After Barry left, Bruce opened the files he had left behind and pulled out the first image he had selected.
It was a written record documenting the Amazons' initial reaction to Darkseid's invasion.
The record stated that in the year 6139 of the Golden Age, the Amazon tribe discovered that the sky, once shielded by the gods, was being swallowed by dark clouds.
Accompanying the darkness were flames falling from the heavens and a sweltering, oppressive heat.
Countless ships descended from the stars, their numbers almost entirely shrouding the Earth. No longer could a single breath of air be drawn on Earth that wasn't laced with the stench of sulfur.
On that very same day, Hermes was captured by Darkseid, only managing to escape back after three days of imprisonment.
Athena descended upon Paradise Island, and the Amazon warriors rallied to her cause. Meanwhile, Poseidon descended upon Atlantis, and the warriors of the sea resolved to march on land.
Zeus summoned his brothers, and even his elders—the various giants.
The giants were unwilling to answer Zeus's call, but the remains of Uranus were devoured by Parademons, and the blood of Typhon was splattered at Darkseid's feet.
All of this compelled the giants to follow Gaia's will. With the giants at the forefront, Zeus's legions engaged in a prolonged tug-of-war with Darkseid.
The flames of war ignited on Earth, radiating outward to encompass nearly the entire solar system and affecting a good fraction of the Milky Way galaxy. This prompted the Green Lantern Corps to dispatch reinforcements to Earth.
Over three hundred Lanterns participated in the war. The final battle spanned nearly half the galaxy. Parademons began their expansion on Earth, but the fires of war had long since burned beyond it.
However, a certain force—one that symbolized "anti"—caused the vanguard of Darkseid's forces to constantly converge on Earth. The gods, led by Ares, resolved to fight the final battle on Earth.
The galaxy-spanning war made Ares and Athena incredibly powerful. The need for gods among the living elevated all the deities to the next level of existence.
The arrows of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, pierced through Darkseid's flagship, which he used to pave his conquest. Zeus's lightning forcibly separated the trinity of the unified Mother Boxes.
Empowered by the war to an unparalleled degree, Ares severed Darkseid's weapon and very nearly cleaved him in two.
But an army of hundreds of billions of Parademons ultimately provided Darkseid with an escape route.
...
Reading up to this point, Bruce set down the camera and furrowed his brow deeply.
The biggest trouble was indeed not Darkseid himself. A powerhouse like him would naturally be dealt with by Heisenberg and his own traps.
But the overwhelmingly massive Parademon army under his command was truly terrifying!
And it wasn't just the Parademons. When cross-referencing many stone carvings of the war, Bruce saw far too many varieties of monsters.
Giant apes, grotesque tentacled beasts, three-headed dragons... It was trouble. Immense trouble!
Bruce took a deep breath and looked up at the sky.
"I cannot accept the flames of war being ignited on Earth. Even if we win, Earth will suffer catastrophic losses!
I hope he arrives slower than imagined. I must find a way to make the war happen off-world!
And the most crucial part of this is figuring out what exactly it is that attracts Darkseid!"
Saying this, Bruce picked up the stone tablet bearing the text and vigorously rubbed two specific letters.
"A certain force representing 'anti'... is this the true reason Darkseid came to Earth?
What exactly does 'anti' mean here? Anti-what? What is the complete word, and what are its implications and value?
Only by obtaining this information can I craft a targeted lure.
To lure Darkseid and his main force off-world, allowing us vanguards—myself and Heisenberg—to directly assault Darkseid's core forces.
Coupled with pre-prepared traps, we must stop Darkseid's advance in the heavens. Only then can we spare Earth from the ravages of war!"
With this in mind, Bruce's thoughts grew clearer. Completely ignoring the descending night, he continued to organize and analyze the newly acquired information, forgetting to eat or sleep.
The existing data still had more to unearth. Beyond the Amazonian records, he also needed Atlantis's data for cross-referencing.
In addition, he needed to travel to Europe to thoroughly collect myths and legends related to King Arthur. Those should also contain a few human records of the ancient war!
The files Bruce used for recording multiplied. Faced with the impending great enemy and a future where Earth could suffer immense damage...
The pressure on him was truly immense!
...
Zenith Arena.
With a flash of lightning, Barry tumbled out of the fray, collapsing onto the ground and wailing miserably!
As he came to a halt from his rolling, it became clear that he was completely missing his left leg!
His thigh had been severed from the root. Blood surged out like a fountain, and in the blink of an eye, Barry was drenched head to toe in blood—a literal blood man!
In the arena's spectator stands, Amazon warriors had long since filled every single seat. People were even standing in every gap between the seats.
Seeing Barry's gruesome state and hearing his wails, the female warriors howled with immense excitement!
Yes, this was it! This was the kind of visceral, flesh-on-flesh combat they craved. Amazon warriors never shrank back or frowned in the face of blood.
On the contrary, they loved blood and thirsted for it even more!
At the center of their cheers, Heisenberg carried Barry's severed leg and walked toward him with a cold expression.
"Barry Allen!
I've stressed this time and time again: you are the Flash, not the Two-Legs Hero!
Even without your legs, you shouldn't just lose your combat capacity entirely!
Your legs have been broken a full seventeen times now! Yet even so, you still can't execute any effective compensatory or counterattack maneuvers after losing a leg!
