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Chapter 205: The Mind Of Evil

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"Who are you again?" Ian sized up the odd creature before turning his attention to the creature he deems to be most dangerous, Darkseid.

The battlefield was ready, prepared by Darkseid himself. They were waiting for him, preparing for what was to come.

"You!?" The Anti-Monitor wanted to do more. He wanted to say more, but Darkseid's words stopped him in his tracks.

"I was wrong," Darkseid muttered, "I was very wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong, but I hope I am right this time."

"You look different, very different," Ian noted, ignoring his odd words.

"I didn't think I could grow anymore, but oddly enough, your existence changed me. You allowed me to see a different side of evil," Darkseid even laughed with newfound grace, "An embarrassment, I admit, considering I'm supposed to be the embodiment of evil."

"That's why every Darkseid from all the other universes vanished," Ian nodded, piecing the last piece of the puzzle together, "You all became one."

"To a certain extent. We were already one. We just needed to assemble, and become the True Darkseid." Darkseid graciously agreed as he approached Ian, leaving Barbatos and the Anti-Monitor behind.

"I first assumed you to be... Well, an idiot. However, what I assume you're doing right now changed my mind." Ian let out a smile, feeling quite amused.

"Well, the only evil that matters is the one that lives." Darkseid let out a smile, quite the odd smile it was. It told the tale of a very bad future, now for who? That would be the most important question.

"Darkseid! What are you doing?!" Barbatos was understandably tense, having a bad premonition.

"We're out to eliminate him quickly, or else..." The Anti-Monitor's words stuck in his throat as he caught a glimpse of Darkseid's eyes. That looks, he knows it very well, that of contempt.

"We can not," Darkseid shook his head as he stood up before Ian, looking down on him, "It's a losing battle even with Perpetua, so..."

He was waiting for something, waiting for Ian to nod, and the latter did, "Well said... Perhaps we'll meet in the future."

Darkseid almost wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but all he did was lift his hands in the air as he released every speck of evil within him, clusters of pure dark evil.

From his eyes, his hands, and even his ears. He looked downright horrifying, yet the result of his actions was something entirely different from what his allies expected.

"NOOOOO!" First, they heard a scream of fury, one heard by every creature throughout the entire Multiverse.

What followed was Darkseid disappearing with Perpetua taking his place. Instantly, the private space they were in got closed by itself, and Ian went ahead and made sure she wouldn't be able to slip away by reinforcing the lock.

"Darkseid! You betrayed us! All of us?!" Perpetua's anger was understandable considering it was only a matter of time before the Cosmic Raptor will come after her.

The places she can hide from it are very peculiar and rare, and this one is not one of them, and Ian will surely allow the Raptor in.

However, she received no answer. She realized Darkseid was dangerous the moment he came to her with this proposition.

It didn't feel like he was stronger than her, yet she still felt his danger. The evil held within his heart, so evil it even confused her.

However, she still had to take his deal because that was the only way she can escape her prison.

He was an easy way out of her prison, to finally step out of darkness because her only contact with the world was something akin to telepathy, thus how they made the deal.

What she didn't know, however, was that Darkseid already prepared for what he sees as the only way to survival, setting up a trap for her. Every realm she could find solace in from the Raptor was a trap waiting for her entry.

"I do wonder how long he's been planning for this... Perhaps since the Highfather's fall? Or even before? Did he use New Genesis' technology to achieve this?" Ian had to wonder out loud, clearly impressed.

He must've used their technology to traverse the Multiverse and merge with all the alternate Darkseids then somehow set up a trap that went unnoticed even by Perpetua.

He assembled all the annoyances Ian could ever face in one place like lambs waiting for slaughter, and right at the moment, Darkseids was but a cluster of darkness, leaving this Multiverse behind.

His vision saw things differently. He even prepared a way to pass through the source wall, the barrier that keeps this Multiverse's inhabitants from leaving it.

Such is the mind of evil. He can only be himself if he lives on. He can only do what he wants if not in the vicinity of a bigger evil, or at least he perceives Ian as such despite the latter being quite kind, so kind in fact he allowed Darkseid life.

"Matters not," Ian shook his head as he eyed Perpetua, "You're the only thing that matters at the moment."

And so, Ian snapped his fingers, bringing darkness to the realm, darkness so vile and familiar to Barbatos it frightened him, "Wait... No no no nooooo?!"

They were in the cracks between universes, but no more. They suddenly found themselves in the Dark Multiverse, what was supposed to be Barbatos's domain.

The entirety of the Dark Multiverse moved according to his wishes like it was a puppet of his. At that exact moment, Barbatos felt his connection with his realm vanishing.

In fact, he felt crushed by his own realm as he fell to his knees, incapable of moving. Barbatos' mistake was anchoring his realm to a central point, the exact vile planet Ian sent his team to, and well, his plan seemed to have worked.

The black rings spread out throughout the realm acted as a passage of his Death force and feeding the realm enough of his force allowed him to take control of it, thus the current situation.

Regardless, Ian didn't need the Dark Multiverse to defeat the monsters before him. No, he needs it for something so much greater.

At the same moment, Ian sensed a change. His recovery rate just slowed down significantly, meaning whatever it is that's trying to kill him just gave it its all.

It was like it predicted Ian's next course of action, or more like, an instinctive reaction to what was to come.

Ian released the full brunt of his Death Force, activating all the six Death Roses, Rose of The Forever, Magic, Divinity, Reality, Kryptonian, and Force of Evolution.

Ian's chest shone with a bright blurry light, a sign of the intensity of the Construct Of All Things. His body held such power that the entirety of the Dark Multiverse would've collapsed if not for his immaculate control.

And while destroying the two should prove to be easy for him, eliminating Perpetua was not.

"Human! You are not who I fear. Did you think this was enough to stop me?!"

Perhaps in her mind, Ian's achievements aren't so great. What she fears the most is the Cosmic Raptor. It was able to strip her of her powers before, so it can definitely do so now.

Still, she didn't underestimate him too much as a face-off of reality alteration monsters started.

Both Barbatos and the Anti-Monitor were ignored. Barbatos because the Dark Multiverse's effect was significantly higher on him, basically holding him a prisoner on its ground.

The Anti-Monitor on the other hand really tried, but the more he tried the clearer the disparity between him and Ian's power became. They were on completely different levels because he couldn't even reach him.

Neither Ian nor Perpetua moved from their place, still hovering amidst the dark expanse, but the effects of their 'fight' were very obvious.

Rips in space and time were appearing all around them, extending throughout the Dark Multiverse.

Perpetua was trying to erase Ian and the entirety of the Multiverse. Ian was defending against her powers while also defending himself from the Anti-Monitor.

The Dark Multiverse had to stay intact for his plans, but his plans involved the Multiverse keeping Perpetua inside. It was her prison because she'd much rather just escape out of here, but she couldn't.

She knew that she either had to erase Ian or the Dark Multiverse. She wasn't able to do either. Not just that, she felt a bad premonition. Perhaps he was just stalling?