Flames Scorch the Heavens-A Billion-Degree Fire of Annihilation
Outside the fortress, the crimson lava lands of Apokolips have been transformed into a boiling infernal meat grinder!
Boom!!!
The Hell Colossus, its massive hammer forged from spine and skull, slammed into a row of Terminator steel arrays with a force powerful enough to collapse mountains!
The ear-piercing metallic creaking was instantly drowned out! The Terminator's sturdy alloy armor shattered and dented like a biscuit! Parts, oil, and even energy lines squeezed out of the metal frame by immense force exploded like a fountain!
The upper half of a Terminator was smashed into a pancake, and its lower half staggered a couple of steps before crashing to the ground.
The Hell Colossus roared, its massive hammer, covered in metal shavings and black oil, rising once more to smash into another cold, steel jungle!
"Hiss--!!!"
Hordes of Torture Queen swept across the battlefield like ghosts! Their twisted limbs danced, and chilling frost and malevolent curses spread instantly!
The dozen or so Terminator were raising their energy weapons suddenly froze, thick blue ice crystals condensing at their joints, and the light from their energy cores rapidly dimmed!
The next second, the Banshee's sharp claws slashed across, and the Terminator's frozen alloy body shattered like glass!
The Parademons beside them fared even worse. Sweeped by the cursed aura, their bodies melted like candles, emitting a shrill, inhuman scream. Before they even hit the ground, they turned into a pool of bubbling pus and blood!
"Roar!"
Under the command of the Goat Demon, the pack of Hellfire Hounds surged like a burning tide, madly attacking the remaining beasts under Kalibak's command!
These war behemoths, clad in bio-armor, slammed their massive claws down, sending several vicious dogs flying and scattering flames! But even more vicious dogs fearlessly lunged forward, their barbed tongues greedily licking the beasts' bio-armor, the filthy demonic flames frantically corroding the areas they licked!
With a hissing sound, one of the beasts howled in pain, trying to shake off the vicious dog on its back, but another dog seized the opportunity to pounce on its neck and bite down hard with its mouth full of sharp teeth!
The scalding beast blood gushed out, instantly igniting and transforming into a towering pillar of fire! The raging beast struggled wildly in the demonic flames, finally collapsing to the ground with a crash!
The filthy zombies and twisted aggregates of flesh and blood, like a churning tide of rotting flesh, hissed and shrieked as they engulfed a vast number of Parademons.
Rusty swords slashed at the wings of the Parademons bats, and burning bone clubs smashed against their carapaces!
Individually, their power might be insufficient, but their sheer numbers created an overwhelming torrent! Parademons were pounced on, torn apart, struggling and sinking in the sea of filthy creatures, leaving only a few wingtips twitching in the putrid swamp!
Apokolips's proud War Machine is being pushed back in the face of this chaotic and violent tide from purgatory!
Bones and steel flew together, pus and blood mingled with engine oil! The earth groaned and shattered under the weight of countless giant hooves and heavy footsteps!
Inside the throne room of the fortress, the atmosphere was frozen solid, like a thousand years of ice.
Kalibak was the first to lose control of his raging anger and the humiliation of being slighted!
His massive body unleashed terrifying speed, his battle axe tearing through the air with the force to cleave mountains, aimed directly at the bald man who had just spoken disrespectfully to Darkseid!
"Scum! Die!!"
The heavy battle axe slashed down with a piercing shriek! This strike contained the destructive divine power of the Prince of Apocalypse, enough to cleave an interstellar warship in two!
Saitama merely tilted his head slightly, a hint of... confusion in his eyes? As if pondering the speed and angle of his axe strike. "Oh."
He casually raised his right hand—the hand wearing a red boxing glove.
BOOM!!!
A dull, resounding sound exploded, like a million-ton hammer crashing against an invisible barrier!
Kalibak's fierce and menacing expression froze instantly!
He felt as if his giant axe had not struck flesh and blood, but rather the core of the hardest matter in the universe!
