The battlefield was silent for only a breath. Then the world scread with steel.
Gilgash's laughter echoed across the desolate plain as the Gate of Babylon erupted behind him in radiant golden light. Thousands of portals spiraled open in the air, each one spitting forth weapons of unimaginable beauty and horror — jeweled spears, serrated axes, divine blades, all carrying the weight of ancient civilizations. They rained down in a storm of glory and destruction.
Edward did not move.
The first spear tore into his chest, piercing through flesh and muscle with a sickening crunch. A halberd followed, burying itself deep into his shoulder. Blood splattered all over the streets. Swords pierced his legs, axes split bone, arrows thudded into his torso.
Within monts, his body was a grotesque pincushion of divine steel, blood flowing freely from every wound.
Yet Edward stood there. His head tilted slightly, lips curling into that mocking, infuriating smirk. His crimson eyes glowed brighter, feeding on the absurdity of the mont.
"You think this hurts ?" Edward rasped, his voice carrying like a growl through the battlefield. "You think pain ans anything to ? Hahahaha, Go on, this probably the only way you might penetrate soone."
He gripped the shaft of a sword still impaled through his side and laughed — a chilling, guttural sound that made even Batman's jaw clench.
Gilgash's smirk faltered for the briefest second. He increased the barrage. More portals flared, releasing another flood. The sky turned into a canopy of golden death, and the earth trembled beneath the unending rain of weapons.
Edward was shredded again and again, the flesh of his body tearing apart, reforming, then tearing once more. He should have been reduced to nothing but at and broken bone.
But each ti, he stood tall with a grin, shoulders squared, eyes never leaving Gilgash.
Finally, Edward raised his arms. A pulse of dark energy swelled from his guns, condensing into a glowing red sphere.
Mana bullets. Their powers comparable to B spells.
He fired while muttering, "Bang!"
The first volley of crimson bolts shot through the air like teor fire, slamming into the ground around Gilgash. The earth ruptured, shockwaves tearing through rock and dust. Each explosion was like artillery, forcing Gilgash to block with shields from his treasury.
Edward did not stop. The weapons in His hand beca a barrage of machine gun fire, releasing hundreds, thousands of mana bullets in unending succession. The air itself burned red. The blasts overwheld Gilgash's defenses, tearing through shields and weapons, battering him backward.
"You dare!" Gilgash snarled, furious that anyone would force him back, even a step. His golden portals multiplied again, releasing weapons in retaliation.
But Edward's firepower didn't relent. He advanced, step by step, like a monster born of blood and war, each bullet rattling the king's composure.
Batman's eyes narrowed as he watched from a distance. "He's… pushing Gilgash back with ease." Even saying it sounded wrong.
Constantine exhaled a nervous laugh. "Bloody hell. Never thought I'd see soone make the golden wanker dance. Thank goodness he's not our enemy"
But Gilgash was far from defeated. Rage simred in his crimson eyes. The mockery of it all, this mongrel daring to make him yield ground, was intolerable. Edward appeared beside him in a flash and spoke amusedly. "So Goldy, how's your health plan ?"
Gilgash didn't answer and slashed towards him.
"Apparently you got a... killer health insurance." Edward grinned as his body reford further.
"Enough of your mockery, mongrel!" Gilgash roared, his voice cracking across the battlefield like thunder. He spread his arms wide, summoning his most treasured weapon.
A single golden key appeared in his hand, transforming into a sword unlike any other. Its threefold helix rotated, groaning with the sound of a cosmos unraveling. Space itself shivered around it.
"Awaken Ea."
The world held its breath.
Batman stiffened. Even at a distance, he felt the pressure, as though gravity itself doubled. Constantine muttered a ward under his breath, his hands trembling.
Gilgash lifted Ea high and began the incantation. "I shall perform this final blow as a parting gift to you!
I will tell you of the beginning.
Heaven and Earth split, nothingness praised creation, my Sword of Rupture cleaved the world!
Mortar of the stars, heaven's hell is the eve of creation's celebration.
Now you shall die and be silent...
Enuma Elish!"
This ti, Gilgash decided to put his all behind this attack. He didn't think holding back against such a monster would be wise.
Edward only grinned wider.
Then he spoke in a bone chilling voice, "I am the graveyard of mankind!
Each soul, a monunt!
Each drop of blood, a requiem!
Co, my children, Let us remind the world that it once lived!"
The ground beneath him split apart, veins of blood glowing through the cracks. The air turned heavy, oppressive, reeking of iron and rot.
From Edward's shadow, countless hands began to claw their way free. Pale, skeletal fingers, writhing torsos, faces twisted in agony, all crawling upward from the abyss.
The sky itself bled red.
"Crimson Graveyard: My Body is the Burial Ground of Millions"
The battlefield was consud wth a horryfying scene.
