...

Chapter 146: An Odd Paradox V

...

Yup, as Ian noted, this Aquaman is very different, seeming quite savage, but still a bit emotional because he started the battle right there and then, showing why he can contend against Diana, barely so.

And as predicted, the only reason he could put up a fight against her was the Trident Of Neptune, one of the strongest artifacts on earth.

With a swing of his Trident, the ocean rose to the sky. Not just that, Aquaman enveloped himself in a massive sphere of nothing but water, hovering in its center. To reach them, one would have to enter where he shines most, water.

All while numerous Tsunamis started to form around them, seeking to devour them whole. Diana however wasn't worried at all. Instead, she was warry, not of Aquaman but of Ian who had an odd smile on his face.

"Exquisite. Lovely. Fascinating. Wonderful! God, I love my life." Ian let out a small laugh before vanishing, deciding to finish things quickly.

"I've wasted enough time, so excuse my rudeness." Ian's voice reverberated through the area as he emerged right next to Aquaman, his staff already seeking destruction.

However, as expected, it wasn't easy to take down the lord of the ocean as instantly, Ian felt the water around him become heavy, so heavy in fact it brought down his speed a few notches.

Aquaman was nowhere near his speed, but he made up for that with his Trident. In fact, Ian speculated it to be acting on its own, protecting its master because Aquaman seemed to barely react to his movement.

With near perfect coordination, Aquaman moved away with the water, squeezing his Trident so hard his hands bled. He barely evaded Ian's blow, but still chose to deliver one of his own, knowing that Ian might just be a bit more dangerous than he first assumed.

In fact, Ian even used his Divinity to make sure Aquaman's Trident was hitting a deadly spot, a sure instant kill by redirecting its trajectory slightly.

That was Aquaman's mistake. Well, it wasn't a mistake per se because how could anyone ever assume water would fail the lord of the oceans himself? He never imagined his powers to fail him even in his worst dreams.

Indeed, Ian felt the heaviness of water suddenly disappear. He could even perceive the body of water surrounding him and Aquaman falling down. Even the Tsunamis lost their guiding forces.

Only a moment passed as just as Aquaman's eyes started to widen at his missing connection with the oceans, Ian moved faster than he could perceive, driving his staff through the man.

"Shush, it'll be alright. This didn't happen, so everything will be alright." Ian gently spoke, comforting the man while sucking his life force.

"Ho..w?" That was the last thing Aquaman spoke before Ian finished the job with a swing, tearing him apart.

"How huh? I absolutely have no idea. Do you?" As usual, Ian had no idea what happened that saved his life, so he turned his attention to the Trident in his hand, the one he had just taken from Aquaman.

He felt it vibrating, releasing such an incredible force it threatened to tear him apart to the point he had to focus on pumping all of his Death force into the Rose of magic, switching from Divinity.

Every speck of his magic was solely focused on resisting the force of the Trident as it sought freedom from his terror.

'A bit annoying. It could take hours to fully envelop in my Death force.' Ian saw something like this coming. The Trident after all chooses its master either by fate or on its own accord, and it definitely didn't want him.

He wanted to send it to the black Rose dimension to deal with it later, but something else he predicted was that it will take quite a while to do so.

You see, everything has a resistance, some more than others. Something, he can envelop in his Death force in a matter of a minute to teleport to his dimension.

Other things would take hours, days even depending on their power and resistance, and well, the Trident was quite the powerful artifact, and it was resisting to the point it seemed desperate to get away from him.

Ian spread his wings, knowing he could no longer use magic to move about. Speaking of things that are resisting his control, Lucifer's wings were one of them.

So much time has passed since he acquired them, and he rarely stops feeding them his Death force, yet they are still not under his full control.

He can certainly use them to fly at some unimaginable speed, even surpassing his speed force if pushed too much, but he knows it's nowhere near their full power.

He knows Lucifer is broken, so how could they be so weak? To dare to move at only a few thousand times the speed of sound, utterly pathetic.

But it will happen, eventually, everything will be given to him because of how much he gives away. Ian is extremely proud of how charitable he is, so it's within expectation for the world to give back.

"Wanna have dinner while I get this bad boy under control?" Ian asked the cautious Diana.