The violent recoil force surged back into his body like a tsunami, flowing along the axe blade and his arm!
His tough muscles and bones, strong enough to withstand the bombardment of a warship's main guns, groaned under the strain!
Click!
A sickening cracking sound rang out clearly! Kalibak's incredibly thick arm bent backward at an eerie angle!
The massive battle axe flew out of his hand, spinning as it slammed into the thick wall of the fortress in the distance, disappearing all the way down to the hilt!
Kalibak's massive, mountain-like body was sent flying backward as if struck head-on by a Nova explosion!
It smashed through the remaining Terminator wreckage and huge metal fragments along the way, finally slamming heavily into the dark metal wall at the other end of the throne room!
Boom!!!
The entire hall shook again! A clear human-shaped dent was left in the wall, and cracks spread outwards!
Kalibak was embedded in the wall, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, his twisted arm hanging limply, his eyes filled with disbelief, horror, and pain!
"Your Highness!"
The Granny Goodness was both shocked and furious, but her reaction was lightning fast!
The instant Kalibak was blasted away, her incredibly heavy giant warhammer tore through the air, its target no longer Saitama, but the Saiyan floating in golden flames, radiating boundless fighting spirit— Goku! "Taste the wrath of Female Furies!!"
Before the warhammer even arrived, the terrifying sonic boom and the tangible pressure had already forced Goku's golden aura to recoil backward!
"Ha! I've met my match!" Golden light flashed in Goku's eyes. Instead of retreating, he laughed wildly and charged towards the giant hammer!
He didn't take the hit head-on; at the critical moment, his body transformed into a golden streak of light, almost invisible to the naked eye, grazing the hammer's surface at an incredible angle!
At the same time, the fist, wreathed in golden flames, exploded like a Nova, slamming hard into the Granny Goodness's muscular, steel-like waist and abdomen!
Thump!!!
A dull, thunderous roar, like the beating of a drum! Immense ripples of power emanated from the point of impact, visible to the naked eye!
"Ugh!" The Granny Goodness groaned, her huge body staggering backward a large step from the punch!
The bio-armor covering her waist and abdomen instantly cracked! A look of astonishment flashed in her eyes; this tiny creature possessed such terrifying power?!
"It's not over yet!" Goku's figure appeared beside her like a golden lightning bolt, his whip kick, carrying a golden light that tore through space, lashed out at her head! The Granny Goodness roared and raised her strong arm to block!
Boom! Golden energy clashed with raw physical power once more!
On the other side.
"It's in the way."
Madara Uchiha stood between the eyebrows of Susanoo, his Rinnegan surveying the chaotic battlefield below.
The Perfect Susanoo once again swung its giant Chakra blade, targeting the Terminator squad and Female Furies who were trying to pour into the Throne Hall from the side passage!
Buzz--!
A massive Chakra blade swept across!
A cold blue light illuminated half the hall! The thick armored walls were silently sliced through like a hot knife through butter!
More than a dozen Terminator, along with several Female Furies behind them, were instantly cut in half at the waist!
Its upper body flew up amidst sprays of electric sparks and blood, while its lower body remained in Charge stance! The cuts were as smooth as a mirror!
"The struggle of ants." Ban's tone was completely calm, as if he were sweeping away dust.
"Hey! Dude, that's pretty flashy!" Dante dodged an energy beam from a Terminator with skateboard-like movements, the Rebellion spinning in his hand before suddenly slashing upwards!
Swish!
A massive crimson sword aura roared out, instantly cleaving the Terminator and the giant shield held by the Female Furies beside it in two! Hellfire burned at the cut!
"But it's a party, the more lively the better!" Dante fired both pistols simultaneously, the dazzling barrage of Ebony and Ivory accurately detonating the energy cores of several Terminator in the distance, sending up bursts of dazzling sparks. "The music can't stop!"
"Enough!" Desaad's sharp voice carried barely suppressed anger and a hint of barely perceptible fear!
His withered fingers danced wildly across the few remaining control screens in front of him, which were flashing a scarlet light!