Souls — billions of them, screaming, writhing, dragging themselves out of Edward's body like an endless tide. They ford a grotesque ocean, a writhing carpet of despair stretching in all directions.
The stench of decay filled the air. The ground warped, transforming into a hellish graveyard of stakes and corpses.
Batman's jaw tightened. His rational mind cataloged every detail, every shift in terrain, every weakness. But even he, the man who prided himself on mastering fear, felt it gnawing at him. The weight of a nightmare too vast to fight.
Constantine's cigarette slipped from his lips, forgotten. "Christ Almighty…" His voice cracked. "That ain't just death magic. That's… every damned soul he's ever devoured. This is worse than hell."
Ace's hands shook. Her eyes darted from Edward's monstrous form to Connor beside her, fear clawing at her chest. Connor, though trembling, placed a hand on hers, steadying her. His expression was grim, but he forced a small smile.
Lex Luthor stood stiff, fists clenched, eyes wide in horror. "That… thing isn't human. This isn't a battle anymore. It's the end of everything."
Gilgash laughed, though his voice carried strain. "So you reveal your true self at last, mongrel. A kingdom of corpses." His grip on Ea tightened. "Then I shall erase your world."
He swung EA down with all his might.
The blade of Ea tore open the sky. A vortex of annihilation howled forth, shredding space itself. The Crimson Graveyard scread as the torrent of souls was sucked into oblivion. Hundreds, thousands of spirits were erased in an instant, their wails silenced forever.
But the tide did not end.
For every soul obliterated, ten more clawed their way out of Edward's shadow. They sward over Gilgash's golden portals, tearing weapons apart, dragging themselves onto his body, clawing and gnashing.
Gilgash bellowed in fury, pouring more mana into Ea again and again. Each swing annihilated swathes of the Graveyard, but his arms grew heavy. His breath grew harsher. Sweat slicked his skin.
Batman's mind raced. That weapon is tearing through them, but even it can't sustain this forever. He's burning himself out.
Edward threw his head back and laughed. His voice rged with the cries of his army, a chorus of madness. "You see, King of Heroes? Even your divine sword cannot stop this! You fight not alone, but an entire world itself! Let show you what kind of monster I truly am."
Gilgash's strikes slowed. His portals faltered, weapons sputtering into dust before they could be released. The king's crimson eyes flickered with disbelief.
For the first ti, Gilgash looked weary.
The world had beco a nightmare. Crimson mist swirled through the air, carrying whispers of the damned. The ground was a writhing carpet of corpses. The sky was dark, bleeding red, choked by the endless tide of souls.
And Edward stood at its heart, unbroken, his smirk never wavering.
Batman clenched his fists. He understood now. They weren't watching a man fight. They were witnessing sothing else — sothing eternal, monstrous, inexorable.
Lex turned away, bile rising in his throat. His mind whirled. If Gilgash fell, their cause was lost. And if their cause was lost, so was his dream. Desperation began to fester.
The Crimson Graveyard surged again, dragging Gilgash down into the sea of corpses. His voice roared defiance, Ea still swinging, but even the king could not hide his exhaustion.
The battle had shifted entirely.
The tide belonged to Edward.
*****
The Crimson Graveyard was consuming everything. The sky bled red, the air stank of death, and the earth writhed with the endless tide of souls. Gilgash, the invincible King of Heroes, staggered under the weight of his own fury and exhaustion. Ea swung in arcs that tore reality apart, but even that divine weapon faltered against the nightmare.
Batman, Constantine, Ace, Connor, and Lex were caught in the shadows of gods and monsters. Every blast of energy, every quake, every scream threatened to crush them. They were ants under the boots of titans, yet still, they fought to hold their place.
Lex's voice broke through the chaos. He had retreated behind shattered steel, his armor cracked, his breathing ragged. His face twisted, not with fear, but with hatred. Hatred for Edward. Hatred for Batman. Hatred for his own helplessness to control his servant.
"This isn't how it ends," he hissed, pressing his communicator. "Where the hell are my people? I need to escape." But he never got any response.
A smirk tugged at Edward's lips as he glanced toward Lex, crimson eyes glimring.
"You hear it too, don't you?" Edward mocked. "The sound of your empire falling apart."
Lex's hands shook. His teeth ground together. He wouldn't lose. Not here. Not to them.
Lex Luthor stood silently with clenched teeth. His chest rose and fell unevenly, his remaining arm clutching at his side. He knew it now — Gilgash was faltering. The war, his plan, his ambition… all of it was unraveling in front of his eyes. For the first ti in years, he tasted sothing bitter and alien: despair.
And from despair, ca madness.
His trembling fingers slid into the folds of his ruined armor, closing around the hilt of a blade he had kept hidden even from Gilgash. A dagger, glinting faintly green in the red hellscape — forged from kryptonite. A final contingency against Superman.