"I see, you're an angel, quite the ruthless angel. Makes sense, gods are cruel, so why wouldn't angels be the same?" Diana shook her head with a bit of exasperation, disbelief even. Her arch-nemesis has died just like that.

Moreover, she could see now that Ian wasn't using his full arsenal against her, likely meaning he never wanted to hurt her, "I have no idea how, but him almost successfully killing you led to losing his connection with the ocean?"

Diana couldn't help but rub her temple, facing the oddest circumstances ever, "I even saw it clearly, the butterflies swimming about, guiding his Trident to cleanly kill you... I'm kind of speechless."

"Just kind of?"

She ignored him and continued with her speculation, "Let me guess, your divinity likely has something to do with redirection, redirecting attacks either away or to you.

It seemed restricted though, only able to redirect one thing at a time, and the angle of redirection seems limited as well.

You were truly trying not to kill me before, using your divinity to avoid your death, thus my death somehow... This is utterly ridiculous."

"Ah, not really? If you think about how kind I am to try and fix the entirety of time myself, then it's no longer strange. The universe loves me, as do I... Sometimes."

"No."

"No what?" Ian asked, confused.

"No dinner. I'm afraid of losing my sanity talking to you, so if you can please just leave and never come back." Diana seemed serious, her eyes never leaving his, a bit apprehensive of him going back to her home.

However, much to her relief, Ian just shrugged and turned around, preparing to fly away.

"Wait... You have yet to tell me. Why did you kiss me? None of this had to happen if you didn't." Despite the circumstances going largely in her favor, Diana was still curious.

"Kiss? Ah, right, I did do that... Perhaps because you're lovely?" Ian seemed to be in a hurry because he just spurted some nonsense before vanishing into the horizon.

"Liar and you didn't want dinner in the first place," Diana grumbled softly to herself before eyeing the patch of skin sticking to bones floating in the ocean, Aquaman's body.

It was unfortunate she didn't get to do it herself, but her next action at least brought some satisfaction to her, Her lasso found itself around the body, circling it numerous times before she tightened the Lasso with all of her strength.

The result was the body becoming pieces of flesh and bones, painting the ocean red. It started to rain, thunder, lightning, and nothing but enormous waves. The oceans seemingly wailing in distress of his passing.

"I really don't know what just happened..." Diana let out a sigh before hastily going back to her home just in case things get worse.

"I really don't know what just happened..." Ian let out a sigh, kind of annoyed by how little control he has over his Anti-Death powers.

And he didn't have much time to contemplate things because the world was dying at an accelerated rate, much faster than Lucifer anticipated, quite odd, isn't it?

...

Chapter 147: An Odd Paradox VI

...

And he didn't have much time to contemplate things because the world was dying at an accelerated rate, much faster than Lucifer anticipated, quite odd, isn't it?

You see, this multiverse is quite odd in the sense that everything and everyone finds a reason to seek its destruction at some point in their life.

The world is very fair in that sense because of how many timelines and alternate worlds there are. That led to everyone basically experiencing the taste of destruction in one way or another.

In this current timeline, in this universe, there are plenty of people or beings like that. They wish the universe would cease to exist in a snap.

And now, there is an opportunity. It might take a while, but the paradox was certainly creating destruction to the point a large portion of Gotham became uninhabitable.

Cracks could be seen everywhere, quickly expanding. Getting close to them led to nothing. You just cease to exist, or at least that's the assumption made by the scientist of the US.

While Ian was away, Gotham was formally declared to be a dead land. Everyone was quickly evacuated before the city was closed down.

There was one exception to that, the Roses. They're a mystery to this current timeline's people, so most naturally assumed them to be associated with the paradox somehow.

Naturally, they'd want to hold them in captivity for interrogation. Alas, the Roses acted quickly as they simply vanished. They scattered away like ants crawling through holes invisible to the naked eye.

"Hmm, the green lantern power battery is still with Batman... To bad. My main timeline would've had way less destruction if it reached its destination in this timeline."

A gleam passed through Ian's eyes as he observed a few things. Giving away the power battery wasn't a thoughtless thing, but a scheme for a greater plan.

One of the things he finds to be the most fun in his pursuit of answers is collecting things. It all started with robbing grocery stores with the boys.

