Chapter 144: High-Speed Afterimage
"I have a great idea!"
Maxima's eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Why don't you come back with me to Almerac first? We can slowly solve any problems together after that. What do you think?"
"A fine strategy, but I'd like to make a slight modification," Orin Vale said. "How about you return to Almerac first, then go look elsewhere to see if you can find someone else suitable?"
Maxima pouted. "You should know, you're refusing the crown of Almerac."
"And with this crown, can I do whatever I want?"
"Of course not. You still have to listen to me." Maxima puffed out her chest. "The rules are simple. You do what I say, and you're not allowed to leave the palace without my permission. Other than that, you can do as you please."
"So that's the problem. It seems your concept of marriage is quite different from ours here," Orin Vale said helplessly. "Or how about this: there's a big blue guy in a red cape in Metropolis. He's stronger than me. Go bother him instead. He's handsome, a good fighter, and easy to talk to."
"Enough nonsense. This Princess has her sights set on you!" Maxima sneered. "Your technique and combat awareness are indeed impressive, but the Princess of Almerac has more than just that up her sleeve.
"This time, I'll give you a special demonstration of my speed!"
As her last word fell, she vanished with a *whoosh*. In an instant, sand and dust swirled up like a hurricane of yellow sand. Within the dusty curtain, figures flickered about, and Maxima seemed to surround him from all directions at once.
To be fair, Maxima was indeed quite formidable, and her stats were well-rounded. Superhuman strength, incredible speed, and psionic abilities—she was an all-rounder. It was no wonder she considered herself invincible before coming to Earth, a place teeming with overpowered individuals.
But on Earth, well…
Maxima flashed about, certain that her speed must have dazzled her opponent. However, as she maintained her high speed to circle to his flank, preparing to strike from behind, she was horrified to discover—
—he was looking right at her.
Amidst the countless flickering figures, his gaze shot straight over, locked onto her trajectory.
He could actually… see her?
Maxima was aghast. She knew that achieving her current high speed wasn't just due to her own abilities but was also amplified by her equipment. As the Princess of Almerac, her armor was the pinnacle of her planet's cutting-edge technology, which more than doubled her original speed.
And he could still keep up?
Maxima gritted her teeth. She could go faster!
Unleashing her speed without reservation, the gale from her passage cut into the earth like a blade, leaving it scarred. Her armor operated on an unprecedented overload, so fast that even her reflexes struggled to control it, and the images in her vision began to blur.
I've got him!
Maxima carved an arc and swept a spin kick toward Orin Vale. Yet Orin Vale stood his ground, not dodging or evading, as if he couldn't react in time.
However, contrary to her expectations, her foot swept through Orin Vale, blasting the ground apart with a boom, but she felt no impact of hitting a target.
Instead, it passed through without any resistance.
An afterimage.
Maxima froze. She turned her head, and her expression immediately contorted uncontrollably.
She saw a large group of mobile armors.
A dozen or so mobile armors, like mirror images of him, surrounded her from all sides.
"High-Speed… Afterimage!?"
Maxima was stunned.
The well-traveled Princess recognized the skill at a glance. In fact, it was a common skill for all Speedsters in the DC Universe: moving at a high enough speed to create high-speed afterimages, producing an illusion of duplication.
But to create more than a dozen high-speed afterimages in one go as if they were free… just how fast was he!?
In truth, it was only after seeing Maxima's flashing-all-over-the-place maneuver that Orin Vale had the idea to test out a new move derived from his recent research.
Duplication was nothing special; many Ultramen could do it. But conventional duplication involved splitting one's own Light Particles to form a second body. Like the Ultraman series' instantaneous movement, it was a high-energy-cost skill for most, unless you were a big shot who specialized in it and could spam it like a no-cooldown ability. Since it was often unnecessary, Orin Vale rarely used it.
The High-Speed Afterimage, while looking similar, was not fundamentally a simple duplication technique. This was The Flash's skill. Though called an afterimage, it wasn't just about being fast enough to create a trail. As seen from Reverse-Flash's performance in the TV series, these high-speed afterimages were akin to clones with physical form, capable of even fighting each other.
