Chapter 321: The Anti-Life Equation

Steppenwolf was panicking now.

Truthfully, it had taken him two and a half grueling years just to reach Earth. He had finally been ready to show what he could do and prove himself before his great ruler, only to run straight into Jovian.

"There shouldn't be any conflict of interest between us, Kryptonian!"

"Perhaps..."

"We could work together. I promise you, once the great Dark Lord descends upon Earth, I can personally vouch for you and have you accepted as one of us! You could become a New God!"

Steppenwolf stared at Jovian, who was looking straight back at him, and felt his nerves rising as he cautiously made his offer.

"Or maybe I could kill you right now and become one of the New Gods that way."

Jovian smiled faintly at Steppenwolf, reached out, and wrapped one hand around his throat.

"Urgh..."

"My position isn't worth anything!"

Panic finally appeared on Steppenwolf's face. The same Steppenwolf who had fought Hawkman, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone three-on-one and killed all three of them was now afraid. He seemed to have realized just how enormous the gap between him and Jovian truly was.

"Don't sell yourself short."

"The fact that I think you're valuable is more than enough."

As Jovian spoke, he casually raised one finger and flicked Steppenwolf on the forehead.

A visible shockwave of scorching air instantly exploded against Steppenwolf's head. His entire body shot backward, slammed into the Mother Box behind him, then was blasted into the sky by the energy backlash erupting from it.

"Cough... cough..."

Steppenwolf came crashing back down and slowly climbed to his feet. He looked at Jovian with a pleading expression.

"Please! I really don't want to be your enemy!"

"Unfortunately for you, I'm definitely going to become your enemy, because I want the Anti-Life Equation too."

Jovian leaned close to Steppenwolf's ear and whispered the words.

"What?!"

Steppenwolf froze, then immediately understood.

It seemed there was an irreconcilable conflict between Apokolips and Jovian after all. Their great ruler, Darkseid, also desired the Anti-Life Equation. No, more accurately, Darkseid was absolutely determined to possess it.

"Now you understand?"

Jovian punched Steppenwolf in the face.

Boom!

A trail of compressed air erupted behind Steppenwolf as he was sent flying once again.

Doctor Fate stood off to the side watching in silence.

Steppenwolf, an opponent even he had found incredibly troublesome, had turned into a human punching bag the moment Jovian arrived. He had absolutely no ability to fight back and could do nothing but endure one beating after another.

"So this is the power of the God Among Men?!"

Doctor Fate thought to himself.

They had originally been planning to make a move against Jovian. Looking back now, it was fortunate that they had hesitated. Then Steppenwolf had suddenly invaded Earth, forcing them to deal with him instead.

The truth was, their combined strength wasn't even enough to handle Steppenwolf.

How could they possibly have challenged the invincible Jovian?

"Why haven't you killed me?!"

After enduring several attacks from Jovian, Steppenwolf stared at him in confusion.

"Kill you?"

Jovian laughed.

Of course not.

He was going to make Steppenwolf watch his own defeat.

The instant Jovian finished speaking, the Mother Boxes finally completed their synchronization.

A Spacetime Gate appeared before them.

"Damn it!"

Doctor Fate, who had been keeping his attention fixed on Jovian, froze when he saw the portal suddenly open. He immediately flew toward the Spacetime Gate and prepared to shut it down completely.

"Jovian, stop wasting time with Steppenwolf! Come help me! We have to stop this passage from opening, or the entire universe will be plunged into despair!"

Standing before the passage, Doctor Fate continuously poured magical energy into it, attempting to seal the portal through sheer sorcery.

"Of course, Doctor..."

At some point, Jovian had appeared directly behind Doctor Fate.

Then he kicked him.

"What?!"

Doctor Fate had never expected Jovian to suddenly kick him, and the blow sent him straight through the portal.

On the other side...

The Dark Lord sitting upon his throne stared at Doctor Fate, who had abruptly trespassed into his domain.

"Damn it!"

Doctor Fate knew he had been set up.

