Chapter 226: All Living Beings Are My Ingredients!
Darkseid could clearly “feel” his own existence being stripped away and disintegrated.
It was not destruction in the physical sense, but a more essential and thorough erasure. His proud body of the Dark New God, as solid as the cornerstone of the universe, was utterly helpless under that pure, heart-palpitating golden light, even inferior to ice cream exposed to the sun.
The Omega Effect, which formed the core of his strength and could distort causality and rewrite reality, encountered its natural predator and could not provide any resistance.
Instead, it accelerated his disintegration like the sweetest poison. He could “hear” the wail emitted only when his power was forcibly stripped and plundered, perceptible only to an existence like him.
“No——!!!”
Unwilling! Utter unwillingness!
He, Darkseid, the Dark Lord of Apokolips, who conquered countless galaxies and made countless civilizations grovel in fear—how could he… end in such a way?
Darkseid had imagined being defeated one day, but it should have been dying in a grand interstellar war or falling to the hand of an arch-nemesis of equal strength!
Even if killed by Superman!
He wouldn’t feel this bad!
An obscure figure in a universe, suspected to be a child from the outer universe, made Darkseid like a poorly written side character, defeated on a bizarre, weirdly styled “stage” by this “monster” he couldn’t comprehend, who even devoured his power as a supplement!
In this near-humiliating way!
And he!
His usually arrogant power had now become his death knell.
That ultimate darkness and destruction attribute was completely countered by that ultimate light and purification power, as if inherently restrained. Every struggle, every surge of power to resist, was like pouring fuel on a blazing flame, only making the golden light burn more fiercely and devour more rapidly!
“This shouldn’t be my end!”
Darkseid tried to erupt with strength beyond the limit in this desperate situation.
Just as he had done countless times before—the Omega Effect boiled madly under his will, attempting to reverse this destined defeat!
Even if just tearing off a piece of the opponent’s flesh!
However, it was useless.
That light was like an eternal law of existence, indisputable and unchallengeable. His struggles were like a stone dropped into the ocean, unable to create even a ripple.
The so-called “burst mode”.
In the face of absolute attribute restraint and sheer size difference, it became a laughable and pathetic delusion.
“Am I… just dying like this…”
Endless darkness surged like a tide, devouring his perception and drowning his thoughts. His ambitions that swept countless galaxies, the grand blueprint of forging a dark empire, his pursuit of absolute power… all unwillingness and resentment ultimately turned into illusory bubbles, extinguishing in the last faint light of his consciousness.
His roar still echoed in the dimension, but his massive body symbolizing darkness and tyranny had completely turned into scattering ashes, merging into the boundless golden radiance, becoming part of Ian’s power. Strictly speaking, it was filtered once through Ian’s system.
Whether the system took a kickback from Ian.
Ian didn’t know.
Darkseid had even less perception of it.
His consciousness fell into complete, absolute void. No time, no space, no light, no darkness, not even the concept of “existence” itself.
But.
Darkseid’s consciousness should have been like a blown-out candle, completely dissipating into this ultimate silence. However… an unknown time passed.
Perhaps an instant, perhaps eternity. A faint “perception,” like a candle flickering in the wind, surprisingly reignited in this absolute “nothing.”
Followed by the second flicker, the third.
Bewildered emotions, like mist at dawn, began to pervade this silence.
“I…?”
A fragmented thought struggled to coalesce.
Darkness, cold darkness, enveloped him.
But this darkness was different from the familiar one imbued with power and authority; it was an empty, pure “dark” devoid of any attributes.
He tried to “move.”
Then, he “felt”… an arm? The sensation of recovery sent his newly revived consciousness into violent tremors! Incredulity surged like a tsunami!
Darkseid suddenly “opened” his eyes.
If this re-coalesced perception could be called eyes. What entered his “sight” was still endless, empty darkness. But he could clearly “see” himself—a nearly transparent spirit form rebuilt from faint energy and mental power!
He raised his hand, looking at the blurry fingers that seemed ready to dissipate at any moment, feeling the faint yet real “sense of existence” within.
“What… is this?”
Immense confusion replaced the prior bewilderment. He should have been completely annihilated, fully absorbed by that golden monster, not even a scrap left!
