OBS Chapter 4470 The Black Death (7)
Chapter 4470 The Black Death (7)
Chapter 4470 The Black Death (Part 7)
"hiss--"
The intense pain from the wound made Clark gasp. Because he hadn't been injured much before, his pain tolerance was never very high. Perhaps it was the constant invasion of the deathly power, but this wound was particularly painful. The sharp pain seemed to act directly on his brain, causing Clark to sway and Steppenwolf's arm to fall to the ground.
Atlan seized the opportunity, and a water arrow struck Clark's vest. It didn't penetrate Clark's skin's defenses, but it knocked him into the water. The intense power of death dragged him down into the deep sea.
Fortunately, at the crucial moment, Ron appeared beside Clark in a flash and scooped him up. He turned to look at the wound on Clark's arm, and his expression darkened. Judging from the condition of the wound, the situation was not optimistic.
The scratches had turned completely black, and the flesh had begun to rot. If it weren't for the magical power within Clark's body that could still resist, the power of death would have corrupted his entire arm in an instant.
Clark was panting heavily, clearly in great pain. He turned to look at his arm, and after seeing the horrific state, he squeezed his eyes shut and said, "Leave me alone. Steppenwolf..."
Victor had already rushed forward the moment Steppenwolf's arm was severed. But Atlantis clearly wouldn't let him get it so easily. It stirred up towering waves around him, even obscuring the sky. Victor's vision was obstructed, so he had to waste energy activating the modification mode, finally spotting the Black Lantern Ring about to fall into the sea.
Victor thought, "We absolutely cannot let them get the ring again, otherwise Steppenwolf will be back soon. We must finish him off here."
Victor gritted his teeth and flew swiftly through the countless jets of water, his eyes fixed on the ring thanks to the clear vision provided by the modified mode. But then Steppenwolf also leaped out of the water. Despite missing an arm, it didn't affect his agility. And he was closer to the ring than Victor.
Victor accelerated again, sparks flying in the air, and the surrounding seawater evaporated into mist. He passed through wave after wave of mist, and the moment he reached out and grabbed the ring, the blood-red eyes of a Steppenwolf lit up below.
"Well!!!!!"
Victor's scream rang out. Ron rushed over. Victor, who had fallen, had a long gash on his chest, and even his mechanical body was torn apart. But as Victor gasped for breath, he raised his right hand. Ron saw that he was clutching the Black Lantern Ring from Steppenwolf's finger.
Ron first placed Victor on the beach, then took the Black Lantern Ring and activated the Avatar mode to prevent the pursuing Atlantean and Steppenwolf from having any chance to escape.
Atlantis and Steppenwolf knew they couldn't get the ring back, so they stopped chasing Ron and, as planned, focused their attention on Superman. Hal, however, protected Superman as they retreated, and the two of them couldn't catch up.
Upon reaching the beach, they took Victor, and the remaining Justice League members withdrew from the battlefield. Atlantis and Steppenwolf, fearing for their lives, dared not pursue them further.
Back at Hal's house, Victor completely collapsed. He slumped onto the sofa, clutching his chest and groaning in pain. His wound was deeper than Clark's. Although the Mother Box's power offered some resistance, the pain caused by the relentless invasion of death and decay into the flesh was unimaginable, like being slowly seared alive.
Hal clenched his fists. He used green light energy, one in his left hand and one in his right, to continuously expel the power of death. But once the power of death encountered living flesh, it was like a fish in water—not so easily dispelled.
“Save Victor first,” Clark said, his face pale. “I’m alright here, but his condition is probably very bad.”
Everyone has noticed that livor mortis has begun to appear on Victor's body, and it's spreading rapidly without any apparent development or spread. The contamination is penetrating at an absurdly fast pace.
“I’m afraid it’s because you were all directly attacked,” Ron speculated. “Barry and Diana were indirectly exposed to the power of death and didn’t have any wounds on their bodies, so their injuries developed more slowly. But you were left with wounds, which will make you more susceptible to infection.”
“I have to go and take care of Steppenwolf,” Hal said. “Without the ring, he won’t be able to resurrect. That leaves only Atlantis and Ares. We still have a chance.”
Rong En nodded, knowing this was the only option. At this point in the battle, it was all about endurance. Despite their heavy casualties, the enemy was nearly wiped out. If they could hold out longer than the enemy, victory would surely be theirs.
Ron stayed behind to care for the wounded, while Hal continued preparing for battle. But just as he was about to leave, Clark stopped him and said, "I'll go with you."
"But your injury..."
“It’s alright,” Clark shook his head and said. “Maybe I can also absorb the power of death, just like I absorbed the power of magic and kryptonite.”
Hal hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Alright, be careful. The God of War is not easy to deal with."
