"We had no idea Superman would get into trouble. We've gotten used to the idea that Superman could solve any extraordinary event in the material plane…" Seeing that Robert had a hint of reproach, Constantine opened his mouth and said with a somewhat regretful expression.
"When Baron Mordo sent you over, the fire circle teleportation gate was shattered by the power of the Space Stone. We tried to track where you went, but couldn't find any trace…"
"Afterward, we could only head to the battlefield near Doomsday, but Doomsday was too powerful. Even Superman and the others couldn't contain him. The Mirror Dimension couldn't even be opened…"
"Then we noticed the signs of Hell demons. We were worried that they might use the opportunity with so many lost souls to attack the Earth's dimension, so we had to deal with the Hell demons first…"
"We didn't expect anything to happen to Superman, especially after his fall. It was as if all these dimensions had caught wind of it in advance. They appeared outside the Earth's dimension and started attacking the temple's barrier. Later, you came back to help push them back…"
Hearing Constantine's explanation, Robert gradually understood what had been happening on Earth. It wasn't that Kamar-Taj hadn't played a role in the events; rather, this was just how Kamar-Taj always operated.
Kamar-Taj would assist in material plane extraordinary events whenever possible, but if dimensional matters arose, they had to prioritize dealing with those first.
And most importantly, Kamar-Taj hadn't acted any differently in this case than in previous extraordinary events. In the past, their apprentices were mainly there to assist, perhaps opening the Mirror Dimension to minimize damage to Earth, but otherwise, they mainly watched from the sidelines.
This time, they simply couldn't open the Mirror Dimension. This wasn't the first time that had happened, and even if the apprentices had joined the battle against Doomsday, it wouldn't necessarily have saved Clark's life. After all, no one anticipated that Doomsday would be Kryptonian's bane…
"I understand now. If anything comes up with the dimensions again, let me know. If you have any methods to enhance your power, try to boost it. Only a few dimensions have signed a contract promising not to attack the Earth while I'm here, but others could still act, so stay alert. At least hold on until I can get there…" Robert sighed and said to Constantine and the others.
Right now, Kamar-Taj had a serious issue: there wasn't anyone strong enough to take the lead. Doom and Constantine had more talent than Baron Mordo, but they were still far from the level of the Ancient One. They couldn't even qualify for a direct confrontation with the Hell Lords.
Even against the weakest of the Hell Lords, they needed the temple's formations to survive. This was without the more powerful Lords of various dimensions making a move…
Of course, the reason those dimensions hadn't sent stronger leaders was simple: they wanted to test the waters. With the Ancient One gone and Clark dead, they wanted to see if there were any remaining guardians for Earth's dimension.
Instead of sneaking into Earth's dimension, where their powers would be suppressed, it was safer to send cannon fodder to directly attack the temple's barrier. If they could break through, great; if not, they hadn't lost much!
Even if Robert ended up intervening and was labeled the Earth's new protector, the loss to these dimensions wasn't significant. Aside from the Alien Dimension and Gian Vito, the Hell Lord, they hadn't lost much. Even the death of a Corruption Dimension Lord was within acceptable limits…
In fact, they could mount a dozen more similar attacks. As long as Robert didn't bombard their home dimensions, they wouldn't lose much.
And if the dimensions had worked together, they could've kept attacking Earth while Robert was distracted by another dimension. After all, Robert was just one person. No matter how powerful or destructive he was, how many dimensions could he defend simultaneously?
Even if he could attack each invading dimension, the time between each would still leave a gap…
"It won't be that easy!" Constantine sighed in frustration after hearing Robert's words. Even though his strength had greatly increased since joining Kamar-Taj, he was still far from being able to defend Earth on his own.
Though his style somewhat resembled the Ancient One's, it was well-known that the other dimensions had long memorized the Ancient One's tactics. It was impossible for Constantine to follow in the same footsteps. He would have to find his own way of deception and trickery to try and steal power from the dimensions…
"Do your best. I need to investigate the real cause of Superman's death!" Robert patted Constantine on the shoulder, his eyes flickering with cold intent as he vanished instantly.
"Looks like someone's in trouble. Well, not my problem. I'd better…" Constantine muttered subconsciously before realizing this wasn't his magic base. He wisely shut his mouth.
"Can we use the Reality Stone's power?" Doom's eyes lit up as he spoke, clearly thinking along the same lines as Constantine. He turned to the many Kamar-Taj apprentices and said, "This incident has shown us that we don't have enough power to defend the Earth dimension. Even with the Saiyans as external allies, they have their own material plane problems to deal with. If both sides encounter issues at the same time, the Saiyans can't support both fronts!"
