A Passage Leading to Death
On the broadcast screen, two figures and a giant monster were fighting in the sky, continuously pushing it out into space.
"What is that thing!
A space monster has appeared in Seaside City, and over a thousand people have died?!"
"My God, have aliens attacked Earth?"
"Purple Light Man, Superman, go!"
"Is the safety of Earth resting on the shoulders of just two superheroes?
What is the Space Administration doing? They spend so much funding on space every year, why haven't they issued any early warnings?"
"What is the military doing? Are they just watching?"
The internet exploded. Everyone saw the giant monster's silhouette and felt an uncontrollable fear rise in their hearts, praying for Superman and Purple Light Man, and also for Earth.
Gotham, at the Wayne family's old mansion.
Bruce Wayne watched the ultra-clear footage broadcast by his own satellite with a solemn expression. He clicked his ballpoint pen rhythmically, the veins on the back of his hand slightly bulging, showing his inner turmoil.
"Young Master, you must know.
Your Bat-jet is not equipped for combat in space."
Alfred, standing nearby, watched the battle on the screen and felt compelled to remind him.
"I know, Alfred.
You don't need to remind me that I can only sit here and do nothing."
Bruce's voice was slightly hoarse.
This was no ordinary monster like the thugs who robbed banks that he used to deal with.
"The Bat-suit needs an upgrade. I need more contingency plans so that next time, I won't just be watching."
He couldn't just guard against threats hidden within the city and the world; he also had to consider aliens and space. The world was changing too quickly.
"Young Master, you are not obligated to carry the weight of the entire world on your shoulders."
Alfred's expression faltered.
This child, whom he had watched grow up, was now living too difficult a life. He often returned to his Batcave, covered in wounds, to lick his injuries. Gotham alone had already exhausted him.
The identity of Bruce Wayne had almost become his mask, a role played by Batman when he wasn't in his suit.
"When the storm comes, it's best to be prepared.
It won't show any mercy whether you're challenging the sea or just watching from the shore."
The screen flickered, and Bruce Wayne's expression became grave.
Kent Farm.
On the living room sofa, his father Jonathan held his mother Martha tightly, holding his breath as he stared at the scene on the television, completely forgetting the whistling kettle in the kitchen.
"Son, you can do it!" He clenched his fist, as if trying to channel strength through his encouraging gaze to his two sons fighting the monster.
...
Boom boom boom!
Clark, instantly accelerating, a powerful figure streaking through the sky like a missile, pursued with David, driving Parallax away into outer space.
But his punches landed on Parallax and felt like hitting a ball of highly elastic rubber, never seeming to cause significant damage.
"Use your eyes, Clark."
David unleashed a torrent of energy with a punch, reminding him lowly.
"It's an energy-based lifeform, and a significant portion of physical attacks are ineffective against it."
As they were about to enter space, without the filtering of Earth's atmosphere, Clark would be bathed in sunlight, receiving an endless supply of energy.
Screech!
As David had instructed, Clark dodged the Parallax's sweeping tentacles, which could reach hundreds of meters, and fired his heat vision to cut into the monster's body.
With a flash of green light, Thomas Ray also charged forward. His willpower manifested as a spaceship, and he piloted it, performing various high-difficulty aerial maneuvers and firing continuously, helping David and Clark harass the enemy.
"Who are you, unknown lifeform?
I sense a potential within you; you are more suited than anyone else to bear my power."
Parallax seemed to sense something. While being knocked away, it fixed its gaze on David, waving its hundreds-of-meters-long thick tentacles to grab him, its eyes flashing with greed.
"The body I inhabit, while powerful in itself, is not suitable for unleashing my Fear Power."
It was a Lantern Beast of Fear Power, but it couldn't control all of it. However, Parallax could feel the Fear Power flowing smoothly within David like water.
"Come into my embrace, young lifeform. Together, we can spread fear throughout the universe."
With a gravity field surrounding him, David's tall and slender body emitted a massive repulsive force. Parallax's tentacles entered the field as if sinking into a swamp, unable to extend.
"I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
He punched the Parallax squarely in the face. A burst of scorching cosmic energy erupted, as if a small purple sun had risen in space. The Parallax was sent flying once again by an attack powerful enough to level a city block.
