Ashborn took a slow, deliberate step forward. His towering, armored form loomed over Darkseid, whose battered body trembled from the unrelenting pressure of Ashborn's presence. Then, without ceremony, Ashborn extended his hand and plunged it straight through Darkseid's chest.
The impact was brutal and effortless, as if tearing through air. Ashborn's arm protruded from the other side of the god's torso, lifting him off the ground like a rag doll. Darkseid's eyes widened in disbelief and agony.
"You think you are safe because of this avatar?" Ashborn's voice was low, cold, and absolute. "You think I cannot reach you because your real self resides in the god sphere?"
Darkseid screamed.
But Ashborn was unmoved, his tone filled with cruelty. "I will rip through every dimension you exist in," he said. "Every fragment of knowledge regarding you will be erased. Every creature that dares speak your name will be destroyed. Even the other gods will not be spared."
Darkseid's avatar convulsed as his essence was forcibly torn apart, the Omega Force within him shrieking in defiance but Ashborn was already drawing closer, his burning eyes piercing into what remained of the tyrant's mind.
"I will erase you from the history of every world," Ashborn declared. "Then I will come to the god sphere to end you. No gods will save you. No apostles will be able to stop me. Even if the Itarim of this multiverse steps in... it still won't be enough."
Darkseid's screams choked into silence as the avatar's body disintegrated into black ashes, swept away by the windless void.
A sudden ripple tore through the air behind Ashborn. A new gate opened, this one swirling red and glowing with primal chaos. From it stepped a tall man clad in black armor, his long red hair flowing like blood on fire. His grin was wild, his aura exuding destruction.
"You didn't call me for years," he said with a smirk. "I thought you forgot me in your endless army."
Ashborn turned slowly. "Antares," he said. "You are the Monarch of Destruction. I will allow you this time to do what you like. Scout the multiverse for the Tyranny God, Darkseid, and erase all traces of his existence. Then destroy his true self in the god sphere."
Antares laughed, eyes glowing with murderous joy. "The naive one who preached peace to the bitter end... now asks me to kill and destroy on such a scale? What did that lowly thing do to earn such wrath?"
Ashborn's gaze sharpened. "Do you want to die for good?"
Antares raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I was just curious. Leave it to me, tens of billions will die in the name of your cause." He turned to the gate, laughing maniacally. "I've missed this." Then he vanished into the swirling red gate, leaving a faint trail of destruction behind him.
The world was silent.
No wind. No breath. No movement.
Until Amazo stepped forward, his voice the first to break the tension. "Father... is it wise to give the most deranged and dangerous of the monarchs a free reign?"
Ashborn didn't turn. "It doesn't matter as long as he gets the job done."
Then, the crushing darkness that had swallowed the planet began to recede. Color returned to the land. The sky softened from black to blue-gray. Buildings, ground, and cities regained their textures, though the scars of war remained.
But no one moved.
No one dared.
Ashborn in his human form stood there, a god among corpses and shadows, the embodiment of death incarnate.
Amazo stepped closer, analyzing the Earth's core with his internal systems. He blinked.
"My scanners show... the Earth's core is damaged significantly," he said. "At this rate, Earth will die in a year at most."
Ashborn stood still, silent as stone. His blazing purple eyes regarded Amazo, who was reviewing the deep readings of Earth's failing core.
"Fixing the core with normal means is impossible," Amazo said, voice steady but weighted. "There's too much internal collapse. The planet can not be fixed at this stage."
Ashborn sighed.
Then, with the slowness of finality, he raised his hand. Darkness wrapped around it in tendrils of shadow, pulsing with energy. When the darkness dispersed, a cup shimmered in his palm, a glowing vessel of impossible design, forged by the oldest being Ashborn had known.
Without a word, Ashborn tilted the cup.
A single drop of golden liquid fell.
The moment it touched the ruined earth, a radiant explosion of light surged outward. The golden light swept across the land like a tidal wave, enveloping everything, land, sea and sky.
As far as the eye could see, everything was bathed in brilliance. Survivors across the planet shielded their eyes from the intensity, gasping in awe and fear alike.
Then, as quickly as it had arrived, the light began to recede.