His eyes darted to Connor. The boy was close, too close. Standing tall despite the nightmare around them, his fists clenched, his eyes glowing faintly as he steadied himself for what might co next. Ace stood near him, her hand brushing his arm, a silent gesture of comfort that did not need words.
Lex's lips curled back into a grimace. He thought of escape, of survival, of dragging victory back from the brink with one brutal strike. The thought consud him. He moved without hesitation.
The blade plunged forward.
Connor gasped, his body seizing as the knife tore through his chest and into his heart. His knees buckled, and blood bubbled from his lips. The world seed to fall silent , even the screams of Alucard's graveyard dimd for that single, harrowing mont.
"Connor!" Ace's scream shattered the air. She caught him as he fell, her hands slipping against the blood pouring from his wound. "No, no, stay with , please! I don't want to lose you too! You said you would be my friend!"
Batman moved and kicked the knife away from his hand with too much force that it snapped his remaining arm. "Why did you do that to him! You already lost!" He growled angrily.
Lex grinned manically despite the pain, "He's just a failed product. If I am going down, I'm taking everything with !"
Batman punched him in anger, his mind telling him to forget his code, to end this monster. "You created him, you made him a weapon, stealing his chace to live!"
Constantine punched his face without holding back ."He was just a kid ! You son of a bitch!" But Lex was not sane, not anymore. He just smiled.
Connor's lips trembled as he tried to force a smile at her. "H-hey Ace… don't… cry…" His voice broke with every syllable. He raised a shaking hand, brushing it weakly against Ace's cheek. "You… you were always… stronger than …"
"Stop talking like that!" she shouted, her voice cracking, tears streaming down her face. "We're going to fix this. Constantine! Batman! Soone please do sothing!"
Batman was already moving, his eyes wide, his heart pounding in his chest. But one look at the wound told him the truth. Kryptonite, straight through the heart. There was no coming back from that.
Constantine's hands shook as he tried anyway, muttering incantations, sparks of magic flaring uselessly against the glow of the wound. The magic fizzled into smoke. His jaw clenched. "Bloody hell… I can't do anything…"
Connor coughed, his blood spilling over Ace's hands. "Ace… don't… lose yourself…" His eyes, dimming, held hers with a desperate plea. "Promise … you'll live… even if I can't…"
Her sob was desparate, choking. "Don't you dare leave ! Please, not you too..."
But Connor wasn't listening anymore. His hand fell limp. His chest stopped rising.
Ace's scream of anguish tore through the battlefield like a blade.
Batman closed his eyes for just a mont, his jaw set hard enough to crack teeth. Constantine turned away, his cigarette trembling between his fingers.
Lex staggered back, panting, his face pale but his eyes alight with manic satisfaction. He had struck deep, landed a blow that no one could undo. "One… one less abomination…" he rasped.
Lex's dagger was still slick with Connor's blood . For a heartbeat, Lex felt triumph — raw, electric, the kind of surge he had dread of when he first raised Cadmus from shadows into an army. This is what it ans to outplay gods, he thought, his lips curling into the faintest smile. I did what none of them could . A Kryptonian undone by my hand. My hand.
But then he saw Ace.
Her scream tore the air apart, not human, sothing that cracked through his insane mind. The red glow from Alucard's nightmare still bathed the battlefield, but her presence eclipsed even that. Her pupils vanished into pools of black, veins glowing like molten cracks as raw power surged out of her. She turned her eyes on him. Not as Lex Luthor, the genius, the visionary, the man who challenged gods, but as prey.
"No, Stay back." Lex whispered, stumbling back a step, dagger slipping from his bloodied grip. His mind raced. This wasn't part of it. She's just a child. A weapon. A failed experint. She can't… she can't...
Batman lunged forward. "ACE, STOP!"
But she did not hear. The world was nothing but crimson and pain, her vision clouded by tears and blood.
Ace moved. One instant she stood trembling, the next she was on him, her hands burying into his chest with the wet, cracking sound of bones giving way. Lex gasped, a scream breaking in his throat as hot blood sprayed across both of them. He looked down and saw her small hands sinking into him as though flesh were paper.
He tried to speak, to plead, but it ca out as a gurgle.
This is what I built armies to avoid… to control…
She ripped him apart.
Ribs snapped like twigs. The sound of tearing flesh echoed in the red haze as Ace pulled his body apart with savage strength. His body jerked violently, blood raining down, staining the ground in thick puddles. His scream rose, high, ragged, then choked off into guttural moans.
Through the agony, Lex's mind clung to thought, fractured though it was. I wanted to save humanity from gods. I wanted to raise us above them. And now I die… like this. Not by Superman. Not by Batman. But by the thing I created.