The Parallax was currently inhabiting a member of the Guardians of the Universe. The Guardians of the Universe were the earliest known intelligent life forms in the universe. They once believed that emotions hindered development and thus abandoned certain emotions.
"Although the Guardians of the Universe are immensely powerful, in their rare appearances, one of them nearly crushed Shazam. Because of this, they aren't very adapted to the Fear Power driven by fear."
The Parallax claiming it was suited for Fear Power was likely due to its ability to manipulate energy; it could control any energy well.
David's face was cold, but how could he hand over his body so readily?
Toma Ray walked on the edge of a blade, his heart tense. If David and Clark hadn't been taking turns beating the monster, he had no doubt that the moment the monster found an opening, it would obliterate him.
"Ha, you think you can stop me!"
In the blink of an eye, the Parallax, like a ball being batted back and forth by David and Clark, had reached the thin atmosphere of the dissipation layer, about to be blasted out of Earth.
Realizing this infuriating fact, it had to take things seriously and began to shrink its form.
While its massive and ferocious size could instill fear in those insects upon first sight, allowing it to absorb life energy faster and easier, it was also too cumbersome, making it a perfect punching bag for David and Clark.
"Its size has shrunk, but it's become stronger!"
The Parallax, which had been large enough to cover half the city, was now only seven or eight meters in size. A tentacle lashed out, knocking Clark away. He clutched his chest, feeling a slight pain, and looked on in surprise.
"It's nearing its original form."
David's expression was solemn. He attempted an attack, unleashing a barrage of energy like a storm, showing no regard for consumption. However, it wasn't like before; every strike landed.
With its seven to eight-meter stature in the near vacuum, coupled with the Parallax's immense strength, its agility was no longer affected.
"Don't come any closer. This is not a battle you can get involved in."
Amidst the fighting, he turned to Toma Ray and said sternly.
Even attacking from a distance, the Parallax could now easily eliminate Toma Ray with a single blow.
Toma Ray gritted his teeth and had no choice but to stay put.
"I'll leave it to you, rookie."
Why hadn't his fellow legionnaires arrived? Now, two newcomers who hadn't even decided to join the legion had to deal with the Parallax, a cosmic crisis.
"What's wrong?
Annoying insect, has your speed slowed down?"
Facing the charging Clark, the Parallax's several tentacles swiftly and tightly gripped him. Its skull-like, hideous face was almost against his, hoping to instill a sliver of fear in Clark's heart and find a breakthrough.
But Clark's willpower was stronger than it had anticipated. He unleashed his Heat Vision while roaring and struggling to break free.
"You reek, Parallax!"
David punched the Parallax in the face, helping Clark break free. Before the Parallax could fly away, he grabbed one of its tentacles, yanked it back, and landed another heavy punch.
"Your strength!"
The Parallax's head reeled, and it felt dizzy, its face showing surprise.
"Got stronger, did I?
Because I sensed another, more powerful weapon!"
David glanced at the brilliant star in the distance – the sun. He punched, manipulating the gravity field to send it flying.
Away from Earth's gravity field, with its strong interference gone, he felt another, stronger weapon in space – the sun's gravity, or rather, its gravitational field.
"Useless.
I've devoured the life energy of two planets, my power is endless!"
Several tentacles were severed. In their battle, the group had already reached the boundless space. The Parallax stabilized its body in the vacuum, its tentacles regenerating instantly, and it ferociously lunged at David and Clark again.
"You will be the ones to die!"
The three engaged in a fierce battle in space.
Clark had encountered many new experiences today, such as flying and space combat. However, in his eagerness to deal with the monster before him, he had adapted exceptionally well, though he had forgotten this.
He clearly felt empowered by the sunlight as he was away from Earth.
"I feel like I could fight like this all day."
Not to mention David, the Parallax's Fear Power attacks were all converted into his own strength. All three possessed nearly infinite energy, and their battle in space created ripples of energy.
As minutes, even tens of minutes passed, the battle intensified.
None of them could gain the upper hand.
The Parallax's true body was hidden beneath the monster's form woven from Fear Power. If it sustained damage, it only needed to expend some Fear Power to recover.
Clark, bathed in sunlight, could recover from injuries in the blink of an eye.