It escalated quickly from then to running an entire grocery robbing business. What followed was the heist of the diamond from the Gotham Museum of antics.

And it only went on to grow. His collection grew to unfathomable heights. He even acquired the Batmobile, and the Batwing, handed to him personally by Batman as a reward for getting rid of Doomsday.

Those were one of the rewards of the job. The most important of which was of course information Batman acquired somehow, but he still valued the addition to his collection.

Now, it reached a whole new universe. His collection involved things of unfathomable power, and he'd say it's growing well.

The staff of all things, an artifact quickly growing to be one of the strongest artifacts there ever was.

Filling each vessel with a new thing is such an enjoyable thing to him it became addicting.

Not just that, combining different energies together to see the results is even more fun, especially since he wants to perfect every energy in the vessels, and he knows he's very far away from that.

Indeed, he felt it long ago, none of the forces in the vessels feel perfect. He always felt something was missing despite the exquisite collection he had going on.

[First Vessel: Kryptonian energies (Red and Green)]

[Second Vessel: Orange speed force]

[Third Vessel: Light and darkness]

[Fourth Vessel: Magic and Mystic energies]

[Fifth Vessel: Divinity]

[Sixth Vessel: Force Of Evolution]

It was an exquisite collection, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly good enough for all the good work he has done for the world, and the world agrees because what happened next was very fortunate.

You see, one of Ian's scariest opponents was none other than Reverse Flash. The guy has a goal, and he will stop at nothing to achieve it.

The changes in time definitely didn't affect him because he's also a conduit of the speed force. Moreover, he was way faster than Ian, and it isn't even close.

A lot of time passed since their last confrontation, and Ian worked hard on developing his Speed force, but it's still so much weaker than the true speed force, a force supported by the universe itself.

Ian knew that even with his speed supported by the Rose of speed and Lucifer's wings, he'd still look like a snail to Reverse Flash, so avoided him for a long time.

The only method he could see working out against the speedster is setting up a trap, but Reverse Flash must be very cautious of him after their latest interaction.

In fact, he should be even more cautious knowing he isn't affected by the change in time.

Luckily his work was cut out for him because before Ian's very eyes was Reverse Flash taking his last breaths with a sword in his chest, bleeding heavily.

"So unfortunate... I wanted to do it myself." Ian crouched next to the man, looking into his desperate eyes in sought of any satisfaction.

What Reverse Flash made him go through was... Well, Ian hated it despite it not being much, he just led him to become a piece of charcoal as well as feeling that sense of powerlessness under the power of motion.

It was one of his most hated moments in this world if not the most, so it was truly unfortunate that he felt no satisfaction knowing he didn't make him suffer himself.

However, a bright smile emerged on Ian's pale face as he eyed the man, "But worry not, we will meet again. I assure you of that. I've already met a different version of you, so meeting you again shouldn't be a challenge, right?"

Ian even went as far as to pat his shoulder to assure him, "Who knows, perhaps we'll even... No, I better not spoil my gift for you. That'd be rude."

He could see traces of fear emerging in his eyes. He knows exactly what Ian means when he says a gift, he just doesn't know what'll happen when the gift is opened.

"As I thought, you were planning something," Batman stated who was surprisingly standing next to Ian, and next to him was also another Batman.

Two Batmans at the same time and one would be even more surprised to find out that they were the ones to put down Reverse Flash, well, it was specifically Thomas Wayne, the Batman from this world.

The man was the true terror of the crime because he did nothing but kill. In fact, he'd consider it a failure not to kill his targets, and so, Reverse Flash naturally ended up lying on the floor, dying with Thomas's own sword in his chest.

What's even more surprising was that Bruce didn't seem against it, or at least, he didn't seem bothered by his father's action. The duo of father and son must've talked through things and reached a consensus, surprisingly.

"Yeah, and you two are weird, like, how did this happen?" Ian however as always focused on the important questions. How the fuck did two normal heroes with no superhuman abilities to speak of kill someone faster than light?

Like, Ian has never been so confused. I mean, he remembers something like this happening in Flashpoint, but this is different because the Flash isn't here.

He knows the Flash is far away, so things couldn't have gone the same way. In the Flashpoint, Reverse Flash was distracted by the Flash, allowing Thomas to kill him.