His eyes rolled back, vision fragnting, but a shred of clarity burned through the haze. So this is what death feels like…
Ace howled and wrenched harder, tearing his torso open with a sickening rip. Entrails spilled, slick and steaming, sliding from his split fra onto the ground. Lex felt his body betraying him, his consciousness flickering as warmth drained away.
Was I wrong? the thought flickered, faint and bitter. No. I was right. Always right. If I'd had more ti… if I'd had more power…
rcy who just regained conciousness, witnessed this scene. She rushed toward him with a howl of anguish. "Stop Ace!" She fired all her remaining bullets as she ran. The bullets just paused in mid air. Ace didn't even look at her as she waved. The bullets flew back towards rcy, riddling her body with holes. She fell down on the ground, yet she didn't stop. She crawled towards Lex. "Lex... I have...failed."
Lex was barely alive, but he felt everything. A helpless smile was on his face. "Apologies...rcy. I... have been a..fool. I've... always...."
Then Ace crushed what remained of his chest cavity with a final shove before he could finish. His last breath ca out as a wet gasp, eyes wide in horror and defiance that never found words. His body collapsed into a ruined heap, mangled beyond recognition — Lex Luthor, visionary of mankind, reduced to nothing more than shredded at.
And still, Ace trembled, shaking with fury and grief, blood dripping from her hands, Lex's remains scattered at her feet.
****
By the ti her power receded, there was nothing left of Lex but shreds.
And then her body gave up from the overload of powers .
Ace collapsed to her knees beside Connor's body, her breath ragged. Blood dripped from her nose, her hands trembling violently as cracks of energy laced her skin. Her body was breaking under the weight of what she had unleashed.
Batman caught her before she hit the ground. He held her steady, his heart pounding. "Ace,listen to , stay awake. I'll get you help."
Her eyes fluttered, glassy and filled with tears. "I… I'm sorry…" she whispered, her voice faint. "I didn't listen… I just… wanted to make him pay…"
"You did," Batman said firmly, though his throat felt like it was closing. "But you have to hold on. We can still save you."
Constantine knelt beside them, his hands already weaving desperate spells. Nothing took hold. The magic slipped off her fading life like water through a sieve. His voice was low, hoarse. "It's no use. She's burning out. Reality itself is rejecting her existence. Unless she sells her soul to a demon, or heaven interveness, nothing can stop it."
Ace coughed weakly, her blood staining Batman's gloves. Her trembling fingers clutched at his arm. "Batman, could you… please… show your face. Just once. I don't… I don't want to be scared at the end. I don't...want to be...alone...anymore."
Batman froze. His mask, his oath, his unbreakable rules, none of it mattered in that mont. He looked toward Cnstantine. "Can you.." Constantine nodded without hesitation." I'll cast a spell to forget this mory if we can leave."
Batman nodded. Slowly, with a shaking hand, he lifted the cowl from his head, revealing his face to her. His hardened eyes that scared even the worst of criminals in Gotham, were now moist.
Constantine widened his eyes. "Bloody hell... Bruce Wayne, is Batman!"
Her lips curved into the faintest smile through the blood. "You're… human… and kind... under the mask... I'm sorry... I didn't listen."
Bruce sat down beside her on the dirt. "It's okay Ace. I should have... saved you."
He squeezed her hand, his other arm holding her close. His voice, soft and gentle, barely more than a whisper. "I'm here. I'm not leaving."
Her tears mixed with blood as she stared at him, her smile fading. "Thank you…" Her body convulsed once, twice, and then the light left her eyes.
The cracks of energy spread across her form. Her body shimred, fragnts breaking away like ash on the wind. Batman held her until there was nothing left to hold.
When it was over, he sat motionless, the cowl lying at his side, the ashes of Ace slipping through his fingers.
Constantine turned away, his shoulders hunched, his cigarette smoldering untouched between his lips. For once, he had nothing to say.
The battlefield was still chaotic. Alucard's Crimson Graveyard roaring, Gilgash still raging , but for Batman, the war had already been lost. Two young lives, stolen before his eyes, and all his strength, all his skills, had not been enough to save them.
He lowered his head, shadows hiding his face. And for the first ti in years, the Dark Knight felt his eyes moisten. He didn't stop himself as two streaks of tear fell down his cheek.
Wars, they always have casualties, no matter who wins.
****
On a side note, it took barely 3 days to jump from rank 84 to 12. So you see, it's not sothing extensive or require too much . Half the week is all it takes to fulfill the requirents.
So yeah, not saying you must vote all the stones, and all 7 days. Even without that it's very possible. Just have to want it.
And yeah, like I said, if you feel it's not upto your standard like so people said, feel free to let know. It's that simple.
Quality= support, perfectly balanced, like all things should be.
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