Diana in this world had not been influenced by Ethan and had not spent a long time delving into her potential.
Moreover, after entering human society and witnessing its various dark sides, her perception of humanity had also changed. She no longer saw herself as humanity's guardian and had begun to doubt whether such humans were worth risking her life to protect. She simply lived quietly, hidden within human society.
Although this reclusive lifestyle did not mean she had completely abandoned combat, her diligence in training was nowhere near that of the Diana Ethan was familiar with, and her strength was naturally much weaker.
What's more, Ethan's realm had continuously improved, making him immeasurably stronger than this Diana. He could easily defeat the Wonder Woman before him.
With a slight flick of his finger, the disarmed Diana found herself surrounded by blue energy that trapped her. She felt as if she were floating in midair, with no point of leverage for her limbs. No matter how she struggled, she could not move.
Reaching out to punch the blue energy felt like hitting cotton. She could not touch anything at all.
"Damn it!"
Diana was defeated in a single move, unable to even understand what technique her opponent had used. Superman, Clark, no longer hesitated over whether they could "talk things out" and charged forward directly.
No matter what, they had to rescue Diana first! Although they were not very familiar with one another, they were allies now.
Aquaman Arthur and Flash Barry thought the same. They believed that with their speed, their opponent might not even be able to react...
Bang!
Before Superman could figure out what was happening, he was hit hard on the cheek. The second before, Ethan had been far away, but in the next instant, he was in front of him and delivered a punch.
His speed was incredibly fast, and the power in the punch was astonishing. Even Superman felt uncomfortable after taking the hit. He was sent flying backward and rolled several times on the ground before stopping.
Flash had originally planned to use his speed advantage to do something, but after Ethan punched Superman away, he immediately turned and prepared to swing at him.
Startled, Flash immediately dodged to the side. Then, while running at high speed and forcibly changing direction, Flash tripped over himself and, like Superman, became a rolling tumbleweed, flipping over a dozen times before stopping.
Ethan pulled back the fist he had been swinging and looked at Flash speechlessly.
He thought the Barry Allen he had met in the Arrowverse was weak enough, but this one was even weaker. As it stood, this Flash was just there for show. He could not be relied upon at all when facing a truly strong enemy.
However, this was good for him, since he was the greatest enemy of these superheroes.
Turning around, Arthur, who was much slower than Superman and Flash, also charged forward. With him were Cyborg and Mera. On land, Mera's ability to control water was limited, so she chose close combat just like Arthur.
The trident, or maybe quintident, struck Ethan heavily. Arthur saw his attack land squarely on the opponent and was about to say something smug when he suddenly noticed a faint light flashing at the tip of the trident.
"What is th..."
Before he could finish speaking, the light suddenly intensified many times over. Along with the bright light, a powerful force erupted, sending Arthur flying backward.
Mera had been preparing to attack Ethan's blind spot from the side, but before she could make a move, she was blown away by the aftershock of the energy burst.
Ethan's control over energy was incredibly precise. The energy burst did not affect Cyborg, who was charging again. Before Cyborg could figure out what had happened, Ethan grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.
The moment he was grabbed, Cyborg felt his body was no longer under his control. His mechanical body, formed by the fusion of a Mother Box and numerous technological products, felt like a lump of scrap metal. Aside from being able to think normally, he could not do anything else.
Splat!
A round object hit him and immediately exploded, releasing thick smoke mixed with a smell that no normal person could possibly tolerate.
While Ethan could tolerate it, that did not mean he was willing to keep smelling it.
His free left hand formed a cupping gesture, and a huge suction force formed in his palm. It drew all the smoke into his palm, condensed it into a small ball, and then completely vanished with a flash of fire from his palm.
Turning his head, Ethan glanced at Bruce Wayne, who was raising a Batarang nearby. Just as Ethan was about to do something, the previously knocked-away Flash and Superman charged forward again.
His left hand blocked Superman's punch, and then he looked at Flash, who was reaching out and pushing hard against his waist.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to push you off balance..."
Flash Barry stared blankly at Ethan in front of him. He was using all his strength, but no matter how hard he pushed, he could not move the opponent.
