The week of training with two-thirds of the Furies helped not only them. Darkseid himself had found a glaring issue in his fighting. He still hadn't found himself a weapon.
During his spars with Barda and Aurelie, he would often find himself outranged against Barda's long mace, while also simultaneously unable to parry Aurelie's daggers.
The issue was a persistent nuisance, forcing him to be more creative in his fighting. He had his speed and agility to mitigate this disadvantage, but more often than not, it would force him to take a risk or leave him with only one choice of response.
In the real fight, he would have his Omega beams and the other powers that the Omega Realm had granted him, but in a situation that required non-lethal force, like during a training session, he ended up stuck waiting for his opponent's moves before taking action.
Fortunately, his meta-knowledge gave him an answer to his dilemma. An answer that was much needed, as in the original timeline, he didn't find the answer to this problem and resorted to unarmed combat.
Darkseid had scoured the history of numerous universes before finding the answer. Most of the weapons that existed out there in the omniverse were not accessible from this side of the Source Wall that divided this world from the omniverse.
Some weapons required specific resources, like Kyber crystals, mithril or Valyrian steel, resources that had mystic or magical properties besides their physical ones that allowed for the better performance of the weapon made from said materials.
The only metal that was close to the qualities of the aforementioned ones was the Nth Metal from the planet Thanagar. Not only was it durable, but it also had gravity-defying properties and slight morphing powers, allowing for a flexible use in weapons and armour.
For now, Nth metal was outside of Darkseid's reach. The Thanagar Empire was far away on the other side of the universe. It would take decades of expansion before he would be able to access that corner of space.
The answer that Darkseid had found was actually from the same universe Hogyoku originated in. A so-called Zanpakuto, a weapon that is linked to the soul of its wielder, and as a result, is the perfect reflection of the owner's character and powers. It's a perfect weapon for anyone, unless you are not comfortable with your own self. The zanpakuto itself is not just a weapon; it also possesses a will and a soul. A unique concept that intrigues Darkseid very much. Even if it had not been the perfect answer to his problem, Darkseid wanted the weapon just out of interest. What would his ideal weapon look like? What power would it have? He couldn't help fantasising about it.
Zanpakuto was created from an Asauchi, a nameless and powerless sword that is then infused with the owner's soul power. Normally, that process was done by the trainees over a long period of time, sometimes decades long. Most of the warriors from that universe never reached the true potential of their weapons.
Darkseid was hoping to reach it in a short period of time. Soon, he would need to fight a mighty foe, one that was on par with him. He couldn't allow for such a major weakness as a lack of a weapon to stop him from implementing his plan in life.
It has been a week since the training with the Furies had started, and it was now officially over. He had a lull in his schedule before the next part of the plan would commence, so he had time to acquire and train with his new weapon.
Darkseid was now once again standing before the Gates to the Omniverse that he had built some time ago. The usage of them required immense energy reserves, something that he was able to top up ahead of schedule with the sudden partnership with Terra.
The main resource that they were acquiring from Terra in their trade relations was energy, something that he had made sure of in his conversation with Drax.
Previously, he had used almost all of their energy reserves on summoning Hogyoku; now they had approximately one twentieth of that. Although it should be enough to summon an asauchi, something that lacked power or importance.
He pressed a couple of keys on the control panel, typing in the necessary coordinates of the universe that he needed. Then, in the list that had appeared on the display, he typed out asauchi and searched for it. It was a massive list of names that contained everything from items and equipment to characters and named weapons.
The machine started sparkling and humming with energy, and a small people vortex had appeared inside the tunnel. A pop had declared the end of the summoning, and the lone sword was left in the wake of the portal.
It was a swift and effective process that he had found quite satisfying to look at. He loved things like that, strong, pretty and mightily effective.
He picked up the sword from the metal floor of the machine. Now it was time to train with it. And he knew just the place.
***
Dawn's Maw was a legendary place amongst the citizens of Apokolips. The deepest point of the planet's surface and also the hottest place was rich with stories and legends about travellers and gods. Most of them ended up in the Maw, swallowing the antagonist of the story.
