Chapter 322: The Last Power-Up Before the Final Battle

The Anti-Life Equation = loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding × guilt × shame × failure × judgment; n = y, where y = hope and n = folly; love = lies; life = death; self = dark side.

"I am the new God. All things are one, and all things belong to Jovian. This mighty body is my temple. When I order you to surrender, three billion voices speak with mine. When I clench my fist and crush your resistance, three billion hands move with me. When I stare into your eyes, destroy your dreams, and break your hearts, six billion eyes stare with mine. Nothing like Jovian has ever existed among you, and when I am done, nothing else will remain. I will lead you into a hell with no escape and no end. There, I will murder your souls! I will make you afraid! I will make you crawl and beg! I will make you die! Die! Die for Jovian!"

The instant Jovian absorbed the Anti-Life Equation, countless voices echoed endlessly through his mind.

"Ah..."

Jovian could feel the power within his body swelling once again.

"Next up is killing Darkseid!"

Crimson light flashed through Jovian's eyes. In an instant, every last one of Darkseid's remaining followers throughout the universe was wiped out.

Terrifying flames swept across space, reducing them all to ashes.

"But before I go after Darkseid, there's still one last power-up I need."

As Jovian spoke, his figure flickered and vanished from the DC Extended Universe.

Inside a dark underground tunnel, a boy was tirelessly digging with the drill in his hand.

Around his neck hung a strange pendant shaped like a tiny drill, the Core Drill he had only recently discovered.

After finding it, he returned underground and saw a young man with short blue hair and sunglasses giving an impassioned speech. Most of what Kamina was shouting boiled down to one thing, everyone should abandon the underground village and return to the surface.

"Liar! There is no surface!"

The village chief, however, had no intention of letting everyone leave. If the villagers all went to the surface, there would be no one left to work for him.

BOOM!

Without warning, a thunderous crash shook the village.

A gigantic Gunmen came plummeting down from above, smashing straight through the ceiling and crashing into the underground cavern.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Everyone stared upward in confusion.

A tall, muscular man stood atop the enormous mech and looked down at the gathered villagers.

"Sorry for dropping in, everyone! I came from up there!"

"AAAAAH!"

Just as the man finished speaking, a beautiful red-haired girl suddenly fell through the opening above.

The man spread his arms and caught her before she could have an intimate encounter with the rocks below and end up dead.

"See?! What did I tell you?! There really is a surface!"

Kamina excitedly shouted as he stared at the man who had smashed through the ceiling and the red-haired girl he had caught.

"So there really is a surface!"

Beside him, Simon, the dark-blue-haired boy with goggles and the Core Drill hanging around his neck, stared upward with wide eyes.

BOOM!

"You bastards! How dare you do this to me?! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

While Simon and Kamina were still staring in amazement, the Gunmen beneath the newcomer's feet suddenly began creaking.

Its enormous face twisted in fury as it glared at the man who had kicked it out of the sky with a single blow and used it as a landing platform.

"Hey, hey! You didn't actually finish this thing off?!"

The red-haired girl in the man's arms widened her eyes as the Gunmen beneath them started moving.

"Of course I didn't."

"I haven't gotten used to my body in this world yet..."

The man answered with remarkable calm.

"You really screwed me over!"

The girl had barely finished speaking when tremendous force erupted from beneath them.

Both she and the man were hurled into the sky.

"Bastards! I'll destroy every last one of you inferior humans!"

The Gunmen roared and leaped after them.

"That's incredible!"

Below, Simon and Kamina stared wide-eyed at the man, the woman, and the enormous mech soaring through the air.

"Simon, we're going after them!"

Kamina, bare-chested with sunglasses perched across his nose, stared at the airborne Gunmen with uncontrollable excitement.

"Huh?! Kamina, are we seriously going after them?!"

Simon stared at him in disbelief.

"Of course we are! Just who the hell do you think we are?!"

Kamina grabbed Simon by the hand and raced upward over the debris.

"Go! Get out of here! And once you leave, don't ever come back!"

The village chief shouted after them.

"I'm never coming back! I'm done living underground! Next time I return, it'll be to bring everyone else to the surface!"

Kamina flashed the village chief a triumphant grin.

"That damn kid..."

The village chief's eyebrow twitched as he watched Kamina disappear.

Meanwhile, high above...

"This Gunmen is pretty damn strong!"

"Guess that's what you'd expect from a Super Robot world..."

The muscular man floated in midair while holding the girl, smiling faintly as the massive Gunmen charged toward them.

"Is now really the time to be talking about that?!"

"Think of something and get rid of this thing already!"

The red-haired girl was almost ready to scream as the violent wind tore around them at high speed and threatened to rip loose parts of her already minimal outfit.

"Fine..."

The man suddenly used both hands to throw the girl high into the air.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The girl shot upward and screamed furiously at the man who had tossed her away.

"You're the one who told me to think of something!"

"And I thought of something!"

The instant he finished speaking, the man plummeted downward.

"Die!"

With a roar, his fist slammed directly into the Gunmen's face.

"Argh..."

"How?!"

The pilot was stunned.

He could feel it clearly.

A human being had just punched straight through his Gunmen with his bare fist.

"Other than that lord, there are humans capable of something like this?!"

"That's impossible!"

An endless series of sonic booms erupted as the man's fist split the Gunmen in two.

A tremendous explosion blossomed across the sky.

BOOM!

The man who had destroyed the Gunmen continued downward and slammed into the ground, leaving behind an enormous crater.

"AAAAAH!"

At the same time, the girl's scream came from overhead.

"Job's done!"

Hearing her scream, the man looked up and caught her before she could hit the ground. Light flashed around his hand as he canceled her downward momentum, while his other hand caught the piece of her outfit that had been torn loose by the fall.

