Korin Zor-El's eyes met Arthur's, carrying a warning that had been earned through loss.
"The Anti-Death Equation... It is capable of transforming and corroding anything, from the laws of physics to even the most powerful of beings. The Equation also has the capability of reviving deceased individuals in a process they call Gentrification, they already used it against you, it is not exactly like your shadows, since that process only returns them to a mindless, zombie-like state that only follows the will of the Gentry." His voice hardened. "I've seen it happen. I've seen it take people I loved and turn them into monsters.."
Arthur crossed his arms, his expression grim. "Anti-Death Equation..."
Korin's voice carried a note of desperate hope. "The power effect is also immediate. I thought you were gone, but seeing that you were struggling to get out, I had to save you, because I realized that you were different." He paused, his eyes searching Arthur's face. "It worked immediately on my mother and Kal-El, alongside dozens of others. I never saw it not work with immediate effect.. Except on you.." His voice cracked. "How did you survive it? Maybe we can actually use whatever you have to.."
Raven cut him off, "It has to do with his power of Death."
Korin fell silent. He looked at Arthur, his expression shifting, as if he was seeing him for the first time.
"Power of... Death?" His voice was barely a whisper, and filled with wonder.
Arthur nodded slowly, his eyes glowing faintly. "Yeah. I'm the Monarch of Shadows and Death. Maybe the nature of my body and abilities made me survive the Anti-Death Equation." He paused, his voice softening. "Though I didn't feel like I would survive it if they kept their hold on me." His eyes met Korin's. "So once again, thank you, Korin Zor-El. You saved my life."
Korin's smile was small and wistful. "Don't mention it." He paused. "So what's your plan, Arthur? Do you wish to leave this world? Now's your chance. I know you can open portals. You could be gone in an instant."
Arthur's voice was firm, "Not unless you come with us."
Korin considered it for a moment.
Then he shook his head slowly, turning away. "I can't." His voice cracked. "Forgive me, but your Earth... that's not my world and your Kara is not my mother.." He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper. "As much as I want to see her again... it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be her."
Arthur stepped forward, his hand coming to rest on Korin's shoulder. "It is true they managed to defeat me, but I was facing enemies I had no idea what nature they had, their powers, their limits." He paused. "But I'm not going to leave you here alone, facing those eldritch horrors on your own."
Arthur looked at Raven, his eyes carrying a question. She nodded, her expression firm, her hand finding his.
"Besides, what you just mentioned about your mom, your world... it made my blood boil." Arthur's eyes blazed violet. "I will erase them, even if it costs me my own life."
Korin's eyes met Arthur's. Something passed between them, respect, a shared purpose that transcended the boundaries of worlds.
"Alright.." Korin said, "Let me tell you all I know about them first."
Arthur's eyes glowed violet, "Talk."
Korin nodded, his hand moving to the console, pulling up the images of the Gentry once more, his face illuminated by the cold glow of the images that materialized before them.
Arthur and Raven stood beside him, their eyes fixed on the display, the air in the chamber seemed to grow colder, as if the very presence of the Gentry was seeping through the holographic images.
Korin's voice was calm. "I've been fighting them for two years. Watching them. Learning from them, in ways that I still don't fully understand." He paused, his eyes fixed on the display. "Let me show you what I've learned about them."
He gestured, and the first image appeared.
"Dame Merciless."
The figure that materialized was a ghost of shadow and despair. She was tall, clad in black armor, her face was hidden beneath a helm of bone and shadow, but her eyes burned with a cold hunger. In her hands, she carried a jagged thing that can't even be calleda sword.
Korin's voice carried a note of grim respect. "This ghost-like female is Dame Merciless, the Knight of the Gentry. She delights in battle. She is clad in black armour that seems forged from despair itself, carrying a sword large enough to cleave mountains." He paused, his voice hardening. "She is relentless, a warrior who seeks worthy opponents not for honour, but for corruption. Every victory she claims leaves another champion broken, another defender twisted into serving the Gentry."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "A warrior who corrupts her opponents. That's how they build their army."
Korin nodded slowly. "Entire worlds have watched their greatest heroes fall to her blade, only to rise again as enemies of everything they once protected." His voice dropped. "She also enjoys invading the dreams of those poor world's inhabitants, forcing them to commit atrocious acts. She doesn't just break bodies... she breaks souls."
Raven's voice was quiet. "I've seen beings like her before. Not exactly like her, but... similar. Beings who feed on despair, who twist hope into something dark... my Father was one of them."
