Chapter 579: Invincible Soul, Undying Body
Unimaginable Feats
Clark's reckless action stunned the Green Lantern warriors. That was Parallax, the embodiment of the Yellow Fear energy, possessing seemingly infinite power.
The internal temperature of the creature reached thousands of degrees, and its energy was nearly physical. Put simply, diving inside meant facing the attack of a constantly detonating nuclear bomb.
Such an environment was unthinkable, let alone survivable. Yet, Clark not only adapted to the extremely hostile conditions but also destroyed the bone-like crystals, crippling over a dozen of its claws.
Insane behavior, unimaginable strength.
These Earthlings are terrifying!
The Lanterns felt both admiration and fear. The materialized soul entity from before was shocking enough; now, an indestructible monster had appeared.
One was Invincible in Soul, the other was Undying in Body.
Several of them subconsciously glanced at Hal, feeling a twinge of sympathy. Working in this environment must be difficult.
Other Green Lanterns are number one in their sector. He couldn't even rank in the top five here.
The tide of the battle finally began to turn. Clark, inside Parallax, was like a rampaging sawshark, wreaking havoc. Quickly, half of the limbs on the creature's right side were gone, followed by its tail, which was tens of kilometers long.
As Clark continued his assault, a crack appeared in the tail's crystal structure. Parallax seemed to sense this, screaming wildly and thrashing its body, clearly trying to shake Clark off.
Barry urgently shouted,
"Hey, Green Lanterns over there, can you help! Don't let it move around!"
The Green Lantern warriors exchanged looks and quickly rushed toward Parallax. Hal and two comrades worked together, manifesting an extremely resilient, high-density liquid. Using the liquid's stickiness, they sealed its remaining limbs. The rest manifested chains, wrapping them again and again to bind the creature tightly.
Their combined effort greatly curtailed Parallax's mobility.
J'onn took a deep breath, concentrating all his psychic power to launch the most powerful mental shockwave he had ever attempted.
Bang!
Everyone heard the deafening boom of a heavy hammer striking a drum. Parallax shrieked hysterically, its head thundering as if stuffed with explosives.
J'onn clutched his mouth and knelt, trembling. Blood poured from his eyes, mouth, nostrils, and ears. The blow inflicted severe damage on Parallax, but it also left a fissure in his own psyche.
"A-are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Barry watched, his limbs shaking. "Maybe I should take you back!"
Cough! Cough! Cough!
After a fit of coughing, J'onn slowly looked up.
"I'm fine. I can still hold on."
At that moment, a scene worthy of being recorded in history unfolded: Parallax's tail, tens of kilometers long, ripped free from its body and floated away into deep space.
Everyone cheered loudly.
Witnessing this, Luke's eyes also widened in shock. He truly hadn't expected Clark to achieve such a feat.
Attacking from the inside, fearless of the extreme heat and energy, forcibly destroying Parallax's structural integrity.
Incredible. Simply magnificent.
Linda pouted beside him.
"I could do that too."
Luke inwardly chuckled. "Of course you could, but what about your clothes? My dear Ms. Danvers, are you willing to perform nude calisthenics in front of a live audience?"
Linda: "..."
"Luke Shaw! You're asking to die!"
Luke ignored her, turning his gaze back to the "big bug." Even without its tail and several limbs, Parallax was still terrifyingly huge. How is it controlling such a colossal amount of energy?
Perhaps he could try something. It should be effective.
Luke got up and flew forward, Linda following closely.
The Final Gambit
Upon reaching the rear of Parallax, Luke raised a hand. The constantly struggling Fear Essence materialized within the burning green flame. Luke forcefully drove the Fear Essence, and instantly, a strange feeling came from the creature.
A kind of connection had been established between them.
Luke took a deep breath, focused his mind, and tried to manipulate the creature through this connection. He met resistance the first, second, and third times. After trying over a dozen times, he immediately changed his strategy, shifting from manipulation to influence and decomposition.
This time, he succeeded.
Large amounts of yellow particles began to seep out of the creature's outer shell and dissipate into the void. These yellow particles were the energy Parallax had accumulated by consuming fear—the key to its growth.
"It works!"
Luke was ecstatic. After all that effort, he had finally found the winning formula.
Die, you stinking bug!
Luke maintained the connection with the Fear Essence, continuously breaking down Parallax's body. Yellow particles overflowed from its surface, scattering and turning the surroundings into a stellar ocean.
Clark was equally ruthless. The two worked in concert, one dismantling the skeleton from the inside, the other decomposing the flesh from the outside.
The enormous body visibly shrank. The Green Lantern warriors witnessing this were thrilled, putting all their strength into restraining the creature.
J'onn also stood up, using his psychic ability to interfere with its thoughts.
The situation was now exactly like a team boss fight in a video game: Parallax was the evil dragon, and the heroes were the brave warriors fighting to save the world.
The momentum shifted dramatically, moving increasingly against the creature.
Parallax struggled like a mad thing—rolling, twisting, biting—doing everything it could, but it could not escape the "green bug" on its body. Chains bound its body, and adhesive liquids restricted its limbs. It was like a powerful giant with bound hands and feet, capable only of issuing sharp, unwilling shrieks.
"Damn Earthlings! Damn Green Lantern Corps!"
"I will kill you! I will kill you all!"
Screeeech!!!!
"I will return! I will return and take my revenge!"
With a final, piercing shriek, Parallax suddenly stopped struggling, floating motionless in the void. As everyone wondered what was happening, Luke's eyes widened.
"Oh no! That bastard is going to self-destruct!"
Before he even finished speaking, he fled outward without a second thought.
Everyone's face changed drastically. They all turned and fled without a word. Clark, having received the alert, burrowed out of the creature's body and raced into the distance.
The Flash to the Rescue
A few seconds later, a point of aurora appeared between heaven and earth.
The light contracted inward, becoming a black void. The surrounding space churned like an ocean wave, as if something horrific was about to emerge.
A sense of impending death made everyone's scalp prickle. With a roar, the black hole shattered, and light surged out, bathing the void in a sickly white glare.
Blinding light rushed toward them, immediately followed by an expanding sun.
Heat, radiation, electricity, pulse waves... every type of attack was combined within the blast, spreading outward at a speed that seemed slow but was terrifyingly fast.
Luke's scalp tightened. He deployed hundreds of energy barriers around himself. Even so, he felt uneasy. Against an attack of this magnitude, the barriers were practically useless. If they failed, his body would be destroyed.
In that critical moment, Barry zoomed over.
"Don't move!"
He threw Luke onto his back, stomped on the void with his feet, and transformed into a streak of unimaginably swift electrical light, racing away. His speed was so great that even the expanding explosion couldn't catch up.
Luke was both surprised and delighted. He couldn't help but clap Barry on the back.
"You're a good kid! I knew I could count on you!"
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