69novels Chapter 540 The Black Death Emperor Raises His Scythe! Barbatos Makes His Move
Chapter 540 The Black Death Emperor Raises His Scythe! Barbatos Makes His Move
Chapter 540 The Black Death Emperor Raises His Scythe! Barbatos Makes His Move
"..."
The counter-surveillance agents first heard the vibrations of the universe.
He originally planned to murder one of Batman's teammates, banishing him to the multiverse before he died, thus forcing Batman to realize that if he refused to swallow the Anti-Monitor's heart, he would have to watch his allies be slaughtered.
But he hadn't had a chance to make a move yet.
Banishing Superman Supreme to the Light Multiverse did not come without a price. First, he opened a portal, a very small one, but even that required a great deal of effort.
Secondly, the act of banishing Superman Supreme to the Light Multiverse attracted the attention of Doctor Manhattan, and he and Barbatos joined forces to prevent this gaze from penetrating into the corners of the Dark Multiverse.
These two actions not only consumed a significant amount of the countersurveillance agent's resources, but also delayed his actions, preventing him from inflicting any serious damage on Batman's Justice League.
The Anti-Monitor thought that once he banished Superman Supreme, he would have plenty of time to create Batman and his Justice League, but what he was seeing now...
"Damn it..." He abandoned Batman and the Justice League members and flew high into space.
In the distant edge of space, the stars seemed to be bound by an invisible pressure, their light dimming and weakening.
William Hand's face had become utterly emaciated, like a skeleton.
And what followed closely behind...
The sky was a dark, oppressive expanse.
Then Chen Tao realized that it was a black-light corpse.
Trillions upon trillions of Black Lantern corpses from the land of death under the command of the Black Death Emperor.
"Blacklight zombies! The Anti-Monitors belong to you!"
"My God!" Shazam exclaimed from the side, "Is that William?"
He turned to Batman: "You have some trump card or method to bring him back, right?"
But he only met Batman's sorrowful gaze.
If he truly possessed it, then he wouldn't have initially planned to leave William in his own universe, letting them escape first, while he himself prepared a Black Lantern ring to wear.
Regardless of the outcome today, William Hand will belong to the Black Death Emperor.
This situation is... irreversible.
"Awoooooo..." A large number of black-lighted corpses had approached them. Chen Tao watched as the frenzied corpses pounced on him, then stopped just before they reached him.
The horde of zombies bypassed Chen Tao and the Justice League team, heading towards the Anti-Monitor in the distance. It was at this moment that Chen Tao saw William Hand, completely turned into a zombie. Countless Blacklight zombies surrounded him, praising him as their king.
"Damn Barbatos, are you listening? The Black Death is the kind of opponent I'm not very good at dealing with, especially because of that history," the Anti-Monitor said. "He is fully capable of proving that I am dead in this timeline through the trans-timeline."
The anti-surveillance activist looked grim.
The history he was referring to was during the Seneca Legion War, when he was backstabbed to death by Superman Supreme, and then on the Darkest Night, his body was captured by the Black Death and turned into the Black Lantern Furnace.
In other words, there was a period when the Black Death Emperor actually exerted control over the Anti-Monitor when it was at its weakest.
Now, the Anti-Monitor should have been dead, with only its stellar brain remaining. Barbatos helped the Anti-Monitor create a false shell of "I am actually the Anti-Monitor of the Dark Multiverse," allowing the Anti-Monitor to transcend the hypertime flow and remain on the current timeline.
Therefore, through this connection, the Black Death Emperor was able to prove to the Hypertime Flow that "the current Anti-Monitor is clearly dead, but is still alive," thereby breaking Barbatos's false shell and causing the Anti-Monitor to suffer from the Hypertime Flow's self-regulation.
In addition, the Black Death Emperor possesses an important authority: anyone who has ever died, even if they are resurrected, will be affected by the Black Death Emperor.
In other words, even if the Black Death Emperor doesn't use the method of destroying the fake shell, he can still try to pull the Anti-Monitor back into death, causing the Anti-Monitor in its current state to expend more power to resist.
The combination of these two factors has made the anti-surveillance agents completely unwilling to confront the Black Death Emperor head-on.
