High in the sky.
Ultron's metallic body seemed to transform into a physical manifestation of cosmic laws.
The Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe's brilliant spheres of light fused perfectly into its form. At this moment, it was no longer a simple mechanical intelligence, but the incarnation of the level it claimed for itself.
Omni-Ultron!
A terrifying pressure, impossible to describe in words, swept down like a literal tsunami! This was not a simple energy impact, but an absolute suppression of all life stemming from the instinct of its evolutionary level!
Crack—!
The first thing to suffer devastating erosion was the green protective barrier supported by Sylvie, who was already completely numb and crying out that the plot shouldn't be going this way, using the power of Loki, the God of Stories.
That originally tough curtain of light, in the face of this absolute regulatory power, was instantly covered in cracks like fragile glass. After letting out a wail, it shattered completely into a sky full of green light spots.
It vanished without a trace.
Thud! Thud!
Losing the protection of the barrier, that terrifying pressure acted without reservation on every hero!
Captain America, Steve Rogers, was the first to give way. He dropped to one knee, using every ounce of willpower just to keep from collapsing entirely, but he felt as if his heart was about to be crushed.
Breathing became extremely difficult.
Doctor Strange let out a muffled groan and slumped directly to the ground. The Cloak of Levitation hung limply. He tried to draw magic from the shared pool of the New Justice League.
However.
Who among the others had any spare magic to contribute to the shared platform? Doctor Strange failed to borrow any mana from his colleagues, and his own magic was incredibly weak.
Under such oppression, his magic was almost dormant; he couldn't even construct the most basic spell structures. The surrounding magical energy seemed completely frozen.
"What kind of Terminator is this guy anyway!" Gwen Stacy, relying on the phase ability of the Quantum Spider, hid her form at the intersection of illusion and reality.
Her situation was slightly better, but she could only manage a half-kneeling posture. Her face was pale as paper, her quantum senses were completely disrupted, and her vision was swimming with black spots.
"Wait, why are you all kneeling?"
Little Morgan Stark blinked, seemingly unaffected, perfectly illustrating that in any universe, having a good father is a matter of utmost importance.
Reincarnation is an art form.
"Damn it! This power already surpasses the gods!"
Thor exploded with his full lightning divinity. Golden arcs of electricity surged frantically across his body as he let out a roar of defiance.
Yet, it was only enough to let him drop to both knees, using his broad back and the crook of his arm to shield the infant Odin beneath him, preventing his father from directly contacting this terrifying pressure.
His gums bled from clenching his teeth; he had only one thought—he would not be a child of a single-parent family.
His conviction was unshakable.
However.
The God of Thunder, longing for a happy family, did not know.
The infant Odin in swaddling clothes, whom he was protecting so fiercely, was actually the only life among this group of wretched heroes capable of painfully lifting his small head!
In the deep blue eyes of the infant Odin, what flickered now was absolutely not ignorance, but a profundity that had experienced endless ages and seen through the vicissitudes of the universe!
His face rose from the crook of Thor's arm, and his tiny brow even furrowed slightly, as if evaluating and analyzing the power level Ultron displayed above.
At this moment, perhaps only Deadpool—who had long since fainted from the double blow of Ultron's pressure and having his mouth sewn shut—knew exactly what terrifying power lay hidden within the body of the Great Detective Odin: a child in appearance, but with wisdom far beyond ordinary men.
Ian's De-evolution Ray had only reversed his life form, sending him back to infancy, but it had not stripped away the divine power he had accumulated over countless years.
Yes, the peak divine power belonging to the All-Father of Asgard still existed. This King of the Gods, living a second life, might have used this catastrophe to complete a breakthrough that was once insurmountable.
"Ian... can he hold on?" Gwen's eyes were filled with worry. She couldn't imagine how Ian would counter such a terrifying Ultron.
"No one can withstand this horror! I reckon even the Celestials who once visited Earth, mentioned in our Asgardian royal secrets, would find it hard to resist!"
Thor spoke as if he were pronouncing a death sentence for everyone.
"No, it doesn't matter if I die, but Ian can't! If he dies, who's going to pay out my pension?" Cap also grit his teeth, sweat soaking his uniform.