Even that doesn't make much sense considering Reverse Flash's speed. He'd have plenty of time to move away once he felt the sword peck him because it will be in slow motion.

However, he can ignore that because the word distraction was involved, and distractions can't be measured with common sense, so it all made perfect sense.

Now, however, seeing Reverse Flash, one of the fastest beings in the entirety of existence fall before two relatively powerless mortals, Ian was kinda speechless.

It would take 25,000 years to reach the nearest galaxy to ours if you traveled at the speed of light. In Reverse Flash's perspective, that's how long it would take for the sword to go through him, starting from when he felt it pocking him.

So one has to wonder. What the fuck happened? Bruce's answer was, "It's complicated." As he wisely stroked his chin.

"I see," Ian nodded in full understanding, "You bought out the universe, didn't you?" The most charitable of them all couldn't help but let out a sigh, "As I thought, the universe is a corrupted piece of shit..."

...

Chapter 148: An Odd Paradox VII

...

"I see," Ian nodded in full understanding, "You bought out the universe, didn't you?" The most charitable of them all couldn't help but let out a sigh, "As I thought, the universe is a corrupted piece of shit..."

"?"

"A weirdo," Thomas to the side calmly pointed out.

"Hm? Why so rude? I even went as far as to kindly reunite you two of father and son..."

Ian shook his head at people's rude behavior before bringing out his staff and bringing it down on the dying Reverse Flash, accelerating his death.

The body turned to a mummy before the two Batmans could even react, and Ian vanished directly after

"What a weirdo." Thomas couldn't help but point out again.

"He is, and I've just learned a lot more about him," Bruce nodded, very much agreeing while stroking his chin.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Thomas wondered.

"What is?" Bruce asked, not seeming too bothered by what Ian had just done, quite odd of Batman.

"The fact that he doesn't care about giving out information. It's just like last time, he didn't seem to care about us knowing more about him."

Bruce shook his head, knowing way more about Ian than basically anyone else, "He's just not afraid at all. Not afraid of what I might do, and I think I know why, aside from his obvious powers which he certainly didn't have before."

Thomas nodded, eyeing the body one last time before making his way back to the Batwing not far from them, "Let's discuss more in private."

Their matter of speech was quite odd for a father and son, almost like they were speaking business.

Perhaps they had their reunion tears, and now they were pursuing something else, something like saving the world.

"We shouldn't have much time, so let's act with hast. Let's find the Flash, and test a theory of mine while at it."

Batman nodded with a frown, knowing the severity of the situation more than anyone else, perhaps even more than the Flash himself because the latter failed to take a variable into account, Ian Rose.

You see, the Flash was desperate to the point he had to ignore Batman's words because they were inconclusive.

He didn't want to lose Iris nor did he want to lose his mother, and the world was threatening their lives both.

Iris was suffering the most because she had to watch herself growing older by the hour... If only it was that simple because she also had to watch herself get younger, and not in a good way.

The curse Ian used on her was one of the most sinister in the book of eternity, using one's own life force to produce the intended effect.

And what's meant by getting younger is literal. Parts of her body are slowly but surely turning into those of a baby, and what follows is Death.

It's a spell that brings nothing but desperation because many tried to use it to attain youth again to no avail, almost as if it was made to bring despair.

Iris's state was... Indescribable to the point it almost broke the Flash. Not just because of her appearance, but because he sensed specks of his speed force in her.

That naturally led her to believe him messing around with time somehow led to her state, a punishment of sorts, a very cruel one.

Ian was certainly commendable because he truly felt bad, but what was done had to be done for the greater good, and he was willing to bear the burden of guilt.

If asked, he'd say he is the one to suffer the most in this situation because he had to do something bad for the greater good.

And what is his greater good one might say? Well, the Flash wants to find out as well. Batman told him Ian's words. Let's meet where the speed lies.

That was a mistake, but in fairness, Batman had no idea about Iris' situation, so he didn't know the Flash would be so reckless as to try to reach the true speed force.

The how was simple. Just run fast enough. That was the solution to most things, so he ran and ran, seeking to reach a certain point beyond time, but he felt something stopping him, a barrier of some sort.

