"Great, Earth is saved."
After hearing Darian's words, the human resistance burst into cheers.
With a big shot like Darian making a move, this wave was steady; they finally didn't have to consider immigrating to Mars.
Afterwards, Darian tried to pull this batch of human resistance into the Avengers, but found that the quest progress did not budge at all.
The quest requirements stated that members must be well-known superheroes or supervillains, but this standard of being well-known was not detailed.
Looking at it now, this requirement was unusually high; at the very least, it had to be at the level of those top-tier stars of the Justice League, or failing that, an outdated star like Green Lantern who was once popular for a time but now shelved would barely qualify.
Characters like the second-tier and third-tier human resistance clearly couldn't reach the threshold.
Lois could barely touch upon it, but unfortunately, Reporter Hero was only her side job and wasn't counted in the category of a superhero.
Darian curled his lips in slight disappointment.
Originally, he thought he could conveniently farm more rewards, but as a result, White was happy for nothing.
"Darian, I've found Wonder Woman and Aquaman."
Barry suddenly sent a message, followed by forwarding a positioning coordinate.
Darian glanced at the coordinate position and said to the human resistance, "You guys should leave here as soon as possible; this area will soon become unsafe."
Although he had wiped out quite a number of Atlantis soldiers and Amazon warriors, the troop bases of these two factions were right there, and a steady stream of reinforcements would sooner or later flood over.
Lois shook her head, her gaze firm: "We want to stay here and continue to contribute our strength to Earth."
The other human resistance members also nodded along, each with a serious expression.
Seeing that their attitude was resolute, Darian did not persuade them otherwise.
He casually tossed out a dozen clusters of Hellfire, attaching them to everyone's weapons and armor, giving away a free trial card for Hellfire skins.
"You guys have been buffed, go run wild."
Finished speaking, Darian grabbed Thomas by the back of the neck once more, spread his single wing, and flew away with the person toward the distance.
According to the coordinates sent by Barry, the two galloped all the way in the direction of the city center.
The closer they got to the city center, the more tragic the battle situation below became. The streets were filled with the sounds of slaughter, the brilliance of explosions rose one after another, and black smoke wrapped in dust shot straight up into the sky.
Soon, someone noticed Darian and Thomas in the air. Dense artillery shells and arrows greeted the two of them, but they were all blocked outside by the protection spell, suffering no harm at all.
Some blind Atlantis soldiers drove small fighter jets over, wanting to intercept them.
But they didn't even play the role of a speed bump. Darian's eyes burst forth with two bolts of golden lightning, and wherever his gaze swept, those fighter jets exploded into balls of fire in the air, instantly clearing out a large swath of airspace on the spot.
Not long after, a golden palace appeared in view. The outer walls were carved with Amazon-style ornaments, looking just like an ancient Greek temple, standing out exceptionally conspicuously in the city.
At this moment, the surroundings of the palace had completely fallen into a melee.
Atlantis soldiers and Amazon warriors crowded into the plaza inside the palace, fighting fiercely with no clear winner in sight.
Corpses piled up in a thin layer on the ground, dyeing the originally snow-white stone surface dark red. The entire plaza was like an ancient Roman amphitheater, filled everywhere with a primitive and crazy aura.
And right in the center of the battlefield, two figures were fighting fiercely; one wielded the Sword of the Fire God, and the other held the holy trident.
They were precisely Wonder Woman Diana and Aquaman Arthur.
Arthur's face was full of anger, and the holy trident in his hand was swung with a mighty force, every single strike carrying the weight of a thousand jun.
While fiercely attacking Diana, he roared: "Diana! You killed Mera! You killed my wife!"
Diana raised her sword to block the holy trident, and a string of sparks burst out the moment the blade and the shaft collided.
Taking advantage of the impact force transmitted from the blade, she stepped back a few steps to steady herself, her expression stern: "She came to assassinate me first, Arthur; I was only self-preserving."
"But you're wearing her helmet!"
Arthur reached out and pointed at the golden helmet on top of Diana's head, his eyes bloodshot: "You killed her, and yet you wear her helmet on your head, just like a trophy!"
How could he not recognize that the golden helmet on Diana's head at this moment originally belonged to his wife Mera.
Yet Diana wore it so brazenly on her head and appeared right in front of him, which was simply casting an ultimate right in his face.
"No, this is a deterrent."
Diana snorted coldly, without a trace of guilt on her face: "I want everyone to know that whoever dares to provoke the Amazon queen must pay a price. Since Mera dared to come and assassinate me, she had to be prepared for death."