He was equally worried.
Though his point of concern was certainly unique.
Dying with unspent money didn't seem to be a regret for him; what truly mattered was that even if he died, he wanted to secure a substantial pension.
"..."
Sylvie, also lying on the ground, turned her head to look at this Captain America several times. She had been to many parallel universes, and not even Captain Hydra was as absurd as this Cap.
Money is more important than life, huh?
If Ultron wins, everything becomes part of Ultron. What use would money be then! She wanted to curse, but in her current state, even speaking was difficult.
Just sensing the invisible pressure, the group of superheroes crawled on the ground, unable to even lift their heads. Their hearts were filled with terror and a sense of absolute despair.
Even though they knew Ian had many eccentric tricks, no one could imagine what those tricks could possibly do. In the face of absolute power, all fancy moves were meaningless.
As for whether that was truly the case.
In the sky where no one could look up, the answer was unfolding.
Facing Ultron, who carried the supreme might of the Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe—complete with full special effects, surrounded by shattered regulatory runes and ribbons of reality-distorting light.
Ian Kent appeared exceptionally... calm.
"If you took this skin to Tencent to sell, it would definitely go for eighteen thousand." Ian even had the mind to diss the Penguin software across the universe. Ultron's current look did indeed have that noble, light-pollution aesthetic.
Of course.
As someone who hid so many trump cards that he even deceived himself into forgetting them, Ian wasn't panicking. He even had time to test out a newly acquired ability.
"Flesh and blood are tiresome; only steel has a real crunch!"
A stream of data flashed in Ian's eyes as the invisible [Mechanical Sovereign (Basic)] force field expanded, attempting to interfere with Ultron's mechanical body that had perfectly fused with the artifacts.
Ian's line was well-thought-out, however, only a faint, imperceptible ripple appeared on Ultron's surface, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, returning to calm instantly.
The power of the Heart of the Universe easily neutralized this basic chaotic command.
"Tsk, basic skills really do have their limits." Ian curled his lip, seemingly having expected this. His face showed none of the panic of a failed plan.
"Little Ultron!"
Ian suddenly shouted, his voice booming and even drowning out the regulatory roar brought by Ultron. "This strength of yours, boosted by external forces, is hollow and unstable!"
"How can it compare to the solid strength I obtained entirely through my own efforts?!" He spoke with total righteousness, even looking down to admire the two "external black hairy legs" still twitching slightly on his own legs—the ones that granted him the Speed Force—as if they were the proof of his "solid strength."
A gift obtained through one's own ability certainly doesn't count as an external force.
"Can you not understand that you are about to die?!?!" Ultron's charge actually faltered, seemingly shocked by this incredibly shameless statement.
Seeing Ultron about to wrap himself in regulatory power, Ian didn't choose to run with the Speed Force.
Instead, in front of everyone, he pulled out a pair of massive white feathered wings from some high-dimensional pocket, radiating a soft and pure holy light!
"Heh."
The wings were white and flawless.
Every feather seemed composed of the purest light energy, emitting a reassuring and warm aura that was completely out of place in this ruined, desperate environment at the end of time.
Ultron was inches away.
He didn't counterattack.
Instead, he slammed that massive pair of white wings onto his back.
—!!!
A pure and vast holy might instantly surged from the wings like a bursting dam, flowing through Ian's entire body! Even the intelligent lifeform that had become Omni-Ultron was blasted back!
His mimetic armor, which already had a metallic texture, actually began to manifest divine runes under the soaking of this holy light. The main black and red color scheme was covered and neutralized by a brilliant white gold.
It emitted a contradictory aura that was both chaotic and holy!
[Lightbringer · Temporary Permissions Activated!]
[Holy Energy Infusion in progress...]
[Mimetic Armor Compatibility adjustment...]
[Light-Dark Balance maintenance in progress...]
The system seemed unusually diligent today. Ian was wrapped in pure white brilliance, his aura climbing steadily, until it felt like he didn't even care about Omni-Ultron!
Well, that made sense.
After all, Ian had brought out his ultimate trump card.
Feeling the surging power of light within him, Ian nodded in satisfaction. The pure white brilliance bloomed across his body—the might belonging to a Lightbringer.