"Give that back..."

The red-haired girl crossed her arms over herself, her face bright red as she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Would you like me to help you put it back on?"

The man asked with impeccable gentlemanly courtesy.

"Absolutely not!"

The girl answered coldly and immediately snatched it out of his hand.

"Pink, huh?"

The man had apparently managed to notice the color of the fabric.

"Hmph!"

The girl snorted and turned her pale back toward him before fixing her clothes.

"WHOOOOA!"

Not long after she finished, another shout came from nearby.

A small mech came racing toward the two of them at full speed, accompanied by frantic yelling from inside.

"An enemy?!"

The girl's expression sharpened. She immediately pulled out her sniper rifle and aimed at the approaching machine.

"Probably not."

The man shook his head.

Then, out of the goodness of his heart, he lifted one foot and kicked the little mech to a complete stop.

BOOM!

Dust erupted everywhere as the machine skidded across the ground like a soccer ball and finally stopped in front of the man and the girl.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

A moment later, the cockpit opened.

The two blue-haired boys from the underground village climbed out, Simon and Kamina.

After escaping the cavern, the pair had found the small mech and tried piloting it so they could catch up with the man and the girl.

"I'm Kamina, and this is Simon!"

"Who are you two?!"

Kamina introduced himself and Simon to the pair.

"I'm Jovian. Just a traveler."

The muscular man, Jovian, calmly introduced himself.

"I'm Yoko. As you can see, I'm a sniper."

The long red-haired sniper introduced herself as well.

"I knew it! There really are people living on the surface! See, Simon?! I told you I wasn't lying!"

Kamina turned excitedly toward Simon.

"Yeah!"

Simon nodded enthusiastically.

"So what are you two planning to do now?!"

After speaking to Simon, Kamina turned back toward Jovian and Yoko.

"See that big thing from earlier?"

"I'm going to find their base and wipe it out."

Jovian pointed calmly toward the pile of wreckage beside them.

"If that's what you're doing, then I'm coming too!"

Yoko looked at the mangled wreckage, anger flashing through her eyes.

"Then it looks like we're comrades with the same goal!"

Kamina planted his hands on his hips and grinned at Jovian and Yoko.

"The same goal? You're saying you two want to destroy these Gunmen too?"

Jovian looked at Kamina curiously.

"I don't even know why!"

"But there's a voice inside me telling me what I have to do! It's telling me that I've got to smash these mechs to pieces!"

Kamina looked deeply moved.

He could practically hear his own blood boiling.

At last, he had discovered his calling in life.

Destroying giant robots.

"Huh?!"

"Kamina, when exactly did we decide we were going around destroying Gunmen?!"

Simon was the only one who looked completely lost.

"Just now!"

Kamina gave Simon a huge thumbs-up.

"Isn't that way too impulsive?!"

Simon had no idea how he was supposed to respond.

"Anyway, let's move out!"

"Onward, toward the distant horizon! That's the romance of being a man!"

Without waiting for Simon to say anything else, Kamina stretched one hand toward the blazing sun in the sky.

He could feel every cell in his body burning with excitement.

"Heh..."

Jovian merely smiled as he listened to them.

If these people wanted to travel with him, he had no reason to object.

As long as the journey ultimately ended with the Anti-Spiral being destroyed and Jovian devouring every last trace of its Spiral Power, his mission would be complete.

To Jovian, this entire universe was nothing more than one final stepping stone.

"LET'S GO!"

Kamina stared toward the distant sun, shouted at the top of his lungs, and confidently began marching forward.

"Hey, Kamina! Are you sure that's even the right direction?!"

Simon hurried after him.

"Of course it is! Just who the hell do you think I am?!"

Kamina burst out laughing.

Meanwhile...

Within a vast, pitch-black structure whose sheer scale radiated crushing oppression, a king who had taken all the sins of humanity upon himself sat alone upon his throne.

The ultimate failure known throughout the world as the Spiral King suddenly opened his eyes.

His pupils were rings within rings, spiraling endlessly inward.

"Hmm?! Someone else has awakened Spiral Power?!"

"Hahahaha..."

"How foolish..."

The Spiral King sensed the newly awakened, surging Spiral Power and a hint of bitter self-mockery entered his eyes.

It reminded him of a time long, long ago.

A time when countless warships had filled the heavens.

A man had stood beneath that sky, gazing upward at the fleet that blotted out everything above the world.

Even when the stars, the galaxies, and everything else in existence had become his enemies, the man merely folded his arms across his chest and stood before his warship.

Then he led his army higher and higher, breaking through the very heavens.

He fought his way all the way to the dark mastermind behind everything.

And then...

That man learned what true despair really meant.

Just as the Spiral King was laughing bitterly at his own memories, he suddenly sensed an immense wave of energy erupting somewhere in the world.

Its sheer magnitude was already comparable to the Spiral Power within his own body.

"Hmm?! Interesting..."

The Spiral King's pupils contracted sharply.

If someone who had only just awakened Spiral Power could already rival him, then in the future...

"I hope you can show me something different."

With that thought, the Spiral King settled back onto his lonely throne.

He could no longer remember how many years he had spent sitting in that damned chair.

Nor could he remember how long ago the burning passion in his heart had finally gone cold.

But now...

For the first time in ages, he could see the faintest glimmer of hope.

"So that's how it works..."

"This is Spiral Power!"

Elsewhere, after absorbing the unique laws of this universe, Jovian had finally awakened Spiral Power of his own.

His pupils transformed into ring after ring, taking on the appearance of endless spirals.

"What happened to your eyes?!"

Yoko immediately noticed the change in Jovian and looked at him curiously.

"Nothing's wrong. My eyes have never been better!"

Jovian smiled at her.

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