"Terminator Dauntless Formation! Lock onto all intruders! Saturation attack!!"
At the same time, data streams surged in his eyes, and his mental focus frantically penetrated the depths of the fortress. "My lord! The Omega Matrix has reached its critical charge! It can be launched at any time! But the coordinates of the World Forge need to be absolutely stable! These sources of interference must be eliminated!"
On the throne, Darkseid's massive hand, enveloped in destructive energy, gripped the armrests tightly.
The dark metal on the armrest emitted a continuous, chilling, twisting groan under his terrifying grip! His crimson gaze swept across the battlefield:
Kalibak, who was blasted away by Saitama's punch and embedded in the wall, is now dead or alive.
The Granny Goodness, locked in a fierce battle with Goku, faced off head-on.
The Terminator Dauntless Formation Commander, forced to retreat repeatedly and in a sorry state by Vergil's ghostly blade flashes;
That madman who controls the blue giant and wields guns is reaping the lives of his Warrior;
And outside the fortress... that infernal battlefield, brought by that demonic incarnation, a place that blasphemed everything...
Meanwhile, Chen Tian, the instigator, stood with his arms crossed, watching all this with great interest, the mocking smile on his lips never fading!
What a disgrace! An unprecedented disgrace! The dignity of Apokolips, the supreme authority of Darkseid, is being trampled underfoot by these intruders!
We can't wait any longer! The blueprint for destruction has been shattered; now, only... absolute Oblivion!
Darkseid's crimson eyes, like pools of blood from the abyss, suddenly locked onto Desaad! His will struck like a heavy hammer:
"Activate the World Forge! Coordinates— Blue Planet! Energy Output—Maximize! Now!!!"
"Oh."
A disdainful sneer rang out, like the sound of an icicle piercing through the machine operated by Desaad.
Chen Tian, who had his arms crossed, suddenly flattened the mocking smile on his lips. He slowly lowered his arms, and his eyes instantly sharpened like a spear of judgment tearing through the Void, nailing them firmly to the dark overlord on the throne who was trying to Oblivion the Blue Planet!
"Old Black," Chen Tian's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a penetrating power that could tear through dimensional barriers, clearly exploding amidst the echoes of Desaad's frantic commands and the chaotic sounds of battle within the throne room, "Have you... forgotten something?"
He casually stretched his right hand to his side, fingers spread.
Buzz!
The space rippled violently, like water surging after a pebble has been thrown in! A knife appeared out of thin air and was firmly grasped by him!
Knife!
That was... an extremely old, even dilapidated, knife!
The scabbard was mottled and worn, the metal was dull and lifeless, and even the wooden parts showed fine cracks.
The knife had a sloppy feel, like something out of a cheap night market stall, which clashed terribly with the atmosphere of this ultimate cosmic fortress filled with destructive energy and high-tech armor!
"Hmm?" On the throne, Darkseid's crimson pupils, locked on Desaad and about to unleash a beam of Oblivion, shifted by an extremely subtle amount.
The will to destroy froze for a moment, truly landing on this strange "neon broken knife" that had suddenly appeared.
A barely perceptible hint of doubt—like a dragon staring at a withered branch raised by an ant.
Chen Tian gripped the worn-out scabbard with his left hand, while his right hand rested firmly on the scratched hilt.
He lowered his head slightly, the shadow of his hair obscuring his eyes; only his utterly cold voice, like the pronouncement of death, echoed in every corner of the fortress.
Or perhaps...
Buzz--!!!
Before he could finish speaking, a violent blue demonic flame suddenly erupted from Chen Tian's entire body without warning!
That was a highly compressed, boiling, roaring magical tsunami!
A dark blue flame shot into the sky, instantly distorting the air within several meters of him. The demonic flames surged and roared like countless engines overloaded!
"--You! You look down on me?!"
The last word fell like the fuse that ignited a powder keg!