Ian knew it will likely take him a long time to do it, so he used that time for other things, such as a vacation.

While people were panicking, he was having the time of his life. While people were making conspiracies, he was laughing his ass off.

While people were dying, and chaos was spreading, he was taking sips of juice while enjoying the show.

What show, one might ask? Well, Ian was back in the empty Gotham. There were very few people in the city, all from the government and secret agencies, keeping it confined.

However, he went in without any trouble. In fact, He took over the incident location.

Ian was resting on Sunlounger, drinking orange juice. He was attired in a casual aqua blue shirt in memory of the late Aquaman, giving him the respect he deserves.

That was complemented by white shorts and glasses, quite cozy under the warmth of the sun. Laughter and cries of surprise surrounded him as everyone enjoyed their time.

Yup, he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by the girls, namely Selina, Ivy, Harley, Zatanna, and even Xanadu. Unfortunately, Raven wasn't here because she was studying as usual.

And they were having lots of fun. Ian was mostly just relaxing while observing a few things through magic, and thinking things through through the Rose of Speed.

The area they were in was supposed to be a closed area, tightly guarded by numerous soldiers, and it was as such until he arrived.

The area was special because it was the source of the paradox with numerous cracks spreading outwards.

"I feel like something is weird." Zatanna couldn't help but point out as she eyed the other girls.

Xanadu was calm, well, she was heavily breathing as she was holding Ian's hand, his Death force constantly flowing into her. She was the calmest of the bunch.

The others, on the other hand, were special cases because the calmest of them was surprisingly Ivy.

All she was doing was standing next to a paradox fracture with dozens of her plants surrounding her. Her face was constantly twitching as she watched her plants vanishing into the fracture one by one.

Not only that, she lost connection to them. What she was basically doing is some scientific experimentation, using all kinds of different plants to see how they'd react to fracture.

Her plants were of course not normal. She worked hard along with Ian to create some magical and nonsensical plants with a variety of uses.

Most are results of biological studies and chemical reactions, some contain some odd energies. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried, the fracture remain still, seemingly frozen in time.

And it was making her annoyed to no end, especially since her plants are dying one by one, "Aghh, so be it. I'll use it."

Ivy nodded with determination before she waved her hand, releasing a massive flower. Its petals were luminescent green, and they were closed, seemingly hiding what was inside.

Not for long though as the flower bloomed, showing a small glowing crystal within, its green radiance overwhelming the area.

Ivy carefully picked up the crystal with a sweet smile. This was her baby, her and Ian's baby, or at least, that's how she considers it.

It was created with their collaboration after all. Hell, she even called it Sweet Rose in his name.

She then threw it into the fracture... Nothing happened, it was all silent minus Harley's giggles, and Selina trying to scam the paradox somehow.

"I see... Nothing. Perhaps I was too hopeful," Ivy let out a sweet laugh, not seeming annoyed at all.

Instead, she just walked back to Ian with a sweet smile, "Darling, mind sending me to the labs? I want to get our babies..."

Ian's face slightly twitched though he tried to hide it to the best of his ability. God, he hates that word, but he still complied, allowing Ivy to go crazy, "Sure."

His Death force moved, triggering a door to appear right next to him. The gate to the House Of Mystery.

"I'm starting to regret booking a spot on your team. I suddenly feel like I'm joining a bunch of graduates from Arkham Asylum." Zatanna rubbed her temple in dismay.

...

Chapter 149: An Odd Paradox VIII

...

"I'm starting to regret booking a spot on your team. I suddenly feel like I'm joining a bunch of graduates from Arkham Asylum." Zatanna rubbed her temple in dismay.

"Oh my? Lady Zatanna afraid of crazy?" Ian chuckled, feeling amused, "And this isn't crazy at all. They're just trying a few things for scientific research."

Zatanna shook her head, "Scientific research? You mean how the Cat is trying to collect cracks of the very core of space and time to sell later? And the other is trying to make the cracks worse by breaking them with bats?"

Ian shook his head, "You're mistaken. What Selina is trying to do is collect an unnatural anomaly for later studies, and she will of course donate some to other researchers for faster progress.

It's all for science. It's definitely not for money though some considering how valuable it's, I'm sure all of them will be willing to donate something back in the name of science."

