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Chapter 289: Let's Just Pretend Nothing Happened
"So you're saying there's someone going around looking for our respective enemies."
Wonder Woman said with a puzzled expression, her arms crossed.
"...And he's going after them one by one? Doesn't that sound like he's on our side?"
"Absolutely not, Diana," Batman said in a low voice. "He's analyzing us, trying to acquire our weaknesses."
"Weaknesses? We don't have weaknesses." Hal was as confident as ever. "We're the Justice League."
"Everyone has a weakness. For example, many of us wear masks," Martian Manhunter said calmly.
"Now he knows The Flash is a police officer who would never break the law. He also knows that Wonder Woman visits a lady on the Apache Reservation every month..."
"Your mother?" Hal looked at Diana.
"She's just a friend," Diana said.
"The Tomb Demon also knows that Batman doesn't trust everyone on the team," Martian Manhunter continued.
Hal yawned. "Oh my, that's just so shocking."
"He's wrong." Superman stood with his hands on his hips, looking somewhat proud. "Batman trusts me."
Batman said coolly, "I don't trust you."
But Superman paid him no mind, smiling as he continued to the others, "He only says that."
Batman: "..."
Just then, the main screen in the Watchtower abruptly went black. A moment later, it lit up again, revealing that white, terrifying face.
Tomb Demon.
"Look at you, so high and mighty, completely blind to the suffering in the Human World..."
A hoarse voice emanated from the screen.
"...No wonder you never notice the tragedies that befall us."
Everyone was startled, rising alertly from their chairs.
"Tomb Demon?" Batman's voice was grim.
The Tomb Demon didn't answer, continuing to speak to himself, "The world believes you are their Gods, but I know you are not... I have seen a true God.
"People trust you, but this trust will eventually come at a price... starting with the one closest to you."
The Tomb Demon narrowed his scarlet eyes.
"It is because of your arrogance, because you never deign to look down upon the common people, that you haven't noticed the problem until now... haven't noticed the person who is suffering because of you."
"You've taken a hostage," Batman said coldly.
Everyone immediately tensed up. None of them could accept someone getting hurt because of them, not even a stranger they had never met. What's more, from the Tomb Demon's words, it seemed the hostage was someone close to them.
"Release the hostage, Tomb Demon," Superman demanded. "You want us, so come for us."
"It's not that easy," the Tomb Demon said indifferently. "Be patient, Justice League. First, you must feel the pain of loss, and then it will be your turn. We'll start with the person who connects you all...
"Mike Williams."
With that, he vanished from the screen with a hoarse, strange laugh.
However, the atmosphere in the Watchtower suddenly became a bit awkward.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Did he just say..." Hal was a little unsure.
"Uh, if there isn't a second person named Mike Williams, then I think so?" The Flash also had a peculiar expression. "You mean... Mr. Orin's alias for his undercover work in A.R.G.U.S.?"
So, after all that, the Tomb Demon's grand plan... was to kidnap Ultraman's alias and hold him hostage?
The members of the Justice League looked from one to another, at a loss for words.
"So... are we still going to rescue him?" Barry asked tentatively.
"Rescue who?" Hal retorted. "The Tomb Demon?"
Barry nodded. "Good point."
The tense atmosphere vanished abruptly as the League members calmly sat back down in their respective chairs.
It was back to business as usual. The Tomb Demon was practically a dead man anyway.
Kara muttered, "What an unlucky fellow... I hope he'll be alright."
"Mike Williams~"
"Wake up."
The icy voice seemed to emanate from the far side of darkness. Orin Vale, who had been awake all along, pretended to open his eyes with a confused expression, which gradually turned to anger as he saw the terrifying face before him.
"Who are you?"
He stared at the Tomb Demon's grim, pale face and asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Me? I am your grave, and the grave of the Justice League. The grave of all of you," the Tomb Demon said coolly. "You can't imagine the calamities I've endured to get to this point.