Is clutching your stump and wailing your only countermeasure when facing a stronger opponent?
Do you think your crying is going to bring me down?"
As his words fell, Heisenberg tossed the severed leg next to Barry. Under the control of a biological force field, the leg rapidly reattached itself to Barry's stump.
A moment later, sunlight suffused the air, and Barry's wound healed instantly. However, his face remained deathly pale from the massive blood loss.
Seeing this, Heisenberg sighed and addressed Victor, who was not far away repairing the back of his own head.
"Victor, take Barry down and get him something to eat. Looks like before we take him to war, we'll need to prepare an entire warehouse of rations just for him."
"Yes, Teacher!"
Cyborg, who had always been exceptionally respectful toward Heisenberg, now obeyed with almost zero hesitation.
Even though he was in the middle of reassembling his shattered cranium, he immediately set down the parts and went over to carry Barry away.
Lying in Victor's arms with tears in his eyes, Barry forced out a sentence.
"Put me down, I can walk on my own!"
"Taking you away is Teacher's order. We just do as told!"
"But all the broken parts on your body are shattered! It's way too poky!!!"
Barry's wailing grew even more pathetic, which made Victor pause slightly as he carried him.
A moment later, Victor pursed his lips.
"Bear with it!"
With that, the two headed toward the distant spectator stands, where Amazon warriors had already prepared food and drink for them.
After Victor set Barry down, the female warriors supported him as he devoured copious amounts of hearty meat and fish.
Some enthusiastic warriors even fed him by hand.
The current Barry was completely different from his daytime self. He was in no mood to care about the female warriors crowding closer and closer around him.
Just thinking about having to fight Heisenberg countless more times made even the roots of his thighs tremble.
In just a single afternoon, his legs had been broken over a dozen times!
Torn off alive, chopped off, twisted off, even yanked off by the root!
As long as he showed the slightest delay in his molecularization, Heisenberg would instantly seize on the opening and take out both his legs.
Barry wanted nothing more than to grab Heisenberg by the collar and scream.
Boss, just hit me in the face! Please, I'm begging you, just slap my face!!!
Seeing Barry's increasingly miserable expression, one of the warriors feeding him suddenly laughed.
The female warrior spread her arms wide and pulled Barry directly into her embrace, burying his face right between her two ample mounds.
"Hero, don't be discouraged. You are already very strong. Even Hermes might not be faster than you!
You merely encountered the Sun God. Losing to a god will not strip you of your honor!"
Saying this, the warrior planted a fierce, hearty kiss on Barry's cheek.
This sudden turn of events left Barry completely stunned.
Looking at the warrior holding him, Barry felt like he couldn't see a thing.
Both of his eyes were entirely blocked by soft, pillowy flesh!
At the same time, the warrior grabbed Barry's hand and leaned in close to his ear, whispering.
"How about you give me a child? I sincerely hope my child can have your speed. In my eyes, your speed is far superior to those water-playing fools in Atlantis!!!"
"Give it a rest, Hernandi. This brawny warrior from Atlantis is the true favorite of the Amazons!"
Not far from them, a female warrior sitting next to Arthur chimed in, displeased, arguing on Arthur's behalf.
"Look at his muscles, and his tattoos! I'm going to get the exact same tattoo tonight!
Muscles are a warrior's greatest romance. My child can only be like him. Your little man is way too scrawny!"
"Heh, but he has the traits of a god. His speed reminds me of Hermes!"
"Arthur makes me feel like Poseidon reborn!"
"As a child of Athena, I am ashamed that you would be drawn to the children of the sea!"
"The children of the sea are also the children of the gods! I just admire a man like Arthur, a pure, unadulterated man!"
With that, not to be outdone, she forcefully tried to kiss Arthur, but he mercilessly dodged her face.
"Shut up, all of you! Damn it, once Diana is done, it's my turn. I need to figure out how the hell I'm going to fight him!!!"
Arthur growled in a low voice, his eyes nervously fixed on the battle in the arena.
Diana had improved significantly over these past few hours of combat. Her reaction time in kiting and flanking attacks was much faster, and her footwork was far more fluid and instinctual than before.
But without a doubt, Heisenberg ultimately grabbed her by the neck and snapped Diana's head off once again.
Crack!!!
The crisp sound of bones breaking made Clark, who was sitting not far from Arthur, swallow hard. This was the fate he suffered most often all day long!
Seeing her partner's unnatural behavior, Lois wiped the makeup off her face and clutched tightly onto Clark's arm.
"Clark, what do we do, what do we do? Once Arthur dies again, you'll be up!"
"Damn it, why do I have to die again? I want to win! I want to win brutally!!!"
Not far away, Arthur stood up with a face full of displeasure. But after taking two steps forward, he came to an awkward halt.
His legs were a bit weak.
So he knocked on his own legs to wake them up, then resumed walking toward the arena. As he walked, he clenched his fists, psyching himself up.
"I can do this, I got this, I absolutely have to hold on until I die!!!"
"Ha, Arthur, it's your turn, right?"
Looking at the descending Arthur, Heisenberg gave a wicked smirk. That single smile instantly made Arthur forget everything he had just said.
What had he just said?
I can do this?
I got this?
I absolutely have to die?!!
Looking at the predatory Heisenberg across from him, Arthur's face twisted in bitterness.
I am seriously going to die!!!
/-\
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