As for David, with his gravity field manipulation for defense, energy manipulation, and powerful physique, he had never sustained even a single injury. However, even he couldn't resolve the Parallax anytime soon.
"This monster's Fear Power is too abundant!
If this continues, it will take at least several days to deal with it."
He threw a punch, unleashing a torrent of energy that ripped through space. The attack, capable of destroying anything, tore a gaping hole the size of a bucket in Parallax's body, but it was restored in the blink of an eye.
David's eyes were cold and sharp. He could afford to wait.
The Green Lantern Corps would be here soon, and they could deal with this problem. Still...
[Anger from Parallax +580...]
An unprecedented amount of emotional points from a single individual.
"If I let the Green Lantern Corps kill this guy in the end, I doubt he'll leave a deep impression on me."
He had to deal with this monster before the Green Lantern Corps arrived, and David already had a plan.
Although Parallax wasn't as arrogant as in the original story, its bulky, massive form facing Hal Jordan, who exploited the fact that gravity is stronger on larger objects by drawing Parallax into the sun.
However, Hal Jordan couldn't manipulate gravity like he could.
"Like we did before, send him into the sun, Clark."
David said to Clark, who was feeling a bit mentally exhausted.
"Right, how did I not think of that?"
Clark's eyes lit up. The sun's core temperature reached over twenty million degrees Celsius, capable of destroying everything. He regained his drive and roared as he charged at Parallax.
"Fool.
You actually told me your plan.
Do you think you can still succeed!"
Parallax sneered disdainfully, dodged Clark's charge, and swatted him away with its tentacles.
"Destroy me by pushing me into the sun?
I'm going back to that planet now. Let's see if you can stop me!"
It had been pushed out of the planet's atmosphere earlier because of its massive and cumbersome size, but that was no longer the case.
"Is that so? Then why do I smell a hint of fear on you?"
David's voice was icy. The Fear Power he had absorbed and manipulated within him became more active, undoubtedly proving that the monstrous creature before him had at least a shred of fear.
Parallax felt a flicker of panic. It had been unable to defeat these two for so long, and their strength showed no signs of waning, especially David's unshakeable defense, which instilled a hint of fear in it.
"I need more power to deal with these two unkillable bugs. I must return to that planet."
The opportunity to destroy them lay on that planet.
"That planet undoubtedly has people and things you care about.
When I'm about to destroy the lives you cherish, I want to see if you'll feel worry and fear!"
Parallax roared, unleashing a continuous beam of energy that pushed David back. It tried to destabilize them with words, laughing arrogantly.
"Once fear begins, it cannot be stopped. I control it.
Your willpower is as strong as a mountain, but I wonder if the people you care about will feel fear when they face me!"
"Monster, you won't succeed!"
Recalling the previous scene of bodies drained of life energy, reduced to skeletal frames, succumbing to fear, Clark couldn't suppress his anger and slammed his iron fist, which had shattered an aircraft carrier, into Parallax.
"Believe me, you'll never get that chance."
As David watched Clark being sent flying and Parallax speeding towards Earth, his voice was colder than the vacuum of space at minus two hundred degrees Celsius.
[Template fused 40%!]
He extended his palm towards the distant, brilliant star, communicating with the solar gravity field that encompassed the entire solar system, while simultaneously connecting to Earth's gravity field behind him.
"During our fight, my abilities have made some breakthroughs."
Graviton's gravity manipulation ability could achieve near-instantaneous travel from Earth to the sun by controlling the gravitational fields of Earth and the sun, surpassing even the speed of light.
David, at this moment, had not yet attained the full strength of the template and could not travel faster than light, but he had mastered this trick.
The two massive gravitational fields made contact on a faint line.
Hum!
Suddenly, the planet, which was rapidly approaching, exerted a massive repulsive force on Parallax. At the same time, the immense star in the distant background exerted a powerful gravitational pull on it, strong enough to tear the land apart.
"What did you do!"
It resisted the vast force with all its might, trying to prevent itself from being pulled into the sun, barely maintaining its position, with no extra strength to even move a tentacle.
"I opened a path for you."
David slowly flew in front of it, expressionless, and slammed a fist into its head, unleashing a devastating wave of energy.
"A path to death!"
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