"...This is disgusting?!"
Emperor Viktor gripped the half-dead Doctor Light with one hand, hovering in midair, while the ground below was full of the dismembered remains of A.R.G.U.S. agents who hadn't managed to flee in time.
But one person was still standing.
He wore a unique combat suit.
It was semi-armored, with many exposed gears and levers, and there was a glowing white hourglass symbol on its chest.
Originally, Emperor Viktor didn't take him seriously and tried to charge through him.
But when he got a few meters close, the hourglass on the man's chest lit up.
The gears on his body started turning, and suddenly, Emperor Viktor found himself back in the air again.
He tried charging several times, but the result was always the same.
Meanwhile, the man on the ground was also extremely nervous as he watched Emperor Viktor in the air.
After the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters personnel had run into a panicked evacuation earlier, he hadn't paid much attention to it.
What no one knew was that Chronos actually started as a supervillain.
While studying the relationship between atomic theory and time in prison, Chronos accidentally invented a short-range time device.
After being released, Chronos committed crimes but was defeated by the Atom, and his envy of Dr. Ray Palmer's achievements in the atomic field turned him into the Atom's dedicated nemesis.
However, Ray Palmer, as a superhero, was simply too laid-back.
He disappeared so often that Chronos eventually found his life as a supervillain boring.
He then quietly changed part of his own past, erased his criminal record, and during one of Ray Palmer's absences from Ivy Town, stepped in to protect the city on his behalf.
After that, he received an offer from A.R.G.U.S.
He hadn't exactly turned into a saint, but Chronos valued this job.
Whenever Amanda Waller sent him on classified missions with other agents, Chronos loved the way his colleagues looked at him with admiration.
It made him feel like he truly was somebody.
In fact, Chronos wasn't a great fighter, but it was precisely that trust in his armor that had kept him from worrying much about most metahumans.
Emperor Viktor's arrival, however, made him start sweating.
He smashed the nearby agents like nothing.
Before Chronos could even react to the speed, Emperor Viktor grabbed him and tore off his limbs in mid-air.
The agony and terror had triggered Chronos to rewind his own body's defense mode just in time.
Since his own reflexes were too slow, he had to rely on the armor's built-in mini-supercomputer to react for him.
In this defense mode, the armor automatically rewinds time in the surrounding area the moment danger is detected.
It forces all atomic motion within the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters back to a specific point in time.
As long as the armor had power, Chronos was completely safe.
However, the energy will eventually run out if his enemy keeps attacking. He will die the moment the glowing hourglass on his chest goes dark.
Chronos couldn't bring himself to beg for mercy, stood there, pretending to be calm, and silently staring at his opponent.
After a few seconds of eye contact, Chronos saw that the other person suddenly smiled.
"That's an interesting ability. I've never run into you before. Join me, and I'll spare your life."
Emperor Viktor could clearly tell that Chronos was afraid, and his legs were even trembling uncontrollably.
It was clear that while this guy was a genius inventor, he didn't have the mental toughness of a true warrior.
Hearing that he didn't have to die and could even keep his dignity by following a new boss, Chronos was thrilled.
However, because Emperor Viktor's earlier slaughter and high-speed attack were so terrifying, Chronos realized his entire body was now frozen stiff from extreme fear.
He couldn't even speak.
Emperor Viktor looked at the trembling man in his covered armor and laughed.
A yellow light flashed in his eyes.
"Don't resist."
A rift to the Ant-Matter Universe opened behind Chronos and sucked him in.
Emperor Viktor landed on the ground, stepping through the remains and blood of the dead agents.
He stood still and listened carefully.
In the underground tunnel, Green Arrow had just reached the evacuation point.
Despite Black Canary and Steve trying to stop him, Green Arrow drew his bow and fired an explosive arrow at the van that was trying to rush toward the end of the tunnel again.
The arrow hit the underside of the van.
"Boom!"
The thunderous shockwave flipped the van, and the muffled explosion sounded through the ground and concrete, reaching Emperor Viktor's ears.
Emperor Viktor extended his force field across the entire surface of the A.R.G.U.S. base and stomped down.
The ground and the buildings for hundreds of meters around were lifted upward.
The once hidden and complex underground escape tunnels were now completely exposed.
In the ruins below, the survivors were frozen in terror: Green Arrow was holding Black Canary in his arms, Commander Steve looked lost, and Amanda Waller was struggling to crawl out of the flipped van.
He thrust his hand into the massive slab of rock, casually tossed it aside, then jumped up through the roaring dust and slowly floated toward Amanda Waller.
He completely ignored Green Arrow and the others, calmly savoring Amanda's face in this moment.
Steve instinctively pulled out his gun, but before he could even raise it, Green Arrow, who had finally gotten his fiancée back in his arms, kicked him flying.
He knew this was their only chance to run.
Amanda Waller was panting heavily with fear.
As Emperor Viktor hovered right in front of her, Amanda's heart was beating so hard it could be heard through her chest.
"Where is Rachel?"
He asked coldly with his yellow slit pupils fixed on her without blinking.
She broke down screaming.
"What Rachel?! I don't know anyone named Rachel! If you dare kill me, you'll be making an enemy of the U.S. government!"
Hmm?
He glanced back.
The invisible pressure made Green Arrow, who was trying to quietly leave while holding Black Canary, and Steve, who was crawling on the ground, both freeze in place.
A few sonic booms split the sky above.
After looking up, Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Shazam were hovering in the air in a formation, surrounding him.
Superman spoke first.
"Rachel wasn't taken by Amanda. The truth is, we simply moved her somewhere safe."
Shazam, who clearly didn't understand the full situation, looked at Emperor Viktor with worry.
"Man, don't do anything stupid!"
Emperor Viktor narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"... I understand now. He's back, right? Otherwise, I can't think of anyone who would care about Rachel first."
Superman exhaled slightly in relief.
"There's no need for things to go this far. Even if a world has a few versions of the same person, we can live in peace. Just look at me..."
"You don't understand anything, Superman. He came back too early. After the Flash wakes up, the world will go through a soft reboot between him and me… only one can remain."
He almost resigned.
Emperor Viktor's yellow vertical pupils quickly turned back into normal black eyes, and there was a hint of sadness on his face.
In the next moment, the yellow glow of the "Lord of Fear" covered his eyes again.
After returning to his cold and emotionless state, Emperor Viktor's appearance began to change.
In just a few seconds, Emperor Viktor grew into a fierce, nearly one point nine meters tall, with muscles larger than a human head.
Emperor Viktor's clothes were replaced by yellow light, forming a heavy armor of bright yellow and black.
Even though he was only about a thousand years old, wrinkles appeared on his face, and his hair turned grey at the temples.
"Then I no longer need to pretend."
He turned his gaze upon the terrified Amanda Waller.
"Does your government know what kind of existence you've provoked? From the moment you spied upon an Emperor's territory, your death was sealed. You insignificant wretch!"
...
600 POWER STONES = 1 BONUS CHAPTER
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