"What are you suggesting?" Baron Mordo frowned and stared at Doom.
"My suggestion is simple: we use the Reality Stone together to enhance our strength. We don't need to increase our power by much—just to our individual limits. The backlash should be bearable if we each share it…" Doom said calmly, scanning the group. Many of the apprentices' eyes began to light up with interest.
It was clear that many of them were tempted by the Reality Stone. After all, they had just survived a battle against dimensional invaders. If Robert hadn't come to their aid, their lives would have been forfeit. Even if they were dedicated to protecting Earth's dimension, experiencing such a life-and-death situation had likely changed their outlook.
"Hmm…" Even Baron Mordo and Kaecilius exchanged hesitant glances, unsure of what to say.
"But the Reality Stone belongs to the Saiyans. Before this, he's been studying its power…" Wong reminded them.
"So what? Didn't the Saiyan suggest we increase our strength? Besides, he hasn't forbidden us from using the Reality Stone, has he?" Doom replied.
"That's true. As long as we put it back afterward, there shouldn't be any problems…" Baron Mordo nodded, seemingly persuading himself.
The Kamar-Taj apprentices were trying to rationalize their actions. They knew it wasn't right to use the Reality Stone lightly, especially since it was Robert's trophy. But with him gone, borrowing it for a while wouldn't hurt, right?
They weren't planning on keeping the Reality Stone for themselves. Even Doom didn't have such a thought. They just wanted to boost their strength to better defend Earth's dimension.
After all, the dark elves who once had the Reality Stone weren't a match for Robert, and the apprentices knew they couldn't beat Robert, no matter what. He was much stronger now.
Robert, unaware of what was happening at Kamar-Taj, wouldn't have minded. As long as the apprentices didn't stir up any trouble with the Reality Stone, their gaining strength would be good for Earth's defense.
At that moment, Robert returned to the Avengers' base. Although the Avengers had been planning to track down Batman for clues about Kryptonite, they hadn't fully recovered from their injuries. Both the Avengers and Batman had things to deal with after this crisis.
After all, Gotham was one of the hardest-hit places. Even if Batman had secrets, they'd have to wait until Gotham was stabilized.
"Saiyan!" As soon as Robert appeared, Diana and Kara rushed to his side. Kara asked with concern, "Are you alright? Where did you go? I didn't see you after…"
"The dimensions were in trouble. I just finished driving them back." Robert shook his head and briefly explained what had happened between the dimensions and why they attacked.
"That mastermind is truly Earth's enemy!" Tony Stark's eyes flashed coldly. "If you hadn't returned in time, not only would we have been unable to defeat Doomsday, but the dimensional beings would have invaded Earth. Where would ordinary people have been able to live?"
The Avengers were furious. They could imagine what Earth would have looked like if the attack had succeeded. With various dimensions carving out territories and Doomsday rampaging, humanity would have had no chance of survival.
Sure, humanity was resilient and could survive even in harsh conditions, but only if there was a sliver of hope. If gods and demons fought constantly, with even the smallest clash being world-ending, how could humans or animals survive? Earth would become a lifeless hell, with demons running rampant…
"So, what exactly happened this time?" Robert turned to Tony Stark and asked.
"I've gathered all the data. Some of it was recorded by J.A.R.V.I.S., and some is testimony turned into video…" Tony handed Robert the compiled information. He had been working hard to piece together clues after Superman and Martian Manhunter's deaths.
"Martian Manhunter is dead too? What a plan! If he hadn't died, this plot wouldn't have succeeded so easily…" Robert's eyes gleamed coldly as he watched the footage.
If Martian Manhunter had been alive, the fight against Doomsday would have been much easier. Doomsday didn't seem to have a way to counter Martian Manhunter's abilities, and Martian Manhunter's mental attacks would have been highly effective.
"It seems
like the enemy knows us very well. They even knew Martian Manhunter's weaknesses. How long have they been watching us? And this Kryptonite… where did it come from?" Robert muttered, staring at the footage. But when he saw Batman launch a Kryptonite weapon at both Clark and Doomsday, a flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes!
Even though the footage explained that everyone assumed Doomsday, being a Kryptonian monster, would fear Kryptonite, Robert couldn't accept that Batman had used it.
After all, if Batman hadn't fired the Kryptonite weapon, Clark wouldn't have completely lost his powers. Even if Doomsday still had the upper hand, Clark wouldn't have died so easily. As long as they had held out long enough for Jor-El to use the Space Stone to locate Robert, Clark wouldn't have suffered so much!
So, even though there was hope for Clark's recovery, Robert still harbored killing intent. Especially since Batman had Kryptonite!
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