Snap.
The restaurant lights suddenly went out, plunging the guests into darkness and momentary confusion. But the daze lasted only a moment.
With a deafening bang, the wall facing the corridor exploded.
Guests gasped; elegant ladies screamed.
From the swirling black smoke emerged a bat-shaped silhouette—like a demon, its eyes judging every soul in the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen," came a deep voice, distorted by a voice changer.
"What you're enjoying tonight is Gotham's wealth, the very spirit of this city. But this feast is about to end. Starting now..."
The figure stepped forward slowly, casting the enormous shadow of a bat across the carpet. The terrified eyes of the socialites reflected that shadow, as if branded into their souls.
"...None of you are safe."
A grand entrance—perfect intimidation. Though a rookie, Batman had already mastered the art of drama, sinking fear deep into Gotham's elite.
Or so it should have been.
A grim, sinister laugh echoed from behind him.
"Oh really? I doubt it."
Batman turned sharply, spotting a twisted dark figure materialize in the shadows behind him.
Before he could react, a mass of pitch-black matter was hurled at him. He barely managed to raise an arm to block.
The impact nearly dislocated his arm, then threw his entire body flying through the restaurant corridor.
Even with the Batman suit's padding, the raw strength was overwhelming.
Batman rose to a half-crouch—only to see another bat-shaped figure emerging from the darkness.
In the dim light, Liam could just make out its light gray fur covering tough skin, a sharp mouth lined with curved teeth, and wings spanning over two meters—a terrifying, twisted creature.
Guests screamed again. Maroni laughed maniacally.
"Ha! When I heard about some lunatic dressed as a bat, I thought, seriously? A guy in a costume calling himself 'Batman'?
"You haven't seen a real demon—my new ally, a devil from hell!"
The bat demon shrieked piercingly, causing every glass on the floor to vibrate.
For rookie Master Wayne, this supernatural encounter was clearly beyond expectation.
But he reacted fast, throwing two Batarangs spinning through the air.
These were custom-made, forged from a cutting-edge alloy developed by Wayne Tech—able to slice through iron like butter and pierce steel plates.
Yet, they didn't even scratch the monster.
The Bat Demon growled and lunged. Batman rolled aside just in time; a claw swipe smashed through the wall behind him.
Spinning with momentum, Batman delivered a back kick with explosive power—enough to split a towering tree in half.
But the creature didn't flinch.
It backhanded Batman, slamming him against the wall hard enough to crack plaster.
At this point, Batman's utility belt held only basic street-level gear. No black-tech for battling superhumans, no explosive Batarangs.
His armor was no match for the demon's grip.
He knew that within seconds, his neck would be crushed to dust.
Before that happened, he smashed a smoke bomb into the demon's face.
It did no damage, but the choking smoke forced the demon to cough and loosen its grip. Batman broke free and vanished into the haze.
The demon roared, slashing through the smoke as it gave chase into the restaurant kitchen.
The chefs had long fled, leaving a perfect arena for their fight.
The demon scanned the room, spotting Batman crouched in a corner, readying another Batarang.
Batman hurled it—whistling through the air—but missed, clearly flustered.
The demon's twisted grin mocked the pathetic human dressed as a bat—unable to land a hit even when standing still.
But when Batman dropped to the ground in a blast-proof pose, the demon grew wary.
Its gaze snapped to a microwave oven humming nearby, filled with knives and forks.
That Batarang hadn't missed—it was lodged in the wall, piercing a hidden natural gas pipe.
Boom!
Flames erupted instantly, filling the kitchen like a raging stampede. Heat flattened everything in seconds, the entire space collapsing and engulfing the demon in fire.
Batman was blasted out of the building through a cracked wall, plummeting toward the street below.
Luckily, his bulletproof suit absorbed most damage, and he deployed a black parachute.
Slowing his fall, he barely landed atop a parked car, denting its roof and shattering windows with the impact.
His gear was primitive—no black-tech cape-glider yet.
Pedestrians shrieked and scattered, staring in shock at the bat-like figure fallen from the sky.
Batman took two seconds, rolled off the car onto the debris-strewn street, and leaned against the damaged vehicle, gasping for breath.
Suddenly, the crowd screamed again.
Looking up, Batman saw the demon emerge from the flames, wings flapping, landing before him—unscathed by fire or explosion.
"You're different... a human warrior?" the demon sneered, closing in.
"You have skill, you have ideas—but you're just a weak human.
"And I serve the Great One! I won't be—
Hmm?"
A sudden chill ran through the demon—a mysterious sixth sense, like a cold shiver down the spine.
It turned to see a figure standing out in the fleeing crowd—clad entirely in black like an assassin.
A strange mechanical device was mounted on the figure's right arm, raised calmly, its dark, hollow barrel pointed at the demon.
The demon assumed it was one of those "guns" humans used.
It had seen such weapons before, but they were laughably weak against a demon of its caliber—not even capable of scratching it.
Amused, it thought, Who do they think they're scaring with that toy?
Just as it prepared to crush the human's arm and watch him scream...
"Spacium Energy fully charged." The weapon announced.
Liam pulled the trigger.
In the next moment, the demon was blasted by a magnificent beam of brilliant blue light—like an endless river pouring forth.
The recoil pushed Liam's entire body back half a step.
The demon's eyes widened in shock and confusion.
Had it been offline too long? Was it out of sync with this version of the world?
Are humans really this terrifying now?
I'm just a small demon—what grudge or hatred justifies this?
The azure beam swept across the demon, reducing it to dust, as if Gotham's eternal night had been briefly pierced by sunlight.