The two set off together and returned to the sea. Neither of them rushed to attack; Clark prepared to lock onto Steppenwolf and deliver a fatal blow.
But these guys were cunning; they seemed to have realized they planned another fight and remained hidden underwater. Clark wasn't in a hurry. He started using exhaustive search to find the source of the underwater pollution again. If he found it soon, the enemy would have no choice but to come.
Sure enough, on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, beneath a small reef, lay another hydrothermal vent. Upon sensing the change in seawater temperature, Clark knew this must be the source of the pollution they were looking for.
But as he approached, the world suddenly changed color. A thick, putrid stench wafted on the wind. Atlantean resurfaced, looking at Clark and saying, "You're infected. The power of death will continue to erode you until you become one of us. Superman, stop resisting. Join the Black Death Day and rule the multiverse."
“Sorry, I’m busy,” Clark said. “Besides, it’s not even certain who infected whom.”
Having said that, he didn't waste any more words. As his super-sensory perception keenly detected the sound from the seabed, a blinding laser beam shot directly in that direction. This laser wasn't as powerful as the previous ones; instead, it concentrated extreme power into a single point, like a highly effective sniper rifle shot. With a hiss, the surface of the sea didn't ripple, but seconds later, the Steppenwolf's severed limbs surfaced. The entire torso had vanished, leaving only scattered fragments of limbs.
Clark breathed a sigh of relief after successfully taking down Steppenwolf. The next second, a giant axe came crashing down on him. Clark dodged swiftly, then turned and kicked Ares away as he lunged at him. He then dodged a water arrow attack, grabbed the returning War Axe, and cleaved half the Pacific Ocean in two with a single blow.
Ares seemed shocked by his fighting prowess, staring at the cleaved seawater, frozen in place for a long time. That was when Hal launched his sneak attack. He suddenly appeared from the portal, a green longsword piercing Ares through. A burst of green light erupted, and Ares was instantly dismembered.
Hal didn't forget to look for the ring on his hand, but Atlan was faster. The instant Ares was hit, Atlan swept over him with seawater and snatched the ring away.
But he was left alone and unable to resist Hal and Clark, so he had no choice but to merge into the sea. The two did not choose to give chase, because the advantage of underwater Atlantis was too great. Every current of water could be his clone, so chasing him was pointless.
The two opened the hot spring again, and sure enough, there were many more skeletons below. After clearing away the skeletons as before, the Pacific Ocean gradually returned to its clear state.
“There’s one last spot left,” Hal said. “It should be over in the Indian Ocean. Shall we go now, or wait?”
“We can’t wait any longer,” Clark said. “I have a bad feeling. We need to get this over with quickly.”
Hal nodded. Although he didn't know where Clark's premonition came from, he believed that Superman had his own extraordinary abilities. So, the two flew together over the Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean isn't very large, so the search should be much faster. They quickly locked onto their target. But just as they were about to take action, Clark froze.
He turned and looked in one direction. Hal followed his gaze and saw a strong figure appear on the horizon. He had thick, savage hair and an ugly face, looking like a primitive man, and held a golden, trophy-like object in his hand as he jumped directly into the sea from mid-air.
"Who is that?" Clark frowned.
Hal's fingers twitched slightly. His communications were still connected to the Green Lantern channel. Just as they were fighting the Black Death Sun, news of a victory came from the Lantern Corps. They had successfully killed Darkseid's eldest son, Kalibak. The battle report described him as a gruff and ugly humanoid creature, wielding the Beta Trophy, which could fire neural laser waves at people.
The Lanterns paid a heavy price to defeat this strong, savage warrior and successfully kill him. But now, he has appeared on Earth.
If the battle report wasn't fabricated, then it must have been Darkseid who resurrected him. Although he already knew that Darkseid and Darkseid were in cahoots, Hal still couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse when he actually saw this.
Clark turned to look at him, and Hal gave a brief explanation. Clark's expression also darkened. These two sides were truly working in perfect harmony: one side was holding back the Light Brigade, preventing them from coming to Earth's aid, while the other side resurrected fallen warriors and threw them into the Earth battlefield to put even more pressure on the Justice League.
But that wasn't the most despairing thing. Shortly after Kalibak appeared, a black line suddenly appeared on Earth's horizon. Then, a dense army of Parademon descended. They landed in the nearest city and prepared to slaughter.
Hal's heart sank to the bottom; the situation had reached its worst point. Darkseid's Parademon army could provide the Black Death Emperor with enough corpses as material, perhaps even helping him accumulate Death Power. Once he had enough Death Power, the Black Death Emperor would have no more worries.
“Let’s deal with the pollution sources in the ocean first,” Clark said. “Batman must have something prepared on land.”