This is equivalent to fighting against an opponent who can not only hard-control you but also has skills that can critically hit you, while you can't fully exert your power and are covered in debuffs. It's completely unequal.
As a projection from the upper reaches of the timeline, his ability to channel power into the current timeline is subject to various limitations, making him far less powerful than Barbatos, the dark multiverse dragon that resides in the present timeline.
The Anti-Monitor raised its hands, unleashing a massive surge of anti-life energy that swept across the sea of Black Lantern corpses. However, the corpses were endless and continued to converge on the Anti-Monitor.
"You have to deal with him, Barbatos. Otherwise, once I return to the upstream of the hypertime stream, our deal will be completely over."
"The anti-surveillance advocate said."
"That's a separate deal."
The Dark Multiverse Dragon's voice, laced with barely concealed rage, rang in the Anti-Monitor's ears: "Our deal has never involved the Black Death Emperor."
Barbatos said, "Although he was defeated in that incident, his power is still immense because Hal Jordan from the main universe even manipulated him to kill the first Lantern of the main universe. He is part of death, the representative of death, and my conflict with him is unnecessary. Therefore, I have never interfered if he wanted to manifest in any dark multiverse in the past."
"What makes you think I would go against the Black Death Emperor for the sake of this deal? It's not that I can't, but it's unnecessary and a losing proposition."
(Note: The "incident" Barbatos refers to is "The Darkest Night". After being defeated, Black Death also appeared in the New 52 Green Lantern comics in the chapter "The Wrath of the First Lantern" and killed the wounded First Lantern with a single scythe.)
The Black Death Emperor, as a representative of death, has no version in the Dark Multiverse. From beginning to end, he simply fulfills his duty, continuously unleashing waves of death in parallel universes and the Dark Multiverse.
Barbatos said, "And don't think it's so easy for the Black Death to break through the portal from the Death Zone into reality. He has tried to corrupt many Dark Multiverses, but apart from one relatively successful attempt, there have been very few others."
(Note: The successful universe Barbatos mentioned is the storyline of *The Dark Multiverse Chronicles: The Darkest Night*. It is mentioned in Chapter 363, the story of the Berserker Bat.)
So, are you going to help or not?
When questioned by the anti-monitor, Barbatos replied, "Don't worry, most William Hands in the universe aren't actually that powerful."
"The successful universe like William Hand's is just an exception. Many William Hands in the Dark Multiverse were defeated by the heroes of that Dark Multiverse before they even had a chance to unleash the Darkest Night."
The William Hand you're facing now is likely slightly stronger than those Dark Multiverse Williams, but only by a limited margin. He simply can't summon much of the Black Death Emperor's power; under such circumstances, no matter how strong the opponent is, he can't use it.
He said, "You absolutely can..."
The anti-surveillance man remained silent as he watched William Hand raise his black light ring once more.
An ominous premonition enveloped the anti-surveillance activist, and then...
"The Black Death Emperor...awakens."
As William Hand called out in a deep voice, the entire cosmic battlefield seemed to tremble.
Countless black-lit corpses looked up at the sky, their mouths gushing black fluid, their skeletal faces glowing with green light, and they all roared to the heavens.
Endless black light condensed on William's ring, surging forth in an instant and shooting straight into the sky.
In the thick, watery darkness, a colossal figure slowly emerged.
The anti-monitor's face was extremely grim. He looked up at the massive humanoid figure, over 30 meters tall, the skeletal Black Death Emperor, who stood silently behind William Hand, wielding a huge scythe, as if he were his guardian.
"Oh God."
Shazam had lost count of how many times he'd said something like that. He groaned, "What is that?"
"The immortal king of corpses," Chen Tao replied. "William Hand summoned the Black Death Emperor using the Black Light Ring."
The massive Black Death Emperor lowered his head and met William Hand's gaze.
William Hand raised the Black Lantern Ring, facing his god.
"Alright, Black Death Emperor," he said, "I command you to attack the Anti-Monitor!"
"I command you, undead zombie," said the Black Death Emperor. "Do not give me orders. I am the darkness before the birth of light, and you dare to presume to order me to obey you."
