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Chapter 373: The Miracle of Earth-2
Earth-2, Gotham City—or what was left of it.
The defense of Gotham was one of the World Army's most crucial battles against Apokolips. This Gotham had once known its own prosperity. Earth-2's Batman had spent the better part of his life purging the filth from this city, and its crime rate had once miraculously dropped to the lowest in the nation.
But that was all in the past.
Now, Batman was gone, and this city, having lost its guardian, had finally reached its end. The flames of war from Apokolips had already leveled more than half of the city, and the defensive line was still shrinking.
The roars of monsters echoed through the sky, while the stench of twisted creatures and burning buildings permeated the air. The sounds of gunfire and explosions mingled together, marking Gotham's last stand.
Winged demons blotted out the sun—the bio-weapons of Apokolips known as "Parademons." They swooped down from the sky, carrying energy firearms far superior to human weapons, and tore at any living thing they saw with sharp claws and teeth.
The World Army troops assigned to defend Gotham were mostly wiped out, but the remaining few were still holding the line, including their commander, General Chaka.
Chaka was a renowned general in the World Army. During the first invasion of Apokolips, he had worked alongside the legendary Trinity—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. He had played a key role in important battles on more than one occasion.
And this one looked to be his last.
"God-level Parademon detected! Seven miles to the southeast."
Someone reported from within the command post.
"We can't hold them," his Adjutant said from the side.
The Adjutant and Chaka had been friends since they first enlisted. They had faced life and death together for years, fighting side-by-side through the darkest of times until this very day.
"I know," Chaka said calmly. "But the evacuation of Gotham isn't complete. We can't abandon those people and pull back from the line."
"I never said we were leaving."
The Adjutant smiled, then paused and said,
"A glorious death is a fitting end."
Chaka pondered for a moment.
"Yeah."
A minute later, the line was breached, and Parademons poured in like locusts. Chaka raised his gun and unleashed a hail of bullets upon the demons in the sky, drawing his long blade the moment the first monster crashed into the command room.
He emptied his magazine and charged forward to engage in close combat, brandishing his long blade. He slid preemptively, dodging an oncoming Parademon's energy beam, flicked its firearm away with a twist of his blade, and then thrust the blade into a gap in its armor.
Chaka had received an injection of an experimental enhancement serum in the World Army, making him something of a superhuman. In fact, many in the World Army had been injected with it by now. They were all unfinished products from the old era, deemed to have side effects. But with the apocalypse at hand and Earth's survival uncertain, no one cared much about side effects anymore.
More Parademons charged in. The command post had been overrun. His comrades were falling one after another. As he swung his blade, a glance from the corner of his eye caught his Adjutant being pinned to the ground by several Parademons, tearing at his flesh like a pack of starving wolves devouring their prey.
But the man seemed to feel no pain. In his final moments, he grinned in Chaka's direction.
"A glorious death is a fitting end."
As his Adjutant spoke, he raised a hand grenade whose pin had already been pulled.
It was a high-tech hand grenade issued by the World Army. Upon detonation, it instantly unleashed an electromagnetic storm. The soldier was blown to pieces, but the Parademons feasting on him were also blasted into mangled wrecks and sent flying in all directions.
Although Chaka was some distance away, he was still thrown back by the aftershock, as were the Parademons surrounding him.
The commander propped himself up with his blade and let out a long breath. One of his ears had been bitten off by a Parademon, four or five of his ribs were broken, his left arm was numb, and he wasn't sure if his lower leg was broken.
But as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, there was still no fear in his eyes.
Just like the brother who had just sacrificed himself.
He then picked up a gun from a nearby corpse.
"Heh, if I can take a few of you with me, it's a worthy trade."
He couldn't get up, and his consciousness was fading. He knelt on the ground, raised the firearm, and tried to focus his vision on the Parademons before him.
And it was in this final moment that he thought he saw a light.
Was it an illusion from the brink of death?
Such a warm, brilliant light... it must be an illusion, right?
Where could such radiance be found on Earth these days?
In a daze, he seemed to see that ball of light sweep through the command post with irresistible force. The Parademons in its path had no time to react before their bodies were disintegrated by the glow.
The Parademons that had invaded the command post were all vaporized in an instant. The flash of light continued unabated, rushing out of the room like a storm of light, even instantly vaporizing the Parademons flying in the sky outside.
It was an unimaginable power. If it was a weapon, it was a terrifying one beyond all reason and imagination. In a mere moment, the area inside and outside the command post had been completely purged, as if a forbidden zone had been seared into the sky.
