The golden portal closed silently behind them, completely shutting out the splendor of that starry universe.
Almost simultaneously, an indescribable sense of heaviness gripped everyone.
This is the deepest level of the Dark Multiverse, the location of the World Forge.
There was no light, no sound, no matter, only pure, solidified despair, fear, and nightmares, like icy seawater, squeezing their Soul Stone from all sides.
In this boundless darkness, only a faint but undying golden light flickered below the distant horizon, like a candle in the wind, yet stubbornly tearing open a gap in the darkness.
" Bruce," Clark's voice was weak, yet tinged with a flicker of hope, "That should be... what we're looking for."
However, before he could finish speaking, a roar that defied the limits of hearing exploded from the source of the golden light!
"Roar--!"
The entire dark space trembled violently at the roar, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth were splitting. An enormous, immeasurably large black shadow slowly rose from before the golden light, obscuring the only source of hope.
He was hundreds of meters tall, his entire body covered in corrupted Nth Metal like a twisted tumor, and he gripped a giant hammer that was also corrupted by darkness.
The corrupted Hawkman, Carter Hall!
He raised the giant hammer high, and without the slightest hesitation, brought it down on Bruce and Clark's heads!
The giant hammer carried dark energy powerful enough to shatter stars, and moved so fast that even light could not escape it.
Almost instinctively, Bruce used all his strength to shove Clark away, preparing to take the devastating blow with his own body.
Just then, a golden light appeared out of thin air, precisely wrapping around Bruce and Clark's waists. An irresistible yet gentle force suddenly pulled them backward, instantly dragging them out of the giant hammer's attack range.
boom!!!
The giant hammer landed, causing the entire Dark Dimension to tremble and leaving a bottomless crater in its wake.
Bruce was pulled and stumbled, but he didn't even look to see who it was; his gaze was fixed on the golden rope.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw it.
The Lasso of Truth.
Diana's weapons.
He immediately turned to look at Thor.
Bruce's mind raced, instantly piecing together the most plausible explanation: Thomas had borrowed the noose from Wonder Woman Diana in another universe.
He didn't ask any further questions; now wasn't the time to pursue that.
He watched as Carter raised his giant hammer again in the distance, preparing for a second attack, and said hoarsely to Thor, "Do you have any good ideas?"
There was a weakness in that question that even Bruce himself didn't realize.
He and Clark were in terrible condition; after being imprisoned by Barbatos for many days, their strength had been almost completely drained.
If it weren't for superhuman willpower, they would probably have difficulty even standing, let alone fighting.
Clark's Sun energy was almost depleted, and he couldn't use any of his devastating superpowers.
Thor glanced at the towering dark dragon, then at Bruce and Clark, a cold and decisive smile perfectly befitting the " Thomas Wayne " persona.
"It's simple," he said in his ruthless, taciturn style, "Kill him."
"No!" Clark refused immediately without hesitation. He struggled to stand up straight, his blue eyes burning with a final stubbornness. "That's Carter! Our comrade! He's just been corrupted by Barbatos, he's not beyond redemption!"
Upon hearing this, Thor looked at Clark with interest and asked in return, "What's the difference?"
"..."
Clark was speechless for a moment, and could only look to Bruce for help, his eyes conveying a clear message: This is your dad, you have to do something about him! If you don't, Carter is really going to be killed on the spot!
Because Thor had already taken a warhammer, also made of Nth Metal, from his bat belt, and the Hammerhead was still flashing with a dangerous Arclight.
But that wasn't the most unsettling thing for Clark.
Thor casually stuck his warhammer into the ground, and then, as if by magic, began to pull out one huge metal part after another from his waist and quickly assembled them.
That was the prototype of an anti-material sniper rifle. When the rifle was assembled to a length of two meters, Clark's eyes began to twitch.
" Bruce, can your belt... hold all this?" Clark swallowed hard. He even saw " Thomas " pull out a bullet longer than his entire palm and load it into the magazine.
"He even pulled out a Barrett!"
"This is way more powerful than the Barrett," Thor corrected without looking up, his hands moving smoothly as he assembled the parts.
Bruce stared intently at the gun, his expression grave, and explained to Clark, "This is the Anzio 20mm anti-materiel sniper rifle, with an effective range of 5,000 yards. Its power is four times that of the Barrett; one shot can easily penetrate a light armored vehicle."
Clark's heart sank completely.
"I don't think... it's necessary to use this," he urged again. " Carter can still be saved! Why don't you give me that hammer, and I'll go wake him up!"
He couldn't bear to watch his comrade-in-arms be sent straight to heaven with a single shot from Batman's Papa using such an outrageous weapon.
Not to mention that bullet, which was clearly also made of Nth Metal.
If that shot had hit Carter in the head, let alone save him, it would have been a miracle if Thomas had left him with a whole body!
Click.
Thor ignored Clark, and with a final, crisp click of the mechanism, the menacingly large sniper rifle was finally assembled.
He patted the gun with satisfaction, then grabbed Bruce and Clark by the back of their collars, one in each hand, and dragged them behind a large, dark rock nearby.
Immediately afterwards, he casually tossed out several small silver balls. The balls disintegrated in mid-air, transforming into more than a dozen nanobots, each over two meters tall, which mimicked human movements and rushed towards Carter from all directions, successfully attracting the attention of the dark dragon.
After doing all this, Thor set up his sniper rifle and locked onto Carter, who was swinging a giant hammer to swat flies in the distance, through the scope.
Bruce looked at him and said in a deep voice, "There's no need to use this weapon for now."
Thor looked up from behind the scope, grinned, and looked at Bruce: "Then it's your way, Bruce."
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a silent crack suddenly tore open the deathly dark sky above everyone's heads!
From the crack, a female figure, also enveloped in dark Nth Metal, flew out Speed. The newcomer was none other than the corrupted Hawkgirl, Kendra Sanders!
Behind her followed two equally terrifying figures.
One is Vandal Savage, dressed in classical attire with an ancient and cruel gaze; the other is Black Adam, surrounded by black lightning bolts and sporting a contemptuous smile!
Barbatos sent reinforcements again.
Clark Kent looked down at his hands, which were somewhat withered from energy loss, then looked up at the three menacing enemies in the sky, and at the mountain-sized Carter Hall in the distance, who was being kited by nanobots.
He spoke bitterly, his voice filled with despair:
"Guys, I think... we're in big trouble!"