When it cleared, the world had changed. The battlefield was gone. The ruins had vanished. The city stood whole again, buildings gleaming, streets repaired, even the smallest cracks sealed. It was as if the war had never happened.
Survivors blinked and looked around in wonder. Homes restored, life returned.
Amazo scanned the Earth's core once more. His eyes flickered, then refocused. "The planet has been restored to its original state," he announced. "Everything is… back to normal."
A small figure stepped forward.
Ace.
Her eyes were red with tears, her voice soft, trembling. "Dad… can't you revive Grandpa Rex?"
Ashborn looked down at her. His expression softened just slightly.
Ashborn said quietly. "If I wanted to bring him back… I would have to change fate. That would trigger a crisis, one that would destroy everything. The world would be reset… everyone would vanish. That's the law set by this world's itarim and everything is set on stone, only the owner can change it"
Ace's lips quivered. Her tears returned.
She said nothing more, just buried her face into her hands and cried.
Ashborn turned to Amazo. "Take her home," he said. "Stay beside her."
Amazo nodded once and gently took Ace's hand. With a shimmer of light, the two disappeared into the shadows, bound for safety.
Ashborn remained alone for a moment. Then his gaze shifted to Galatea and the battered members of the Justice League nearby.
Without a word, Ashborn teleported.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before them.
No one spoke. Not even Superman. They stared at him, not with pride or hope, but with fear. The kind that settled into the bones. The kind that gods evoked when they walked among mortals.
Galatea finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry…" she said, her voice cracking. "In my arrogance, I allowed Rex to come here with us. It's my fault. All of it."
Ashborn looked at her.
"If he was not there," he said, "Ace would have gone instead. Someone would have died regardless of your choice. I did not leave enough soldiers behind. That is on me."
Galatea looked down, grief-stricken.
Ashborn's gaze shifted to Superman. "I will release your colleagues," he said, "and all those who fought to defend Earth, from my shadow army. But you… and the rest of your League… will prepare a funeral for the fallen."
Superman nodded silently, jaw clenched. No words. No argument.
Ashborn's shadow began to swirl and rise, enveloping Galatea in a quiet shroud of darkness. As the shadow consumed them both, his final words echoed in the silence.
___________
He and Galatea appeared together in the center of the living room, where Ace and Amazo already sat. The silence in the room was crushing. The only sound came from Ace, who sat curled up on the couch, his body trembling with quiet sobs. Tears streaked down his cheeks.
When he saw them, he looked up with red-rimmed eyes and a cracked voice.
"It was my fault," Ace whispered. "He died to save me."
Ashborn didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and placed a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. His voice was calm, but heavy with the weight of finality.
"It is not your fault," he said. "It was the result of all of our actions."
He paused, glancing at Galatea, who said nothing, her arms folded tightly as if bracing herself against grief.
"Uncle Rex chose to protect you," Ashborn continued. "Tea allowed him to tag along. I could have left more than a few thousands of soldiers behind, I could have charged the soldiers' mana to full power, I could have kept an active watch here… but I didn't any of that. I was confident it was not needed and that it could cause some annoying individuals to come"
Amazo stirred from his seat, head low.
"No, I was the reason why Father left this world for so long in the first place," he said, his voice filled with regret.
Ashborn looked at him. There was no accusation, no anger, only acceptance.
"Darkseid invaded another dimension," he said. "And we all made decisions… some small, some great. But every one of them led to this."
Ace sniffled and tried to wipe his tears away with his sleeve, but they kept coming. Galatea knelt beside her silently, wrapping one arm gently around her shoulders. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
Ashborn moved to a nearby chair and sat down. For a moment, he didn't speak. His gaze was distant, but the purple embers beneath his eyes still glowed faintly, like dying stars refusing to go out.
Then his voice broke the silence.
"For him," Ashborn said, "I will end Darkseid permanently. Even if I have to sink this entire multiverse into endless darkness."
The words were terrifying in their honesty, no one questioned them. No one flinched. The room accepted them as truth.
Because deep down, they all knew it was a final judgement.
The fire of vengeance may have lit in Ashborn's chest, but in that moment, everyone in the room grieved not as meta human, clone, or android… but as family.
The death of one good old man had left a hole in their hearts that no war or shadow could ever truly fill.