Across the distant sea of stars, in the boundless cosmos, upon a billion billion worlds.
Apokolips.
Clad in long robes, DeSaad walked through the endless ranks of Parademons, making his way to the Temple of War.
The moment he set foot inside the hall, a voice riding a chill wind bored into his ears.
"Get out! My territory has no welcome for you, DeSaad!"
"Heh heh. Kanto, Lord Darkseid requires your strength!"
"Darkseid! Darkseid! You're exactly like that damned Mortalla—nothing but Darkseid pouring from your mouths!"
As the words fell, Kanto lunged forward and seized DeSaad by the throat.
"You will call him Lord. No one has the right to speak his great name! No one!!!"
Kanto's voice was shrill and icy, but DeSaad was unruffled. A flick of his right hand, and Kanto suddenly released his grip in panic.
In Kanto's eyes, what he had just been clutching was not DeSaad at all, but the one he feared most—Darkseid himself!
"Lord!"
Kanto collapsed to his knees, trembling violently. Then, composing himself, he rose from the floor and turned toward the real DeSaad standing to the side.
"Do not test my nerves with phantoms of the Lord again, DeSaad. State your purpose!!!"
"Of course, Kanto. You are the greatest tracker across billions of planets and countless universes. The Lord requires you to find someone for him."
"Oh?"
At DeSaad's words, Kanto grinned with interest.
"Someone worthy of me tracking personally... that does whet the appetite. Give me his trail!"
"Naturally."
DeSaad nodded and gave a soft wave of his right hand.
In the next instant, the figure of Hessenberg materialized before them.
Moments later, Kanto had engraved every detail, every word regarding Hessenberg into his memory.
Then he bared his savage mouthparts, tongue curling in.
"Ah... now this is a fascinating subject. A fusion of the Ancient God race and Kryptonian.
Let me savor his fate!"
As the words left him, he inhaled sharply.
Whoosh!
Hessenberg's phantasm dispersed straight into his mouth.
Seconds later, Kanto's eyes rapidly bleached white, growing hollow.
Unbidden, he began to murmur.
"A former Kryptonian elder, traces of him across countless universes... yet not every universe grants him the path to becoming a Sun God.
Wait... something is off. If he has the potential to become a god, the flavor of that fate shouldn't be so faint.
He shouldn't exist. Perhaps he should have died twenty thousand years ago—yet here he is, stepping into the Lord's sight!
That means the universe he dwells in is... special."
He flared the nasal plates covering his cheeks and chuckled darkly.
"A newborn universe. Very young. Very robust. And, and..."
Here Kanto paused, a jolt running through him.
"I smell the scent of a Mother Box in this universe. And the scent of the Lord himself.
The Lord has been to that universe before!!!"
The words out, Kanto clapped his claws together in savage glee.
"Prince Kalibak will be most pleased by this news. That child, forever denied the Lord's favor, must be desperate for an opportunity to prove himself!
I have already found the path to that universe. So, has the Lord decided who will be sent?
If not, you wouldn't mind if I shared this news with Prince Kalibak, would you?"
"Silence, Kanto! Guard this intelligence. You have no right to make even the smallest decision on behalf of the Lord!
Think of Steppenwolf. I would hate to see a valuable asset like you share his fate of exile."
With that, DeSaad took the information Kanto handed over and departed Kanto's domain.
Outside, DeSaad clutched the data flickering like smoldering ash, passed through the Parademons, and returned to Darkseid's palace.
Halfway there, a figure blocked his path.
"Look, look—DeSaad, ever the frozen face! I would so love to visit you together with my sister. We both want to see you smile, to smile just like we do. We believe we'd adore such a smile!"
"Out of my way, Glorious Godfrey. Go greet your sister at the edge of the star-sea.
This is the seventy-six thousandth universe Amazing Grace has conquered. Do her achievements not shame you?
When I think that you have the spoils of barely twenty thousand universes to your name, even I feel shame on your behalf!"
"Heh heh. Yes, yes. You are always so ashamed. I am not.
My sister and I never act together—you know the reason.
Her accomplishments are my accomplishments. And mine are hers. Heh heh, hah hah ha!"
"Hmph. You had better pray Amazing Grace sees it the same way. For she shares her achievements with you, while all you give her in return is disgrace.
Try not to die at her hands, fool!"
DeSaad snarled. Then he pushed past the utterly unbothered Glorious Godfrey and entered the throne hall belonging to Darkseid alone.
Inside, he saw Granny Goodness standing reverently behind Darkseid. Darkseid was watching the Female Furies wage war upon some universe.
As he watched, Granny Goodness spoke with the utmost deference.
"This current universe is not yet sufficient to demonstrate the might of the Female Furies, for it has neither Ancient Gods nor Kryptonians.
A universe sustained only by Lanterns is destined to be their nightmare. Stompa alone would be more than enough to utterly cleanse them."
"No, hound. Do not underestimate any enemy. Only I have the right to hold them in contempt. You and your Furies have not nearly earned such a right."
