The Prismatic form was beautiful, but fragile.
Elias moved like a kaleidoscope, fracturing and reforming with every step he took across the hull of Darkseid's dreadnought. He was fast—faster than light, because he was skipping the frames of time required to move.
He phased through a swarm of Parademons, turning them into crystal statues that shattered into dust. He ducked under a punch from Kalibak, his body dispersing into shards and reassembling behind the brute to deliver a kick that sent him flying into deep space.
But Darkseid was a constant.
The Lord of Apokolips stood his ground. He didn't flinch as Elias rained a thousand blows on him in a single second. The prismatic strikes chipped away at Darkseid's armor, but the New God barely moved.
"Irritating," Darkseid grumbled.
He caught Elias.
Not by speed, but by sheer presence. Darkseid grabbed the air where Elias was going to be. His massive grey hand closed around Elias's throat.
The prismatic effect flickered and died. Elias solidified, gasping for air in the vacuum (sustained only by his aura).
"You are a glitch," Darkseid stated, squeezing. "An error to be corrected."
He slammed Elias into the deck of the ship. The impact cracked the cosmic metal.
Elias coughed up blue blood. The Paradox energy was fading. It was a desperate flare, not a sustainable fire.
Darkseid raised his boot.
"Die."
He stomped.
Elias rolled, barely dodging. The boot left a crater the size of a swimming pool.
Elias scrambled back, panting. He was running on fumes. No Emeralds. No Rings. No stamina.
"Is that it?" Elias wheezed, wiping his mouth. "Game over?"
Darkseid's eyes glowed red. The Omega Beams charged again. This time, at point-blank range.
"The end comes for all," Darkseid said.
The beams fired.
Elias closed his eyes. He had had a good run. He beat the Flash. He punched Doomsday. He annoyed Batman. Not bad for an IT guy.
PING.
The sound wasn't a beam hitting him. It was a chime. A distinct, joyous sound of a level completion screen.
Time stopped.
Darkseid froze, the Omega Beams suspended inches from Elias's nose. The stars stopped twinkling.
A blue text box appeared in front of Elias, glowing with a soft, comforting light.
CONGRATULATIONS!
TUTORIAL COMPLETE.
Elias blinked. "Tutorial?"
Analysis: Subject has successfully survived extreme combat, utilized all distinct transformation variants, and engaged a God-tier threat.
Reward: System Limiters Removed.
A wave of warmth washed over Elias. It started in his toes and rushed up to his head, washing away the pain, the exhaustion, the hunger. His bones knit back together. His stamina bar filled instantly.
Unlock: THE ARCHIVES.
Status: Administrator Access.
Restriction on Chaos Energy: REMOVED.
Restriction on Sol Energy: REMOVED.
Restriction on Dark Gaia Energy: REMOVED.
Restriction on Wisp Energy: REMOVED.
New Passive Ability: Infinite Source.
The user no longer requires external artifacts (Emeralds/Rings) to transform. The user IS the source.
Elias stood up. He felt... light. He didn't feel the heavy burden of the rocks in his gut anymore. He felt like the universe had just handed him the keys to the developer console.
Select Active Form:
>[HYPER SONIC]
Elias grinned. A smile that stretched ear to ear.
"Okay," he whispered. "Now we play for real."
Time resumed.
The Omega Beams struck.
FLASH.
The beams didn't hit Elias. They hit a wall of blinding, oscillating white light. The red energy of Darkseid crumbled against it like water hitting a diamond.
The explosion was silent in space, but the shockwave pushed Darkseid back three steps. The Lord of Apokolips looked surprised.
From the center of the light, Elias emerged.
He wasn't just gold. He was flashing. His fur shifted rapidly through the spectrum—Silver, Pink, Cyan, Gold, White. Seven stars orbited him, but they weren't stones; they were pure energy constructs generated by his own soul.
The afterimages trailed behind him, creating a rainbow streak in the darkness.
Hyper Elias.
He floated there, arms crossed, looking down at Darkseid. The pressure coming off him wasn't just heat or gravity; it was superiority.
"You missed," Elias said. His voice echoed with the harmony of seven voices.
Darkseid growled. "You possess power. But I possess the Omega."
He fired the beams again. Full power.
Elias didn't dodge. He simply flew through them.
The Hyper form was invulnerable. Truly invulnerable. The Omega Beams touched his skin and vanished, erased by the sheer positive chaos energy.
Elias reached Darkseid in a nanosecond.
Hyper Flash.
The entire sector of space lit up white.
Elias didn't punch Darkseid. He rammed him.
He hit the God of Evil with the force of a collapsing galaxy. Darkseid—the immovable object—was launched off his own ship. He flew backward through space, crashing through three of his own escort cruisers, turning them into fireballs.
Elias stopped, hovering over the destroyed flagship.
He snapped his fingers.
The debris from the ships stopped moving. The Parademons froze.
"Hyper Flash," Elias commanded. "Clear the board."
He moved. He was everywhere at once. A streak of rainbow light that connected every single Parademon in the armada.
In one second, ten thousand Parademons disintegrated into light.
Elias stopped back in front of the main ship, where Darkseid was floating, bruised and furious, wiping blood from his lip.
"Impossible," Darkseid hissed.
"Not impossible," Elias said, his eyes flashing a brilliant magenta. "Just... way past cool."
He raised a hand. The seven energy stars swirled into his palm, forming a ball of ultimate destruction.
"This is my universe now, Darkseid. Get off my lawn."
He prepared the final strike. The tutorial was over. The speedrun had begun.