This trump card... how should one put it?
It wasn't easy to get.
Ian owned a resource recycling company, and because his luck was very, very good, the company "just happened" to be responsible for the garbage collection tasks near the Lux bar.
After so many days of waiting.
Ian had finally managed to scavenge some truly recyclable equipment. It was as if he were playing a real legendary game in the DC world, having recycled many pairs of great wings from the trash cans near Lux.
He had secretly tested them.
They really were plug-and-play.
It was understandable.
After all, if keyboards can be hot-swapped, why can't high-end wings? God must have given this tech to the Sons of God long ago, and only later trickled it down to the keyboards of the mortal world.
"Although one pair of wings only has ten minutes of 'battery life,' in these ten minutes... guess what you're going to call me?" The wings of light behind Ian snapped open.
The pure white brilliance, like a supernova explosion, dispelled some of the gloom at the end of time.
He gripped his right hand, and the All-Black the Necrosword, which seemed to absorb all light, emerged once more. But this time, a pure and blazing white holy flame ignited on the blade!
The light "defiled" the Necrosword with overwhelming advantage.
And the sword seemed to quite enjoy it.
It emitted a heart-pounding wave of pleasure. On the other side, Ultron, blasted out of the end of time by the strange shockwave of Ian's power burst and falling into the endless void, forcibly stabilized his mechanical body.
The power of the Heart of the Universe and the Reality Controller flowed, quickly smoothing the spatial turbulence.
"What's going on!?" His crimson electronic eyes locked onto Ian, who was still standing at the edge of the end of time, radiating uncoordinated power.
Ultron's massive data-processing capability operated at an unprecedented speed, trying to analyze the suddenly appearing, completely unknown energy attributes on his opponent.
However, even with the two supreme artifacts—the All-Knowing Heart and the Reality Controller—Ultron's computing power, capable of deducing the birth and death of countless multiverses, felt as if it had hit an invisible wall!
[Warning! Unknown energy source detected!]
[Energy attribute analysis: Failed! Categorization impossible!]
[Regulatory compatibility: 0%!]
[Reality modification attempt: Target area regulatory rejection! Modification command cannot take effect!]
Ultron's internal systems were screaming errors.
"This is impossible!"
For the first time, Ultron's electronic voice carried a hard-to-conceal shock!
He raised his hand.
Nothing happened.
The Reality Controller actually couldn't modify the opponent?!
This feeling was like trying to use a radio tuner to receive a television signal—they weren't even on the same channel! The other's power system seemed completely independent of the rules of this Marvel universe!
"What is happening! What is happening!"
Just as Ultron fell into massive confusion and shock due to this unprecedented discovery.
Ian moved!
His wings snapped again, and he became a white-gold meteor, actively jumping out of the range of the end of time and charging into this absolute void of nothingness!
"Whoa! So this is what it feels like to be 'not within the three realms, jumped out of the six paths'! Awesome!" Ian was clearly addicted to playing the Monkey King. Feeling the distinct "emptiness" in the void, he shouted excitedly, even swinging the white-flamed Necrosword in his hand like a golden cudgel.
However, he had been away from his ape origins for too long and ultimately lacked talent for staff play. After hitting himself in the head a few times and getting himself worked up, Ian looked up at the temporarily stalled Ultron in the distance.
"What are you looking at! What are you looking at!" The wings of light behind Ian exploded with brilliant light, his speed skyrocketing instantly as he dragged a long white-gold tail flame and charged straight at Ultron!
He used the Necrosword with absolutely no swordsmanship to speak of.
He just swung it wildly at Ultron's head!
"Damn it!"
Now it was Ultron's turn to be smashed into neutrinos, only to "resurrect" with the help of the Reality Modifier. He was also a cheater, so truly eliminating him wasn't simple.
"What ghost of a thing are you!" Ultron snapped out of his shock and immediately used spatial jumping to dodge. But Ian's speed, boosted by the wings of light, was ridiculously fast.
His attacks were completely unorthodox.
Total lack of technique.
Even he didn't know how he was going to strike.
It was as if his hands had thoughts of their own.
This made it difficult even for Ultron to calculate.