Looking at Diana's cold-blooded appearance, Arthur gritted his teeth and said: "I can't believe I actually loved a monster addicted to slaughter like you."
Diana was full of disdain: "You have never truly loved."
She had already found out that back when Arthur met her, he actually had an engagement with Mera long ago.
As a result, this guy pretended to be single and kept flirting and making romance with her, deceiving her—an ignorant maiden who had just left Paradise Island—and chatting until they rolled into the sheets.
Afterwards, he even said things like he would only love her alone in this lifetime, but turned around and made eyes at Mera every day, truly thinking she didn't see it.
Bah, damn scumbag!
Sure enough, there are only wrong names, but no wrong codenames.
Arthur truly lived up to the title of Aquaman.
The more they quarreled, the angrier they became, and the moves in their hands grew increasingly ferocious, every single move aiming at getting the other party killed.
Just like all exes, they wished nothing more than for the other party to completely vanish from this world.
Darian found Barry's location and landed with Thomas on the rooftop of a nearby building that hadn't completely collapsed yet.
Barry was squatting on the edge of the rooftop, observing the battle situation below. Seeing them coming over, he hurriedly said: "We need to seize the time to act. If we drag this out any longer, Aquaman might detonate Captain Atom at any time."
Darian shook his head: "No, Clark and the others haven't sent news yet. If we act rashly now, it might drive Aquaman to desperation, and he'll pull mutual destruction with us directly."
Barry scratched his head and suggested: "Then why don't we directly control Aquaman? That way he won't have a way to detonate."
Thomas said in a deep voice: "I don't recommend doing this. We aren't sure what his activation method is, and making a move might instead detonate it early."
Barry was a bit anxious: "Not acting won't do, and acting won't do either. What should we do then?"
Darian narrowed his eyes and spoke: "Simple, just give them a common major enemy."
Barry looked bewildered: "A common major enemy?"
Darian nodded: "That's right, just like humans, facing the threat of Atlantis and the Amazon, all humans reached an unprecedented peace; whether superheroes or supervillains, they all put aside their fights and united together."
"By the same token, as long as we create a sufficiently powerful major villain for Atlantis and the Amazon, they will naturally temporarily put aside their personal grievances, and Aquaman won't be in a rush to detonate Captain Atom."
Barry hesitated: "Then where are we going to find this major villain?"
Thomas seemed to think of something, and looked at Darian weirdly: "You don't mean..."
"That's right, it's me!"
Darian grinned: "Although I have always been open and aboveboard, righteous, and noble in character, standing there makes anyone feel that I am a companion of justice. Disguising myself as a major villain is indeed a huge challenge for me."
"But the situation is urgent right now; only I possess this condition, so I can only bite the bullet and go."
Barry: "..."
Thomas: "...."
Is there even any need to disguise?
You just need to restrain yourself a little bit.
On the other side, the battle between Arthur and Diana had entered a white-hot stage.
At this moment, Arthur was clearly at a disadvantage.
In terms of physical strength, Arthur and Diana were a 50-50 split, and their combat skills were also on par.
But unfortunately, Diana was fully equipped with divine gear from head to toe, and even her underwear might be some divine artifact, whereas Arthur only had a holy trident in his hand, leaving him constrained everywhere.
Coupled with the fact that the ocean was Arthur's home turf, he couldn't unleash his full strength on land.
At the beginning, he could still fight evenly with Diana, but as time went on, his disadvantage became apparent.
Diana seized a flaw of Arthur's and swept out with her sword horizontally.
Arthur failed to dodge in time, and a cut was slashed open on his chest, blood immediately gushing out.
Before he could steady his footing, Diana followed up with two more swords, hacking onto his arm with wounds deep enough to see bone.
Diana completely gave Arthur no chance to catch his breath. The sword blade kept slashing out, leaving scars of varying depths on Arthur's body, and then the sword tip whistled out, pointing straight below Arthur's waist and abdomen.
Arthur's face turned green with fright instantly, and he hurriedly pressed the holy trident downwards, barely knocking that sword off course.
The sword blade brushed past the inner side of his thigh, leaving a distance of less than two inches from his vital parts.
A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Arthur's back.
If that sword had hit, his Atlantis throne would basically have come to an end.
After all, he didn't have offspring yet. If he were truly crippled, a king unable to continue his bloodline would never be accepted by the citizens of Atlantis.
"Truly the most poisonous is a woman's heart."
Arthur cursed inwardly, gripped the holy trident tight, and prepared to counterattack.
However, before he could make a move, an unfamiliar voice suddenly drifted over from his side.
