Diana looked at the towering figure who seemed both strange and familiar.
Seeing the yellow light surrounding him, she understood the source of his power almost instantly.
"You were corrupted by the power of fear?"
"No."
Emperor Viktor quickly denied it, then rested his chin on his hand as if he were thinking deeply.
"Strictly speaking, I did it to protect myself. But after Parallax tricked me, I never found my way back."
Diana's eyes filled with pain and sorrow.
He lowered his gaze slightly and gave a helpless smile.
"Don't look at me like that, Ms. Prince. We didn't spend that much time together, after all, and you are one of the people who died at my hands in the future."
Diana glanced at Superman's condition from the corner of her eye.
Superman held his nose and stomach, shaking his head to try to clear his vision.
The sky above the sea was completely clear, and the sunlight shone directly down, but he still needed some time.
Diana turned back again and started talking about the past.
"So, what great achievements did you make in the future?"
"Ah… that was a long story."
He seemed completely confident and didn't care at all about her stalling tactics.
Instead, he seemed to perk up with enthusiasm.
"Parallax wanted my body, but it never anticipated how perfectly compatible I was with fear energy. It is composed entirely of concentrated fear energy, and after forcing its way into my body, I actually absorbed part of it instead."
"That brought out its ferocity and trickery. To prevent me from completely consuming it, Parallax cut my soul."
"For the first decade or so, I fought for control of my consciousness inside my own mind against Parallax and the version of me that thought more like an Earthling."
"I was trapped in the Anti-Matter Universe. Back then, Sinestro had modified the entire universe to successfully stabilize Parallax, so the place was filled with Yellow Lantern energy everywhere."
"I couldn't get out, and no one could save me."
"Without a single dominant consciousness in command, my body was wildly changed by the power of fear. However, I wasn't evolving. They developed in a chaotic direction, and I gradually started to look like a deformed monster.
"I don't think anyone can understand that feeling with my flesh, my soul—everything was fighting in total chaos."
"The experience of time stretched out under that suffering. To stop the body from enduring endless agony, the three sides each made some compromises."
"I cut off the extra parts that grew during those mutations. I cut off two extra heads, three extra arms, and another heart that was attached to my spine..."
"After that, I began to think. I thought about why I had to suffer like this."
"Was it the fault of that deranged Flash? Was it the gods scheming in the shadows? Or Parallax's manipulations?"
"No, I don't think it was any of those."
He suddenly extended his tongue and ran it slowly across his lips.
"The problem is that there are far too many beings with power, and almost none of them possess the discipline to match that power with their own minds. They abused their abilities and brought pain to every other living thing that might exist."
"The Speed Force, magic, genetics, divine power, and even technology that grew far beyond average levels."
"It was all the same."
He reached out his thick arm, spread his fingers, and turned his palm toward the sky.
"So, I came to Earth, and I began to fix this chaos."
"In my eyes, there is no difference between superhero and supervillain."
"I killed those who cannot be controlled."
"I killed those who sought money and power."
"I killed those who use strength to prey on the weak."
"I killed those who bring suffering to all living things."
He listed dozens of crimes under the 'Imperial Law' in one breath.
"In fact, most members of the Justice League were, in my view, people who could control themselves well and acted on their principles. I always felt goodwill toward you and tried my best to spare your lives."
"But I eventually found that some of you were far too stubborn and old-fashioned. The longer my path was blocked, the more those ordinary people suffered."
"Ms. Prince, as a demigod, your lifespan is long. Because of that, you were always on the front lines fighting me. And unlike most ignorant people, you always kept improving."
"That is why you were among the first group of superheroes I slaughtered."
He spread his arms as if he were remembering the view after he first truly ruled the Earth.
"There was no magic, no gods, and no superpowers that changed the world or time just because they made a mistake."
"Technology served the people. Scientific research had clear and strict goals. In my third reign, I even successfully turned a hellhole like Gotham into a paradise."
"The people of Earth began to understand me, support me, and love me."
"The Crisis Force tried to throw the world into chaos, and those strange, powerful beings appeared out of nowhere and defeated me in the name of freedom and liberation, but during my fourth arrival, it was the people of Earth themselves who worked in unison to summon me back!"
"By my seventh arrival, the whole world became united, and humanity truly began to work together as one race and step into the stars."
"They hailed me as the one and only Emperor. They waited for me to lead them to the stars. And the next things I planned to conquer were the Lantern Corps, who call themselves 'space police', Mongul, and even Apokolips, which had invaded Earth many times!"
At some point, Superman had finished healing. He frowned as he listened to Emperor Viktor's monologue.
Shazam and Martian Manhunter finally caught their breath, and their expressions were serious.
Even Viktor had arrived at the battlefield and listened with his mouth wide open.
Viktor didn't know about Emperor Viktor's other personality, but he was sure this version had never been quite right in the head.
'He thinks he can conquer Apokolips?'
Suddenly, Superman spoke first.
"How many people died in the process?"
Emperor Viktor lowered his eyes slightly.
"Greatness requires sacrifice."
Then Diana spoke.
"If the people of Earth had truly submitted to you willingly, why did you have to return seven times? Did those powerful beings who defeated you really do it all alone while the rest of the world fought against them?"
He looked slightly displeased.
"Not everyone has the vision to see far enough."
Finally, Viktor spoke up, finding it hard to keep a straight face.
"Man, if Parallax's will has been inside your head this whole time. How do you know you were actually sane while doing all that?"
He didn't mention Apokolips.
It seemed this version of him hadn't kept his memories of DC lore and plots very well.
Then, Viktor only brought up something Emperor Viktor himself could understand.
"Your vision might have just been a delusion planted in your head by Parallax. The beauty you believe your great work achieved might be a fixated fantasy you can no longer see past your own obsession. Moreover, those followers of yours... were they really loyal, or were they just brainless slaves who submitted to fear and violence?"
Emperor Viktor looked at his past self.
The yellow light in his slitted eyes grew darker and gloomier.
"You haven't seen the future yourself. How dare you lie and deny my great cause!"
"Do you really want me to start lecturing you?!"
Viktor pointed at the other man's completely inhuman eyes.
"You absolute idiot! How do you think you kept your power sustained? You had to return to Earth every few years because Parallax was starving and controlling you. I bet humanity was almost extinct, and you had to go into space just to find more to feed on fear!"
...
600 POWER STONES = 1 BONUS CHAPTER
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