A blood rain poured down in thick sheets.
The battlefield that had been roaring with chaos just moments ago now only echoed with the fight between the Yellow Lantern Corps and Superman.
The Yellow Lantern used all kinds of weapons covered in fear, and they kept attacking Superman who seemed impossible to break through.
Sinestro's order was to keep Superman busy.
Even though every single one of these strange and monstrous-looking Yellow Lanterns had a brutal, hungry look in their eyes, they were still carefully keeping the power of their attacks.
Superman also held back and didn't dare go all-out. He couldn't use his full strength above Metropolis.
He was repeatedly held back and dragged around the limited battlefield by the Yellow Lantern Corps.
Reverse-Flash was no longer standing casually with his arms crossed nearby. He looked past the chaotic battlefield and landed on a slope not far away.
A broken Flash's helmet was rolling down the slope of the road, bouncing against the road.
It didn't stop until it hit a raised tile and finally stopped, lying there crooked and still.
The vibrations around Reverse-Flash gradually subsided. He glanced back to confirm that the girl was still using all her strength to hold back the magic raging inside her, then walked straight toward the shattered helmet.
He stopped, lowered his head, and suddenly let out a faint sigh.
"The first unknown the Emperor killed… that was you."
After a moment of silence, Reverse-Flash lifted his head and looked toward the Yellow Lantern suspended motionless in the air.
In the sky, Viktor frowned slightly and instinctively raised his left hand, looking at the yellow ring on his finger.
He never worn this ring for so long before.
The fear spectrum could keep making him stronger, but at the same time, a faint, raspy whisper was constantly trying to creep its way into his mind.
The mechanism of the fear spectrum was neither physical nor magical. The whispers that tried to erode with his thoughts could only be pushed back by willpower.
Fortunately, Viktor's willpower was fairly strong.
However...
A bold idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
'What if that Superman never shown himself?'
'What if he kept the ring on just a little longer… just a little more?'
That thought wrapped around his heart like a vine.
Sinestro's mouth curled into a small smile.
He had designed this ring himself.
Those tempting little whispers were just the surface. Even the strongest-willed warrior would be subtly influenced over time without even noticing.
A look of certain victory already appeared on Sinestro's face.
As Viktor's thoughts wandered, the fierce winds he had stirred with his speed began to fade.
After Flash had been torn apart a moment ago, the violent air currents had lifted something incredibly light and slowly drifted down from above.
The falling object cut through Viktor's wandering thoughts.
He looked down, reached out his right hand, and caught an envelope covered in blood.
Reverse-Flash's eyes flickered slightly, but he quickly acted like nothing happened and turned his gaze back toward the Yellow Lantern battlefield.
The Yellow Lantern was surrounded by dense yellow light. In their hands, they formed all kinds of solid weapons, bombarding Superman.
The bright yellow glow swallowed him completely.
"Hm?"
Seeing Viktor suddenly being distracted, Sinestro finally couldn't hold back and decided to push.
"What are you still waiting for? You are a rare talent. You were born to spread fear…"
Reverse-Flash watched Sinestro speaking confidently in the air and let out a slightly disdainful snort, but his expression couldn't help turning a bit heavy.
The real reason he had come to this timeline wasn't actually because of that otherworldly Flash recorded in history only as "the Unknown."
What was happening today was already clearly written down in future history.
The moment Sinestro successfully recruited his target... was also the moment Sinestro would die.
If Reverse-Flash hadn't interfered, Viktor's heart would have been pierced by that Flash.
After personally experiencing the brink of death, Viktor's emotions would drastically change, and would summon the Yellow Lantern Corps...
Then, Viktor would have seized the ring on the spot and killed Sinestro.
Before a certain mysterious figure could arrive, Parallax would have helped him flee into the antimatter universe.
Viktor would remain hidden in the antimatter universe for fifteen long years before showing up again… and by then, he would be perfectly fused with Parallax.
Emperor Viktor.
In the century that followed, Earth's history would be shrouded for a whole hundred years by a domination built on fear.
It wasn't that no one could defeat him during that time. But every time he was beaten, Emperor Viktor would simply retreat into the Antimatter Universe.
And whenever he appeared again, Earth would inevitably be in a state where no one could restrain him for a certain period.
That Flash had been right about one thing.
Reverse-Flash often meddles at crucial turning points in fate, changing the world into the shape he desired.
This time was no exception.
Emperor Viktor had lived far too long.
He showed up again in the Reverse-Flash's own era, violently fighting metahumans and relentlessly hunting Reverse-Flash without rest.
