DC: Rise of the Kryptonian Tyrant

The Last Day.

Still in Manhattan, still at the Four Seasons.

The city remained vibrant, bustling with traffic, the rivers flowing endlessly. Beneath the quiet, there was a constant noise, flashing lights and restless energy. It carried the liveliness of a world-class metropolis and the vanity and impatience that came with it.

This world was lively, prosperous, and impulsive. It had always been this way.

The streets—Eight Avenue, Ninth Avenue—crisscrossed, filled with people of different races, constantly clashing over trivial issues like discrimination and money.

Yet, behind their everyday struggles, a demon monarch stood poised to destroy the Earth. And still, the city remained the same, unaware. No news. No sense of impending doom.

Looking at it now, humanity seemed so… pitiful.

Bardi stood at the window of the presidential suite, the cold wind tugging at the hem of his coat. His coat billowed in the breeze, sunlight casting a glow over his indifferent expression. His skin, smooth and pale like sculpted jade, reflected the light, and his towering figure surveyed the entire city with an unshaken gaze.

His eyes were cold, devoid of emotion.

The city's skyline, shifting and uneven, resembled a sprawling, jagged ink painting, a steel jungle rising from the earth, breathtaking in its scale.

He had taken in the entire city with a single glance.

A long silence.

Knock, knock, knock…

There was a knock at the door.

After the seventh knock with no response, Mike simply turned the golden door handle and pushed open the heavy, dark-toned wooden door.

He carried a black suitcase and placed it on the floor of the living room.

Originally, he intended to set it on the table, but the once-delicate glass table had been twisted and crumpled like a piece of paper, shoved into a corner along with an expensive sofa and chairs, as if someone had been experimenting or venting their emotions.

Zatara's handiwork.

"Boss, what you wanted."

Mike said as he set the suitcase down on the soft carpet.

His gaze flickered toward Bardi's back. In the sunlight, Bardi's figure seemed to emit a soft radiance, his frame illuminated, as though he were an ancient gemstone, freshly unearthed, gleaming with an immortal light.

But something about it felt off.

Mike couldn't shake the strange feeling growing inside him.

Why… under the bright sun, does it feel like a storm is coming?

The atmosphere was heavy—oppressive, almost suffocating.

Sunlight was shining down… and yet…

It was as if a dark shadow loomed over the city, unseen by all.

Bardi was always indifferent, but this, this was something different.

Looking at Bardi's back, for the first time, Mike felt as though something immense weighed upon his boss's shoulders.

He hesitated, contemplating the thought for a moment, then dismissed it.

Everyone has something they must face. Maybe the boss has an enemy to deal with, just as he himself had to handle the boss's many bizarre assignments.

Bardi had always carried things alone. He had always liked looking at the sun. But Mike never really understood why.

With that, he left the suite.

At that moment.

A black dot appeared in the sky above Manhattan.

The blue sky stretched endlessly, the winter sun casting its soft warmth. And yet, this black dot stood out—a speck, no larger than an ant, striking and small.

But no one noticed it.

Bardi's eyes locked onto it instantly. His pupils flashed, and in the next moment, his vision had already pierced through the towering skyscrapers, staring directly at the approaching figure.

The black dot moved beyond the speed of sound, yet there was no sonic boom, no shockwave.

It raced toward the Four Seasons Hotel at extreme speed, a black cloak fluttering wildly behind it.

Then, just outside the suite window, the figure stopped in midair.

A petite silhouette, cloak billowing, body suspended in front of Bardi.

Raven.

Her pale face gleamed under the sunlight, her dark purple lips pressed into a tight line.

She nodded to Bardi.

Her expression was tense, her complexion even paler than usual.

Once again, she was about to face her father.

Trigon.

A weight pressed on her chest, her emotions restless, heavy. The sunlight fell upon her small frame, but her black cloak, caught in the wind, seemed to swallow the warmth, wrapping around her trembling body.

Her obsidian-black eyes held an unspoken fear—deep, solemn, and uncertain. Her entire body felt stiff, as if trapped in a suffocating stillness.

Bardi turned and walked back into the suite, Raven following.

He picked up the suitcase Mike had delivered, opened it, and inside, neatly arranged in rows, were three hundred and eighty golden solar capsules.

Each one rushed into production from the reactor, made as fast as possible.

If he couldn't survive this battle, the future would be meaningless.

Bardi picked up one of the solar capsules between his fingers. His expression was solemn.

"Each of these is enough to replenish my body's energy."

Raven nodded, signaling her understanding.

When Bardi is unable to take the solar capsules himself, Raven will feed them to him.

During the battle against Trigon, when his consciousness is drawn into the spiritual realm, Raven will be the one handling everything in the outside world.

It was a desperate plan.

Life and death would be entirely out of his control.

And the only person he could trust… was Raven.

Bardi had never been willing to entrust his life to anyone. But at this moment, he had no choice. He was still too weak.

He acknowledged his weakness, and with it came both anger and helplessness.

To be facing Trigon now, this was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Whether it was the magical world, Raven, or himself, they all sought to grasp this final lifeline.

Zatara had already taught him everything he knew, every spell that could be of any use. He had even revealed the deepest secrets of his own lineage.

He had placed the entire hope of Earth's magical world in Bardi's hands.

Raven had transmitted everything she knew about Azarath, the nature and power of Trigon, and the destruction of her home directly into Bardi's mind.

This was a true demon, a being of destruction and darkness, forever shrouded in chaos.

A creature of unpredictable temperament and reckless actions.

If Trigon were the type of being that could be reasoned with, Bardi wouldn't be so eager for battle. He would have waited, hidden himself away, grown stronger, and eventually killed him when the time was right.

But Trigon was a true demon—erratic, violent, utterly beyond negotiation.

A god does not negotiate with ants.

This left only one option—battle.

And likely, a battle with no chance of survival.

Trigon's power was suffocating.

And what they were fighting against was merely a projection.

Even so, just his projection was enough to destroy an entire planet.

How could that not be terrifying?

Bardi's expression was cold, his gaze deep and unwavering. But behind his eyes, his will burned with an unbreakable determination.

He removed his white trench coat, letting it fall to the ground.

Then, he pulled off his shirt, exposing a chest crisscrossed with scars, battle-worn, yet sculpted with impossibly sharp muscle lines. His physique was as solid and unyielding as a mountain's peak.

The sun poured in from behind him, stretching his towering shadow across the floor, its vast form dwarfing Raven's delicate frame.

"Focus!"

Bardi's voice boomed because he had noticed something.

Raven's state of mind was off.

She was uneasy, her thoughts clouded by the weight of what was to come.

Facing her father again was reawakening all the fears and memories of her past.

Her body was stiff, her movements faltering.

She was freezing up.

**

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