"You must think I'm like those villains you've met before, dreaming of conquering the world, full of bloated desires... but that's not it. All I want is the truth, and nothing more.
"I want the whole world to know what the Justice League really is: a group of false gods."
"You'll have to try a bit harder then."
Orin Vale spoke calmly, simultaneously activating his x-ray vision to look around.
This was a temple deep in the mountains, surrounded by snow-white peaks and cliffs. It was an ancient structure, eroded by time, with heavy stone doors and mottled stone walls covered by thick snow. Just outside the temple was a cemetery, with countless tombstones and ominous souls lingering over the graves.
"Don't want to talk? It's fine, that wasn't an option to begin with. Everyone talks in the end..."
The Tomb Demon took two steps back and pulled open the room's door.
A piercing curtain of light, mixed with a biting cold wind carrying snowflakes, poured in. Ghouls, eager to be first, swarmed out of the doorway.
"...after you have felt true suffering!" The Tomb Demon opened his arms.
As if smelling the scent of a fresh soul, the ghouls were incredibly excited, craving to draw life and suffering. The fastest ghoul took the lead, rushing into "Mike's" body, its voice echoing in his ear, low and bizarre.
"His loss is our loss."
"His suffering, our hunger."
"Mike Williams, become food for our bellies!"
With a powerful roar, the ghouls, full of anticipation, were readying their knives and forks for a feast, but the moment they charged into that mortal shell, they were instantly stupefied.
It was completely different from what they had imagined.
What they saw beneath the mortal's body was a deep, boundless starry sky, a domain so vast its borders were invisible. Starlight flickered, and an unknown star map enveloped these overconfident intruders like a cage. Light began to dawn in the darkness, twinkling like a star, illuminating the entire universe. It was like an expanding fireball, swallowing these invaders...
"Light!"
Those things began to scream and turned to flee.
"No, not the light, no... Aaaahhh!!!"
The fastest to charge in was the fastest to die. In an instant, the ghoul at the forefront was reduced to ashes, not even a speck remaining.
Just as the courage and will of the Green Lantern's light made them fearful, the Blue Lantern of Hope, and Orin Vale's own light, had a similar effect when used correctly.
Orin Vale had long since scanned and studied the nature of these ghouls from the inside out. This wasn't difficult.
The ghouls still charging behind seemed to sense something the moment their companion was obliterated. They froze in their tracks, rooted to the spot.
Only the Tomb Demon had the slowest reaction, still standing there with his arms spread. "Release your fear, your greatest inner suffering! And from it, I shall gain the power to liberate everyone in the world...
"Huh? What are you all doing?"
The Tomb Demon finally realized something was wrong. He looked strangely at the ghouls under his command. The charge of the host of spectral monsters had come to a neat, sudden halt. They reined themselves in before abruptly beginning a terrified retreat, as if scared to come within half a step of the "hostage."
No, it was more like even a single glance from that guy made them tremble all over, shrinking back with all their might. Some of the ghouls even glared angrily at the Tomb Demon.
Their resentful gazes seemed to say, *You brought a thing like this back, and you still expect power and a blessing?*
After just one brief round of contact, Orin Vale discovered that these so-called ghouls were actually a bit weaker than he'd thought. In the comics, they managed to take down the Justice League mainly through surprise attacks, exploiting the greatest nightmares in each of their hearts.
For example, Superman experienced the moment his adoptive parents died, Hal relived his father's plane crash, and Batman had his classic "Pearl Necklace, alley, parents.jpg." The Tomb Demon tricked them into believing the temple was a place connecting life and death, making them think they were seeing the souls of their loved ones.
However, once the League realized it was a sham and that those souls were merely ghouls that devoured suffering, each of them broke free through their own willpower.
Having successfully infiltrated the enemy's lair, and with his disguise now seen through, Orin Vale had no reason to keep up the act.
He stopped pretending and showed his hand.
His figure, a high-speed afterimage, erupted in a brilliant flash. From within the incandescent glow, he transformed into Ultraman.