He then eyed Harley, barely holding back a laugh. The girl was giggling to herself. Her insanity seemingly manifested around her in a cloud of delirious chaos of colors.

She had dozens of bats around her if not hundreds. She was using them one by one, swinging at the fractures in space.

However, all that is left is just about nothing but the bats' handles as every speck of the bats that went through the fractures just evaporated silently in an instant.

"Harley, on the other hand, is just enjoying herself while testing her powers and a few theories."

"She has powers now?" Zatanna ignored his first words, used to his nonsense by now, and instead asked with curiosity.

"No, but who knows, she might awaken some if she hit hard enough." Ian shrugged, enjoying the view above him, feeling the warmth of the sun slipping out through the gaps to reach him.

Most of what he can see wasn't the sky but numerous veins acting as a barrier against the intruders, trying to enter without permission.

The veins were so massive they could bring down buildings, complemented with smaller but faster veins, they formed into a formidable barrier.

And the veins were quite obedient. All it took was a word from Ivy for them to act mostly on their own, stopping the owners of the land from entering their land without permission.

The people trying to enter were quite strong, sent personally by the united states to diplomatically have a conversation with Ian, amongst them was someone quite dangerous, Cyborg.

So the veins weren't the only protection against the. There were a few magical barriers and wards below that, followed by a few Sweet Roses, waiting to launch their crystals.

Zatanna was having a headache as she looked around, "The world is ending, and yet you all... Aghhh, I must be losing it because I also feel like trying a few things."

"Well, go ahead. Don't but shy and enjoy yourself." Ian smiled before focusing on the ones still trying to get in, seeming even more desperate.

By this point, things have already reached an unrecoverable level. Many beings did their share of experimentation and manipulation, leading numerous Paradoxes to appear.

All they had to do was to discover duplicate things that can cause a paradox. This universe is odd as in even if the same person meets a past or a future version of themselves, a paradox won't be triggered.

Yet in this special scenario, it did. That naturally made many beings across the universe confused, and curious.

And they all noted something, duplicate versions of people only appeared in Gotham. It was almost as if a bunch of people were just going about their daily life until they started noticing peculiarities.

Those peculiarities quickly turn to loneliness as you suddenly realize you're in a completely different world. The only ones you can lean on for comfort are those like you.

You'll find that you don't belong there. The world rejects you because you aren't the version the world wants you to be. Depression, suicidal thoughts or you can meet your other self and vanish with it.

It's just like the first Paradox victim. It happened in the spot right before Ian, which is why his current location is so important. Why it's deeply desired and why the governments would stop at nothing to get it back.

It's patient Zero. Where it all started. The source. The first Paradox, it was named. The important part for basically everyone was that Ian had something to do with the Paradox.

And indeed, it's everyone on earth's problem because by this point, the fractures in space-time had branched out so far out of the earth. The phenomenon was inconceivable to the point it made most people on earth desperate.

"There isn't much time huh..." Ian noted while stroking his chin, drawing a question out of Xanadu.

"What's your purpose exactly? I would very much like to know." She seemed truly curious, hopeful even.

"My purpose? It's of course finding the tools to get answers, but most important of all, it's preparations for the future."

Ian smiled as he brought Xanadu close to him, gently stroking her hair. He then added, "One can have numerous goals. Some might be born out of necessity. Some out of desire. There are plenty of things that can give birth to goals."

Xanadu's eyes lit up, understanding that he understands what she truly wanted to ask, "And what gave birth to yours?"

"A few things... Mostly Necessity and fun though. I have to rise, but there is no problem having a bit of fun along the way."

Ian stroked his chin with a frown, suddenly sensing something, but he still gave her one last piece of advice before finishing things up.

"You know what they say. There are skies beyond our skies, so explore the extent of those skies, and surpass them. Perhaps you can find a goal amidst that, or who knows perhaps your goal will be to surpass those skies."

Ian frowned even more as he eyed one of the Paradoxes, seeming in more of a hurry, "Btw, aren't you like thousands of years old? So why seek me for advice? I thought you'd have plenty of goals by now."

He was truly curious but the odd smile that surfaced on Xanadu after hearing his words somehow drove a chill through his spin, "I'm only a few hundred years old, okay? And I look fabulous."