"My nephew's about to unleash a powerful attack!!!" Dante suddenly did a backflip, even hoisting the Rebellion back onto his shoulder, and let out a strange cry in the direction of Goku, Madara, and Vergil, who were still locked in fierce combat. The sound was so sharp it could pierce eardrums.
That strange cry sounded like a top-level evacuation alarm!
"Um?!"
As if playing around, Goku punched away the Granny Goodness's heavy hammer, and the golden flames suddenly surged, instantly transforming into a golden lightning bolt that surpassed the limits of vision.
With a "whoosh," it vanished from the massive breach in the fortress, leaving behind only the Terminator's wreckage, blown away by the blast wave!
"Hmm?" Madara Uchiha, standing Susanoo, Rinnegan at the broken sword in Chen Tian's hand that was burning with blue flames and the soaring demonic power.
Without needing a single word, the massive, deep blue Susanoo dissipated instantly, and his figure vanished like a ghost! Swift and clean!
Saitama dusted off his clothes, glanced at Kalibak, who was embedded in the wall and whose life or death was unknown, then looked at Darkseid on the Shang-Chi had suddenly become extremely dangerous, and finally fixed his gaze on Chen Tian.
"Let's go." He replied casually, and then... lifted his foot and lightly stomped on the cracked fortress floor beneath him.
Boom!!!
Centered on his foot, a crack tens of meters long remained in place! Saitama's figure, like a cannonball, smashed through the wall again and rushed out of the fortress—simple and brutal!
"Hey! Put the bill on Darkseid's head!" Dante laughed maniacally, slammed the Rebellion into the ground, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and with an extremely flamboyant and arrogant backward pose, his figure transformed into Red Devil particles and vanished on the spot!
Vergil's movements were the most ruthless and efficient; he didn't even draw his Yamato, but simply slashed it casually at the Void in front of him!
Sizzle!
A deep Dimension Slash instantly opened, like a passage leading to a cold, alien realm.
Without even glancing at the impending storm behind him, he stepped into the fray, and the slash immediately closed, as if it had never existed!
Within a fraction of a second of Dante's eerie cry, all intruders vanished completely from the throne room of the fortress in their own most skillful, exaggerated, and swift manner!
All that remained was a battlefield littered with devastation and rubble, and... Chen Tian, alone, facing the Dark Throne!
Just as everyone disappeared!
Boom--!!!!
The Azure Demonic Flame on Chen Tian's body were instantly ignited, compressed, and transformed, as if a billion nuclear bombs had been dropped on them!
From the cracks of that worn-out scabbard, flames, like molten lava suppressed for millions of years, burst forth wildly!
An unimaginably terrifying heatwave Descent instantly!
The air seemed to emit a piercing wail! The various metal fragments scattered within the fortress began to melt and vaporize silently! The ground, centered on Chen Tian, visibly transformed into a blazing orange-red mud!
"Myriad Manifestations --"
Chen Tian's voice pierced through the roar of the demonic flames, like the whisper of a god, each syllable carrying the power to incinerate all things!
Darkseid rose from his throne for the first time!
His eyes of destruction contracted sharply, and what was reflected within them was no longer contempt, but... a solemnity in the face of cosmic catastrophe!
That broken sword! It's not just scrap metal! The sheath contains flames powerful enough to burn through dimensions!
He could even feel the indestructible dark metal beneath his throne groaning in pain!
An absolute threat! Surpassing any previous assessment he had of any individual!
"Defense!!!"
Darkseid's deep roar, like thunder from the abyss, lost its absolute control and carried a hint of urgency that even he himself was unaware of, and it exploded with a deafening roar!
He instinctively raised his massive arm, which was enveloped in destructive energy, and crossed it in front of him! A dark red energy shield, almost solid, instantly formed!
Desaad let out a terrified scream, his withered fingers frantically pressing buttons on the lightning-sparking control panel! The remaining Terminator Dauntless Formation frantically turned its cannons, trying to lock onto Chen Tian!
Kalibak was embedded in the wall, his eyes wide with terror!