The Tomb Demon's pupils instantly dilated.
"You... you... it's you!"
Only now did he realize what kind of being he had brought back.
Orin Vale's figure slowly levitated into the air. He clenched his fists and spread his arms, a golden radiance emanating from his body. The frozen crypt began to warm up. The air seemed to distort, and even the perennial snow seemed to melt...
Energy was accumulating, like the prelude to a thunderstorm.
All the souls began to flee for their lives, like an organism's instinctual premonition of imminent disaster. The Tomb Demon's heart raced, a terribly bad feeling washing over him...
This was no longer something he could handle, nor was it within the capabilities of the souls in the temple.
Ultraman, an existence even more mysterious and unattainable than the Justice League. If there was anything here that had a chance of stopping him, it could only be the deity whom the Tomb Demon had met only once.
A god ostracized by the other gods, his name was Asura. When the Tomb Demon had been on the verge of death, he found this temple and had seen Asura only that one time.
He was a massive deity, dozens of meters tall, with an indestructible golden body, three heads, and six arms, surrounded by unquenchable, red-hot flames that were particularly striking in the icy landscape.
Asura, ostracized by the gods, harbored an eternal rage.
It was that wrathful god who had granted him the power of salvation.
And because of this connection, he could feel it now—Asura was awakening!
The ancient god seemed to open his eyes from within the void, casting his gaze over.
The god sensed that an outsider had invaded his domain.
He, with his eternal rage and an endless wake of fire, locked onto the intruder, as if to deliver divine punishment.
Then the god saw.
A giant bathed in blinding light, a golden radiance like a scorching sun erupting from his body. With a single blow, an explosion centered on the giant covered the entire snow mountain, and a type of energy with peculiar attributes vaporized every soul in the temple.
One hit, a screen-clearing insta-kill!
The god fell silent.
A moment later, the eyes in the void closed once more.
As if to say, *I saw nothing.*
*Let's just pretend nothing happened.*
(end of chapter )
"So you're saying there's someone going around looking for our respective enemies."
Wonder Woman said with a puzzled expression, her arms crossed.
"...And he's going after them one by one? Doesn't that sound like he's on our side?"
"Absolutely not, Diana," Batman said in a low voice. "He's analyzing us, trying to acquire our weaknesses."
"Weaknesses? We don't have weaknesses." Hal was as confident as ever. "We're the Justice League."
"Everyone has a weakness. For example, many of us wear masks," Martian Manhunter said calmly.
"Now he knows The Flash is a police officer who would never break the law. He also knows that Wonder Woman visits a lady on the Apache Reservation every month..."
"Your mother?" Hal looked at Diana.
"She's just a friend," Diana said.
"The Tomb Demon also knows that Batman doesn't trust everyone on the team," Martian Manhunter continued.
Hal yawned. "Oh my, that's just so shocking."
"He's wrong." Superman stood with his hands on his hips, looking somewhat proud. "Batman trusts me."
Batman said coolly, "I don't trust you."
But Superman paid him no mind, smiling as he continued to the others, "He only says that."
Batman: "..."
Just then, the main screen in the Watchtower abruptly went black. A moment later, it lit up again, revealing that white, terrifying face.
Tomb Demon.
"Look at you, so high and mighty, completely blind to the suffering in the Human World..."
A hoarse voice emanated from the screen.
"...No wonder you never notice the tragedies that befall us."
Everyone was startled, rising alertly from their chairs.
"Tomb Demon?" Batman's voice was grim.
The Tomb Demon didn't answer, continuing to speak to himself, "The world believes you are their Gods, but I know you are not... I have seen a true God.
"People trust you, but this trust will eventually come at a price... starting with the one closest to you."
The Tomb Demon narrowed his scarlet eyes.
"It is because of your arrogance, because you never deign to look down upon the common people, that you haven't noticed the problem until now... haven't noticed the person who is suffering because of you."
