As Rachel continuously absorbed the black mist covering Eric's body, the pain she felt also steadily increased.
The darkness and unspeakable presence constantly emanating from Eric's consciousness sea completely exceeded what Rachel could bear at that moment.
The purple raven absorbing the black mist from his body grew weaker and weaker, and the black lines connecting little Rachel's body surface to the raven also became more and more ethereal.
Finally, Rachel let out a groan, and a string of sweat beads instantly appeared on her forehead.
As the dark consciousness condensate, released from his consciousness sea and absorbed by the raven, dissipated, Eric's sanity gradually returned.
The unspeakable dark presences, the tyrannical and destructive aura within Eric's consciousness sea, gradually melted and dispersed.
The raven that Rachel used to absorb Eric's darkness and negative emotions was a soul she herself projected, composed of soul and magic power.
Besides being able to heal and absorb negative emotions, it could also cause a certain degree of physical damage and radiate a certain level of magic power to the surroundings.
Later, she even learned the method of soul possession, where the raven, an illusion of her soul, would enter another person's body, causing them infinite pain and fear and eroding their soul.
The future Flash had once been subjected to this move by Rachel; although she stopped in time, Flash was still nearly driven to a breakdown by Rachel's technique.
At this moment, during the process of purifying and healing Eric, Rachel's soul entered Eric's body.
Eric was not fully awake at this time; he only felt himself walking on a path covered with bones and Death.
On a pitch-black path filled with black mist, both sides were entirely covered in white bones, and countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood formed this sole passable road.
After Eric regained consciousness, he found himself standing alone on this terrifying, blood-soaked road.
Unable to stop, and unable to find an exit.
He was simply surrounded by various negative auras.
As the destructive and tyrannical aura within his body gradually dissipated, what remained was pain and fatigue.
Frowning, Eric did not stop his steps but continued to walk forward.
Until, in the path surrounded by thick black mist, he heard a familiar voice.
"Brother!"
Hearing Rachel's voice, Eric immediately cast his gaze forward.
His vision pierced through layers of mist, seeing the figure of a young girl standing in the distance, waving to him from afar.
Short black hair, a red gem embedded in her forehead, and an exquisite and striking appearance that captivated at first glance.
Her purple-black hooded cloak further accentuated a mysterious aura about the young girl.
Eric looked at the young girl in the distance, who bore some resemblance to the raven, and his brows furrowed tightly.
Is that Rachel?
Eric took a few steps towards the young girl, feeling a bit doubtful.
Smack!
The next second, a pair of fair, slender hands pierced through the thick mist and reached out before him.
The young girl's hands grasped his scarred ones and gently pulled him forward.
All the scenes before his eyes immediately began to spin.
His consciousness rapidly detached from the world surrounded by pitch-black mist.
The scene originally surrounded by blood and bones now transformed into Clark, who was looking at him with concern.
"Eric?!"
Seeing Eric awaken, Clark exclaimed excitedly, "I knew it, you would definitely wake up!"
"Ah…"
After a moment of stunned, Eric examined his body.
The bone spurs in his body had disappeared, and his wounds had healed.
Aside from his already tattered and ragged clothes, there was no sign of his previous injuries.
Stretching out his hand and looking at his palm, which had reverted from bone spurs and bone armor to human form, Eric shook his head with a complex expression.
To completely lose rationality, to take destruction and slaughter as the sole purpose and emotion, would the result be to completely become a monster?
Although the threat level and power had increased by more than a notch.
But as a monster, the consequence is to abandon all emotions?
The Doomsday template loaded in Eric's body at this time could also be used when he possessed rationality and emotion, but its power was not as great as when he completely transformed into a Doomsday monster.
"I'm fine."
After replying to Clark, Eric walked over to him and looked at little Rachel, who had fallen asleep.
Perhaps due to the depletion of a large amount of soul power, Rachel fell into a deep sleep.
Even in her sleep, her brows were slightly furrowed, as if her body was enduring some pain.
Taking little Rachel from Clark's hands, Eric carefully held his sister, whom he had protected after a fierce battle with Trigon.
"Rachel always seems to heal our pain."
Clark looked at Rachel's sleeping posture and said to Eric.
"But this is not without cost, Clark."
Eric held Rachel, gazing at the distant city, which was largely in ruins and ablaze, and said, "You heal pain, but you must also bear the corresponding pain."
"Yes."
Clark expressed understanding of Eric's words, and after a moment of silence, he said to him, "However, pain is not entirely a bad thing. People avoid pain as they avoid plague, yet they forget that pain is also an angel, capable of bringing us extraordinary beauty."
Clark recalled the Nietzsche quotes he often read, "Nietzsche once said that all who seek self-improvement should embrace various forms of suffering. I think Rachel is an angel of pain."
After taking a deep breath, Clark asked Eric, "What was that thing that caused you to completely lose control and be covered in bone spurs, Eric?"
He asked the question that had been puzzling him earlier.
"I don't know. Like you, I was infused with some things about Krypton inside the Secret Fortress in the Arctic. Perhaps I became some kind of Kryptonian weapon."
As he spoke, he walked forward, holding Rachel.
"Instead of worrying about such issues, Clark, I think you should be more concerned about how we leave here."
Watching Eric's figure gradually disappear, Clark felt no sense of relaxation in his heart.
Looking at the burning city and hearing the wails of many citizens, his heart felt as if something was lodged in it.
He knew that this massive destruction could not be entirely blamed on Eric, but seeing so many innocent citizens die tragically still made him feel terrible.
"Help!"
A carriage, while speeding, accidentally fell into a crack in the ground.
The coachman on the carriage immediately grabbed onto the ground as the carriage fell, preventing himself from falling into the deep pit with it.
