Robert didn't pay much attention to what was happening with Thorne on the other side. He was still observing Damian and waiting for Clark to arrive, as he had already sensed that Clark was flying towards them with Belloc at high speed.
Although Robert hadn't communicated with Clark, after Robert had mentioned Clark's name in front of Thorne and the others, Clark naturally reacted. Plus, Clark had likely been monitoring Robert's situation, so it wasn't surprising that he was on his way now.
"I left too early, and he slipped up. I should have stayed a little longer or maybe swapped targets with you…" Soon, Clark appeared before Robert and the others, carrying the subdued Belloc in his hand. He spoke helplessly.
Previously, Clark had held out hope, as Damian, even now, still appeared to be an ordinary human child. Clark's hope that Damian might not have any issues was understandable.
But Clark hadn't expected that as soon as he and Robert split up, Damian would reveal his true identity, blowing his cover in front of Thorne and the others. In hindsight, Clark regretted not staying with Damian instead of going after Belloc.
Of course, if Clark had been there, he probably wouldn't have been able to subdue Damian as easily as Robert had, without causing additional damage.
If Clark had been there when Damian was about to attack Thorne and the others, he likely would have cut open the truck with his heat vision and knocked Damian out with a punch. As for why he wouldn't just rush in, that was to avoid sending the whole vehicle flying due to the impact.
"If you had intervened, he would have escaped. Haven't you dealt with enough demons to know their tricks?" Robert snickered at Clark's comment, teasing him.
Clark was indeed more powerful, but when it came to dealing with extraordinary abilities, he didn't always have the best solutions. For instance, if Damian had been determined to escape, Clark, lacking any real restraint abilities, might not have been able to stop him.
"You're right. This Belloc almost slipped away when I wasn't paying attention. If Damian really wanted to run, I wouldn't know how to stop him either, unless I froze him right from the start," Clark agreed with a nod. His freeze breath was powerful, but he couldn't just freeze everyone immediately.
Suddenly, while Clark and Robert were talking, a cold glint flashed in Damian's eyes. Although his body didn't move, Belloc, whom Clark was holding, trembled violently.
"Huh?!" Clark didn't have psychic abilities, so by the time he noticed Belloc's abnormal reaction, it was already too late to stop it.
With a buzzing sound, hellish dimensional energy surged into Belloc's body through a rift between the Hell and Earth dimensions, instantly reaching the limit that Earth could contain.
And it wasn't over. As the power reached this level, Belloc showed no signs of resistance. Her eyes shone with fanaticism, and her aura grew even more turbulent, reaching a new peak.
A loud explosion followed, and Belloc's body erupted. The powerful energy didn't dissipate but spread rapidly, as if a miniature hell had shattered open on Earth, instantly filling the surroundings with a hellish aura.
Though it seemed like a long time had passed, in reality, only a moment had elapsed between Damian's change in expression and Belloc's self-destruction.
Robert, Clark, and Diana reacted quickly, but faced with the invasion of hellish energy, all they could do was use their powers to suppress the dimensional forces from spreading further.
Once the hellish energy stabilized, the trio stopped. Robert looked gravely at Damian, who was now free. He hadn't expected that this weakling was actually a hell lord.
Yes, Damian had regained his freedom. The psychic barrier Robert had used to restrain him had been shattered by the surge of hellish power.
This was the result of a clash between dimensions and energies, and Robert's psychic powers couldn't hold up against it. Even if the barrier had held, it wouldn't have been able to contain Damian, who now, empowered by hellish energy, had grown far beyond Earth's limits.
Robert didn't know how Damian had achieved this, but the principle seemed similar to Mephisto's scheme with Blackheart in the San Venganza contract. However, unlike San Venganza, the hellish energy around them now was like rootless duckweed, slowly dissipating, unable to last for long.
Once the hellish power was exhausted, Damian would revert to his previous weak form.
But even so, Damian was not to be underestimated. Robert and Clark had fought a crazed Mephisto before, and they knew just how terrifying a hell lord's power could be.
"I don't get it. You've regained your strength as a hell lord, so why are you still keeping this appearance? Mephisto liked to stay in the guise of an old gentleman. Do you have some peculiar taste too?" Robert raised an eyebrow and mockingly asked Damian.
"Don't think you're so impressive just because you're powerful on Earth. Your strength is nothing in the Hell dimension!" Damian's eyes flashed coldly as he released his aura, pressuring Clark, Robert, and Diana.