William's deathly burning, eerie green eyes met the Black Death Emperor's gaze without fear: "I summoned you here. Without me, you wouldn't have been able to come here at all."
He opened his mouth, and at the same time, millions of black lights and zombies behind him roared in unison:
"Do as I say!!!"
The Black Death Emperor turned to the Anti-Monitor: "Why do the dead still dare to try to return to the mortal world?"
The Anti-Monitor fired a white beam at the Black Death Emperor, but it had no effect. The Black Death Emperor slowly raised his scythe and turned to look at William Hand:
"I have discovered an escaped death, and it is my duty to recall every escaped death. I am not attacking the anti-surveillance agents on your orders."
"Yes, yes, you're right about everything," William said, sporting a skull-like face.
He tried to make some expression, but ultimately failed to do anything.
The Black Death Emperor raised his scythe above his head.
"Damn it, Barbatos, do it! Are you planning to prepare for all this only to end up with nothing?!"
"It's too far; I can't send my Dark Knights here."
"Can't you do it yourself..."
"I'm absorbing power, which will definitely greatly reduce my strength... Never mind."
Then the anti-monitor heard Barbatos say:
"I'm starting."
The scythe drew ever closer. The Anti-Monitor pondered how to end his forceful resistance against the death brought by the Black Death Emperor, and then he saw the enormous scythe stop right in front of him.
Not far away, William Hand stared in astonishment at his own hands.
He was already dead, his hands completely withered and decayed like a corpse. Then, without warning, he was resurrected, and he didn't even know who had resurrected him.
His youth returned, and the skin and bones of a young man were replaced by the fair and tender skin of a teenager.
The Black Death Emperor's connection to the mortal world was severed. He let out a furious roar of resentment, his eyes fiercely approaching the Anti-Monitor, his dark, empty eyes staring straight at him, but bound by some force, he was unable to take a single step towards the Anti-Monitor.
Barbatos is the ruler of the Dark Multiverse, and he can restrict the Black Death Emperor's entry at the multiverse level.
He has invested too much time and energy in counter-surveillance, and if this deal ultimately falls through, then all of this will have been for nothing.
Barbatos could not accept this outcome, so he could only increase his investment in the hope of successfully unlocking the profits he was supposed to receive.
And so, right before everyone's eyes, William Hand, who had been completely dead and turned into a skeleton, was suddenly resurrected.
He looked at Batman, young William Hand looked at Batman, he opened his mouth as if to say something, he saw Batman roaring, he saw all his Justice League comrades rushing towards him, then being stopped halfway by the Anti-Monitor.
Then he heard Batman calling his name, and his Justice League comrades were also calling his name.
He saw the Black Death Emperor turn around and look at him.
"You're very good," the Black Death Emperor said. "Very good. I admire you."
William Hand then found himself held in the palm of the Black Death Emperor.
"Come with me," the Black Death Emperor said. "For a moment, I really felt a bit forced... I've only ever felt this way with Hal Jordan."
The Hal Jordan that the Black Death Emperor was referring to was not one of those defective products from the Dark Multiverse, but the real Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern from the Central World.
Comparing William Hand to that Hal is already an extreme compliment.
"My voter in the main world, William Hand, is utterly useless. Even though you were born into a dark multiverse, you're still far superior to him."
Before William could say anything more, the Black Death Emperor grabbed William Hand, reopened the spatial rift, and then disappeared into it.
In the final instant the slit closed, William Hand looked at his companions: Batman, Wonder Woman, Shazam, and the entire Justice League.
"I'm sorry," he said softly to himself.
I'm so sorry.
He knew he would likely have to part ways with his companions for a while, but he knew...
"We will definitely meet again."
Chen Tao watched William Hand disappear, as if watching his own child disappear around the street corner.
He took a deep breath.
Superman failed, William Hand failed, so...
It seems my turn is coming.
He called out to Night Owl over the communication channel: "Are you ready?"
"I've finished, but I still don't understand, Batman."
The owl asked:
"What exactly do you want?"
Chen Tao did not answer him; a crazed, sinister smile appeared on his lips.
"You know, my friend. The world only becomes a better place when you force it."
(End of this chapter)