"You've taken a hostage," Batman said coldly.
Everyone immediately tensed up. None of them could accept someone getting hurt because of them, not even a stranger they had never met. What's more, from the Tomb Demon's words, it seemed the hostage was someone close to them.
"Release the hostage, Tomb Demon," Superman demanded. "You want us, so come for us."
"It's not that easy," the Tomb Demon said indifferently. "Be patient, Justice League. First, you must feel the pain of loss, and then it will be your turn. We'll start with the person who connects you all...
"Mike Williams."
With that, he vanished from the screen with a hoarse, strange laugh.
However, the atmosphere in the Watchtower suddenly became a bit awkward.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Did he just say..." Hal was a little unsure.
"Uh, if there isn't a second person named Mike Williams, then I think so?" The Flash also had a peculiar expression. "You mean... Mr. Orin's alias for his undercover work in A.R.G.U.S.?"
So, after all that, the Tomb Demon's grand plan... was to kidnap Ultraman's alias and hold him hostage?
The members of the Justice League looked from one to another, at a loss for words.
"So... are we still going to rescue him?" Barry asked tentatively.
"Rescue who?" Hal retorted. "The Tomb Demon?"
Barry nodded. "Good point."
The tense atmosphere vanished abruptly as the League members calmly sat back down in their respective chairs.
It was back to business as usual. The Tomb Demon was practically a dead man anyway.
Kara muttered, "What an unlucky fellow... I hope he'll be alright."
"Mike Williams~"
"Wake up."
The icy voice seemed to emanate from the far side of darkness. Orin Vale, who had been awake all along, pretended to open his eyes with a confused expression, which gradually turned to anger as he saw the terrifying face before him.
"Who are you?"
He stared at the Tomb Demon's grim, pale face and asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Me? I am your grave, and the grave of the Justice League. The grave of all of you," the Tomb Demon said coolly. "You can't imagine the calamities I've endured to get to this point.
"You must think I'm like those villains you've met before, dreaming of conquering the world, full of bloated desires... but that's not it. All I want is the truth, and nothing more.
"I want the whole world to know what the Justice League really is: a group of false gods."
"You'll have to try a bit harder then."
Orin Vale spoke calmly, simultaneously activating his x-ray vision to look around.
This was a temple deep in the mountains, surrounded by snow-white peaks and cliffs. It was an ancient structure, eroded by time, with heavy stone doors and mottled stone walls covered by thick snow. Just outside the temple was a cemetery, with countless tombstones and ominous souls lingering over the graves.
"Don't want to talk? It's fine, that wasn't an option to begin with. Everyone talks in the end..."
The Tomb Demon took two steps back and pulled open the room's door.
A piercing curtain of light, mixed with a biting cold wind carrying snowflakes, poured in. Ghouls, eager to be first, swarmed out of the doorway.
"...after you have felt true suffering!" The Tomb Demon opened his arms.
As if smelling the scent of a fresh soul, the ghouls were incredibly excited, craving to draw life and suffering. The fastest ghoul took the lead, rushing into "Mike's" body, its voice echoing in his ear, low and bizarre.
"His loss is our loss."
"His suffering, our hunger."
"Mike Williams, become food for our bellies!"
With a powerful roar, the ghouls, full of anticipation, were readying their knives and forks for a feast, but the moment they charged into that mortal shell, they were instantly stupefied.
It was completely different from what they had imagined.
What they saw beneath the mortal's body was a deep, boundless starry sky, a domain so vast its borders were invisible. Starlight flickered, and an unknown star map enveloped these overconfident intruders like a cage. Light began to dawn in the darkness, twinkling like a star, illuminating the entire universe. It was like an expanding fireball, swallowing these invaders...
"Light!"
Those things began to scream and turned to flee.
"No, not the light, no... Aaaahhh!!!"
The fastest to charge in was the fastest to die. In an instant, the ghoul at the forefront was reduced to ashes, not even a speck remaining.
