dmims Chapter 4 A Long Day
Chapter 4 A Long Day
[Rage] Without the raven's ability to instantly traverse an entire dimension, he could only flap his wings frantically, wishing his father had given him two more pairs of wings. His six eyes had never been so bright, drawing several eerie red streaks in the air. He extinguished the raging flames on his body, manipulated magic to conceal the light and shadow, and gradually merged his body into the night. His flight speed far exceeded the speed of sound, yet he was completely silent.
"As long as I can fly out of the atmosphere and reach the void..." [Furious] Never before had he so desperately wanted to leave a mortal realm. Now, all he wanted was to enter outer space and escape to anywhere, however he pleased. "Please, don't stop!"
"Trying to escape?!"
Joey watched as the black-cloaked figure collapsed, revealing a gigantic demon. He initially thought they were entering the more challenging second phase, and despite his fury, he was prepared to force the demon into the air for a fight. However, the demon chose to escape upwards, which suited Joey perfectly. Once it reached a sufficient height, Joey leaped up and grabbed one of its wings.
"How did you manage to break the sound barrier and fly at supersonic speeds without making a sound or creating a sonic boom?"
"Don't think I'm afraid of you, Kryptonian!" A nameless fire ignited within [Rage]. Since this Kryptonian was relentlessly pursuing him, he had to teach him a lesson. A raging fire of fury erupted from his body, this hellish flame spreading rapidly along his wings towards the Kryptonian. Based on his experience, Kryptonians weren't very good at dealing with magical attacks.
"Try this, you Kryptonian bastard!"
The flames spread extremely quickly, enough for Joey to let go and dodge, but Joey dared not take such a risk. This demon had just demonstrated a flight stealth and agility completely inconsistent with its huge size. His eyesight was not so effective against this kind of magical thing, so he could only let the flames burn over.
Ahhhhh! !! !!
This was the sound of [Rage]'s painful scream. He thought that igniting this Kryptonian would make him back down, but instead it only fueled the other's anger. The half of his wing that was being held felt like it was about to crack.
Since his rebirth, Joey had hardly felt any pain. This time, however, he experienced the excruciating pain of being burned alive, which reminded him of how he was burned to death by a fire caused by a cannonball in his previous life. At this moment, his anger intensified. He used one hand that was holding the demon's wings to pull it into his arms, while his other arm firmly locked the demon's neck.
"Are you serious, Kryptonian?" The demon struggled desperately to break free of its restraints, its mouth taunting, "When I turned your parents to ashes, did your brain burn out with them? You actually tried to strangle a demon that never needs to breathe?"
[Rage] is indeed a genius in a sense—for example, he can now think of continuing to ignite Superman's rage so that he can gain enough power to escape or even flee. The rage intensifies, the stronger he becomes, and perhaps he can even temporarily gain power surpassing Superman's...
"What if I twist your head off?"
Joey was no longer bothered by the other party's provocations. He had no need to hold a grudge against a dead man. The arm that was controlling the demon's neck tightened, and the hand that was gripping the wings exerted a little force, tearing off half of the demon's body. Blood as red as lava stained half of Joey's body, soaked into the Kryptonian biofield, and corroded most of his nylon T-shirt, but he didn't care.
"Demon, I originally only intended to remove your wings first, but your wings are stronger than I imagined. Once I tear open your chest and rip out your heart, I will know exactly how to kill you."
"Wait a minute, are you really Superman? This isn't the story I've heard! You never kill anyone, right?"
[Rage] Unable to maintain the raging crimson flames on its body any longer, fear once again overwhelmed its anger. It writhed in Joey's arms like a fish out of the ocean. The Kryptonian's rage did indeed give it greater strength and a stronger body, but it was far from enough. In fact, its superior physical condition made its death even more painful.
Joey exerted force with both hands to the sides until he could clearly see the internal structure of the demon.
