Bang!
With a thunderous crash, Kalibak was driven violently into the ground.
Adrian's hand clamped tightly around his neck, lifting and pinning him with overwhelming force. Blood splattered across Adrian's fingers, yet his expression remained unchanged, cold and detached.
He released one hand, drew it back, and drove his fist down again.
Bang!
The air detonated from the impact. A violent shockwave tore outward, compressing and igniting the surrounding atmosphere as it expanded in all directions. Everything in its path was swept aside.
Mera and Raven, standing closer to the center, were forced back several steps. Only when Raven activated her magic did she stabilize herself against the force.
Adrian looked down at Kalibak's battered form, embedded deep in the ground, his body torn and bleeding heavily. He shook his head slightly.
"No, you are not a god. Gods are not this weak."
His voice carried no emotion, only contempt.
From his perspective, Kalibak was not even on the level of the current Clark Kent. He had expected more from a so-called New God of Apokolips, but the reality left him disappointed.
With strength like this, invading Earth was nothing short of suicidal.
Kalibak's face twisted with fury, but his injuries left him unable to speak. His bloodshot eyes burned with defiance.
Adrian ignored it.
"Unless your father, Darkseid, comes himself, I might show caution. But you…"
A faint sneer appeared.
"To me, you are nothing more than a slightly stronger insect."
Far away in Gotham City, watching through a remote feed, Nightwing inhaled sharply.
"Who is this Darkseid?"
He turned toward Cyborg, who was projecting the footage.
"I don't know," Cyborg replied, his systems visibly heating as tension rose. "I've never heard the name. But if even he is cautious, then that opponent must be far worse than this 'god.'"
"Or he's lying."
Catwoman crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Someone like him doesn't reveal the truth so easily."
Deathstroke tilted his head slightly. "You seem to know him well."
"Better than you," Selina shot back without hesitation.
Her attention returned to the screen. Whatever her words suggested, her focus remained fixed on Adrian.
Back on the battlefield, Adrian stepped down onto Kalibak's chest.
The New God's body was broken, but the damage went deeper than flesh. His will had been crushed under Adrian's relentless assault.
"You… how do you know?" Kalibak forced out, coughing blood. "How do you know the Dark Lord?"
Adrian grabbed him by the throat and lifted him effortlessly into the air.
"I know far more than you ever will."
His grip tightened.
"And you, for daring to step into my territory, will be crushed."
The sound of tightening muscle and bone echoed as Kalibak's vision darkened.
On Apokolips, Darkseid watched.
His son, held like a helpless creature, stirred something deep within him. His crimson eyes burned with restrained fury.
He could feel it.
This Kryptonian knew he was being watched.
Everything Adrian did was deliberate, a challenge thrown across space itself.
Kalibak's consciousness began to fade, but instinct drove him to act. With the last of his strength, he triggered the technology embedded in his arm.
A Boom Tube flickered into existence behind him.
With a desperate surge, Kalibak tore free from Adrian's grip, his body expanding as he burned his life force. He shot toward the portal like a missile, breaking the sound barrier.
Adrian watched, mildly surprised.
Then he scoffed.
"You think that's enough?"
As Kalibak neared the portal, relief flashed across his face. On the other side stood Darkseid, unmoving, watching.
But just as Kalibak crossed the threshold, twin beams of energy struck.
Adrian's Heat Vision pierced forward, colliding with a second blast from the Cosmic Scepter. The combined force slammed into Kalibak's upper body.
The explosion was instantaneous and devastating.
Light consumed everything.
Kalibak's scream lasted only a moment before he was obliterated. The shockwave tore across the battlefield, scattering debris and shaking the ground.
When the light faded, his body was split in two.
His head tumbled through the portal.
On the other side, Darkseid reached out and caught it effortlessly.
Wonder Woman stiffened as she saw him. Even a glance from that being carried unbearable weight.
Darkseid's gaze shifted.
It locked onto Adrian.
Across space and time, their eyes met.
No words were spoken, yet everything was understood.
Killing intent.
Challenge.
Inevitability.
Silence consumed the battlefield.
Even Clark Kent stood frozen. Recognition flickered in his eyes.
He had seen this before.
In the vision from the black magic tome tied to the Court of Owls, he had witnessed Adrian standing over a fallen figure, a head impaled.
That head belonged to the being now staring through the portal.
Darkseid.
The portal collapsed moments later, but his final glance lingered like a curse.
Adrian turned away.
"Barry."
At the back, Barry Allen looked up, startled.
"There are more portals. Not just here, not just Metropolis. Around the world. Find them."
Barry hesitated. "You want me to run across the entire planet?"
"You can do it."
Adrian stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Move fast. The longer you take, the more people die."
Barry swallowed, tension rising in his chest.
"I'll do it."
He took off, pushing himself harder with every step. Lightning trailed behind him as his speed increased, until he vanished in a streak of red.
Wonder Woman frowned slightly.
"You already know where the portals are. Why send him?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
"If he isn't pushed, he won't become what he needs to be."
"You're shaping him into your greatest threat," Diana said. "You've always been wary of him."
"An enemy with weaknesses is manageable."
Diana studied him, then smiled faintly.
"You're more complicated than you pretend to be."
Adrian ignored her.
He shot into the sky, breaking through the atmosphere in seconds. From orbit, Earth stretched beneath him, calm and blue despite the chaos below.
He clenched his fists and descended.
Faster.
Faster still.
His body became a streak of black light, tearing through the atmosphere at extreme speed.
His target was Gotham City.
Impact came like a meteor.
Explosions rippled across the streets as Adrian tore through waves of Parademons. Every collision reduced them to fragments, their bodies bursting into red mist.
Blood fell from the sky like rain.
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