Who? After his total fall, pulled him from absolute void…? Darkseid was bewildered. Some hidden backup he’d always kept? No, he was certain there was none. An ancient existence with a pact? Unlikely; most wished him fallen.
Regardless, Darkseid could feel his body reconverging.
Power was steadily returning.
Perhaps returning?
“What technique is this… I only sense my own aura, no trace of any other existence.” As Darkseid wondered in shock, trying to probe the truth in this unknown dark space, a cold, massive information flow surged directly into his consciousness core without warning!
This information flow was not language.
It was a memory.
On Darkseid’s spirit-formed “face,” the bewilderment and incredulity slowly faded, replaced by ultimate coldness and enlightenment.
“So that’s it.”
On Darkseid’s spirit-formed “face,” the bewilderment and incredulity slowly faded, replaced by ultimate coldness and enlightenment.
Surging momentum.
Like a dormant volcano awakening.
Even taking it billions of steps further! Yes, billions! The ambition and will of the Dark Lord became more refined and fiercer than ever!
No one knew what information Darkseid had received.
His beliefs.
His ambitions.
Were reshaped in this instant.
…
Meanwhile.
The previous Darkseid had fully melted.
In the Dark Dimension, only Ian, transformed into the golden giant god, and Sangong Mo beside him—stunned, forgetting to slack off, nearly dropping his jaw—remained.
Golden Superman, whose prostate depths were transferred here and who, along with Tiga’s will, hadn’t figured out this unknown place, watched silently through Dark Tiga’s eyes, falling into deeper silence, increasingly doubting if Kryptonian genes could really produce such a child.
The “live stream” image on Earth.
Also perfectly froze on Ian’s radiant figure.
Leaving endless speculation.
Ian, after all, was the DC big director; his shot composition cost a fortune to learn. Feeling people’s worship turning into magic power, Ian satisfactorily retracted his fist.
“Nice effect, but the move name is a bit lame… need a cooler one next time.”
He pondered inwardly.
As everyone knows, Ian’s skills aren’t dictated by the system or himself, but whatever move pops into his head when it’s time to strike.
This is the so-called unfathomable.
Of course, Ian’s brain was now temporarily dizzy from “experience,” like people dizzy from carbs after overeating; after Darkseid fully dissolved, massive experience points filled Ian’s brain.
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+99999】
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+99999】
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+99999】
…
【Successfully killed/purified Single Universe Level existence·Darkseid（clone/partial origin）!】
【Gained massive experience points! Level up!】
【Level up!】
【Level up!】
【You upgraded!】
【You upgraded!】
【You upgraded!】
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Lv21〔143221/10536960〕】
【Strength: 1864—2008】
【Constitution: 2657—2998】
【Intelligence: 135—170】
【Spirit: 998—1140】
A barrage of level-up notifications flashed in Ian’s consciousness.
No wonder it’s a great supplement.
Even after several consecutive levels, the system prompts in Ian’s ears hadn’t stopped; the only regret was his extra dimension didn’t capture Darkseid’s soul.
Pal capture failed +1.
Of course, Ian, who always persisted to the end with relentless style, knew this was temporary; he would eventually obtain the magical Pal named 【Darkseid】.
Failing to capture Darkseid’s soul now was expected, as Darkseid differed from the other magical Pals Ian captured.
Whether Franklin, Belial, or Ultron, they shared one trait: their universes of attachment and anchorage were lost.
In short.
They lost the foundation of their status, making them easy for Ian to capture—anyone who’s played Pal knows damaged Pals are easiest to catch.
That’s the reason; thinking it through reveals its logic. Anyway, this is the rule Ian figured out, and Darkseid clearly isn’t like those damaged Pals.
Though Darkseid was powerless before Ian, who turned into Star Eater via “transdimensional debt lord” prowess, Darkseid held extremely high status weight in the DC universe. As long as the DC universe “favors” him, Ian can’t easily claim him as private property.
Darkseid bears the DC universe’s mark and “protection,” perhaps related to Ian currently being just a 【key NPC】 with lower status weight in the DC universe than Darkseid.
The NPC path is long and arduous.
Of course.