Ian raised his brows, failing to see the problem, "I mean, yeah, you're gorgeous. What's your point?"

"Hmm," Xanadu seemed speechless for some reason before she let out a sigh of dismay, 'Right, I almost forgot who am dealing with.'

She then took a deep breath, feeling waves upon waves of energies swimming through her, "You'd be surprised at how many beings have no purpose, most even older than me, so thanks for the advice... I've regained my powers."

Ian nodded, "Yeah, I noticed like a week ago which is why I was confused why you handed me your hand a week ago because I thought you're already immortal and you don't need my force anymore, but I still did it because whatever."

"..."

And then there was silence as Xanadu appeared frozen in time, drawing a mischievous smile out of Ian, "I wonder why? Anyway, I'm off."

And then he vanished, appearing very close by, right in the middle of the fractures actually, in a very hidden spot.

"Yo Luci!"

"Lucifer." Lucifer corrected.

"Hm? Why not Luci?"

"Why? Good question. I'm just worried for your life and happiness because something tells me that if you continue to say it, something bad might happen." Lucifer wisely advised.

"Oh," Ian nodded, eyeing Lucifer weirdly before remarking, "What a weirdo. Anyway, what might you be doing here?"

In here means amidst the intricate tunnels shaped by the numerous fractures, very dangerous tunnels because touching the fractures will likely mean death.

This was the source. The first Paradox which led to numerous paradoxes spurting out, branching out.

The fractures branch out in an odd manner as it instantly happens. At one point, they're small and the very next moment, they become massive.

That unfortunately means that the fractures took a lot of lives and significant portions of land.

The entirety of earth was being swallowed. No, the entire solar system, and if not stopped, it will continue on to overwhelm the entirety of existence.

So Lucifer's answer to his question wasn't too surprising to Ian, "To keep it going. To watch the show, and I'd very much like you to obediently watch the show with me..."

...

Chapter 150: An Odd Paradox IX

...

So Lucifer's answer to his question wasn't too surprising to Ian, "To keep it going. To watch the show, and I'd very much like you to obediently watch the show with me..."

"Oh, I see... You made the paradox worse." Ian stated, not seeming too disturbed.

"Not just me. Many helped. The destruction of reality is quite an attractive idea. It's so easy to manipulate anyone into desiring it because in everyone, there is a speck of fire, and I..."

Lucifer halted his words for a second before continuing, "I was the lord of Hell."

"I still fail to see it. What do you want from this?" The question was genuine, Ian absolutely had no idea why Lucifer would want that because he knows a bit about him, and his goals are a bit different.

"Answers." Lucifer smiled as he glanced at Ian with a knowing smile, "I'm just like you in a way. I just want answers, and those answers will dictate my future."

Ian still threw a questioning look at Lucifer, wondering what kind of answers he desires.

"I want to find someone or something. It vanished a while ago, and here I wonder... What happened?" Lucifer didn't mind clearing Ian's doubts though it was obvious to the latter that he left out a lot.

"I see..." Ian waved his hand, teleporting two comfy chairs next to him before taking a seat on one, followed by Lucifer doing the same.

"Aghhh, I'm so weak." Ian rubbed his temple, finding his circumstances unfortunate.

"And that is a lie, my friend." Lucifer shook his head as he in turn summoned a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Everything is relative, so that is true relative to you." Ian took the glass of wine, taking a sip to calm his mind.

"Hmm," Lucifer didn't disagree as he enjoyed his wine before asking, "I wonder though. What's your goal in all of this?"

"My grand goal is to be prepared before I acquire the answers I want... My goal here is to break something, to free things I can prepare, so they fly into my embrace."

Ian smiled, still proud of his plans despite the possibility of them not succeeding; becoming extremely high with Lucifer's meddling, "But I assume you knew that already?"

"Hmm, kind of. I usually like to leave a shield on my powers, limit them I should say. Yet I couldn't not feel the paradox taking place as I'm sure everyone worthy felt... So I basically didn't, but now I do."

"And?" Ian further wondered.

"And the Flash won't succeed. Both of you and the Flash have very little understanding of the forces... You missed a point." Lucifer seemed to be in a generous mood as he answered his every question while leaving out a thing or two.