"I didn't expect to still see the descendants of the old gods, and two come at once. How fortunate."
Diana and Arthur were startled instantly, turning their heads abruptly to look.
They saw that a strange figure was standing by their side at some unknown time. The person was entirely wrapped in a wide yellow robe, and the hood was pitch-dark and lifeless, completely concealing the face, as if it were an endless abyss.
If one gazed into this abyss, they would find that something seemed to be slowly writhing in the darkness.
The more one wanted to see clearly, the more their vision sank inward, and staring for just a few more seconds would cause trance, nausea, and vague whispers to appear in their ears.
Diana and Arthur could feel a terrifying aura pressing over from the other party, and the hair all over their bodies stood on end instantly.
The two simultaneously stopped fighting, turned around to face this freak at the same time, and were vigilant to the extreme.
Arthur asked sternly: "Who are you!?"
The yellow-robed figure was none other than Darian.
He did not answer immediately, instead letting out a low chuckle from beneath the hood.
"The descendants of the old gods have always been the best food, especially this long-legged woman who possesses the power of the gods; she must be very delicious to taste."
Diana's face sank as she raised the Sword of the Fire God to point at the other party: "Playing God and playing ghosts, what kind of thing are you precisely?"
"Me?"
Darian slowly raised his two sleeves: "I have many names; people in every world call me differently."
"However, you can call me Doom, or you can call me the Lord of Fear."
Doom, Lord of Fear.
These two titles didn't sound like anything good.
Diana frowned slightly: "What is your purpose? Could you want to stop the war between the Amazon and Atlantis?"
Hearing these words, Darian suddenly laughed even harder.
"Of course not, I am here to enjoy this feast. War is the best catalyst for fear; the harder you fight, the more satisfied I eat."
"However, these are all just appetizers."
"The real main course is you two descendants of the old gods. You are the most delicious and highest-grade ingredients in this feast."
"How can such rare ingredients be wasted? I don't feel at ease leaving them for others to handle, so I have decided to cook you two delicacies personally."
"Jie jie jie jie jie jie jie jie!"
Having said that, Darian let out a shrill and harsh evil laughter, making people's scalp go numb.
Barry and Thomas in the distance felt a chill run through them.
This doesn't look like acting at all!
Looking at the wildly laughing Darian, Arthur could no longer hold back.
He originally had a violent temper, and having been suppressed and beaten by Diana for half a day, he had a ball of fire pent up in his heart.
Now that a neither-human-nor-ghost guy came and treated them as food, how could he endure it any longer.
"Want to eat me? I'll tear you to pieces first!"
Arthur roared angrily, kicked off hard with his feet, and his entire person rushed out like a cannonball.
The holy trident in his hand carried a fierce piercing sound through the air, piercing fiercely toward Darian's face in the posture of Runtu stabbing a badger.
Darian stood in place without moving.
Seeing that the tip of the holy trident was about to pierce him.
The next moment, the holy trident suddenly stopped mid-air, unable to advance even an inch further.
Dense black tentacles surged out from beneath the yellow robe, slimy and twisted, exuding a strange aura, tightly wrapping around Arthur and the holy trident in his hand.
No matter how much force Arthur exerted, the holy trident could not advance any further.
Arthur was not unfamiliar with this; he had seen plenty of such tentacles at home.
Could this guy's true form be an octopus?
Whoosh!
A fierce sound of breaking air struck from behind.
Diana had somehow circled behind Darian, raising the Sword of the Fire God high up and chopping down toward the back of his head.
Clang!
The Sword of the Fire God stopped on the outer side of Darian's back of the head, and could no longer be pressed down.
A layer of golden rune armor faintly emerged, acting like a translucent shield, blocking her attack.
Only then did Darian turn around slowly, saying cheerfully: "Don't rush, it will be your turn soon."
Diana's face grew even colder, and she flicked out the Lasso of Truth. The golden rope coiled towards Darian's wrist like a spiritual snake, tightening instantly.
"Speak! What kind of person are you precisely?" Diana shouted in a low voice.
The Lasso of Truth was one of Diana's most representative pieces of equipment.
The person entangled by it would answer questions uncontrollably and could only tell the truth; even if Batman came, he couldn't withstand it.
"I... I am..."
Darian's voice was intermittent, seemingly struggling hard against the influence of the Lasso of Truth.
Diana urged: "Hurry up and speak!"
"I am... I am your dad."
Diana: "???"
*******************************
Enjoyed the action? Drop a review, fire off a comment, and send those Power Stones rolling! Your support keeps the updates coming fast—let's keep the momentum going! 🔥