Darkseid took a deep breath. He knew that now was not the right time to openly confront Batman. So he said, "Whether you believe it or not, this matter has nothing to do with me. Think carefully, Batman. Instead of keeping Green Lantern out of the shield and not letting them in, wouldn't it be better for me to directly make a move on you inside the shield? In the Apocalypse Domain, no one can stop me. I can seriously injure all of you in an instant. Why bother harassing Green Lantern to alert the snake?
"As for the escaping Guardians of the Galaxy, I admit, I never saw those few mice as significant figures. Would you care about the ants sneaking away at your feet? Besides, you locked them in prison, without even informing the other side that they had been captured. Isn't it because you thought this group wasn't important enough? It might even be beneficial if they escaped, possibly causing some trouble for the other side.
"I know you've never trusted me, and coincidentally, I don't trust you either. But from the current situation, the scales of victory have not tipped in our favor. If we turn against each other now, who stands to benefit the most?
"To be honest with you, someone has approached me before, but their offer wasn't nearly enough. Batman, I must remind you that it's not easy to bring out a bargaining chip that surpasses the combined wisdom of all Batmen in this world, which is why they resort to sowing discord. Don't fall for their tricks."
Primary Universe Batman's expression did not soften in the slightest. He looked at Darkseid and said, "Stop twisting the facts, Darkseid. The chip that could tempt you doesn't need to surpass our combined wisdom; it just needs to let you break free and advance into the multiverse on your own. What price did they offer you? A ticket to Battleworld? Or the ability to travel to other multiverses?"
Darkseid cursed inwardly. He was very sure that no one else knew about Mephisto's entrance and exit from the Apocalypse Domain, yet Batman had guessed the general situation based on a few words. It seems that the transaction with Mephisto needs to be planned for the long term, otherwise, Batman will surely meddle, and Darkseid may end up pleasing neither side.
"Alright, Batman, you just want to use this to make me bring out more power, right? Don't think I don't know. Not long after you arrived here, you spread out many chess pieces. Right now, it's just a superficial disadvantage. You'll overturn it sooner or later, so why be so aggressive?
"When I invited you over, you should have known what my intentions were. If you don't make a move now, there will come a day when you will." With a sweep of his cloak, Primary Universe Batman walked away.
Darkseid stared at his retreating back, his face darkening. He certainly knew what Batman meant. When they struck a deal, he knew Batman was not just borrowing his strength to deal with the others in the neighboring world, but also wanted to use the superheroes from the neighboring world to probe his capabilities.
Currently, Darkseid had only dispatched the Type Demons, but these things were limitless in number, and their deaths would not harm his core strength. Meanwhile, his Dark Elite, composed of people like Desaad and Kindly Granny, hadn't even been moved. How could Batman be satisfied?
It was true that Primary Universe Batman was suspicious, but it was also true that he wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble, pressuring Darkseid to show more of his true abilities. Darkseid calculated in his mind and eventually let out a cold snort.
"Desaad."
"At your service." The figure of Desaad, dressed in a red robe, appeared behind Darkseid.
"Deploy the Revenge Goddess Team to the front lines, tell Kindly Granny, do not concern yourself with those robots, order all members of The Avengers to be killed without exception!"
"Yes."
At the Asgard Base front lines, the stalemate in the battle finally showed signs of improvement with the retreat of Green Lantern. Without Green Lantern's suppression, members of The Avengers can even push back. Seeing the dawn, the Marvel people were giving it their all, desperately trying to repel the invaders.
On the eastern side of the defense line, in the darkness lacking mechanical light defenses, a ghost-like spaceship slowly approached. Several figures leaped from the spaceship, quietly moving along the defense line.
Main Universe Captain America was still wielding his shield, striking at the Type Demons. Lacking lethal means against these modified monsters, he could only use his shield to continuously repel them, leaving them for his teammates behind to deal with.
The one with the best synergy with Captain America was the Winter Soldier. The monsters repelled by the shield were directly shattered by the Winter Soldier's arm. Like Captain America, Howard had replaced most of the Winter Soldier's arms, granting his mechanical arm greater kinetic energy and thus making it more lethal.
Main Universe Captain America first used his shield to block the sprayed mucus, then flipped and knocked away the long-necked, four-winged monstrous bird. From another direction, Bucky lunged forward, seizing the bird's neck with his mechanical arm, pulling fiercely, his fingers tightening to crush its skull.
"Nice job!" praised Main Universe Captain America, though he didn't know which universe this Bucky came from, his timing was impeccable.
Just as Main Universe Captain America glanced over, the Winter Soldier suddenly froze. Painful expressions surfaced on his face, and a fierce flame suddenly ignited on him. Before he could even scream, he vanished from the battlefield in a flash of white light.
This was the first casualty in this battle. Main Universe Captain America was stunned, for he hadn't seen how Bucky died. His keen battle instincts kept him from rushing over, and instead, he activated the propulsion system on his shield to retreat.
Everything happened so fast that no one noticed. Even the rising white light on this side was thought to be some unfortunate soul not defending well against the Type Demons' attacks.