Ian had his own view; before crossing, he’d read many novels on defeating “children of destiny” and believed Darkseid’s 【luck】 would eventually run out.
When 【luck】 is gone.
Darkseid might lose DC universe protection. As for how, Ian had “historical precedents”—those novels on suppressing children of destiny were his guides.
Whether trusting novel logic was too naive wasn’t for Ian to ponder; as a genuine 【writer】, who wouldn’t he trust?
Still flawless.
“My new profession didn’t give me a gold star for taking down a big bad? I mean Light Essence!” Ian waited long without profession feedback from 【Lord of Blazing Ashes】.
Logically.
Taking down a big villain like Darkseid should yield lots of 【good deeds】 feedback, yet this profession played hard to get too!
“Is it because Darkseid’s soul wasn’t truly destroyed? No, even then, I genuinely prevented an invasion and disaster on Earth.”
“Is it because Darkseid and Sangong Mo are tied as a crisis? Need to take both to count as truly preventing a catastrophe?”
“Makes sense; cut the grass, remove the roots—sounds like true good deed style.” While pondering, Ian leveled up again.
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Lv22〔466481/21073920〕】
【Strength: 2008—2095】
【Constitution: 2998—3069】
【Intelligence: 170—189】
【Spirit: 1140—1224】
Attributes rose sharply again.
Experience point prompts from absorbing Darkseid’s power continued.
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+88999】
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+88432】
【Entropy Annihilation Lord Experience Points+86472】
…
Of course, each experience gain was decreasing, perhaps because Darkseid’s total experience was nearing depletion or Ian was getting full.
Even so, Ian’s gains were evident, especially the intense, direct feel from rapid base attribute surges!
Ian clearly felt a more vast, purer power surging through his energized body; prior subtle power blockages vanished, replaced by smooth, effortless control. His thinking speed accelerated too.
Control over his state and perception of surrounding energy reached new heights. This base attribute boost directly enhanced his current 【Star Eater】 state—or more precisely, the “Galactus” form based on 【End Phase Body】!
It felt like upgrading a high-performance machine with better power cables; perhaps the power source was still villains like Belial and Ultron, but Ian extracted far more energy with higher transmission efficiency.
The most direct manifestation: his massive “Star Eater” body of stardust and dark matter visibly expanded further!
Already huge enough to toy with stars like walnuts, with the power influx and efficiency, his body towered higher in the Dark Dimension, void groaning under its mass.
In his now even larger palm, a standard star would truly be like a tiny marble!
Two consecutive growth spurts.
The terrifying scene was witnessed clearly by Sangong Mo beside him—from initial rage to mid-slack, now sheer horror!
As a veteran Dimension Demon God.
Sangong Mo’s perception of energy and existence was razor-sharp. He could clearly “smell” Ian’s skyrocketing energy level and life essence transformation!
“Damn it! Evil demon! The true evil demon!!!”
Sangong Mo’s massive demon face was filled with incredulous terror.
He roared in shock.
Feeling Ian’s boost, he naturally attributed the terrifying growth to Ian “killing” and “absorbing” Darkseid!
Not wrong.
In fact, devouring strong foes’ power is common in the abyss, hell, and among evil beings. Many demons and devils have similar talents or spells.
But!
Sangong Mo, after countless ages across dimensions and devouring strong opponents, had never seen any existence like Ian—refining and absorbing most of a peer or stronger foe’s origin power in an instant, converting it to strength with almost no side effects!
This transcended “devouring.”
It was outright… plunder!
Perfect absorption, inheritance!
“Impossible! Impossible! Even Lucifer… even Lucifer… shouldn’t have such means!” Sangong Mo’s face was ashen.
Such terrifying, greedy, illogical “digestion” sent chilling dread from his soles to his crown!
Ian shattered Sangong Mo’s power system cognition!
Even for demons like him, digesting another powerful demon’s power took long assimilation.
But this thing!
Instant refinement!
No need to think; Sangong Mo knew what it meant—this life before him was a monster of infinite mad growth!
The opponent.
Would devour all the world’s strong ones!
With all beings as ingredients!
〔ps: Fewer updates these days because of family holiday; accompanying family on outings.〕