"You...you can't just kill me like this! I...I'm the proudest child of Sannomiya, if you kill me, my father won't let it go...Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"
Joey no longer wanted to waste words with this demon. His eyes focused with rage, and his heat vision turned the two bodies of [Rage] to ashes. Crimson blood fell from the sky, spontaneously combusting like white phosphorus after their owners disappeared, burning to ashes before even hitting the ground.
~~~~~
Raven broke free of its restraints and waited silently for Superman to descend from the sky. The shirtless, blood-soaked boy before it, though lacking the iconic attire and cape, was undeniably a Kryptonian from Earth. Raven attempted to communicate:
"Superman? Clark Kent? Kal-El?"
"No, it's Joey Joseph Kent." Joey realized something was wrong with him, as if he had lost something. "Who are you, and what did you do to me? Just a minute ago, I was thinking about whether I should kill you after asking you all those questions."
"I am the Raven. I did nothing to you. You just killed [Wrath] all by yourself, one of the seven deadly sins. This may have constituted a ritual symbol. The attribute of Wrath has been temporarily removed from you, but it is not permanent. It may take a few hours, or it may take a few months."
Raven knew exactly what was going on, which was one of the reasons she dared to stay here and confront this Kryptonian for the time being. The remaining reason was the sense of responsibility brought about by this turn of events.
Even though she was now facing a Kryptonian who could wipe out a galaxy in an instant, she still had to explain the whole story to him, including how she used Superman as an anchor point for teleportation and how she got into such trouble, in order to gain his support in the future.
"It is indeed all my fault. When I was running away, I let [Rage] come with me to this world. Its flames obliterated everything at the place of our arrival. I will not shirk responsibility for this..."
"I think I remember you." Joey rummaged through the dusty memories in his head and pulled out a name—"Rachel Rose, daughter of the Trigon. Why not use Batman as an anchor? Anyway, he... has the ability to protect you."
For an ordinary person, anger is an essential element in killing someone, just as love and a bit of hormones are needed to sleep with someone, but killing someone requires much more.
Love brings longing, longing is accompanied by the fear of loss, fear brings anger, and anger ultimately leads to hatred. Joey is now missing a part of all of these.
Just a minute ago, he was ready to go on a killing spree, but now he was like a high-speed train crashing into the endless void. He floated in mid-air, his eyes filled with only sorrow as he looked at the raven: "You should leave as soon as possible while I don't want to kill you yet. Get out the way you came."
"I can't just walk away. You don't understand what demons are all about. Demons like [Wrath] are almost impossible to kill. You only temporarily destroyed its physical existence."
Raven couldn't just leave like that: "It will be reborn in this real universe sooner or later, and then find a way to get [Sangoku] into this universe. I'm afraid of my father, but I have to stay here and stop him from conquering yet another real dimension."
"But when I tore [Rage] in two, he was afraid too." A series of terrifying thoughts flashed through Joey's mind, but he lacked the drive to act on them. "Are you afraid?"
"The process of a demon's rebirth is very complicated, and if I had to compare it, it's a bit like Doctor Who."
The raven beckoned, summoning her black cloak to be donned once more.
"The new [Rage] will retain its previous memories, but it will also have an independent personality; it will no longer be the same as before."
"You demons are such a nuisance. How can I possibly kill you all?" Raven's words dampened Joey's spirits somewhat. If [Wrath] was truly unkillable as Raven described, then how could he possibly seek revenge?
"I want to know too." Raven was also looking for this method after the Sanctuary of Azshara—the place where he grew up—was completely destroyed by the Sanctuary. But the deeper he went, the more he realized just how magnificent and vast the Hell dimension really was.
In these chaotic dimensions, even Lucifer Morningstar himself could not do whatever he wanted, let alone a half-human, half-demon.
"Then you can go think about it anywhere else."
Joey landed on his feet and staggered toward his former house, his home. He bent down and felt the completely shattered ground beneath his feet. The entire farm had been completely erased by the fire and the aftershocks of the battle, but Joey still found his usual sleeping place, his room, the spot where his bed had been, exactly where it had been.
After quickly clearing away the rubble and ashes beneath him, Joey lay flat on the ground. The day had been long enough for him: "...See you tomorrow."