Barry didn't answer Thor's question. He just used his right arm, which had just been repositioned, to struggle to sit up straighter, looking as disheveled as a pile of trampled mud.
He raised his head, and in those blue eyes that had always shone with kindness and gentleness, there was now only a burning sense of guilt and remorse.
"Thank you for saving my mother, Thor." His throat was terribly dry, each word sounding like it was being ground with sandpaper, "But... I still couldn't protect her."
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the bar became even more eerie.
Raven stiffened, turning her head to scrutinize Thor with her unfathomable purple eyes, a hint of inquiry and wariness in her gaze. "Who is he? Barry, what are you talking about?"
Barry took a deep breath, as if gathering his strength to explain.
He ignored Raven's second question; that memory was too heavy for him to revisit.
He began introducing the group of uninvited guests to the two "newcomers" present.
He skipped over Batwoman and her group, since Constantine, being a local strongman, couldn't possibly be unfamiliar with Gotham's Bat Family.
"This is Thor," Barry, pointing first to the blond man. His introduction was frighteningly concise, "A god who roams the multiverse. You should all have heard his name, the Northern Europe god of Thor..."
Constantine stopped smoking, narrowed his eyes, and re-examined the seemingly nonchalant man.
god?
He had dealt with quite a few gods, but none of them were like the one in front of him, dressed casually and looking like he had just strolled out of a university campus.
Then, Barry pointed at the woman in black. Everyone's eyes were involuntarily drawn to her, as if it were an instinct.
"This..." Barry's Adam's apple bobbed, even he spoke of this being with a Soul Stone reverence, "... also a god, who governs... the death of all beings in all universes."
"Damn!" Constantine's cigarette fell to the ground with a "thud."
He's not inexperienced; he's even played cards with the devil of Hell and arm wrestled with the angels of heaven.
But the fact that "death" itself stood before him was another matter entirely.
That is the end of all magic, all trickery, and all lies.
He could feel that the lifespan he had sustained deep within his Soul Stone through deception and transactions was like a sandcastle on a beach, easily shattered by a single wave in front of this woman.
He instinctively put his hand back in his trench coat pocket, touched the lighter containing the life-saving charm, but found that he didn't even have the courage to open it.
Finally, Barry pointed to the dark-haired girl who had remained silent.
"As for her..." Barry paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, "... she's a Kryptonian from the Flashpoint Universe that I created, Kara Zo El, Clark... who is also Superman's cousin."
Kryptonian?
" Superman's cousin?"
In an instant, Constantine's mind went blank, all his reason ignited by a fuse called " Superman ".
The image of Zatanna being torn apart, the coercive spell that locked his magic, Batman's scheming, and Superman's damned plan to die—all of it twisted into a knot, turning into an uncontrollable rage.
Damn it!
He sprang up from the ground and charged at Kara like a mad dog.
He had no weapon in his hand, nor did he cast any magic; he was driven only by a primal, long-suppressed rage.
"It's your damn cousin! He ruined everything!!"
Everyone expected to witness a bloody conflict, after all, it involved an angry sorcerer and a Kryptonian.
However, Kara simply stood there quietly, without moving an inch.
Her cold, stern face remained expressionless; she simply stared calmly into Constantine's dark eyes as he rushed towards her, his eyes bloodshot.
Constantine's fist stopped less than an inch from her cheek, not because he wanted to stop, but because he found he could not go any further.
An invisible, cold wall stood between them.
Kara ignored the fist hovering in the air; she simply spoke, her voice flat and devoid of any emotion.
"I know."
Those three simple words left Constantine with all his anger stuck in his throat.
Kara continued, "I'll settle the score with him."
This statement is less of a promise and more of a declaration of an established fact.
Constantine's fist fell limply to his sides.
He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently.
What else could he say? Angry?
Anger was useless; he knew very well that he couldn't beat a Kryptonian, even if that Kryptonian stood still and let him hit him.
Now, this woman who calls herself Superman's cousin says she's going to give him justice.
What's wrong with trusting her just this once?
Constantine's peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the woman in black—Death.
He didn't want to have his name crossed off prematurely in front of the oldest god in the universe because of something as trivial as losing his temper; he hadn't lived enough yet.
He took two steps back dejectedly, pulled another cigarette from his pocket, lit it with trembling hands, and took a deep drag to suppress his anger.
"Alright, alright, now that we're all 'on the same side'," Raven broke the awkward silence, looking at Barry and steer the conversation back on track, "So... should we still create Flashpoint?"
With this question raised, everyone's attention was once again focused on Barry.
Barry fell silent.
He looked down at his mutilated body, then looked up at the bizarre and grotesque group before him.
A Thor of Multiverse Level, the law of the universe itself—death, a Kara stronger than Superman, a group of battle-hardened members of the Bat Family, and... Constantine, who is unreliable but always useful in crucial moments.
His original plan was to gamble again, to gamble on reversing time, to gamble on the Flashpoint, to gamble on a slim hope.
But now...
The resolve and madness in his eyes were gradually replaced by an unprecedented light.
That wasn't a desperate gamble, but a genuine glimmer of hope for victory.
"No."
Barry spoke, his voice not loud, but unusually firm.
"The original plan is already behind schedule, we... will go to Apokolips."
"What?" Raven frowned, wondering if she had misheard.
" Barry, are you serious? I know we have allies now, and we're a bit more confident, but... Apokolips? Darkseid's stronghold? One Kryptonian isn't enough."
Her words represented the thoughts of most people present.
Even Constantine gave him a "Are you fucking kidding me?" look.
Darkseid, the dark lord who tore their entire world apart.
Barry shook his head. He didn't look at Raven, but instead turned his gaze to the aloof, dark-haired girl.
" Raven," he said softly, "there are differences Kryptonian Kryptonian."
He didn't finish his sentence.
But in his mind, one scene was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.
That was the Flashpoint Universe he had just created.
Faced with General Zod and his Krypton army invading Earth, his original timeline's Superman, Clark Kent, went through a devastating battle, even using Kryptonite weapons with Batman's help, before finally achieving a hard-won victory.
And in that Flashpoint Universe...
He saw it with his own eyes.
Kara finished off this guy with just three punches and a Heat Vision.
The first punch shattered Zod's pride.
The second punch caused Zod to cough up blood.
The third punch slammed Zod from the air into the ground, creating a bottomless crater.
Then, before the Krypton soldiers could react, two beams of intense energy shot from her eyes, like a precise scalpel, instantly sweeping across the entire battlefield.
Zod and his men didn't even have time to utter a scream before they were reduced to cosmic dust along with their ship in that devastating Heat Vision.
Who is stronger and who is weaker?
Does this even need a comparison?
Barry raised his head, meeting the puzzled, shocked, and confused gazes of the crowd, and repeated, word by word:
"Let's go to Apokolips and kill Darkseid."