Chaka struggled to widen his eyes, hardly able to believe the scene.
This has to be a dream, right?
After experiencing such a string of nightmares in this world, had that damn God finally decided to show up?
The brilliance coalesced in mid-air, forming a radiant physical form. A towering body, about fifty meters tall, stood like a floating barrier, with red stripes crawling over its silver, metallic shell, suspended between heaven and earth.
After today, the entire world's focus would be here. At the end of the Battle for Gotham, as fearless men and women fought to their very last breath, a miraculous Giant of Light appeared, as if tearing through despair itself.
What happened on the Gotham battlefield in the next minute could hardly be described with words.
It was like... divine punishment.
Yes, it could barely be called a battle; it was more like the judgment of a god. With a mere wave of its hand, the Giant dispelled the ever-present darkness and lit up the sky. The locust-like army of Parademons fell with a rapid-fire series of bangs, countless of them igniting simultaneously, annihilated in the brilliant light.
The Giant soared into the air, piercing the sky like a bolt of lightning. Light and heat accompanied its every move, the explosions like a continuous roll of thunder. The endless Parademons were utterly powerless before the dazzling display of light.
And then there was the one seven miles away, the individual dozens of meters tall that the humans of Earth-2 called a "God-level Parademon."
That Parademon had also noticed the Giant's appearance. It stood on high alert, seeming to await a contest of equals.
However, there was no contest of equals, nor was there any contest at all.
The light shot through at an astonishing speed, the trail it left behind like a waterfall of light cutting across space. The massive Parademon only had time to make a gesture as if preparing to strike with its claws before the domineering pillar of light swept over it. The Parademon's armor melted, its flesh evaporated, and even its bones were annihilated into particles within the light.
The Giant's momentum did not stop in the slightest. After piercing through the creature, it continued to fly onward at the same speed, leaving only a scorched hole on the ground.
It was as if it had merely swatted a slightly larger fly while passing by. But even if it was bigger, a fly was still just a fly. To the Giant, it was no different from the others.
The soldiers and civilians evacuating Gotham under the cover of Chaka's troops were stunned when they saw the divine miracle descending upon the city from afar.
If there really were miracles in the world, then this... is probably what they look like.
(end of chapter)
Earth-2, Gotham City—or what was left of it.
The defense of Gotham was one of the World Army's most crucial battles against Apokolips. This Gotham had once known its own prosperity. Earth-2's Batman had spent the better part of his life purging the filth from this city, and its crime rate had once miraculously dropped to the lowest in the nation.
But that was all in the past.
Now, Batman was gone, and this city, having lost its guardian, had finally reached its end. The flames of war from Apokolips had already leveled more than half of the city, and the defensive line was still shrinking.
The roars of monsters echoed through the sky, while the stench of twisted creatures and burning buildings permeated the air. The sounds of gunfire and explosions mingled together, marking Gotham's last stand.
Winged demons blotted out the sun—the bio-weapons of Apokolips known as "Parademons." They swooped down from the sky, carrying energy firearms far superior to human weapons, and tore at any living thing they saw with sharp claws and teeth.
The World Army troops assigned to defend Gotham were mostly wiped out, but the remaining few were still holding the line, including their commander, General Chaka.
Chaka was a renowned general in the World Army. During the first invasion of Apokolips, he had worked alongside the legendary Trinity—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. He had played a key role in important battles on more than one occasion.
And this one looked to be his last.
"God-level Parademon detected! Seven miles to the southeast."
Someone reported from within the command post.
"We can't hold them," his Adjutant said from the side.
The Adjutant and Chaka had been friends since they first enlisted. They had faced life and death together for years, fighting side-by-side through the darkest of times until this very day.
"I know," Chaka said calmly. "But the evacuation of Gotham isn't complete. We can't abandon those people and pull back from the line."
"I never said we were leaving."
The Adjutant smiled, then paused and said,
"A glorious death is a fitting end."
Chaka pondered for a moment.
"Yeah."
A minute later, the line was breached, and Parademons poured in like locusts. Chaka raised his gun and unleashed a hail of bullets upon the demons in the sky, drawing his long blade the moment the first monster crashed into the command room.
He emptied his magazine and charged forward to engage in close combat, brandishing his long blade. He slid preemptively, dodging an oncoming Parademon's energy beam, flicked its firearm away with a twist of his blade, and then thrust the blade into a gap in its armor.