Its true mystery lay in its involvement with the Speed Force's spatial properties. It allows a Speedster, upon reaching a sufficient speed, to utilize the Speed Force's spatial attribute to achieve the effect of being in multiple different places simultaneously.
In one of The Flash's achievements often brought up by comic book fans, the third Flash, Wally, raced against a cosmic deity capable of unlimited instantaneous movement. The deity teleported to the other side of the Universe in the absolute shortest instant, yet The Flash had already arrived before him. Wally had developed this attribute of the Speed Force to its peak, allowing him to be in almost any corner of the Universe at the same time.
Of course, that kind of extremely rare power burst situation represented the upper limit. That was still a distant goal, but after his recent research and development, Orin Vale had already gained a glimpse of the path. He had developed the most basic usage of the High-Speed Afterimage.
And this first practical test was undoubtedly quite effective.
The look of utter disbelief on Maxima's face was proof enough.
The new skill itself wasn't that important; what mattered was the principle behind it and its infinite potential. Its successful application confirmed to Orin Vale that he was on the right research path, one that would lead him to uncover more secrets hidden within the Speed Force.
By now, Maxima was completely captivated, a conquered look on her face.
This man was this fast?
Not only so strong, but also so fast…
She was sold. Absolutely sold.
Her judgment was indeed reliable.
If they had a boy, they'd name him Caesar. If they had a girl, they'd name her Karen…
"Uh, Your Highness?"
"What is it? I'm busy."
Interrupted in the middle of the important life event of naming her children, Maxima glared unhappily at Sas.
Sas shrank back.
"I didn't mean to interrupt, but… he already left a long time ago."
Maxima: "…"
***
A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters.
"The situation at the volcano is under control. All abnormal readings have disappeared."
An A.R.G.U.S. investigator on site was reporting to Headquarters. Behind him was a temporary investigation camp A.R.G.U.S. had just set up.
"Why did they suddenly disappear?" Amanda Waller asked.
"We don't know. About an hour ago, all communication and surveillance in the vicinity were cut off. However, some local residents reported seeing a flying object suspected to be the creature codenamed 'Ultraman' pass by. It might be related…"
"Understood," Amanda Waller said. "You all stay on-site and investigate further."
"Yes, ma'am."
After cutting off the communication, Amanda Waller pondered for a moment. She had a strange gut feeling that leaving them there to investigate might not be a good idea.
A.R.G.U.S. had been having a serious string of bad luck lately, where anything that could go wrong, did. Who knew what strange karmic mess they would get entangled in by staying there…
***
"The Dragon is gone too?" Non couldn't sit still any longer, demanding loudly, "How did it disappear!?"
"It's unclear," the communications officer said helplessly. "Dikarn was lurking underground after completing the raid mission. But a short while ago, the signal was suddenly cut off. Our monitoring was blocked by unknown means.
"By the time we reacquired the signal, we found that Dikarn's life signs had already vanished. It was eliminated…"
"Absurd." Non's brow furrowed.
He set up a tower near Earth, and the tower was gone. Now he sent a Great Dragon down, and the dragon was gone too.
What was next? Were they preparing for the final assault?
"Don't be hasty." General Zod remained calm. "Get me the last known location of Dikarn's life signs. Give me an image."
"Yes, sir."
A link was quickly established, and a real-time feed of the Teles Volcano appeared on the display of Fort Rozz's control console.
After watching for a moment, Zod suddenly raised a hand. "The foot of the mountain. That area. Zoom in."
The soldier complied.
The image magnified, and the group could clearly see a series of tents and equipment hastily erected at the foot of the mountain. Armored cars and fully armed soldiers moved back and forth through the camp.
A logo was clearly drawn on the tents, along with a line of large text.
A.R.G.U.S.
Non narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists.
"A.R.G.U.S…."
(end of chapter)