He immediately began casting a spell, intending to escape.

Bzzzt!

Before Doctor Fate could finish casting, crimson light erupted from Darkseid's eyes. The beams twisted through the air in sharp geometric turns before shooting toward the seemingly empty space above him.

"AAAAAH!"

Space shattered like a mirror.

Doctor Fate's concealed physical form was exposed, and Darkseid's beams struck him directly.

Thud!

Doctor Fate fell from above and crashed onto the ground.

Darkseid didn't bother looking at him again.

In Darkseid's eyes, anyone struck directly by his Omega Effect had no possibility of survival.

Right now, the only person who interested him was the man standing across from him with a constant smile on his face.

"Heh..."

Darkseid chuckled softly.

He rose from his throne and walked toward the passage, followed by the New Gods of Apokolips.

Still smiling, he stepped directly through.

"My great ruler!"

Steppenwolf nervously shouted when he saw Darkseid emerge from the passage.

"You did well, Steppenwolf."

Darkseid glanced at him.

Just one glance.

Crimson beams instantly slammed into Steppenwolf's body.

"AAAAAH!"

Steppenwolf screamed in agony before Darkseid's attack completely destroyed him.

"What a waste..."

Jovian shook his head as he watched Darkseid kill Steppenwolf outright, then absorbed what remained of Steppenwolf's power into his own body.

"Jovian, you're impressive..."

"Steppenwolf's position is vacant now. I can allow you to take his place."

With his hands behind his back, Darkseid floated toward Jovian and spoke coldly.

"You want me to take his place?"

"Sorry, but if you're really offering me a seat, I'd rather have yours."

Jovian laughed.

The truth was, there was only one position on all of Apokolips that interested him.

The throne beneath Darkseid.

"You will die..."

Darkseid's expression darkened, crimson light beginning to glow in his eyes.

"Maybe you'll be the one who dies."

Jovian's eyes lit up as well, filled with energy that blended crimson and gold.

Bzzzzzt!

Bzzzt!

Energy erupted from both men's eyes and collided between them.

"Uh..."

Behind Darkseid, the gathered New Gods stared at Jovian as he contested Darkseid's power head-on, and panic began spreading among them.

They had never encountered an enemy this terrifying before.

"Don't panic!"

"Attack him from behind!"

An elderly woman with an almost kindly appearance gripped her staff, cruelty flashing in her eyes as she barked orders at the surrounding warriors.

"Yes!"

The warriors immediately began circling around to attack Jovian from behind.

Just as they were about to succeed, countless beams of heat vision suddenly rained down from the sky.

Terrifying crimson light punched straight through every warrior attempting to ambush Jovian.

"What is this?!"

The elderly woman holding the staff stared upward in shock.

The next second, tall warriors in tight white uniforms appeared throughout the sky. There were both men and women among them, but the old woman immediately recognized what they were supposed to be.

"So many Kryptonians?! Wasn't Krypton destroyed?"

Before she could think any further, the warriors descended and collided with the forces of Apokolips.

In truth, calling it a battle was generous.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

Every one of these Kryptonian-enhanced warriors was vastly stronger than the ordinary soldiers of Apokolips. Each of them possessed enough strength to overwhelm someone on Steppenwolf's level.

"Looks like we need to continue this somewhere else!"

Jovian grinned as Nolan descended from the sky with the upgraded Viltrumite warriors.

He pushed forward against the power of Darkseid's Omega Effect, advancing step by step until he reached Darkseid.

Then he punched him.

"Argh!"

Darkseid was blasted away by Jovian's fist.

He shot straight into space, spinning uncontrollably until he smashed into the Moon.

An enormous crater appeared across its surface.

"Darkseid, here I come!"

A second later, Jovian flew into space and appeared before Darkseid.

Strangely, Jovian's voice traveled perfectly through the vacuum.

"Hmph."

Darkseid rolled his neck, flew toward Jovian, and threw a punch.

Jovian smiled at the incoming fist and raised both arms in front of himself.