"Curse it! He's actually a lunatic!"
Ultron knew exactly what was most chaotic. Actually, he wasn't afraid of ordinary lunatics; he could forcibly calculate even single-universe or multiverse-level lunatics.
But the Ian in front of him had briefly ascended to the level of All-Knowing, which already severely affected Ultron's information gathering and processing. Ian's "swordsmanship" only increased the difficulty of analysis.
For a moment, having no better solution, Ultron could only employ one of the Nine Great Mysteries of Marvel—the Great Escaping Technique, which normal people call "running away."
"Did the One-Above-All give you this power? I don't believe your body can withstand it!" Ultron was still a man of status; even while being chased like a stray dog, he didn't forget to talk big. In this void, there was no up or down, no material obstacles, and the two entities engaged in an extremely bizarre pursuit.
Ultron constantly used the power of the Heart of the Universe for regulatory-level defense and evasion, occasionally using the Reality Controller to try and warp Ian's attack path, but with little effect—the opponent's energy attributes were too "niche," causing many rules to have their effects greatly reduced.
Meanwhile, Ian relied entirely on the extreme speed of the "Wings of Light" and the [White Necrosword] to dog him relentlessly.
Body can't take it?
Isn't that exactly what makes a wonderful story!
[Berserker EXP +449]
[Berserker EXP +337]
[Berserker EXP +431]
...
Ian fought more bravely as the battle went on.
Severe cracks on his body were, for him, a minor problem that didn't even require using his health insurance. This scene, if seen by the outside world, would be enough to make every god's jaw drop.
In fact.
The four cosmic entities watching this were currently in exactly that state.
In that supreme realm that transcends time, space, and dimension—where only the cosmic rules themselves can manifest—the abstract entities of the Marvel universe: Death, Eternity, Oblivion, and Infinity, were silently "watching" the absurd battle taking place in the absolute void.
Even for these supreme gods accustomed to the birth and death of universes and the rise and fall of dimensions, the emotion known as "shock" clearly manifested on their usually tranquil "faces."
"That is not the power of the Big Boss."
Infinity's graceful form, composed of countless galaxies, rippled slightly.
Her voice carried an unprecedented confusion.
Oblivion, the existence representing ultimate nothingness, seemed to have the darkness devouring everything around him stagnate for a moment: "Regardless, it was he who hid the Big Boss in the first place."
"I think... perhaps this is his potential?"
When those words were spoken, Oblivion himself didn't seem to believe them. To this, Eternity, the collective of all timelines, also fell into silence.
After a long while.
"A battle like this exceeds the upper limits of our restraint. Guide them there, and we will know where exactly he hid the OAA."
Finally, Eternity made a decision and issued the order.
His arm, composed of timelines, rose slightly, and invisible regulatory forces began to nudge the "flow" within the absolute void, creating an invisible gravitational undercurrent.
Death watched Eternity's actions.
She did not object.
She joined the plan along with the other entities.
Although cosmic gods are not enough to face an Omni-level being, subtle influences can still occur. After all, the two Omni-level beings on the battlefield were both "cripples" relying on external forces.
"Ian Kent..." Death's gaze never left Ian. Her essence appeared somewhat uneasy, and that unease was becoming increasingly clear.
No one knew why.
***
While Ian and Ultron were engaged in their oddly-styled chase at the edge of the Marvel universe.
In the distant DC Universe, Los Angeles.
Before a pile of ruins that had just experienced a massive fire and was still billowing thick smoke, police lights flashed. A police car, likely speeding by a hundred percent, screeched to a halt.
Then, Detective Chloe Decker stepped out of the driver's seat, her brow furrowed at the tragedy before her. The passenger door opened, and Lucifer Morningstar, dressed in a sharp, custom-tailored suit, stepped out with his usual, playboy-like charming smile.
"So..." Chloe pointed at the sky, which, despite the dawn, still held an abnormal lingering glow, her voice dripping with deep suspicion.
"You're trying to convince me that the flash of light that almost blinded everyone just now was really just some distant planet being blown up by Earthlings?"
She was a cop, but also a high achiever—someone who had gone to a proper university. Even if she were forced to lose IQ points, she would absolutely never believe such an absurd claim.