"Yes, my Lord!"
Granny Goodness hastily bowed. But Darkseid did not look at her.
He slowly turned and spoke to DeSaad, who had approached from behind.
"You had best bring me the news I desire."
"Of course, my Lord. Kanto, as ever, has found what we need."
He raised his right hand, sending the data, flickering like dying ash, drifting toward Darkseid. As it drifted, DeSaad continued.
"My Lord, it is a universe you have visited before. A universe that holds not only an enemy to quicken your pulse—but also the scent of a Mother Box."
"Oh?"
Darkseid paused slightly. Then he reached out and seized the data.
Moments later, his eyes blazed with boundless ambition.
"It is that place. Heh. A universe they veiled from sight.
I was halted there once. My single, solitary defeat—inflicted upon me by that very universe.
I believed I had lost all trace of them. And I would not have troubled myself now to seek them out solely for the sake of an ancient defeat.
But I never expected... that he would simply come before me like this, come to my side!"
As he finished, Darkseid's lips split into a savage, evil grin of satisfaction.
"Let me think. Who is worthy of opening the path to that universe for me? Who is worthy of serving as my vanguard, of bringing my war-banner and my majesty down upon his world?"
Darkseid mused to himself, then looked toward DeSaad and asked softly.
"My servants Mortalla and Bernadeth—do they possess such worth?
And that wretch Kalibak... no, no, he is unworthy. Unworthy.
Titan? I will not let him leave my kingdom, for I will not indulge his ambition and greed.
So then, DeSaad, what do you think of Doctor Bedlam?"
"My Lord, all things are as your will decrees."
"Very well."
Darkseid smiled with satisfaction.
"Send Mantis. He is the mightiest warrior under my command. A fusion of Ancient God and Kryptonian—such a foe is worthy of becoming Mantis's honor.
Tell him not only to bring me the head of the Kryptonian Sun God, but also to retrieve the Mother Box I lost in that universe."
"My Lord, Mantis is indeed suited to battle in your name. But sending him may be... using a mighty blade to carve a chicken."
"And so, DeSaad? Speak what you mean to speak."
"I have a suggestion, my Lord. Your uncle has long languished in exile.
As a son of Apokolips's bloodline, Steppenwolf is entitled to redeem his honor. Though he is not strong enough, as a blood relative of yours, he is nonetheless worthy to bear your banner."
"So you would have me grant him a chance. Or do you also believe that I was wrong?"
Thud.
The moment Darkseid's words landed, DeSaad dropped to one knee, lifting his head to meet the tyrant's gaze.
"All that my Lord does... is destiny."
"Yes. It is destiny. So Steppenwolf..."
Darkseid pondered briefly, then nodded.
"Find Virman Vundabar. He holds the records of all exiles. Have him locate Steppenwolf and grant him this chance."
"Yes, my Lord!"
DeSaad bowed and departed.
After he left, Darkseid turned back to the images behind him.
Watching the Female Furies carve a bloody swath through the universe on the screen, Darkseid smiled faintly.
He lifted his foot. Granny Goodness immediately moved to his side, cupping his foot reverently in both hands and drawing it to her bosom.
Darkseid looked down at Granny Goodness beneath his heel and nodded.
"Your dogs... I am pleased with them."
"Yes, my Lord!!!"
Granny Goodness beamed.
Not long after.
Drifting through the cosmos, Steppenwolf raised his massive axe upon a planet steeped in technology.
All around him, countless emerald lights flashed ceaselessly.
Shields forged from green light materialized before Steppenwolf's axe, desperate to block his strike.
At the same time, an untold number of green-light weapons drove into Steppenwolf's body!
Bracing against the hateful Green Lantern Corps, Steppenwolf's axe pulverized the shields and slammed into the planet's surface.
In an instant, countless fissures bloomed outward.
The world beneath his feet crumbled. Steppenwolf fled from the Lanterns' pursuit, savoring the taste of his own blood all the while.
The planet had long since become a nest of Parademons. Eight billion of them hurled themselves in an unending wave against the Green Lantern Corps.
To prevent the Parademons from spilling into the surrounding space sectors, the Lanterns were forced to temporarily abandon their hunt for Steppenwolf, turning their efforts toward exterminating the Parademon hordes crawling over the shattered halves of the planet.
Riding the deaths of his Parademons, Steppenwolf escaped to his ship. But he never imagined he would suddenly receive a transmission he had long ceased to expect.
The message was only a few lines short, yet it ignited a savage joy within him.
In the message, DeSaad's figure spoke to him with cold indifference.
"I am giving you the coordinates of a universe. Go to that universe. Find that world. Kill the fusion of Kryptonian and Ancient God. And finally, recover the Mother Box that was lost upon the planet.
Do all of this, and your crimes will be absolved. Darkseid will forgive your greed and your madness.
Go, Steppenwolf. Foolish, self-righteous, former commander.
The Lord does not anticipate your return to his side. Nor do I anticipate your return to our home.
So... do not disappoint us."
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)