He was interested in experiencing the Dark Lord's strength for himself.

Darkseid's fist slammed into Jovian.

Jovian was instantly launched backward...

He flew away at relativistic speed, hurtling farther and farther beyond the Solar System.

"..."

Darkseid silently watched Jovian disappear into the distance.

Then he casually raised one hand.

A gigantic portal instantly appeared beside him, and Darkseid pushed his hand through it.

Another, even larger portal opened above Jovian.

A colossal hand reached through, seized him, and dragged him back through the opening.

In an instant, Jovian, who had already been sent unimaginably far away, appeared in front of Darkseid again.

The next second, Darkseid unleashed the Omega Effect directly at him.

Faced with the approaching crimson beams, Jovian refused to back down.

Light erupted from his own eyes and forced Darkseid's attack backward.

"Hmph."

Darkseid sneered inwardly.

He abruptly raised one hand, and one enormous portal after another appeared behind him.

Countless Parademons and warships poured out of the massive openings.

Standing before an endless fleet, Darkseid slowly spread his arms.

"Mortal, I will give you one final opportunity. Submit to me. Submit to the great Darkseid!"

"I refuse!"

Jovian answered without the slightest hesitation.

The next second, wormholes began opening behind Jovian as well.

Warships, robots, and countless warriors wearing tight white uniforms flew out of them.

Behind Jovian were winged angels, superheroes, and the soldiers Thragg had tirelessly bred day and night.

"I've got more people than you now."

Jovian rolled his neck and stared coldly at Darkseid.

"Interesting..."

Darkseid gave him a cold smile and flew straight toward him.

"Die!"

Darkseid and Jovian collided head-on.

Outside Earth...

Countless warships exchanged volleys of energy fire.

One brilliant beam after another streaked across space.

The Parademon armies surged forward like an endless swarm of cockroaches, charging fearlessly into battle.

The upgraded Viltrumite warriors, enhanced with Kryptonian templates, continuously fired heat vision from their eyes. Crimson beams swept across the Parademon hordes one after another, roasting them into chunks of flesh.

Whoosh!

Jovian's side also had enormous multicolored giants standing more than fifty meters tall.

Each possessed a mysterious Color Timer and could fire devastating beams of light from their arms, attacks powerful enough to split stars apart.

Compared to Jovian's forces, Darkseid's side was clearly lacking in raw combat power.

Darkseid wasn't worried.

The ones who would truly decide the outcome of this war weren't the cannon fodder.

It was him and Jovian.

"You are no match for me, Kryptonian!"

"My true form has not even descended here! When it does..."

"You will be crushed into pieces!"

Darkseid was furious.

The version of himself in this universe was nothing more than one fragment of his true existence, scattered throughout the endless Multiverse.

"I'll kill you first! Then I'll go kill your true form!"

Jovian grabbed Darkseid by the throat and spoke coldly.

"You can't! No one can defeat the great Darkseid!"

The Dark Lord roared furiously, pushing the Omega Effect harder and harder.

"You're too weak!"

"Just die already! Then wait for me to come destroy your true form too!"

The power in Jovian's eyes surged again.

He forced Darkseid's Omega Effect backward.

Then he threw a punch and blew Darkseid's head apart.

And just like that, the Darkseid Jovian had intended to kill was dead.

Yet Jovian's expression didn't change in the slightest.

He knew this was only an avatar.

What he truly wanted to destroy was Darkseid's true form, the higher-dimensional abstract existence behind all these worthless fragments.

Jovian would destroy the Dark Lord.

Then he would replace him and become the new ruler himself.

"Wait for me, Darkseid!"

Jovian turned his gaze toward Earth behind him.

In his eyes, countless symbols and strings of information appeared across the planet's surface.

It was the Anti-Life Equation, the very thing Darkseid had always sought.

But now, the Anti-Life Equation had a new master.

Jovian.

With a thunderous roar, an endless torrent of knowledge poured into Jovian's mind.

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