Chaka had received an injection of an experimental enhancement serum in the World Army, making him something of a superhuman. In fact, many in the World Army had been injected with it by now. They were all unfinished products from the old era, deemed to have side effects. But with the apocalypse at hand and Earth's survival uncertain, no one cared much about side effects anymore.
More Parademons charged in. The command post had been overrun. His comrades were falling one after another. As he swung his blade, a glance from the corner of his eye caught his Adjutant being pinned to the ground by several Parademons, tearing at his flesh like a pack of starving wolves devouring their prey.
But the man seemed to feel no pain. In his final moments, he grinned in Chaka's direction.
"A glorious death is a fitting end."
As his Adjutant spoke, he raised a hand grenade whose pin had already been pulled.
It was a high-tech hand grenade issued by the World Army. Upon detonation, it instantly unleashed an electromagnetic storm. The soldier was blown to pieces, but the Parademons feasting on him were also blasted into mangled wrecks and sent flying in all directions.
Although Chaka was some distance away, he was still thrown back by the aftershock, as were the Parademons surrounding him.
The commander propped himself up with his blade and let out a long breath. One of his ears had been bitten off by a Parademon, four or five of his ribs were broken, his left arm was numb, and he wasn't sure if his lower leg was broken.
But as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, there was still no fear in his eyes.
Just like the brother who had just sacrificed himself.
He then picked up a gun from a nearby corpse.
"Heh, if I can take a few of you with me, it's a worthy trade."
He couldn't get up, and his consciousness was fading. He knelt on the ground, raised the firearm, and tried to focus his vision on the Parademons before him.
And it was in this final moment that he thought he saw a light.
Was it an illusion from the brink of death?
Such a warm, brilliant light... it must be an illusion, right?
Where could such radiance be found on Earth these days?
In a daze, he seemed to see that ball of light sweep through the command post with irresistible force. The Parademons in its path had no time to react before their bodies were disintegrated by the glow.
The Parademons that had invaded the command post were all vaporized in an instant. The flash of light continued unabated, rushing out of the room like a storm of light, even instantly vaporizing the Parademons flying in the sky outside.
It was an unimaginable power. If it was a weapon, it was a terrifying one beyond all reason and imagination. In a mere moment, the area inside and outside the command post had been completely purged, as if a forbidden zone had been seared into the sky.
Chaka struggled to widen his eyes, hardly able to believe the scene.
This has to be a dream, right?
After experiencing such a string of nightmares in this world, had that damn God finally decided to show up?
The brilliance coalesced in mid-air, forming a radiant physical form. A towering body, about fifty meters tall, stood like a floating barrier, with red stripes crawling over its silver, metallic shell, suspended between heaven and earth.
After today, the entire world's focus would be here. At the end of the Battle for Gotham, as fearless men and women fought to their very last breath, a miraculous Giant of Light appeared, as if tearing through despair itself.
What happened on the Gotham battlefield in the next minute could hardly be described with words.
It was like... divine punishment.
Yes, it could barely be called a battle; it was more like the judgment of a god. With a mere wave of its hand, the Giant dispelled the ever-present darkness and lit up the sky. The locust-like army of Parademons fell with a rapid-fire series of bangs, countless of them igniting simultaneously, annihilated in the brilliant light.
The Giant soared into the air, piercing the sky like a bolt of lightning. Light and heat accompanied its every move, the explosions like a continuous roll of thunder. The endless Parademons were utterly powerless before the dazzling display of light.
And then there was the one seven miles away, the individual dozens of meters tall that the humans of Earth-2 called a "God-level Parademon."
That Parademon had also noticed the Giant's appearance. It stood on high alert, seeming to await a contest of equals.
However, there was no contest of equals, nor was there any contest at all.
The light shot through at an astonishing speed, the trail it left behind like a waterfall of light cutting across space. The massive Parademon only had time to make a gesture as if preparing to strike with its claws before the domineering pillar of light swept over it. The Parademon's armor melted, its flesh evaporated, and even its bones were annihilated into particles within the light.
The Giant's momentum did not stop in the slightest. After piercing through the creature, it continued to fly onward at the same speed, leaving only a scorched hole on the ground.
It was as if it had merely swatted a slightly larger fly while passing by. But even if it was bigger, a fly was still just a fly. To the Giant, it was no different from the others.
The soldiers and civilians evacuating Gotham under the cover of Chaka's troops were stunned when they saw the divine miracle descending upon the city from afar.
If there really were miracles in the world, then this... is probably what they look like.
(end of chapter)