Korin's eyes flicked to her. "Then you understand why she's so dangerous."
He gestured, and the image shifted.
"Lord Broken."
The second figure materialized, a being of fractures and decay, his body a patchwork of cracks and fissures that seemed to crumble even as they watched. His form was not even humanoid.
Korin's voice was calm. "The second one is Lord Broken. He is the Embodiment of Decay and the representation of madness. He spreads hopelessness and collapse." He paused, gesturing at the image. "As you can see, his body is covered in fractures... constantly crumbling apart. A twisted mind housed in a twisted, building-like body."
Arthur studied the image.
Korin nodded slowly. "You will not always notice his arrival. At first, buildings begin to crack. The sky loses its colour. People start to lose hope, to give up, to fall into despair." His voice dropped. "By the time he appeared, the world was in chaos. The damage was already done."
Raven's hand found Arthur's, her fingers tightening around his.
Korin's eyes met both her and Arthur's. "Once the will is broken, the rest is easy."
He gestured, and the image shifted again.
"Intellectron."
The third figure was a floating robotic construct, a single, giant glowing eye dominated its center, surrounded by mechanical tendrils that writhed and shifted like the limbs of a machine that had been designed to think faster than any living mind. "Next comes Intellectron, a floating robotic construct. With a giant glowing eye, mechanical tendrils... they are all weird looking really..." Korin said calmly.
He paused, his eyes meeting Arthur's.
"It is an intelligence beyond comprehension, a living machine capable of calculating millions of futures in moments. Every defence is analysed. Every weakness catalogued. Every weapon eventually turned against its creator." His voice hardened. "Networks become infected. Artificial intelligences become servants, even the most advanced civilizations discover that their own technology now answers to the Gentry instead of themselves."
Arthur's eyes narrowed, his mind already turning over the tactical implications. "An intelligence that can predict every move we make.."
Korin nodded slowly. "Entire planets have been conquered without a single battle simply because Intellectron convinced their machines to wage war upon their creators." He paused. "To me, he is the most dangerous among them."
He gestured, and the image shifted.
"Hellmachine."
The fourth figure was a nightmare of metal and flame. Its form was massive, blocky.
"Then there is Hellmachine. It is less a creature than a living engine of annihilation." He paused, his eyes fixed on the image. "It can reduce cities to molten ruin in minutes. Once Hellmachine begins its march, evacuation becomes impossible. It does not negotiate. It does not pursue glory. It exists only to reduce what remains of a dying world into ash."
Arthur's voice was flat, clinical. "A brute. A force of pure destruction."
Korin nodded slowly. "He is the mindless brute beast of the Gentry. The one who finishes what the others start."
He gestured, and the final image appeared.
"Demogorgunn."
The fifth figure was a beast of nightmare. Its form shifted and writhed, multiple heads snarling, multiple arms reaching out, each one ending in a claw that seemed to have been taken from a different creature. Its body was a patchwork of stolen parts, a monument to the heroes it had consumed.
Korin's voice carried a note of genuine fear. "And finally... there is Demogorgunn. A gigantic beast with multiple heads, multiple arms... most of them belong to former heroes.."
He paused, his eyes meeting Arthur's.
"If the others corrupt worlds, Demogorgunn hunts those who still refuse to surrender. Like myself."
Arthur's mind was calculating the scale of the threat they were facing.
"It is the executioner of the Gentry," Korin continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "A monstrous predator whose form shifts between nightmare and beast. It pursues heroes across worlds and dimensions alike. No fortress can hide you. No portal can lose it. It is relentless, driven by instincts older than creation itself."
He paused, his eyes distant, haunted.
"The strongest champions are often hunted by Demogorgunn alone, for the Gentry know that once the greatest protector falls, the rest of the world usually follows." He paused. "He finds me quite often. The fortress can teleport... I just change location."
Arthur was silent for a long moment.
Korin's voice carried the weight of his conclusion. "Together, they are not an army, they are a process, a fast process of annihilation."
He gestured, and the images arranged themselves in a line, each one representing a stage of annihilation.
"Their unknown master chooses the universe."
"Lord Broken infects it with despair."
"Intellectron dismantles its defences."
"Dame Merciless slaughters or corrupts its champions."
"Hellmachine crushes what remains."
"And Demogorgunn hunts the survivors."
He paused, his eyes meeting Arthur's.
"That... is how the Gentry erase a universe. At least, that's my theory from what I observed."
/-\
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