A contemplative look emerged on Lucifer's face as he asked a question of his own, "But preparations huh? What did you mean by that?"

"Hm? How should I say this... The answers I seek are the abyss, and If I am to dive into to, I will surely be damned if I'm not ready. When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you..." Ian murmured absent-mindedly.

"Ahh, hahaha," Lucifer couldn't help but let out a laugh, noting something, "I know that quote, one said by a mortal. I believe the abyss to be oneself. Is it the same for you? Do you fear yourself? Do you fear that the you who found the answers?"

"Perhaps..." Ian had no desire to answer that question. Perhaps even he didn't know the answer, but that question certainly hit hard.

"How far? How far did the paradox reach?" Ian asked.

"How far huh... It's fascinating, completely ignorant of time and space. At one point, it barely enveloped our solar system, then the galaxy, and now... An entire cluster of galaxies."

It seemed amusing to him just how much destruction was brought by those thing branches. The branches that were surrounding them harvested billions of lives by this point.

Whenever you go on earth, you'll see them. They aren't too clustered together, meaning people can live in their midst as long as they don't come in touch with them, but they're still everywhere.

By this point, Ian was very sure planets fell due to the paradoxes. Perhaps they've been decimated into aimlessly floating rocks by the fractures. Strangely though, the earth didn't seem that affected despite numerous fractures going through it.

"That's interesting... Say, how many beings are watching out for me, making sure I don't stop the paradox?" Ian let out a chuckle, his expression suddenly morphing into an odd one.

Color Lucifer interested as he raised his brows at Ian's expression, "Many, why?"

"Say, do you know that I can create a paradox whenever I want to at this point?" Ian further asked.

"Yeah, why?" He basically admitted to pepping on Ian, and he didn't care. He saw him devouring Reverse Flash and he knows exactly what that means.

"Say, do you know that I can stop the paradox whenever I want to?" Ian asked again, not seeming to have any interest in answering his questions.

"No, or kind of. I have many assumptions, but I'm not sure." Lucifer honestly answered.

"Then let my next words be heard only to you." Ian's smile widened even more as he spoke the words directly after.

And indeed, no one else heard the words, literally no one. That's how broken Lucifer was. He might just be more broken than he assumes himself to be because literally, literally no one heard those words but him.

Ian's lips moved, but no words were heard by anyone but Lucifer, until his lips stopped moving, and then Ian stood up.

You see, as he said, Ian is quite weak, way too weak to the point his chances of using the alternative plan were close to Zero if he didn't speak those words. It was a sacrifice.

He stood up, and suddenly his words changed in an instant, becoming adorned in a classic Tuxedo, looking absolutely handsome and elegant.

If he was to do it, he was gonna do it in style, "This was a last resort of mine. Only if everything else failed will I do this Because I really have very little control over my power..."

Ian turned around, tidied himself up, making sure he looks the best he could, almost like he was trying to go out in style... He was.

However, before he could start, he sensed something, everyone strong enough sensed something, but they couldn't see anything.

Something was definitely happening, but no one could see it because the world suddenly went dark, completely dark. The sun had seemingly vanished but that shouldn't be the case because darkness would be the least of one's concerns if that happened.

No one could see what was happening except for Lucifer it seems as he spoke, "Don't worry about it and just go on, entertain me."

Ian nodded as he glanced at the darkness of the sky. It was literally like every source of light in the entire universe was cut off, and Ian knows that the only reason he isn't held in a container right now is because of Lucifer.

Ian spread his hand while taking a deep breath, hopeful things would go as he predicted. Then he let go, his balance slipped away as he fell back.

It all looked like slow motion to Lucifer, and as if he could see the future, he saw Ian's head reaching for the fractures, certain Death.

He was going out for style, but whereas for others, going out with style usually means Death, for him, it means something else because something happened that forbids his Death.

There was no fracture anymore, instead, he almost fell to the ground, his head almost colliding with the ground instead of a paradox.

Magic came to the rescue as Ian's fall stopped midair, then as if time reverse, he started going back up until he was standing again.

"And so the impossible happened... " Lucifer almost felt the urge to facepalm as his cosmic awareness sensed everything that happened in an instant, and nothing made sense anymore.