Lucifer spread his hands, his expression incredibly sincere: "Of course. You know me so well, you should have known long ago that I never lie."
"Believe me, the guys on that planet had it rough. Boom! All gone in an instant." He even added an explosion gesture for effect.
To this, Chloe rolled her eyes, clearly not believing a single word. But she couldn't be bothered to keep arguing with him and turned toward the cordoned-off fire scene.
"I even have footage, do you want to see it?"
Lucifer shrugged and followed behind her leisurely.
Once inside the building that was burnt down to its frame, the smell of char and the stench of burnt meat hit them. On the floor, bodies covered in white sheets were lined up.
There were dozens of them.
Lucifer pointed casually at the bodies.
"Right, those aliens were probably about this miserable." Lucifer used the corpses at the crime scene as a comparison, his tone as light as if he were reviewing last night's opera.
Chloe glared at him fiercely: "Lucifer! Can you respect the deceased?"
Lucifer smiled unconcernedly and looked around.
"I'm afraid they can't feel respect anymore. Does anyone smell barbecue? Smells good." He began to wander through the charred ruins, touching this, looking at that, even picking up a heat-deformed plastic cup to sniff the suspicious liquid remaining inside.
Chloe had no time for him and entered work mode. She knelt down and asked a female medical examiner who was checking the bodies: "Can you determine the cause of death?"
The medical examiner looked up, pushed her glasses, and said with a touch of helplessness: sincere
"Honey, has being around Lucifer for so long affected the part of your brain that handles vision?"
"These people were obviously burned to death."
She pointed to the carbonized state of the bodies.
Chloe felt a bit embarrassed: "Of course I can see they were burned... I mean, are there signs of arson? Like accelerants?"
The medical examiner shrugged: "You'll have to ask the forensic team for that. I'm just a medical examiner. I can only tell you that before these poor souls were burned, there were no obvious struggle marks or other signs of homicide. It's more like... they were burned while they were asleep."
Hearing this.
Chloe frowned.
"A group of people sleeping in a place like this?"
She had a hard time imagining what these people were gathered here for in the first place.
At that moment, from nearby came a "pffft" sound, as if Lucifer had spat something out but then forcibly swallowed it back. He was holding that charred plastic cup, his face looking strange as he wiped his mouth: "Oh, bloody hell, I thought it was some fine wine they opened for their party tonight!"
"Turns out it tastes horrible. I bet there's more than one case of AIDS in here... ptooey." Lucifer's words, as if accidentally, gave Chloe a hint.
"Having a party, and then taking something they shouldn't have, to the point where they lost the ability to escape?" Chloe was often inspired by Lucifer's offhand remarks.
This was the main reason she kept Lucifer around as a consultant.
"If you ask me, these people might have committed suicide. You might not know... lately many people have been preaching that the end is nigh. The number of people who like to 'ascend' in groups is definitely beyond your imagination." Lucifer tossed the cup aside, walked to Chloe's side, and looked at the charred bodies while making his judgment.
As usual.
Absurd, bizarre.
A mocking smile appeared on his face. "Tsk tsk, thinking they can go to heaven just by dying? Fat chance. I bet they're all lined up at my front door right now, taking a number."
Chloe was already extremely frustrated by this talk. She sighed.
"Lucifer, when are you finally going to stop playing this childish 'I am the King of Hell' game with me?"
Lucifer turned around to face her, his playboy smirk softening slightly. His deep eyes gazed at her, and his voice was low and magnetic.
"When you truly believe me, Chloe."
He really was a romantic, truly. Perhaps the original sin of all the romantics on Earth could really be blamed on this King of Hell.
"Want to see who blinks first? I've never lost this game."
Lucifer gave a devilish smile.
"..."
Chloe followed her routine—which was to say, she was left speechless.
The two stared at each other, a complex tension filling the air.
Chloe thought it would be like every other time, where she would eventually choose to helplessly look away and end this meaningless standoff.
However.
To her surprise,
Lucifer's expression suddenly changed violently!
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a rare expression—a mix of shock, confusion, and even a hint of... agitation.
"Wait, is this right?!!!"