He tried several different stances, even using his ultimate move, hugging the leg! He wanted to trip the opponent.
However, Ethan remained standing steadily in place, his hand still firmly gripping Cyborg.
Just when he finally felt the enemy seemed to have moved, Flash Barry did not even have time to be happy before realizing it was not his doing. The opponent had flown up on his own, and if he did not let go, he might be carried into the air with him.
"Ahhh!"
While he was hesitating over whether to let go, Ethan had already made the choice for him. As he dodged the beams from Superman's eyes, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the red cape, then used Superman as a weapon to smash into Flash below. The two fastest heroes rolled across the ground many times again.
With a casual gesture, he opened another portal and "reflected" the electric net Batman had thrown back, trapping Batman with his own equipment.
Aquaman Arthur and Mera charged forward again, only to crash headfirst into a reddish energy wall.
Punching it hard, aside from causing a ripple, did not damage the energy wall in front of them at all. It stood firmly before them, leaving Arthur and Mera unable to think of any way around it in the short term.
Just then, a green light flashed in Ethan's hand, and he made a cupping gesture toward Cyborg in front of him.
"What are you trying to do?"
This was the only thing Cyborg could do at the moment. His body was completely out of his control. Being able to speak was only thanks to the parts that were not mechanical structures.
He did not expect Ethan to answer, but Ethan did.
"I'm going to take the Mother Box out of your body."
As Ethan's palm rotated, the heroes witnessed a miraculous scene. As if time were reversing, they could clearly see how Cyborg had been created, only this process was playing backward.
"Stop! You'll kill him if you do that!"
Everyone knew Cyborg had been severely injured in an accident and only survived thanks to the Mother Box's miraculous function. If Ethan separated the Mother Box from Cyborg's body, only death awaited Victor.
Ethan paid no attention to them. As he continued, Cyborg's miraculous half-human, half-machine structure gradually separated into various items: piles of electronic products, parts, and a severely injured, dying young man.
Besides that, there was the cube floating in front of him.
Ethan had already released his grip. Everything, including Victor and the various scattered electronic products, floated before him.
Grabbing the Mother Box in his hand, Ethan glanced at Victor. After a final sigh, his hand, wreathed in green energy, continued to rotate slowly toward himself.
Just as the heroes were extremely anxious about the energy barrier and worried about Victor's life, they were astonished to find that Victor in front of them was slowly turning back into a normal person. His injuries were disappearing in an unbelievable manner.
It did not take much time at all. A healthy, ordinary young man, Victor, appeared before everyone.
Not only were they unable to believe what they were seeing, but even Victor himself, who had personally experienced this miraculous change, could not believe it. He kept examining his hands and repeatedly touched the places where he had been injured, wanting to know if this was real or an illusion.
After completing all this, the energy in Ethan's hand dissipated. At the same time, the energy barrier and the strange energy trapping Diana also vanished. However, the heroes of justice did not continue attacking Ethan.
"..."
This situation left them unsure of what to do. They felt they should stop the Mother Box from falling into this person's hands, and before, they had the reason that Victor could not be sacrificed.
What about now? The opponent had just healed Victor. That did not seem like something a villain would do, right?
"What exactly is your purpose?"
Superman had always wanted to talk things out with Ethan. Fighting was his last resort.
"I told you, I'm going home."
Ethan held the last Mother Box in his hands, not at all worried that these people would suddenly attack him. Under their gazes, he began absorbing the suddenly increased energy and rules within the Mother Box.
Having already absorbed the power of two Mother Boxes, the speed of absorbing the third Mother Box's power was much faster. Ethan quickly completed this, and the Mother Box slowly dissipated, as if it had never existed in this world.
The surrounding superheroes stared blankly at everything before them. They felt that something unknown had changed about the person in front of them, but they could not see any difference with their naked eyes.
They did not know, but Ethan could feel how significant his change was. The power in this last Mother Box was like the final piece completing a puzzle. His realm and power had reached a very high level, and he finally knew where the "true key" was located!
Turning his head, Ethan's gaze settled on Wonder Woman, Diana. Almost simultaneously, a massive divine power erupted from Diana, and she launched an attack on Ethan.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)