Despite appearing as cannon fodder, these monsters were incredibly lethal. Though the Winter Soldier was the first to exit, many others were also wounded on the field, including multiple injuries resulting in the retreat of even the magically and physically proficient Doctor Destruction. Ultimately, the disparity in physical qualities was too vast.
"Be careful," said Main Universe Captain America, "it seems these monsters have a new means of attack! Be vigilant!"
That's all he could advise because he hadn't seen clearly what was happening. The firelight could have been a bomb, flame thrower, or even some form of magic, leaving it impossible to predict or defend against.
No sooner had he spoken than another Captain America nearby suddenly froze, and like the previous Winter Soldier, was consumed in a burst of ash.
"Defend!! Stay on guard!!!" Main Universe Captain America's shout was heart-rending. Others also sensed something amiss, refraining from pushing forward and instead retreating to assume a defensive stance.
Center Universe Doctor Destruction narrowed his eyes. He sensed something wrong and said into the communication channel, "Activate the energy monitoring system! Keep an eye on the readings!"
All the Doctors of Destruction activated their monitoring systems, and the Iron Men who had just joined the battlefield switched on the battle armor's scanning mode, but they found no intense energy fluctuations.
In mere seconds, yet another Captain America fell victim. Then New Warriors Team's Nightingale incinerated into ashes right before Robert, who screamed in terror.
"Someone!" Squirrel Girl suddenly shouted, "I see someone, a woman in a green robe. She's holding a flaming dagger!!!"
"Where? Where is she?"
"I can't see anything!"
"My scanner shows nothing unusual!"
"Where is... uh!!!"
Just as they were searching for any anomalies, several bright streaks of blades flashed, and Iron Man's screams came through the communication channel. Near the eastern area, a white light flared up.
"Damn it, where is the enemy?!"
"It's a woman, it really is a woman!" someone else suddenly shouted, "With green hair, hands like Wolverine!"
"Ah!!!"
Immediately following was another scream, and someone else was yelling on the channel: "This time it's a person in white clothes! Holding a knife!"
Within just a few minutes, they had already lost five or six people. This made most people realize that the opposition might not be superheroes, but professional assassins.
Although many heroes don't have a no-kill principle, they are not bloodthirsty, often focusing on overpowering the opponent rather than achieving the efficiency of professional assassins, which is why fights rarely result in casualties.
But it's different if they're specialized killers. Assassins care about being concise and efficient, with no flashy combat moves, focusing on quick lethality. They train with this goal in mind, and over years it becomes instinctual, making their actions naturally straightforward and clean.
"Regroup!!!" the Main Universe Captain America shouted, "Don't be alone, don't give them a chance to strike!!!"
Everyone moved quickly to get close to their comrades, then retreated toward Captain America's direction. This strategy was indeed effective, as there were no further casualties before everyone successfully regrouped.
However, since this was a space battle, the defense was three-dimensional, and the enemies could attack from all three hundred and sixty-five degrees. If they clustered into a sphere, there was basically no defense to speak of. They had barely moved out of their mark points when the Demon-like Army already broke through the mechanical defense and forced their way in.
If this continued, within half an hour, the enemy would directly land, and the current base defense was already thin. If they allowed the Demon-like Army to land, it would be game over.
Stark's mind raced quickly. He shouted in the communication channel, "The one using flames probably can't penetrate mechanical defenses, hence they didn't attack Iron Man and Doctor Destruction. Those with claws can break through mecha defenses, so they target people in mechas. But they probably can't harm the God Clan, so the Asgardians haven't suffered any casualties."
Everyone suddenly remembered, Asgard still had a personal guard left there, but they had been defending on the west side and weren't with the superheroes.
"Goddess Queen, are you there?" Steve had already started communicating with them, saying, "We've encountered mysterious assassins on the battlefield, can you send someone over to help us?"
"Valkyrie will be there soon," Sif replied.
Soon, Valkyrie brought a small team of a dozen Asgardians to the superheroes' location. She scanned the surroundings but didn't see any assassins.
"Their invisibility skills are impressive," Main Universe Captain America said, "I witnessed the assassination at close range, but couldn't see much. We have to find a way to force them out."
"Spread out a bit," Stark said, "I can use the Magic Core for a magic burst, which should disrupt their invisibility field. However, it might also momentarily disable your shields and vitality fields."
"No problem, there are no completely ordinary people here, we can all hold on for a bit." Main Universe Captain America said.
Everyone spread out slightly, giving Stark space. Stark took out a core shimmering with magic light, reached for his own core, and forcefully inserted the Magic Core into his chest.
Buzz—
First a light vibration, then a roar began. Light enveloped Stark's entire body, then transformed into ripples that suddenly spread out.
Zzzt— zzzt— zztzzzt—
All electrical signals on site were disrupted, including even Charles's brainwaves. Communication equipment began emitting sharp screeching noises, and all fields instantly failed.
In that instant, several unfamiliar figures appeared on the battlefield.