There was no denying the sheer might of Sentry. With every strike, he continued to decimate the forces arrayed against him—even the Martian Parademon fell to his power.
Interestingly, Sentry hadn't initially intended to intervene. It was Martian Manhunter himself who called for aid. In his psychic duel with the Martian Parademon, Manhunter found himself steadily overwhelmed, unable to gain any advantage.
Although Martian Manhunter was a fully matured Martian, far superior to the adolescent Martian Girl in strength, the Martian Parademon he faced was no less formidable. Judging by its aura and psychic presence, this enemy seemed to be even older than Manhunter, and age, while not necessarily enhancing physical prowess, often brought significant advantages in psychic abilities.
Realizing that the Martian Parademon could not be saved or reverted to its original form due to Darkseid's modifications, Martian Manhunter opted to seek help.
Sentry did not disappoint. Despite the psychic domain formed by the clash between the two Martians, Sentry was unaffected as he approached the Parademon. The Martian Parademon, in contrast, became little more than a lamb to the slaughter, ultimately falling to Sentry's overwhelming strength.
Meanwhile, Kara took care of the Kryptonian Parademon on her own, her power so far beyond its capabilities that she needed no assistance.
Diana, having defeated Koryllis, also moved to support her allies. With Kara, Diana, and Sentry—three of the strongest fighters—joining forces, the doom of the Furies and the Parademon warriors was inevitable.
"Could it be him?" On Apokolips, Darkseid frowned deeply as he observed Sentry's display of strength. A thought flashed through his mind.
To be fair, Sentry's power was extraordinary, far beyond Kara and Diana's. He was crushing Darkseid's subordinates with ease, his presence a dominating force on the battlefield.
Yet even this level of power didn't seem sufficient to explain the pressure Darkseid was feeling. He had encountered beings of Sentry's caliber before—such as the Celestials, whose standard combat strength was at this level. A single warrior of this tier shouldn't have been enough to make Darkseid uneasy.
Even so, Darkseid decided it was time to probe further. The indirect forces he had sent so far—the Furies and the Parademon warriors—had been completely annihilated. If he wanted more answers, he would now have to deploy his personally trained elite troops.
Kara and Diana's level of strength was manageable; Darkseid had subordinates who could match them. Even Steppenwolf had been at a similar power level before his defeat.
However, Sentry's strength was a different matter. None of Darkseid's current followers were on par with him. Dealing with someone like Sentry would require either a sacrifice of his best warriors or Darkseid himself stepping onto the battlefield.
"Very well," Darkseid muttered to himself. "Even if he isn't the one causing this pressure, this will give me a chance to uncover their true potential."
A glint of calculation flickered in his eyes. "If there is a group of opponents with this level of power, capturing and converting them into my soldiers would only strengthen my conquest of the universe."
With this decision made, Darkseid finally rose from his throne. Turning to Desaad, he commanded, "Relay my orders: full-scale assault. Kill everyone. Capture the strongest enemies alive and bring them back for conversion."
"Yes, my lord!" Desaad's eyes lit up with excitement, as did the other subordinates who overheard the order. In their minds, this was the strategy they should have employed from the beginning. The piecemeal approach had only led to heavy losses on their side.
From the moment the Avengers had appeared, not a single one of them had been killed, while all of Darkseid's deployed forces had been wiped out. The attrition strategy had proven costly and ineffective. A full-scale attack seemed far more promising.
With Darkseid's command, a dark, seemingly infinite swarm of Parademons surrounded Apokolips, their numbers so vast that they could have easily formed a battle formation as large as a celestial body.
The sheer number of Parademons made it impossible to deploy them all directly onto the invaded planet—they would overwhelm and destroy the planet itself. Instead, they began an external assault, using their ranged weapons to bombard the surface of the planet, targeting both the Avengers and the native defenders.
Darkseid himself, along with his elite forces, finally left Apokolips. As he entered the battlefield, the overwhelming pressure of his presence spread like a suffocating wave. Even Silver Surfer, who had been holding back for much of the battle, felt its weight.
The only one unaffected was Galantha, who had long grown accustomed to such oppressive auras. She remained unimpressed, refusing to be intimidated by the sheer magnitude of Darkseid's power.
"So there are two of you... and one of you carries the aura of a god," Darkseid remarked as his gaze swept across the battlefield. His eyes eventually landed on Galantha. "But you're not one of the Celestials, nor any higher deity I recognize. What are you?"
"Who are you calling a thing?" Galantha snapped back, glaring at Darkseid in annoyance.
"How dare you!" One of Darkseid's followers, a hulking, green-skinned monster clad in medieval armor and wielding a fiery scepter, roared in fury.
Before the monster could launch its attack, Hulk intervened, leaping forward to face the challenger head-on. Hulk had spent much of the battle mowing down Parademons and was eager for a real fight.
The two green titans collided with an explosive impact that sent shockwaves rippling through the area, obliterating nearby Parademons caught in the crossfire.
Their clash quickly began to move toward the planet's surface, their destructive power threatening to devastate the already fragile world.
"Hulk, take the fight to space!" Steve Rogers ordered through their comms.
"Got it!" Hulk roared in response, launching a powerful energy blast that sent his opponent hurtling into outer space. With a mighty leap, Hulk followed, determined to finish the fight away from the planet.
"You take care of the others," Darkseid said to his followers, sparing a glance at the retreating green monster. His tone was calm, yet his eyes gleamed with malice. "I'll handle the strongest ones myself."
Darkseid vanished from his position and reappeared behind Sentry, his movement so swift and precise that Sentry didn't have time to react.
With a deceptively casual motion, Darkseid threw a punch, aiming directly at Sentry's back.
Fortunately, Silver Surfer intervened. His board tilted upward, intercepting the blow.
CLANG!
The sound of the impact reverberated through the battlefield as Silver Surfer was sent flying, his board now sporting a deep dent. The force of Darkseid's punch not only knocked Silver Surfer away but also sent Sentry tumbling through the air.
"So strong!" Silver Surfer thought as he regained control of his flight, shock evident in his expression.
In all his encounters with powerful beings, even those of Sentry's caliber, none had been able to damage his board—a construct imbued with the power of Galactus. Yet Darkseid's strike had left a mark, something Silver Surfer thought impossible.
While Darkseid pressed his attack against Sentry and Silver Surfer, the Ancient One quietly arrived at the edge of the battlefield. She remained hidden but began channeling the power of the Time Stone, prepared to intervene if necessary.
Meanwhile, Robert, who had been observing from a distance, made his move. He teleported directly to Apokolips, bypassing its outer defenses and appearing within its core.
Without hesitation, Robert began gathering energy for a devastating attack, fully aware of Apokolips' immense durability.
"Alert! Alert!"
Alarms blared across Apokolips as Robert's energy attack reached critical mass. At the same time, Darkseid and his forces received word of the intrusion.
Darkseid's expression darkened. "So they're targeting Apokolips itself!" he growled, realizing the trap.
A portal opened before him, connecting directly to his homeworld. Darkseid prepared to step through, but before he could, Robert unleashed his attack.
BOOM!
The explosion obliterated Apokolips, tearing through the planet's defenses and reducing it to cosmic debris. The portal before Darkseid collapsed as his homeworld was annihilated.
A second portal opened near Darkseid, and he stepped through to find himself in the void where Apokolips once stood.
His eyes burned with fury as he gazed at the remnants of his once-mighty world. Apokolips, the cornerstone of his power, was no more.
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