Darkseid had no choice but to act; an instant before her toes could touch him, he reached out a massive hand and seized Harley by the throat.
He hoisted the woman, dressed in her magnificent wedding gown, high into the air.
Harley's feet dangled in the air as her hands clawed desperately at Darkseid's thick fingers, trying to pry open even a sliver of a gap, but it was utterly futile.
The intensifying sensation of suffocation caused her face to flush red, then turn a bruised purple.
Even so, there wasn't a hint of plea in her eyes; she opened her mouth and spat directly onto Darkseid's cold, indifferent face.
The spittle struck Darkseid's chin and slowly slid down.
"Let her go!!"
Bruce Wayne leapt down from a high-rise building, his gliding wings unfurling in the air. He threw six High-Explosive Batarangs with both hands, aiming straight for Darkseid's face.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The fiery light of the explosions erupted on Darkseid's face, yet they failed to make him so much as blink.
"Darkseid! Your opponent is us! Let that woman go!" Bruce barked sharply.
Darkseid turned his head to look at Batman.
"That outfit... I remember it."
"The vermin who hid in a corner, gasping for breath, when the Kryptonians surrendered."
He lifted Harley slightly higher in his hand, giving Bruce a clearer view.
"You protect her like a mother beast guarding its young. It seems this female in the white fabric is very important to you."
"Let me guess..."
A faint, cold sneer appeared at the corners of Darkseid's mouth.
"Is she related to the one who killed the son of krypton?"
Bruce's hand tightened around his weapon; Darkseid's intuition was far too sharp.
"Answer me," Darkseid demanded, staring down Batman. "Where is that person?"
"He went somewhere you'd never imagine," Bruce said, forcing himself to stay calm. "Release her, or else..."
"Or else what?" Darkseid interrupted, his tone filled with disdain. "Will you use your pathetic strength to prove your rage to me?"
Darkseid turned his gaze back to Harley in his hand.
By now, Harley was on the verge of losing consciousness. Her eyes were rolling back, the struggling of her legs grew weaker, and the Green Wooden Mask tied to the top of her head wobbled slightly with her tremors.
"You place your hopes on a coward who hides away."
Darkseid's voice echoed across the entire square and, through those dutiful cameras, reached the ears of every viewer in the World.
"He killed my servant, yet dares not face my wrath."
"Since he treasures this female so much..."
Darkseid's fingers began to tighten, bit by bit.
A pained hiss escaped Harley's throat, and her hands fell limp at her sides.
In that moment, countless viewers watching the live broadcast across the globe covered their mouths, tears of despair welling in their eyes.
The bride of the hero who had brought them hope was about to be murdered by Darkseid in public!
"Perhaps by killing this girl..."
Darkseid stared at Batman, his eyes filled with cruel mockery.
"...that person will crawl out of the hole where he's hiding like a mad stray dog, wouldn't he?"
Bruce roared, "No! Stop!!" He pulled the trigger without hesitation, and beams of energy poured frantically onto Darkseid's body, yet they failed to cause even a ripple.
"Crack."
The extremely crisp sound of a bone snapping rang out.
Harley Quinn's struggling limbs instantly stiffened, then hung down powerlessly.
Those eyes, once full of wildness, completely lost their luster.
Darkseid let go of his grip.
Harley, in her pure white wedding dress, fell heavily onto the rubble-strewn ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
The wedding dress was covered in dirt, looking incredibly desolate.
"Harley..."
Bruce's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
This Dark Knight, who always seemed so composed, threw his head back and let out a heart-wrenching roar.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh—!!!"
He had failed.
He had failed once again! He couldn't protect Lois, and now he couldn't protect Harley.
This wasn't just about losing a comrade; it was because he knew that for the man who was Earth's last hope, his only tether had been severed.
If Homelander found out Harley was dead, what would he do?
Would that man with supreme power instantly transform into a Destroyer even more terrifying than Darkseid?
Everyone felt a deep sense of despair.
Darkseid watched the scene with satisfaction.
Fear and despair—these were his favorite nourishment.
"Now, welcome your annihilation," Darkseid coldly issued the God of Death's notice.
Before screens all over the World, countless people covered their mouths, unable to believe their eyes.
The girl who was about to become a bride had been killed so easily.
Tears overflowed from every pair of eyes in front of the screens.
"Ouch! This really... hurts like hell!"
The crowd, whose hearts were shrouded in grief, had their emotions interrupted by an abrupt voice.
The voice was filled with an inexplicable excitement and a sense of the bizarre.
This... this voice was?
Bruce suddenly snapped his head up.
Darkseid also frowned and looked down.
"Boom—!!!"
A multicolored tornado of energy erupted from where Harley had fallen.
Accompanying this tornado were a series of extremely exaggerated cartoon sound effects.
Siren blares, train whistles, the clacking of a marimba, and frantic, high-pitched laughter.
"What is this?" A hint of confusion flashed in Darkseid's eyes; he actually sensed ripples of divine power from this tornado that he had never encountered before.
The tornado came to a sudden halt.
Revealing the person standing there—it was Harley Quinn!
The sight caused everyone's jaws to drop.
But Harley Quinn's appearance had completely changed.
Her face had turned an incredibly vivid, gelatinous emerald green. Her original features were exaggeratedly enlarged, her mouth stretching almost to her ears, revealing two rows of radiantly white, absurdly large teeth.
"Sssssssssmokin'! This is awesome, hey!!"
Harley stood with her hands on her hips, striking a curvaceous and exaggerated pose, letting out a drawn-out, eccentric cry.
"Let's bring some fun to this lifeless party!"
Bruce stared at her blankly: "Harley...?"
"Wrong! Please call me—The Super Invincible Cute Universe Number One Party Queen!"
Harley spun around on the spot, her white skirt rotating like a helicopter rotor.
Then, at a speed that completely defied the laws of physics, she instantly slid right in front of Darkseid.
"Now, it's Queen Harley's turn to give you a party gift!"
"Hmph! No matter what kind of masquerade trick this is," Darkseid snorted coldly, his massive fist striking ruthlessly toward her head. "There is only death!"
"Bang!"
The punch landed squarely.
But something eerie happened.
The moment Harley's head made contact with the fist, it was flattened by the force, while her neck, like a piece of highly elastic rubber, was stretched back a full dozen meters by Darkseid's punch!
Her two eyeballs even popped out of their sockets like springs with a "whoosh" from the pressure, dangling in mid-air.
Only a second later.
"Duang—!!