At this moment, Red Lantern Superman only wanted to curse out loud.
Earlier, Lucas's fighting style had resembled that of a pure energy wielder—there had been almost no close-combat display at all.
That misled Red Lantern Superman into believing that Lucas relied primarily on energy attacks and was weak in hand-to-hand combat.
And now, that misunderstanding was costing him dearly.
"AAARGH!"
Red Lantern Superman roared and forcibly detonated an energy blast, finally breaking free from Lucas's restraint.
Lucas did not immediately pursue him. Instead, he looked at the Lantern with a hint of exasperation.
'Why does this Lantern spirit feel… mentally unstable?'
Red Lantern Superman's face twisted with rage as he shouted,
"You despicable bastard! Since that's how it is, I'll show you what real power looks like!"
In the next instant, crimson light erupted wildly from his body.
The red radiance transformed the moment it left his body, igniting into raging flames that seemed capable of burning everything in existence.
Lucas knew this was the true terror of a Red Lantern Ring.
Once worn, the ring drains all the host's blood, melts the heart entirely, and converts everything into pure rage energy.
Why didn't Lucas attack immediately?
He flicked his wrist and fired a ki blast straight at Red Lantern Superman.
But before the blast could reach its target, it was caught by the red flames surrounding him and instantly burned into nothingness.
"Pray… fear!"
Red Lantern Superman stared at Lucas and sneered.
"Enjoy what little time you have left. Soon, everything will be taken from you forever."
As his words fell, his body turned into a streak of crimson light, closing the distance in an instant.
His fist slammed heavily into Lucas's abdomen, sending him flying straight toward Earth behind him.
The moment the punch landed, searing flames clung to Lucas like living parasites, rapidly spreading across his body.
Laughing wildly, Red Lantern Superman transformed into a blazing red meteor and chased after the falling Lucas, delivering a vicious kick mid-flight.
The flames on Lucas's body intensified, and his descent accelerated sharply.
In the blink of an eye, he entered Earth's atmosphere, friction igniting blazing trails around him.
Red Lantern Superman's eyes flared crimson as two massive heat-vision beams tore through the sky and struck Lucas again.
The Pacific Ocean.
The darkening sky was suddenly split by a red meteor.
With each blast of heat vision, Lucas's falling speed increased, forming a brilliant crimson line across the sky.
From the ground, it looked as though the sky itself had been split in two.
Accompanied by a deafening roar that tore through the atmosphere, Lucas became a massive fireball and crashed directly into the Pacific Ocean.
BOOM!
The immense kinetic force blasted the sea surface apart, creating waves thousands of meters high.
Scorching heat instantly evaporated massive quantities of seawater into steam.
Red Lantern Superman followed immediately, crashing through the still-rising waves at incredible speed, slicing the towering wall of water in half before plunging into the ocean along Lucas's trajectory.
By the time he caught up, both had already descended to several thousand meters beneath the surface.
At such depths, the pressure would crush ordinary beings instantly—but for the two of them, it was meaningless.
Even in the pitch-black abyss with no natural light, the seafloor was as bright as day in Red Lantern Superman's eyes.
He surged toward Lucas, fists already engulfed in massive rage flames, and slammed them down repeatedly.
Despite being surrounded by seawater, the red flames burned undiminished.
"Burn! Burn into nothingness!"
Red Lantern Superman laughed maniacally as he attacked, his features becoming more twisted and his expression increasingly frenzied.
Soon, the battle reached depths exceeding ten thousand meters.
BOOM!
Lucas slammed into the seabed, carving out an enormous crater.
At such depth, the pressure had compacted the seafloor into a density rivaling metal.
Red Lantern Superman pursued without hesitation, diving straight into the crater and continuing his relentless assault.
A place that had remained silent for countless ages—visited only by rare abyssal life—now hosted two living powder kegs.
Just as Red Lantern Superman was attacking with growing excitement, Lucas—whose body had been continuously scorched—suddenly opened his eyes.
Flames erupted from Lucas's body as well.
But these flames were completely different.
Red Lantern Superman's fire was born of the Lantern Ring—pure emotional energy, the flame of rage meant to destroy everything.
Lucas's fire, however, came from the Eternal Flame.
It represented light and heat of creation itself—the ever-burning, life-giving fire of the universe's fundamental laws.
When Red Lantern Superman saw his rage flames being devoured, alarm surged through him and he immediately tried to retreat.
Across hundreds of previous hosts, enemies capable of consuming rage flames were exceedingly rare.
And such beings were natural counters to him.
"What the hell?! He has fire powers too—and they directly counter mine?!"
For the first time, Red Lantern Superman felt true panic.
But before he could escape, a massive hand tore through the seawater, pierced his surrounding rage energy, and clamped around his throat.
A tremendous force exploded outward.
Without any chance to resist, Red Lantern Superman was dragged directly in front of Lucas.
When he met Lucas's flame-lit eyes, a long-forgotten emotion surfaced—
Fear.
"The words you said earlier," Lucas spoke coldly,
"I'll return them to you now."
"Pray… and fear!"
As his words fell, Lucas smashed his head forward in a brutal headbutt, leaving Red Lantern Superman reeling.
Then came a savage knee strike that shattered his energy defenses.
Immediately after, a vicious uppercut sent Red Lantern Superman's already-bent body snapping backward.
Though the deep sea was calm, Lucas's relentless strikes churned the abyss as if a colossal hand were stirring it.
The seabed trembled violently.
Cracks spread outward from their battleground in every direction.
Above the surface, the Pacific Ocean—despite clear skies and calm weather—began to surge with massive waves.
Governments across all Pacific coastlines issued emergency evacuation orders.
From the moment Lucas and Red Lantern Superman entered Earth's atmosphere, satellites had captured everything.
And the entire world now knew—
A catastrophe was unfolding.
_____
T/N:
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