaliate at all.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten his deadly Omega Beams. In fact, he had used them more than once.
And this led to a scene that the great Darkseid found even more shocking and incomprehensible during his invasion.
His Omega Beams, an attack that no matter in the universe could block, had been caught.
And with a bare hand, of all things!
No time-traveling speed, no flashy special abilities, just a bare hand. Orin Vale extended a single palm, as if making a "stop" gesture, and swatted away the Omega Impact.
At that moment, Darkseid's brain truly short-circuited.
Swatting away the Omega Beams with one palm?
Are you even human?
No, I should ask, are you even a god?
"This power... it's so strong." Even Superman, inside the pocket dimension, couldn't help but exclaim again. "Is this your energy too?"
"No." Orin Vale smiled. "This is yours. You just hadn't realized it before."
What could counter the Omega Beams was, naturally, the power of the Source. It was a power Superman was born with, but it had always been a nearly invisible passive ability for him.
Orin Vale himself only had a partial understanding of the Source. But thanks to the recent opportunity to observe the fluctuations of the Source released upon the death of several New Gods at close range, he had gained a preliminary understanding of this form of energy, even if the fluctuations weren't strong.
And with his Mind-Body Unity with Superman, he had the first chance to personally try and mobilize the power of the Source.
It wasn't exactly a refined application. To make an analogy, it was as simple and crude as Barry's early use of the Speed Force. This experience provided Orin Vale with more data and experience, while also making him realize that his research on the energy of the Source hadn't even reached a beginner's level. He still had a long way to go.
Of course, it was more than enough to nullify the Omega energy of a mere avatar of Darkseid.
"No... this is impossible," Darkseid, now covered in wounds, knelt on the ground. He glared at him, bleeding all over. "What in the world are you?"
This was an opponent he had never encountered before, one he could not comprehend at all. It was also the first time he'd felt an enemy might be even more dangerous than a New God.
But he received no answer.
Orin Vale's figure shot out again, trailing electric light. After being beaten all the way here, Darkseid's condition had severely deteriorated, and he could no longer keep up with his speed.
Orin Vale first hit him with another hook-swing combination, then grabbed and lifted him up. Wrapped in surging electric light, he shot into the sky, leaving Uranus in an instant.
The torrent of electricity plunged into a warped spatial vortex, performing an interstellar jump out of the Solar System.
Darkseid was one of the most outstanding among the New Gods. The chain reaction from killing him was on a completely different level than killing an ordinary New God.
In the major event "Darkseid War," one of Darkseid's strongest avatars in the multiverse confronted the multiverse's destroyer, the Anti-Monitor. The final result was Darkseid's defeat, and the death of that avatar caused the balance of the universe to be broken, leading to the collapse of reality. At that time, every member of the Justice League present had to ascend to a new divine position to temporarily fill the void.
Orin Vale assessed the Darkseid before him and concluded he wasn't as strong as that particular avatar. Based on his current research of the DC Universe's laws, killing him shouldn't lead to reality-collapsing consequences.
But to be cautious, he still had to pick a place far from the Solar System, or preferably, far from any innocent bystander civilizations that might be affected.
So, from another perspective, one could say he was picking out a grave for Darkseid.
During this time, from the perspective of certain civilizations in the galaxies he passed through, the scene was quite terrifying.
Of course, a low-level civilization like Earth, which couldn't even manage its own backyard, wouldn't even notice. But some of the more advanced civilizations could barely detect him as he passed through their related starfields, even if they couldn't keep up.
Take Almerac, for example.
The observer on duty for deep space monitoring was yawning, but when he noticed the anomaly in the starfield through his instrument, he was completely stunned. After rubbing his eyes to confirm, he leaped to his feet in terror.
"Sir... Sir!" he immediately patched into the emergency line.
"What is it? Did Parallax chase you or something? Why are you in such a panic?"
"It's Apokolips... the God of Apokolips! The God of Apokolips is here!"
"What!?"
The officer immediately panicked as well.
"Wait, it seems he just passed by... he's already gone now..."
"Huh?" The officer was taken aback.
The God of Apokolips, with nothing better to do, just came all this way to show his face and pass by?
"He didn't do anything?"
"His speed was immense; he only appeared for a moment. But according to the computer's calculations, his posture looked... a bit like..."
The Soldier looked at the intelligent reconstruction on their supercomputer, which showed Darkseid being carried like a little chick while passing by at light speed, and hesitated.
"A bit like he was being paraded for public shaming."
The officer: "?"
After another moment of stunned silence, the officer instinctively asked, "Who is he... parading?"
At the same time, he wondered which unlucky soul had earned such a distinction, to trouble the universe's most feared figure, That Lord, to personally come out and parade them for public shaming.
What could they have possibly done to deserve such treatment?
"N-no," the Minion stammered. "It looks like... That Lord is the one being paraded for public shaming..."
The officer: "???????????"
A similar scene unfolded not just on Almerac, but in many other civilizations he passed along the way.
Many civilizations witnessed such a scene.
A giant, glowing like a moving sun, was carrying the legendary Dark Lord Darkseid in his hand. He streaked through countless galaxies with sparks and lightning, as if making a demonstration.
One can imagine that the civilizations fortunate enough to witness this were all dumbfounded.
That was Darkseid, a renowned cosmic disaster, a name synonymous with darkness and destruction, the ultimate darkness that no one could stand against.
And what did they see today?
Light defeating Darkness?
Why am I having such a dream?
And which powerful being was that glowing interstellar giant?
After rushing all the way out of the Galaxy, Orin Vale finally chose an empty patch of space and let go of the bruised and swollen Darkseid.
He opened his arms, his whole body flickering with a golden radiance. Golden electric arcs leaped about as a torrential flow of energy was channeled into his arms.
Seemingly aware that the situation was hopeless, Darkseid no longer resisted, merely glaring at him with cold eyes.
"I will remember you. All of you."
He said icily.
"I will be back."
"I'll be waiting."
Orin Vale said faintly.
Then, he brought his arms together into a cross.
Giga Specium!
A strike that pierced the stars, accompanied by brilliant golden light and flashes of lightning, like a cascading waterfall of energy. The New God's body was instantly engulfed, annihilated into interstellar dust.
(end of chapter)
