Homelander shook his head silently.
He had originally thought that this final battle deciding the fate of the Universe would be a hot-blooded, fierce struggle that shattered galaxies and dimmed the sun and moon.
He had even prepared a movie-level script where he was pushed into a corner, only to reveal all his trump cards and complete a shocking reversal amidst an extremely tragic atmosphere.
And the result?
Aside from shouting loudly at the beginning, the opponent collapsed immediately afterward. A single set of basic attacks had knocked this so-called New God to the ground?
Homelander curled his lip, feeling slightly disappointed.
"Is this what they call 'the best warriors achieve no great fame'? Because I prepared too thoroughly?"
"This is far too lacking in spectacle."
Homelander shook his head and shouted loudly at the empty battlefield around him:
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
"Ego, stop filming. Turn off the cameras."
"That footage just now is useless. Delete it all. There's zero sense of pressure. If people saw that, my fans would just think this war was won too casually."
As Homelander's voice fell, around the battlefield, a dozen black stone pillars that seemed unique to Apokolips suddenly distorted on their surfaces.
The rock camouflage faded away, revealing a faint blue glow.
Those were a dozen massive tentacles that Ego had extended from beneath the ground.
And at the tip of each tentacle, a camera flashing a red light was delicately embedded.
These devices were hand-crafted by Ego using parts scavenged from the Dark Fortress.
After Homelander finished his instructions, he looked back at Darkseid, who was slumped on the ground.
Since the movie footage didn't work out, he could only squeeze the last bit of residual value out of this physical body.
"Ego."
Homelander stood beside Darkseid's head and used the tip of his toe to tilt up his chin.
"Look at this guy. Although his brain isn't very bright, the strength of this body is indeed quite good. Can you refine him just like you did with that Kryptonian?"
Ego's tentacles extended, piercing into Darkseid's body, seemingly performing a scan and evaluation of his physical form.
"Theoretically feasible, Master."
Ego retracted the tentacles, his voice ringing out in the air as he began a rational analysis.
"This body's energy level is extremely powerful; it is a perfect War Machine. However, I must remind you of one thing."
"Speak."
"The vast majority of his power originates from the Dark Divinity anchored to this Universe," Ego explained. "If he is taken away from this Universe, he will lose most of the divine power unique to it."
"In other words, once he leaves here, he will merely be an extremely strong alien Beast."
After listening to Ego's analysis, Homelander fell silent for a moment.
Lose his divine power? Then he'd just be a venomous snake with its fangs pulled.
But...
Homelander quickly made a decision and smiled nonchalantly.
"Assimilate him first, Ego. I have my uses."
After saying that, he casually grabbed Darkseid by the back of the neck, lifted him up, and prepared to toss him to Ego's tentacles.
At that moment, Darkseid—who was supposed to be in a deep coma and completely unconscious—suddenly snapped his eyes open!
It wasn't a waking from unconsciousness, but rather a lethal venomous snake that had been patiently enduring and waiting, finally finding the moment when its prey was most relaxed.
"You are too arrogant, Earthling."
He didn't throw a punch, nor did he fire Omega Beams.
He simply swung his scar-covered right hand in a backhand motion.
A net woven from energy resembling ribbon-like lightning instantly enveloped Homelander from head to toe.
This time, Homelander truly fell for the trap.
"Ah! Ugh—!!!"
After that first short cry of pain, he was immediately so overwhelmed by agony that he lacked the strength to even make a sound.
He fell straight backward, crashing onto the black rocks.
The extreme pain caused his entire body to begin convulsing.
This was Apokolips' most vicious invention—the Pain Matrix.
It caused no physical damage and did not destroy cellular structures.
Its sole function was to directly bypass all of a biological creature's defense mechanisms and act only upon the central nervous system.
That was its most terrifying aspect.
Homelander's body was indestructible, but he still possessed pain-sensing nerves.
As long as he still had the physiological structures to perceive pain, his defenses would be completely bypassed.
And this pain was equivalent to the most intense agony a person could experience in their lifetime, magnified a thousand times over.
"Hahahaha..."
Darkseid stood up unsteadily from the ground.
He looked at Homelander convulsing in pain on the ground and let out a triumphant, wild laugh.
"You thought you won? You foolish reptile."
"In the eons I have ruled the Universe, I have seen too many arrogant creatures like you. You always blindly put your faith in your own strength."
Realizing that Homelander was suffering unimaginable torture, Ego, deep underground, instantly fell into a frenzy.
Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by Ego's roar, the ground shattered wildly as hundreds of thick, glowing blue divine power tentacles burst through the earth.
They were like berserk giant pythons, swarming toward Darkseid to crush him.
"Get back into the dirt, parasite!"
Darkseid snorted coldly. Even though he was heavily injured now, he still had the strength to fight.
His eyes went wide as the Omega Beams zig-zagged wildly through the air.
Wherever the beams passed, Ego's energy tentacles were shattered one by one, dissipating into a sky full of blue light particles.
But Ego now controlled all of Apokolips, and his divine power was nearly infinite.
If one was broken, two would immediately grow from the ground!
However, in the short term, Ego could do nothing to him either, and the battle fell into a stalemate.
"Damn it! How is this monster's vitality so tenacious!"
Looking at Homelander rolling on the ground, Ego was anxious beyond measure.
He knew Homelander's physical body was peerlessly strong, but mental torture was another matter entirely!
If this intense pain striking directly at the soul lasted too long, Homelander's will might be shattered, turning him into a terrifyingly powerful but mindless madman!
"I must cut off the pain transmission..."
Ego made a prompt decision. He diverted a portion of his focus and extended several soft blue energy threads.
"Forgive me, Master. Please endure for a moment."
The energy threads followed Homelander's spine, carefully probing in through his pores to attach to his central nervous system.
This was an extremely delicate operation.
If the force was too great, it might damage Homelander's nerves; if it was too small, it wouldn't be able to counter the impact of the Pain Matrix.
Under Ego's intervention, that bone-deep agony finally showed a hint of easing.
And Homelander's passive skill, Tranquil Mind, was also continuously taking effect.
Under the combined effect of both,
Homelander's rolled-back eyes finally regained a sliver of clarity.
Shame.
An unprecedented shame!
He, the Homelander, had actually been blindsided by such underhanded tactics, rolling on the ground like a dead dog!
It seemed his power had grown too quickly; he was like a nouveau riche whose mindset had become arrogant.
Homelander gritted his teeth, forced himself to concentrate, and with great difficulty opened his magic pocket to pull out the master ball.
The moment the master ball appeared in his hand, white light flashed explosively.
There was no need for Homelander to issue any commands at all.
A red and blue afterimage had already charged out violently like a cannonball from a barrel.