Clutching the ground tightly, the coachman shouted loudly for help.
Clark activated his Super Speed, instantly moving over and grabbing the man's hand.
"Hold on! I'll pull you up!"
After pulling the coachman up, Clark continued his rescue efforts.
He couldn't blame Eric now, because he knew the other party had no choice.
The only thing he hoped to do was to save as many people as possible.
"Hold on!"
In front of a collapsed building, Clark lifted a wooden structural support and spoke to a child buried inside who had already fainted.
After pulling the child out from under the building, Clark moved at Super Speed to a girl, embraced her, and used his broad back to shield her from stones falling from the building's roof.
Thud!
The stone hit his back and immediately shattered into fragments.
Under the little girl's incredulous gaze, Clark picked her up, offered her a smile, and asked, "Where is your mommy?"
After handing the little girl over to her mother, amidst her thanks, Clark rushed into the fire to rescue people.
Thud!
Kicking open a burning doorframe, Clark rushed in, picked up two trembling children hiding in a corner, and then quickly rushed out of the fire.
Utilizing a speed comparable to Flash, Clark quickly rescued dozens of people.
"This way!"
Clark used his Super Vision to check for more victims while guiding the people he had rescued to a safe area.
Looking at the many citizens who had perished in the earthquake and fire, Clark's mood grew heavier.
At this moment, he realized how weak his power was.
Jor-El once said that he was not an omnipotent God, and now he finally understood the meaning of that statement.
If his power had been strong enough, he could have stopped Trigon, and so many people would not have died.
Guilt and self-reproach filled his heart.
At this moment, he realized for the first time that if he were to become the Superman the child spoke of, there would be much more he had to bear and take on.
"Hey, young man, are you alright? You shouldn't be here!"
Clark was searching for survivors in the fire-covered area when a deep voice came from behind him.
Turning around, a police officer driving a crude car shouted to Clark, "It's very dangerous here, get out! If you're going home, I can give you a ride! This place just experienced an earthquake, and the fire is still burning, you must leave immediately!"
Clark waited for the police officer of this era to drive his small car over and said, "Sorry, my home won't be built for at least another hundred years."
The police officer stopped his "vintage car," jumped out, and asked him doubtfully, "What do you mean by that?"
"It means you don't need to worry about me, sir. Go help those who need help."
After Clark finished speaking, he turned and walked forward.
Under the police officer's puzzled gaze, he left the scene and continued to search and rescue those who needed help.
A few hours later.
Clark, covered in dust and with his clothes tattered, was about to take a breath and relax when he suddenly noticed a door had opened near the collapsed clock tower.
The other side of the door was shadowy and indistinct.
Clark hesitated for a moment, then entered this suddenly appearing door.
The scene before his eyes suddenly twisted and deformed, and his consciousness seemed to pass into another dimension.
When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in Baron Winters's room.
In the warm room, besides Baron Winters, there were Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Supergirl Kara.
Clark touched his body and asked Baron Winters, somewhat disbelievingly, "I… I'm back?"
"Yes, you have returned to the 21st century."
Baron Winters extinguished the fire in the fireplace and said, "We saw all of your rescue efforts. Although they were somewhat powerless and not like a Super Hero."
"Wait!"
Seeing Winters extinguish the fire in the fireplace, Clark immediately stepped forward to stop him, "Eric and Rachel are still in there!"
"You don't need to worry about them."
Baron Winters said, "Eric and Rachel have already returned; only you were foolishly still rescuing people there!"
After speaking, he turned and walked upstairs.
"I'm going to brew a cup of black tea. If you're interested, you can stay and try it."
"I'm afraid I don't have much time left."
Green Lantern said to Baron Winters, then looked helplessly at Wonder Woman and Supergirl Kara.
"Our mission is complete. I think it's about time for us to return."
"Return?"
Batman's hoarse voice sounded, "You are planning to return to the future you described?"
"That's right. According to the agreement, the Justice League will recall us after we experience Trigon's invasion."
Green Lantern explained to Batman with a hint of bitterness, "Even though we didn't change anything."
"No, you changed a lot."
Batman said to the few of them seriously, "Once the strings of time are plucked, no one can stop them. Every action you took here has had a profound impact on the future. I think the purpose of your return to the present was not to change the course of certain events, but to leave your mark during this period!"
Batman's tone was unusually serious, "Your presence here has changed the course of the future. Don't worry about the entity that caused the universe-destroying crisis. When you return to the future, you will surely find that it is precisely because of your participation in this history that your future has deviated."
"It's complicated."
Supergirl Kara clicked her tongue and said to Batman, "So, it means we didn't come here for nothing, right?"
"You could say that."
Saying this, Batman walked out, "For me, your arrival was also a gain."
After Batman left, the Wonder Woman trio fell silent.
Supergirl was the first to break the silence, coming over and hugging Clark.
"Clark, be sure to take good care of Eric and Raven."
Caught off guard by Kara's sudden hug, Clark was a bit stunned.
"I… I will. Are you leaving?"
Although he wasn't particularly fond of this woman who called herself his sister and always appeared to lecture him when he made mistakes, he didn't know why, but upon hearing that she was leaving, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
Looking at Kara, who was also a Kryptonian like himself, he suddenly realized that he had grown accustomed to her stepping forward to lecture him whenever he made a mistake.
Even if it wasn't a pleasant experience.
"Don't you like Nietzsche, Clark?"
Kara smiled faintly at Clark, patted his shoulder, "You will definitely become that Superman!"
"What Superman?"
"Tired of seeking, learn to hit the mark with one glance; when the headwind strikes, resist the wind from all directions. That is what you can become, Clark, the Superman everyone expects!"
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