The Granny Goodness roared and held the warhammer horizontally in front of her, the bio-armor bursting forth with a blinding light!
But--
It's too late!
Just as Darkseid roared "Defense!"
"--All turned to ashes!!!"
Chen Tian's icy voice was like the tolling of a death knell!
Clang--!!!
The worn-out scabbard was completely discarded!
A blade of destruction, formed purely from an extreme temperature of one billion degrees and indescribable by "light" or "fire," was grasped by Chen Tian and raised high!
The space around the blade was twisting, collapsing, and burning wildly! It devoured all the light within the fortress, leaving only that sharp blade that symbolized the annihilation of everything!
The next second!
The Blade reverses!
Chen Tian gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands and plunged the world-destroying blade, capable of burning through dimensions, into the ground of the fortress beneath his feet, which had already melted into magma!
Thump--!!!!!!!!!
It's not an explosion!
It's Oblivion!!!
The moment the blade pierced the ground, a torrent of flames erupted from the ground, powerful enough to burn through dimensions!
That was no ordinary flame, but an Oblivion fire compressed to the extreme at a temperature of one billion degrees, displaying a pure white-gold color, pouring out wildly from the blade like a Nova explosion!
The torrent of flames instantly formed a destructive vortex hundreds of meters in diameter, sweeping across the entire fortress with overwhelming force.
The Terminator's alloy armor melted like wax in the flames;
The Female Furies's bio-weapon vaporized into blue smoke before it could even be raised;
The fortress's dark metal skeleton let out a final, mournful cry before turning into molten iron.
Just as Desaad raised his arm, flames engulfed his gaunt figure, and the alarm at the control panel abruptly ceased.
The moment Kalibak broke free from the wall, he vanished along with the entire metal wall into the incandescent flames;
The Granny Goodness had just raised her warhammer in a defensive stance when it vanished along with her prized muscles.
The torrent of flames not only swept horizontally but also surged upwards into a giant pillar of fire as large as the fortress, burning a huge hole in the crimson sky of Apokolips.
The Hell Colossus on the battlefield stopped swinging their bone hammers, the Torture Queen froze her piercing screams, and all beings instinctively looked up at the white-gold pillar of fire that connected heaven and earth—that was not an attack, but divine punishment!
That was a cosmic torch that ignited the entire Apokolips!!!
The fortress? The fortress is long gone! Everything inside, except for the Darkseid Throne area, has vanished into Void! All that remains is a bottomless, colossal crater with its edges flowing with blazing lava!
Only the center of the deep pit.
Darkseid's magnificent throne, like a lone reef remaining in a raging sea, still stands.
But the seemingly indestructible dark metal base beneath the throne had already melted by more than half! The throne itself was melting like ice cream being baked in the scorching sun.
Darkseid's arms, which were crossed in front of him to protect him with destructive energy, were now cracked, like glass struck by a heavy hammer.
Platinum flames lingered on the surface of the shield, frantically eroding the destructive energy and emitting a terrifying hissing sound!
Wisps of black smoke rose from the edge where his arm touched the shield!
His body remained in a defensive posture, but on the thick armor covering his entire body, there were many signs of melting, with dark red molten metal droplets flowing from the edges.
Those eyes of destruction were fixed on the figure in the center of the pit, whose hands were still stuck upside down in the hilt of a sword.
Chen Tian slowly stood up.
The platinum-gold flames of Oblivion, reaching a billion degrees, flowed and danced around him like gentle spirits, outlining his imposing figure— the Setting Sun Prison Garment.
Beneath his feet was a surging sea of lava, and behind him was a platinum pillar of fire that pierced the sky of Apokolips.
He met the gaze of the cosmic tyrant on the throne fiercely, across the still-steaming and churning crater of ultra-high-temperature lava.
The corners of his mouth slowly curved upwards.
It was not sarcasm, nor was it provocation.
It was a kind of... indifference, looking down upon the dust.
Chen Tian slowly raised the knife in his hand, pointing it at Darkseid.
"Come on, it's just you and me left."