Here, in clouds of sulfur dust and smoke from the largest lava lake, Darkseid planned to meet and try out his new weapon. As a ruler of Apokolips and as a being vowed and sworn to its protection, he was granted its blessing as his soul became intertwined with the planet. That made Dawn's Maw a perfect place to form a bond with an asauchi.
He stepped right into the fiery bottomless pit of lava, step by step, he dived deeper into the inferno until he was covered substantially by the lava above him.
Lava here felt different. It was infused by the very essence of the planet, its life-force, its blood. The warmth he felt from its embrace tickled his skin; it entered his body, slipping through his orifices, but somehow it felt… pleasant, like he was at home, welcomed.
His armor vanished in the fires of the inferno, and he felt purified. His senses lulled, he fell into a heightened state of nirvana.
Asauchi in his hands, a blackened from fire blade, hummed with hunger. The sword had no master, no will of its own yet. To awaken it, he had to bond with it, fuse his being with the blank canvas that was this weapon. He needed to become whole again.
He felt it, the whispers of the weapon, and his own yearning for power. And then he poured himself into an empty vessel of the asauchi.
The process that followed right after was agony and triumph in equal measure.
The weapon screamed, not out loud but within his mind, as purple energy exited his body and surged into the metal. The blade began emanating heat so intense it should have reduced flesh to ash. The blade was still not his; it challenged him to a battle of wills, it wanted to know his worthiness.
Darkseid gritted his teeth and pressed his palm to the molten steel, forcing his essence into it. Shadows erupted around him. Deep purple shadows that shouldn't exist in the depths of lava started twisting around his body, struggling, trying to wrestle the weapon out of his hands. He tightened his grip, not letting the tendrils do as they wanted.
After some time, they had changed their tactic, piercing through his body – neck, stomach, and head. It invaded his soul, trying to overtake his being in a violent insurgency. Pain ripped through his soul and body, tearing at every fibre of his being.
For a measly instant, he felt his own will slipping and weakening. But he was a tyrant, a god who had crushed planets with his bare arms, a man who ripped his enemies apart like the useless meat they were.
The steel pillar of his will snapped back into its place, stronger, darker. The sword drank deep of his essence: fire and shadow. His rage. His cruelty. His authority. And it gave something in return.
The lake of lava rose higher, as if acknowledging its master's conquest. It healed his wounds; his flesh torn from the tendrils' assault was instantly restored in the fiery pits of the planet's inferno. He almost didn't want to leave; he felt at home here, and he could spend eternity here basking in the warmth of the planet's core.
But he needed to, so he did.
When he rose, the blade was no longer blackened steel — it was alive, its edges glowing like molten rock, veins of dark energy pulsing along its surface. It was also no longer a blade, nor a sword.
It was a polearm, and at the end of it was a long, one-sided blade. The blade was massive, easily twice the size of his palm in width, and twice that length. At the other side of the blade, there were multiple thorns and barbs designed to damage the insides of the enemy, then pulled out. It was a brutal and heavy weapon, one that breathed with power.
He swung it. The air itself shuddered, the clouds of sulfur dispersed with a gust of wind and energy. A massive kilometre-wide blade of energy took off in the direction of his strike, purple iridescent energy bubbled with triumph of power and might, and then it landed on a nearby wall of stone and rubble that led to the surface.
But it left no trace of itself, safely dispersing into nothing. The weapon, like its owner, refused to hurt the planet that they had sworn to protect.
Now the weapon was bound. To him, and only him. A tyrant's soul forged into steel. Darkseid looked at the blade, feeling its weight, its hunger, its obedience. His lips curved into a smile.
"At last," he murmured. "A weapon worthy of my hand."
He broke into laughter, the joy of creation, the triumph he felt at that moment would shadow all his previous accomplishments.
"What do I call you, my friend?" he addressed the weapon in his arms.
"Call me Noctyrn".