Outside Gotham City, the wind howled in the sky.
Victor's thrusters behind him were at maximum power, pushing him forward desperately.
The mother box he held in his arms grew hotter and hotter, its buzzing vibrations almost making him lose his grip.
"Warning! High-energy pursuit from the rear! Estimated contact time, thirty seconds!"
The system in his mind blared a harsh alarm.
"Damn it! Does that guy have four legs? How is he so fast!" Victor cursed through gritted teeth.
Diana followed closely beside him, holding the sword of vulcan and the shield of strength, a golden lasso gleaming at her waist.
She looked back, and in the distance, that monstrous figure in the sky was getting closer.
Just then, a red streak of lightning shot up from the ground, circling them twice.
"Hey! Guys! Are you playing some trendy new cosplay? You're running faster than I am!"
Barry Allen drew level with them, greeting them with a relaxed expression.
Diana yelled impatiently, "Barry! Stop messing around! We have pursuers behind us!"
No sooner had she spoken than winged Parademons, like devils, surged out from all directions in the sky around them, like a tide.
"Holy crap! So many!" Barry's skin crawled at the sight of the overwhelming horde.
"They've surrounded us!" Victor exclaimed urgently.
On the other side of the sky, a green light shot rapidly towards them.
"Ground forces, your aerial support is online!"
A man in a green and black uniform floated in the air; it was Green Lantern Hal Jordan.
He extended his right hand, and in front of his ring-wearing fist, green light rapidly formed.
A row of six-barreled Gatling guns appeared out of thin air, their muzzles glowing with energy.
"Thump thump thump thump thump!"
Hal excitedly pressed the "trigger," and a dense rain of green energy bullets shot towards the Parademon army.
Swathes of Parademons were riddled with holes in the air, exploding into black mist.
But the number of Parademons was too great; they were simply inexhaustible.
The Parademons in front had already formed a wall, completely blocking their path.
"No choice! We have to fight head-on!"
Victor stopped in mid-air, his left arm rapidly transforming into a white energy cannon.
"Boom!"
A thick beam of energy shot out, instantly clearing a section of the area in front.
"Let's go!"
Diana shouted, holding her longsword and shield, and charged directly into the Parademon swarm.
Her figure was agile; with every swing of her sword, she created a golden arc of light, cutting several Parademons in half.
Barry also transformed into a red lightning bolt, weaving back and forth through the Parademon army.
He was so fast that the monsters couldn't even see his movements before he punched them one by one, scattering them to pieces.
High in the sky, Hal's suppressive fire never stopped.
But an even more terrifying aura pressed in from behind.
Steppenwolf had arrived.
He didn't even look at the heroes who were entangled with the Parademons; his goal was only one.
The mother box!
With a massive leap, he covered hundreds of meters, his battle-axe raised high, and brought it down on Victor, who was holding the mother box!
The scorching energy blade of the axe warped the surrounding air.
"Victor! Look out!" Diana cried out in alarm, kicking away the Parademon in front of her, trying to rush over to help.
But it was too far!
Just at that critical moment!
A red lightning bolt flashed past.
Barry, with speed undetectable by the naked eye, grabbed Victor and pulled him away from his original position.
"Rumble—!"
The battle-axe struck nothing but air, smashing heavily into the ground below.
The earth instantly cracked! Spreading outwards from the point of impact in all directions.
Fortunately, this was the suburbs, otherwise, this blow would have been enough to paralyze half the city.
Diana stepped on the crumbling ground, using the force to leap high, her sword of vulcan glowing with sacred light as she slashed at Steppenwolf.
Steppenwolf didn't even raise his head, merely casually lifting his left arm.
"Clang!"
The sword of vulcan, capable of cutting atoms, was firmly caught by his monstrous armguard, unable to advance an inch.
"Get out of the way."
Steppenwolf growled impatiently, swinging his battle-axe backhand, the huge axe-head directly lifted a truck-sized chunk of concrete, smashing it towards Diana.
Diana was in mid-air and couldn't dodge.
She quickly raised the shield of strength to block in front of her.
"Bang!"
The massive concrete chunk shattered against the shield.
But Steppenwolf's attack followed immediately.
He split the rubble with an axe, then brought his battle-axe down hard on Diana's shield.
"Clang—!"
A deafening roar that could shatter eardrums.
Diana felt an irresistible, terrifying force coming from the shield.
She was uncontrollably sent flying backward.
The shield of strength also flew from her hand, arcing through the air and falling into the chasm below.
Steppenwolf still wanted to pursue and completely eliminate this troublesome Valkyrie.
Just then.
A basketball-sized, white-gold energy blast, trailing a long exhaust plume, struck him in the face and exploded directly.
"Bang!"
The energy blast hit Steppenwolf's faceplate squarely.
The immense impact made him pause his pursuit, and his body involuntarily tilted backward.
Steppenwolf looked somewhat annoyed in the direction from which the energy blast had come.
He saw a figure in Hawaiian-style attire, who had appeared in the air at some point, easily catching the flying Diana with one hand.
Tel-Rol held Diana by the waist and looked down at the person in his arms.
The warrior's face was smudged with dust, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, and her black hair on her forehead was damp with sweat, clinging to her smooth brow.
But her blue eyes were still bright, full of indomitable fighting spirit.
She was panting, her chest rising and falling slightly with her breathing, her tight battle armor clinging to her body, creating astonishing curves.
"Hello there, I've arrived."
Tel-Rol grinned at her, revealing a set of white teeth.
He gently placed Diana on a relatively flat piece of ground, then clapped his hands.
He turned and looked at the Minotaur not far away, who was staring at him with an annoyed expression.
"Hey, that... so you're called Steppenwolf, huh?"
Tel-Rol pointed at Steppenwolf, then at the group of Parademons still playing hide-and-seek with Barry and Hal.
"Now it's time for me and him to have a one-on-one."
"You guys go deal with those small fries."