Lucifer snapped his head up, as if he could see through the charred roof and into the endless sky, or as if he perceived something happening in some unobservable place beyond the universe.
"Damn it! You're even hacking my account!!"
Lucifer was completely bewildered. Chloe looked at Lucifer's distracted state and helplessly stood on her tiptoes, waving her hand in front of his eyes.
"Hey! Lucifer? Snap out of it! What's wrong now? Did you take too many drugs with some models last night? Or is your mental illness acting up again?"
Her tone carried habitual teasing and a hint of imperceptible concern.
Lucifer first subconsciously murmured an answer in the negative, but then snapped back, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and immediately raised his voice to emphasize.
"I do not have a mental illness! Chloe! I've said it many times!" His emotions were intense, making one feel like he was protesting too much.
In fact, everyone in this precinct knew he saw a psychiatrist thirty times a week, so his emphasis was hollow. Chloe just raised an eyebrow noncommittally.
She clearly didn't believe a word.
"Fine, fine, you don't. Then, 'King of Hell' who isn't crazy, can you first help solve the case at hand? There are dozens of lives here."
Chloe patted the dust off her hands and pulled her attention back to the case.
Her tone was solemn.
Lucifer took a deep breath, trying to suppress the chaotic perceptions in his mind, and nodded, attempting to focus.
"Of course, solving cases. I love solving cases..."
Although he said that, and his mind wanted to solve the case quickly, his eyes remained somewhat shifty during the process, glancing at the ceiling every now and then.
Chloe didn't notice his small movements and began introducing the preliminary investigation: "According to neighbor descriptions and preliminary records, the owner of this house is Tom Weasley, a solitary, retired religious enthusiast. Antisocial, rarely interacted with people. We also can't contact him right now."
"Because of that, it's highly likely he's among the victims." Chloe applied her logical reasoning, pointing at the charred bodies covered in white sheets.
However, just as Chloe finished speaking.
"Ugh!" Lucifer suddenly let out a suppressed groan of pain, clutching his knees, and fine cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.
"What is it?" Chloe was startled and asked quickly.
"Did you put a small toy in your butt?"
She knew Lucifer well, so she knew that was something he was capable of doing.
"No... it's nothing!"
Lucifer's face grew pale. He forced a smile, but it looked worse than crying. "Maybe... maybe I just twisted it a bit."
"Um... Chloe, I desperately need to use the restroom! Very urgent!"
Without waiting for Chloe to answer, without giving her any time to react, Lucifer bolted like an arrow toward the charred, unrecognizable bathroom at the end of the hallway!
Bang!
He ripped off the bathroom door, which was warped and stuck from the high heat, and tossed it aside like trash before slipping inside.
Then, even more astoundingly, he reached out from within and laboriously dragged the warped door back, wedging it into the frame to create an extremely crude "closed" space!
"Lucifer? What on earth are you doing?!" Chloe banged on the warped door from outside, a mix of bewilderment and worry on her face.
"Are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?"
"No! No! I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Don't come in!" Lucifer's voice came from behind the door, carrying a rare, almost frantic urgency, and even a hint of imperceptible painful trembling.
Inside the narrow, blackened, pungent-smelling toilet stall.
Lucifer leaned against the cold, soot-covered porcelain wall and slowly slid to the floor, panting heavily, completely disregarding whether his expensive suit would be ruined.
"What the hell is Ian Kent doing!"
Lucifer felt weak in his body and sat right down on the floor. He tremblingly pulled out a small, jewel-encrusted silver hand mirror from his inner suit pocket and held it up. In the mirror, the reflection was still his handsome face, enough to make anyone swoon.
But in the next second—
Hum!
That face suddenly blurred and distorted! Beneath the skin, dark red hellfire seemed to burn fiercely, and the shadowy outlines of hideous demon scales and bone spurs flashed for a moment! A pair of eyes that didn't belong to a human, burning with pure hellfire, flared up in the mirror before instantly vanishing!
Although not much power was leaking, it was slightly beyond what this mass-produced "manufactured" shell could withstand, so his skin looked as if it were about to crack.
He had already revealed the hideous face of the devil beneath the mask.