Then, Reverse-Flash hid inside the Speed Force and kept collecting information about Emperor Viktor from different eras and only came out to act once he felt confident enough.
The push he gave Viktor, and that carefully prepared letter that would distract him at just the right moment, were both Reverse-Flash's work.
Meanwhile, Superman, who was being buried by a bunch of Yellow Lanterns, heard Sinestro's tempting words and fought hard to shake off the attack from dozens of Yellow Lanterns around him.
Then Superman immediately looked toward Viktor.
After seeing Viktor drenched in blood, with a faint yellow glow swirling around him, Superman's face showed regret and grief.
"Don't agree to him!"
Superman shouted at Viktor with his voice filled with urgency and desperation.
"Break free of that ring's control! The power of fear will take you somewhere you can't return from!"
Hearing Superman's cry, Viktor tucked the letter close to his body and slowly turned around.
He looked over the Yellow Lanterns fighting in midair and looked at Superman as he was swallowed up and surrounded by Yellow Lanterns.
Viktor's lips parted slightly.
It was as if time itself froze in that instant.
The Reverse-Flash's heart quietly tensed. The Negative Speed Force around him kept slowing down.
Viktor's indifferent voice slowly rang out.
"I'm not being controlled by the Yellow Lantern ring. And this isn't a mistake."
Superman had just shaken off several members of the Yellow Lantern again. After hearing those words, Superman stared at Viktor in a daze.
However, the Yellow Lantern Corps didn't care at all. They charged forward once more, engulfing the motionless Superman.
Reverse-Flash ground his teeth and quickly lowered his head in panic.
The string of fate didn't seem to have moved the way he expected.
The red flashes of Negative Speed Force lightning crackled around him as Reverse-Flash crouched down slightly.
No one was watching him right now, and all he had to do was start running, and he could slip away into a different timeline at any moment.
Suddenly, Viktor shrugged and under Sinestro's eager, expecting gaze, raised the yellow ring.
A fear energy burst out and washed away the blood and filth all over his body.
"A speedster who wants to kill me is far too dangerous. In that kind of situation, I can't afford to hold back. No matter what the reason was, I had to guarantee my own safety first. I don't like killing for no reason."
He glanced at the ring.
"As for this ring… it's surprisingly good for taking a bath."
After using it for all it was worth, Viktor lifted his hand, pinched the ring, and pulled the Yellow Lantern ring right off.
The Reverse-Flash, crackling all over with Negative Speed Force energy and just about to start running, suddenly felt like something was off.
Those last words didn't match the historical records in his memory at all.
Reverse-Flash quickly raised his right hand and rolled up his suit sleeve a little, revealing a piece of futuristic technology shaped like a wristwatch.
A soft glow lit up, and a line of text, originating from a future with a record of what was to happen, began to slowly erase itself.
Then, the new text started to appear.
Reverse-Flash's fingers moved rapidly across the dial, his eyes locked onto the words displayed there until the new entries began filling up with scrambled, unreadable code.
He finally lowered his arm with a long breath of relief.
Rachel, who had been sitting cross-legged on a bench with her eyes closed, suppressing the magic within her, had quietly opened her eyes at some unknown moment.
The red glow in Rachel's eyes gradually faded, and she coldly stared at the wrist hidden beneath Reverse-Flash's suit sleeve.
In the sky, Sinestro watched as Viktor removed the ring, and his eyes grew darker.
"Wait. If you never intended to join the Yellow Lantern Corps, then why did you summon us here?"
Viktor calmly placed the ring into a specially made black box.
After openly pocketing yet another power ring, Viktor finally looked up and spread his hands in a somewhat apologetic gesture.
"I already told you—when my life is threatened, I will use every method available to guarantee my safety. Strictly speaking, your yellow rings chose me. They seek their wielders on their own. You sent it to me. Why shouldn't I use it when I need it most?"
The veins on Sinestro's forehead throbbed faintly.
"Do you take this for a joke?"
Sinestro's yellow pupils were filled with anger he was barely holding back.
"The dignity of the Yellow Lantern Corps does not tolerate mockery. The people of this world will suffer terrible consequences because of your insolence."
Suddenly, Viktor's eyes seemed to change subtly.
"You're saying you intend to spread your fear across this planet."
Sinestro's expression turned dangerous with yellow light shining across his emotionless face.
"Rest assured. I once made a promise not to move against Earth without cause. I always keep my word. This time will merely be a small punishment."
"Nothing more."
...
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