Just as the courage and will of the Green Lantern's light made them fearful, the Blue Lantern of Hope, and Orin Vale's own light, had a similar effect when used correctly.
Orin Vale had long since scanned and studied the nature of these ghouls from the inside out. This wasn't difficult.
The ghouls still charging behind seemed to sense something the moment their companion was obliterated. They froze in their tracks, rooted to the spot.
Only the Tomb Demon had the slowest reaction, still standing there with his arms spread. "Release your fear, your greatest inner suffering! And from it, I shall gain the power to liberate everyone in the world...
"Huh? What are you all doing?"
The Tomb Demon finally realized something was wrong. He looked strangely at the ghouls under his command. The charge of the host of spectral monsters had come to a neat, sudden halt. They reined themselves in before abruptly beginning a terrified retreat, as if scared to come within half a step of the "hostage."
No, it was more like even a single glance from that guy made them tremble all over, shrinking back with all their might. Some of the ghouls even glared angrily at the Tomb Demon.
Their resentful gazes seemed to say, *You brought a thing like this back, and you still expect power and a blessing?*
After just one brief round of contact, Orin Vale discovered that these so-called ghouls were actually a bit weaker than he'd thought. In the comics, they managed to take down the Justice League mainly through surprise attacks, exploiting the greatest nightmares in each of their hearts.
For example, Superman experienced the moment his adoptive parents died, Hal relived his father's plane crash, and Batman had his classic "Pearl Necklace, alley, parents.jpg." The Tomb Demon tricked them into believing the temple was a place connecting life and death, making them think they were seeing the souls of their loved ones.
However, once the League realized it was a sham and that those souls were merely ghouls that devoured suffering, each of them broke free through their own willpower.
Having successfully infiltrated the enemy's lair, and with his disguise now seen through, Orin Vale had no reason to keep up the act.
He stopped pretending and showed his hand.
His figure, a high-speed afterimage, erupted in a brilliant flash. From within the incandescent glow, he transformed into Ultraman.
The Tomb Demon's pupils instantly dilated.
"You... you... it's you!"
Only now did he realize what kind of being he had brought back.
Orin Vale's figure slowly levitated into the air. He clenched his fists and spread his arms, a golden radiance emanating from his body. The frozen crypt began to warm up. The air seemed to distort, and even the perennial snow seemed to melt...
Energy was accumulating, like the prelude to a thunderstorm.
All the souls began to flee for their lives, like an organism's instinctual premonition of imminent disaster. The Tomb Demon's heart raced, a terribly bad feeling washing over him...
This was no longer something he could handle, nor was it within the capabilities of the souls in the temple.
Ultraman, an existence even more mysterious and unattainable than the Justice League. If there was anything here that had a chance of stopping him, it could only be the deity whom the Tomb Demon had met only once.
A god ostracized by the other gods, his name was Asura. When the Tomb Demon had been on the verge of death, he found this temple and had seen Asura only that one time.
He was a massive deity, dozens of meters tall, with an indestructible golden body, three heads, and six arms, surrounded by unquenchable, red-hot flames that were particularly striking in the icy landscape.
Asura, ostracized by the gods, harbored an eternal rage.
It was that wrathful god who had granted him the power of salvation.
And because of this connection, he could feel it now—Asura was awakening!
The ancient god seemed to open his eyes from within the void, casting his gaze over.
The god sensed that an outsider had invaded his domain.
He, with his eternal rage and an endless wake of fire, locked onto the intruder, as if to deliver divine punishment.
Then the god saw.
A giant bathed in blinding light, a golden radiance like a scorching sun erupting from his body. With a single blow, an explosion centered on the giant covered the entire snow mountain, and a type of energy with peculiar attributes vaporized every soul in the temple.
One hit, a screen-clearing insta-kill!
The god fell silent.
A moment later, the eyes in the void closed once more.
As if to say, *I saw nothing.*
*Let's just pretend nothing happened.*
(end of chapter )
