"Who are you?" DeSaad asked, his voice trembling as his legs buckled beneath him. His usual confidence had all but vanished, leaving him quivering like prey before a predator.
Shin sneered and turned to face him. Without hesitation, he reached out and plucked the Mother Box from Darkseid's broken throne. As soon as it touched his palm, he absorbed its information directly into his own mind, layers of data unraveling and merging with his consciousness.
"Hmm? Your name is DeSaad? Apokolips's chief scientist?" Shin asked slowly, as if savoring the words. His tone was calm, but beneath it lay an edge of disdain.
Before DeSaad could answer, a group of Apokoliptian warriors stormed into the chamber. At their head were two figures: one was a smiling, white-haired grandmother whose gentle expression clashed violently with the hatred burning in her eyes, and the other was a lion-like warrior gripping a massive weapon shaped like a trophy, radiating killing intent.
"My lord! My father!" the lion warrior roared upon seeing Darkseid's corpse. His fury was unrestrained, his voice carrying the grief of a son and the rage of a beast. Without hesitation, he charged forward.
Shin didn't even raise his fists. Instead, he extended his hand, letting his Armament Haki surge outward in a dense wave. The raw pressure of it crushed down on the lion-headed warrior, instantly shattering his body's defenses. He coughed blood violently, collapsing to the ground with a strangled groan before his breath faded completely.
A New God, one of Darkseid's own bloodline, was slain in a single instant.
Shin's Haki had grown monstrous. With his superhuman physique as its foundation, his mastery of Haki had skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. His Armament Haki could now spread to encompass an entire continent. If he compressed it within his own body, its resilience would rival adamantium. Focused into a single fist or weapon, its density could surpass even galactic glaze, the legendary metal capable of enduring black holes and supernova detonations.
Against such force, the lion-headed warrior, Kalibak, Darkseid's own son, never stood a chance. Though his raw strength was enough to rival many superhumans, it crumbled under Shin's overwhelming might.
Even so, Shin frowned and flexed his fingers. His hand was clean, unstained by blood, thanks to the sheer intensity of his Haki, yet he still felt a faint unease.
He hadn't meant to kill Kalibak instantly. He'd intended only to break him, to leave him gasping and humiliated. Instead, his casual strike had ended him outright.
'It seems I still don't fully understand the extent of my strength,' Shin thought grimly. First Darkseid, now his heir, two deaths in quick succession. He had assumed that with their ruler gone, the remaining New Gods would break, surrendering without resistance.
He was only half correct.
The elderly looking lady, whom Shin now recognized as Granny Goodness, faltered at the sight of Darkseid's corpse. Her kindly smile wavered, and she even took several cautious steps back. But the rest of the New Gods reacted differently. Fueled by fanaticism, they charged forward with eyes blazing, chanting in unison:
"For Darkseid!"
"Tsk." Shin shook his head, his voice dripping with contempt. "This is why I hate zealots. Even with your god dead before your eyes, you still rush toward your own graves. Why force me into a massacre when you could simply run?"
Before their cries had finished echoing, Shin vanished.
The New Gods' eyes widened, but they were far too slow. A blur of motion, followed by the faint whistle of displaced air... then silence. In the next instant, crimson arcs sprayed across the chamber. Heads rolled, bodies collapsed, and the fanatics who had charged with such fervor crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
No one could tell how long it had taken. A second? A fraction of one?
Even the sharp eyes of DeSaad, Granny Goodness, and the few surviving New Gods could barely register what had happened. They saw only Shin's form blur and reappear in the same spot, as if he had never moved. To a normal person, he might have seemed completely motionless.
But the world itself betrayed his speed. A thunderous explosion tore through the chamber as the air collapsed in on itself, rippling from the shockwave of his superluminal dash. By the time the explosion arrived, the massacre was already finished.
The survivors staggered, blood dripping from their lips as they struggled to withstand the blast. They understood all too well that this wasn't even an attack. This was merely the aftershock of his movement.
The last shreds of their courage shattered.
DeSaad immediately threw up his hands in surrender, his voice high and frantic. "I surrender! I surrender, mighty one, please don't kill me!"
Shin raised an eyebrow. "Heh. Not only do aliens in this universe speak English, but they even use the same gesture for surrender. Convenient."
In truth, he had never intended to kill Desaad. The Apokoliptian scientist was too valuable. A mind like his, steeped in both science and sorcery, was far more useful alive than dead.
Shin raised his hand, and the golden glow of the Lasso of Truth unfurled, binding DeSaad and the remaining survivors with unbreakable light.
He had no patience for intricate games of deception. Illusions and manipulation could work against ordinary foes, but the New Gods were no ordinary beings. Their spiritual strength was immense, their willpower sharp as blades. Hypnosis or genjutsu could distract them in battle, but relying on such techniques to fully control them was impossible. Even his vast chakra reserves, amplified by Kryptonian blood, couldn't change that.
His Yin chakra had grown in volume, but its quality had actually diminished after he had drained his Ōtsutsuki heritage.
In short, his illusions were no longer a reliable weapon.
That was why he had taken out the Lasso. Its power was absolute, its compulsion undeniable.
"Tell me," Shin said coldly, seizing the first New God caught in the Lasso's light. "Will you submit to me?"
The New God's face twisted in terror. His mouth moved without his consent, spilling words he never intended to speak. "How could I possibly submit to someone whose origins I don't know?"
"Very good," Shin sneered. "A truthful answer, even if it means your death."
The New God trembled, his body shaking uncontrollably. He didn't understand why he could not silence himself, why the words slipped past his lips like a betrayal of his own will.
"Then, hand over your soul," Shin commanded.
He extended his hand. The power of the Soul-Soul Fruit surged to life, wrapping around the New God like chains of inevitability. With a single tug, Shin wrenched the being's soul free from its vessel.
The New God screamed once, then collapsed. His once-mighty body withered instantly, flesh clinging to brittle bones, hair bleaching pale and lifeless. He lay crumpled like a husk, hollow and drained.
Shin closed his eyes briefly, feeling the weight of the soul thrumming in his grasp. It radiated immense power, vitality accumulated across countless millennia. The New Gods were not truly immortal, but their lifespans stretched beyond comprehension, and that longevity infused their souls with a strength unlike any other.
"Such potent energy," Shin murmured, his expression one of satisfaction. "As expected of a so-called Immortal."
He absorbed the soul into himself, feeling it settle within his own essence. This particular New God had been no more formidable than a mid-tier deity, perhaps comparable to Poseidon in raw strength. Yet his soul burned almost as brightly as that of Superman.
The implications sent a thrill through Shin. With each soul harvested, his arsenal of power expanded, not just in strength, but in the very foundation of his being.
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