"BOOM—!!!"
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the rift was violently forced open.
Several massive black warships, as large as towns, slowly squeezed out of the rift and hovered over Metropolis.
The surfaces of the warships flickered with red Omega symbols, exuding a terrifying sense of pressure.
Then, a sky-blotting army of Parademons swarmed out from the warships.
Although the numbers were not infinite, they were far fewer than the billions of troops they had expected.
But the terrifying aura emanating from these Parademons was clearly more elite and powerful than any they had destroyed before.
"Enemy attack!!!"
Cyborg's warning came through the communication channel.
"It's Darkseid's flagship! They arrived early!!"
The various defensive lines in Metropolis instantly erupted into chaos, and everyone was pale with shock.
Weren't they supposed to arrive in twenty-four hours?! How did they get here early?!
But things had come to this; there was no use in talking more.
War never goes according to plan.
Fortunately, under Batman's efficient coordination, Metropolis had formed a preliminary Resistance force.
Anti-aircraft cannons began charging, Amazon warriors drew their longbows, and Resistance soldiers rested their fingers on their triggers.
"Don't panic! Defend according to the predetermined plan!" Bruce Wayne stood atop a tall building, calmly issuing orders.
But his gaze immediately turned toward the conspicuous figure in the white wedding dress in the center of the square.
Bruce fired his grappling hook, his body swinging in an arc through the night sky, landing steadily beside Harley.
"Harley! Listen to me!" Bruce grabbed Harley's arm, his tone urgent, "They're here! Come with me now! Hide in the bunker!"
"Let go of me, Batsy!" Harley forcefully shook off Bruce's hand, "Don't touch my wedding dress, you're wrinkling the lace!"
She glared, not only unafraid but instead raising a baseball bat she had gotten from who-knows-where, pointing it at the warships in the sky.
"I'm not leaving! This is my wedding venue! My fiancé is coming back soon! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Harley, do me a favor!" Bruce growled in a low voice, "Darkseid is up there! It's dangerous for you to stay here! I promised Homelander I would protect you!"
"So what if it's Darkseid?!" Harley lifted her head stubbornly, "I said, no one can ruin my wedding! Whoever dares to come, I'll bash their head in!"
Bruce looked at this stubborn, crazy woman, a deep sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.
It wasn't Harley's death he feared.
It was the reaction of the man called Homelander after Harley's death.
Superman had completely fallen because of Lois's death, turning Earth into a living hell.
If Homelander's "bride" died on Earth while he was fighting for his life on Apokolips...
That man, even more powerful than Superman, would absolutely tear the Earth in half.
Earth cannot withstand a second blackened deity!
"Barry!!" Bruce pressed his earpiece and shouted.
"Whoosh!"
A streak of red lightning instantly stopped beside Bruce.
"I'm here, Bruce. There are Parademons everywhere outside, they're paradropping!"
"Listen, Barry." Bruce grabbed The Flash's shoulders with both hands, his expression incredibly serious.
"Your mission has changed. Ignore the front lines, ignore those Parademons."
He pointed at Harley, who was wearing her wedding dress and waving her baseball bat while cursing at the sky.
"Focus all your attention on her. Use your Speed Force, no matter the cost, you must not let her come to any harm!"
Barry looked at Harley, hesitant.
"No harm? In the center of this battlefield? Bruce, I feel like this is harder than dealing with Superman..."
"That's an order, Barry!" Bruce's tone brooked no refusal, "If she dies, we're all finished. Earth absolutely cannot have a second fallen tyrant!"
These words awakened Barry's fearful memories, and he nodded heavily.
"I understand! I'll keep an eye on her."
The bay doors of the warships in the sky swung wide, and the generals of the Dark Elite descended one after another; war broke out instantly.
Fire, explosions, and screams filled all of Metropolis.
But Metropolis did not fall in the first wave of impact.
Since Darkseid had abandoned ninety-five percent of his fleet, the number of the Parademon army descending on Earth was far from reaching that hopeless magnitude.
Although the remaining troops were all the most elite killing machines, the will to resist on Earth's side had also reached an unprecedented peak.
"Hold the formation! Raise your shields high!"
The Amazon general, Philippus, roared loudly, the longsword in her hand thrusting forward suddenly, accurately piercing the chest of a diving high-ranking Parademon.
Hundreds of Amazon warriors formed a curved bronze shield wall on the outskirts of Century Square.
The heavy sound of metal clashing rose and fell.
Parademon claws scraped across the shield surfaces, sending up blinding sparks.
The female warriors did not retreat a single step, their longswords stabbing out fiercely from the gaps in the shields, impaling the monsters trying to cross the defensive line.
"Slade! There's a gap in the left wing! Supplement the firepower!"
Bruce Wayne lay at the edge of a tall building, commanding the battle.
"Got it, leave it to me."
Deathstroke Slade's modified sniper rifle fired continuously, blue electromagnetic rounds cutting through the night sky, headshotting several Dark Elites who were preparing to throw bombs at the Amazon defense line.
On the other side, Queen Mera displayed the true power of the Atlantean royalty.
She held her hands high, and countless streams of water, under the pull of her magic, transformed into dozens of thick water dragons that soared into the sky.
These water streams quickly froze into sharp ice spears in mid-air, pouring down on the Apokoliptian troops like a torrential rain.
Countless Parademons were impaled by ice spears and fell into the river.
The battle was exceptionally fierce.
The Apokoliptian Legion had not expected that this Planet, which should have been completely conquered, could organize such a tenacious counterattack.
Although the Earth's allied forces fought with extreme difficulty and casualties were constantly increasing, the defensive line was like a hard reef, firmly holding back the black tsunami of Apokolips.
They did not collapse.
All of this was transmitted in real-time to the global audience through the lenses of dozens of high-definition cameras.
The cameras Harley Quinn had previously set up to broadcast her "wedding" had now become the perfect battlefield live-streaming equipment.
Countless survivors across the globe stared intently at their screens.
They saw the bravery of the Amazon warriors, the fury of Queen Mera, and the control of Batman.
There was no commentary, only the real sounds of gunfire and the roars of monsters.
These images were more effective than any words at stirring the blood of humanity.
In front of the screens, people held their breath.
No one was crying, and no one cowered.
They clenched their fists, watching the heroes fighting bloody battles on screen, their hearts beating violently with every explosion.
...
Above Metropolis, the massive black flagship hovered quietly amidst the rolling smoke.
At the front of the flagship, Darkseid stood with his hands behind his back, looking down coldly at the meat grinder below.
He frowned slightly, his eyes showing clear boredom and disappointment.
"Desaad," Darkseid's deep voice rang out.
"Master." Desaad bowed and stepped forward.
"The Earthling who killed the Kryptonian—where is he?"