"I'll go first!" Robert, excited, activated his transformation, unleashing a violent aura that blocked the oppressive hellish energy.
Robert hadn't encountered a strong opponent in a while. Damian's current strength was clearly far greater than that of Zod and his Kryptonian soldiers.
It had been a long time since Robert had fought a worthy opponent. Despite the many dimensions eyeing Earth, only the Hell dimension seemed capable of producing opponents strong enough to stir his fighting spirit.
With a swoosh, Robert fired a ki blast toward Damian, disappearing from his spot. The ki blast was merely a signal; Robert intended to engage in close combat and enjoy a real fight.
However, when Robert appeared where Damian should have been, he was surprised. His fist passed through Damian's afterimage, missing its target, and the ki blast hovered in mid-air without a target.
But that wasn't the most shocking part. What really surprised him was that the hellish energy had suddenly vanished, as if the explosion had never happened.
"Did he run? He went through all the trouble to create a Hell dimension here, and now he's running without even putting up a fight?" Robert was stunned, unable to accept Damian's cowardice.
Even as a hell lord, he showed no pride. After all the taunts and mockery, he didn't even try to get revenge? Or was Damian planning something bigger?
The thought that Damian was a weakling didn't cross Robert's mind. If Damian were weak, he couldn't have drawn on hellish power, erased Robert's psychic barrier, or created a temporary hellish field.
This was Earth, after all. Given how Earth's dimensional consciousness worked, it would have been impossible for Damian to achieve this without a heavy price. Yet after paying that price, he didn't even attempt a fight—was he that timid?
"Think you can escape so easily?" Robert's eyes flashed with frustration. Escaping without a fight wouldn't be that easy!
In an instant, Robert extended his senses. Hell lords were tricky, with exceptional hiding abilities. Even though Damian had used hellish power, his body remained undetectable. But Robert wasn't going to give up that easily.
Damian could hide all traces of hellish energy and power, but it was hard to conceal his weak human aura. Hiding that too would require energy...
"Got him! He's fast!" Robert's eyes lit up as he locked onto Damian's faint human aura. He noticed that Damian was moving quickly, which would have been suspicious even without confirming his identity.
"Found him? Where is he? I don't see him…" Clark scanned the surroundings, but didn't spot Damian. Confused, he turned to Robert for answers.
"He's over here. Looks like he's heading toward Central Asia?" Robert raised an eyebrow, muttering in confusion. "What's he planning? I thought he'd go after Thorne or head to America, but it seems like he's got something else in mind."
"I thought he might target Thorne too. I kept an eye on them but didn't see him," Clark shook his head, speaking softly. "Could it be that this is the real reason Damian came to Earth?"
"It's possible. Let's follow him and see where he's headed," Robert agreed, disappearing, with Clark and Diana following closely. The trio didn't intercept Damian yet, instead deciding to see what his goal was.
At first, Robert and Clark thought Belloc was the bait and that Damian was the big fish. But now it seemed there was something even bigger lurking behind the scenes. If the hell lord was the big fish, what kind of monster was the shark behind him?
Meanwhile, Damian had no idea that after escaping Robert, he had already been tracked again and was being secretly followed.
"When did Earth become so dangerous? The Ancient One is gone, right? Why are there still so many strong people?" Damian muttered to himself as he flew. "One Superman is bad enough, but where did that shapeshifter come from? It looks like Mephisto tangled with them before, and he even lost?"
"Damn it! I'd completely integrated into Earth, but now I'm forced to reconnect with hellish power. I just hope my body can withstand it. I paid a huge price for this body, not to mention the energy I just had to feed into the Earth dimension…"
Thinking about it, Damian's eyes flashed with pain. Even a hell lord couldn't withstand such consumption. If he could have ruled in Hell, he wouldn't have abandoned his hellish origins to become an ordinary human on Earth.
"Now, I need allies. I wonder if Lazarus has succeeded. He's been planning for much longer than I have. If he hasn't, I'll just take the power he's invested in Earth to boost my own strength," Damian muttered, his eyes gleaming as he looked in the direction of his destination.
"Although Superman and that bastard disrupted my plans, forcing me to reconnect with hellish power, it's not without its benefits. With some energy, I can purify this body and stand firm on Earth!"
"When that time comes, the new power I acquire will be mine alone. The Earth's dimensional consciousness won't be able to charge me a fee anymore! Lazarus, I hope you haven't succeeded yet. If you have, how will I take the next step?"
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