Chapter 438: - 437: Beyond Imagination!

A few hours later.

The fighter jet finally came to a halt.

From afar, the team could already see it—an entire region swallowed by strange energy. Twisted roots of an alien nature crawled across the land, unlike anything on Earth. The unnatural energy pulsed outward, spreading rapidly.

"There!" Barry Allen—The Flash—pointed ahead.

Not that anyone needed the reminder.

The sight was impossible to miss. Above the corrupted land swarmed countless winged demons, blotting out the sky.

Batman and the others wore grim expressions. A single demon was nothing. But an army of them could easily overwhelm and tear them all apart.

Everything depended on Fenric now.

"Ronan, are you sure about this?" Bruce asked in a low voice.

Fenric twirled the kryptonite dagger in his hand and smirked. "No problem."

The weapon had been entrusted to him by Batman. Kryptonite—the ultimate bane of Kryptonians.

With this dagger, Fenric could bring Superman to his knees without even activating the Indestructible Demon Body.

"Let’s go."

He was the first to leap from the jet, the others following quickly behind.

"Victor," Fenric ordered, "when the Mother Boxes begin fusing, it’s your job to separate them. The rest of you cover him. Leave every other enemy... to me."

No one argued.

It wasn’t that they blindly obeyed Fenric. It was simply that his plan left him shouldering the greatest danger.

"Move out!"

Fenric shot forward, flying straight toward the epicenter of the corrupted energy.

The demons spotted him instantly.

"RAAAGH!"

Howls tore through the air as a black tide of winged demons surged toward him.

"Out of my way."

Fenric’s voice was quiet, but his presence thundered.

He unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki.

BOOM—!

In an instant, demons plummeted from the sky like falling rain, their minds overwhelmed.

From the distance, Batman and the others stared, speechless.

"...Wow. Mr. Ronan is insane," Barry blurted.

Even Batman and Diana found themselves nodding silently in agreement.

Unimpeded, Fenric advanced to the core of the corruption.

There it was—a building tangled in enormous roots, pulsing with malignant light. Strange energy poured from within, cloaking it in a protective barrier.

Fenric clenched his fist.

BOOM—!

The impact shook the air. Under his destructive force, the shield cracked and shattered like brittle glass.

—---

Inside the building, Steppenwolf was overseeing the fusion of the Mother Boxes. Once completed, the Earth itself would kneel before him.

The explosion outside made him scowl.

"Clark," he growled, "deal with them."

From the shadows beside him stepped a figure clad in a skin-tight suit, every muscle etched in steel. A crimson cape trailed behind, the iconic "S" emblazoned on his chest.

Superman. Clark Kent.

But this was no longer the hero they knew. His eyes glowed scarlet, his face twisted into a devil’s snarl.

At Steppenwolf’s command, Clark launched into the sky with a sonic boom.

—---

Outside, Fenric was preparing to breach the building when a black shadow flickered past.

A massive fist was already inches from his face.

Whoosh!

The wind pressure alone felt like a cannon blast.

Reacting instantly, Fenric hardened his arm with Armament Haki and blocked.

BOOM—!

The impact hurled him across the battlefield, the shockwave rippling through the ground.

He righted himself midair with psychic force, frowning as his arm throbbed.

It had been a long time since a punch had left his body aching—even with his Armament Haki at full strength.

"Clark..." Fenric muttered, shaking out his arm. "As expected of Krypton’s prodigy. Your power is no joke."

Below, a dark figure rocketed up to meet him. Superman hovered there, eyes burning, his once noble features twisted into something monstrous.

Fenric couldn’t help but sneer. "Clark... what the hell have you turned into?"

Superman didn’t answer. He lunged, fist arcing upward.

CRASH!

Fenric was smashed into the ground, earth splitting into a crater beneath him.

Batman, Diana, and the others who had just arrived were stunned.

"Ronan! Are you alright?" Diana called out, worry flashing in her eyes.

From the dust, Fenric rose calmly, brushing debris off his shoulders. "I’m fine."

Bruce frowned. "Didn’t I give you the kryptonite weapon?"

"It’s here," Fenric replied evenly. "But I’m not using it. Not yet. I want to see just how strong this Kryptonian really is."

Bruce’s expression tightened. "Ronan, don’t be reckless. You can’t possibly imagine the extent of his power."

Fenric looked up at the hovering Superman and smirked.

"You can’t imagine mine."

The moment the words left his mouth, Bruce, Diana, and the others felt it—an overwhelming aura erupting from Fenric.

"Fall back," Fenric ordered.

Without hesitation, the League retreated. The air around him was already boiling.

Then—his body changed.

Black miasma poured from him, dark and suffocating. Flames erupted in a twenty-meter radius, even the air itself igniting.

It was fire from the depths of hell, burning with apocalyptic power.

A dragon-shaped armor emerged from the inferno, latching onto his body, wrapping him in a terrifying suit of obsidian might.

In the blink of an eye, Fenric stood like a warlord from the underworld.

The Indestructible Demon Body—activated!

Fenric lifted his gaze to the corrupted Superman above.

He crooked a finger, taunting.

"Come."