Apocalypse Star's End

The young man opened his heavy eyelids and quickly realized from the cold touch on his cheek that he was lying on a metal floor. He groggily pushed himself up and looked around, finding himself in a pitch-black room. The walls and floor were cracked in many places, and the fluorescent light fixture, meant to hold four bulbs, had three broken tubes. Muffled roars echoed from outside the thick walls, like someone incessantly beating war drums with a hammer.

The young man began to panic. His head throbbed, and he couldn't remember what had happened before or how he got here. But he was certain he shouldn't be in such an uncomfortable room; it felt like a high-tech prison. He fumbled his way to the door and, while shouting, pounded on the door panel with his fist. To his surprise, with a single punch, the entire metal door panel dented like paper and collapsed onto the ground with a groan of protest.

He was stunned. Judging by the sound of its fall, the alloy door panel must have weighed over two hundred pounds, yet it had crumbled at his punch.

But he couldn't dwell on this for long, as the scene that greeted him outside was far more unacceptable.

A dark red sky, a wailing earth, and black creatures with wings covering the sky like storm clouds—this scene could only be described as hell or the end of the world. He realized he was in some kind of military base—or at least, it used to be. He saw dilapidated tanks, burning armored vehicles, and fighter jets, along with corpses and blood scattered everywhere.

All these anomalies, impossible within his frame of reference, told him one thing: he had transmigrated to a mad world.

This was the first time he had ever seen a corpse. He couldn't help but recall various depictions of bloody battlefields he'd seen on screen. The artistic embellishments in those scenes paled in comparison to the visual impact of witnessing it firsthand. The mingled scent of gunpowder and blood created a unique battlefield aroma, making him feel uncontrollably nauseous.

It seemed he was the only survivor in this base.

He propped himself up with one hand against a cracked wall, suppressing the urge to vomit. When his eyes uncontrollably focused on the bones within his hand, he couldn't help but cry out. Before he could even process it, an overwhelming cacophony followed. He heard countless screams and cries for help, artillery fire like thunderclaps, the shouts of soldiers charging to their deaths, and the flapping of the monsters' wings overhead.

Too many sounds flooded his mind at once. It was an experience no one would ever want to repeat. He clutched his ears in pain and fell to his knees, feeling as though his mind would explode from the overload of information.

But at the same time, he quickly understood.

Powerful arm strength, X-ray vision, and this terrifyingly enhanced hearing—perhaps there were more miraculous abilities he hadn't yet discovered.

He might have gained superhuman powers.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city.

Countless brave soldiers lay dead amidst the burning ruins of the city, and the casualty count continued to soar. The soldiers fearlessly unleashed artillery fire on the endless army, fiercely resisting the alien demon horde with their blood and lives.

"Keep it up, soldiers!" General Sidman rallied his troops as they prepared for the next wave of enemy assault. "Good news from the White House! If we hold through this attack, reinforcements will be here soon!"

It was a lie. They had no reinforcements. The White House remained silent, and all the world's forces were in retreat. They were the last remaining unit in this city.

A soldier hesitated and asked, "General... is it true they say Superman is dead?"

The General paused, falling silent.

"They say the Justice League was defeated the day after the enemy arrived, that they all died. But if even they failed, how can we possibly win?"

The atmosphere instantly turned frigid. This was the question everyone had been avoiding for days, as it was a cruel, bloody reality that no one had the courage to face.

General Sidman remained silent for a long moment, offering no reply. He only said in a low voice, "Prepare for battle within ten minutes."

It was precisely when the world had become desperate enough that the dark ruler descended, giving the world, already on the brink of the abyss, its final push. He had a dark, imposing physique and descended from the heavens in a pillar of light. The moment his feet touched the ground, even the earth trembled.

"General!" the communicator stammered. "You... you have to see this."

General Sidman took a deep breath and walked over to the monitor displaying the front-line footage. He couldn't help but turn pale with shock. On the screen, the dark demon strode toward his army like an ultimate king. Any obstacles were pulverized by the dark red energy beams shooting from his eyes. Their tank divisions were instantly disintegrated under the devastating energy sweep, vanishing as if from thin air. The targeted fighter jet formations attempted to evade, but the light seemed alive, tracking them and turning with them as if programmed, leading to the annihilation of the air force. The entire process took less than ten seconds.

General Sidman slumped into his chair, his throat dry and unable to utter a word. He couldn't order his men to bravely charge forward because he knew it would be futile. The black demon could wipe out his remaining forces in a single second—perhaps even less.

They were finished. This planet was finished.

Suddenly, however, the invincible black... demon stopped. He looked up and let out a roar of extreme pain, dark red light spewing from his nose and mouth. Then, his entire body shattered, exploding outward like an overinflated balloon. A terrifying energy, beyond human comprehension, was released into the sky, disappearing into the clouds moments later.

The dark monsters began to stir restlessly. The fall of their leader had clearly caused considerable chaos. They scurried about like headless flies for over a minute, after which several massive vortexes opened in the sky above the city. The monsters, no longer interested in destruction, scrambled into the aerial vortexes in a panicked rush, completely withdrawing within ten minutes.

General Sidman stared blankly at everything unfolding on the monitor. A profound silence descended upon the entire command center, so quiet that the drop of a needle would be audible.

The invaders were gone. They had won.