Multiverse: Deathstroke-Chapter 477: Tears of Extinction

The air in the tomb carried the stench of decay, a desolate feeling that surged forth as if all life had been swept away by the yellow sands, leaving nothing behind. The surrounding ruins and broken walls only further proved that time would take everything, leaving nothing in its wake.

Mera stared at the Godhorn in her hand—it no longer glowed.

She didn't know what she could still find here. A truth? Or perhaps a weapon that would just as easily poison her?

Buried beneath the yellow sands for tens of thousands of years, the tomb's overall structure remained intact. But when someone had beaten them to this place, everything became uncertain.

Barry rubbed his half-fish face, unsure of what to say.

He watched Mera's expression shift constantly—first confusion, then a flush of red, then turning deathly pale.

It felt like stumbling upon someone else's secret, leaving him a little awkward.

He wasn't a follower of any gods. Even the word "God" rarely crossed his lips. Back in the day, if he had the effort to utter those two syllables, he'd rather spend it running a few extra steps.

But now, standing before a corridor so deep it seemed endless, the torch in his hand offered only a faint light, flickering as though it might go out at any moment.

It reminded him of their current predicament.

Was it a bit too late to call on the name of God now?

Mera pressed her lips together, staying silent for a moment before continuing deeper into the tomb.

Whether it was the truth or not, it didn't matter anymore. Now that they'd come this far, even if the mistake had originally been Earth's fault, surrender wasn't an option.

What else could they do? Just let themselves turn into fish?

The only way forward was to find the weapon in Arian's hands—the Tears of Extinction—and use it to defeat the alien sea gods once more, cutting the problem off at the root.

If anyone was to blame, it was Poseidon. But that god was already dead, so what could be done?

As Earth creatures caught in the crossfire of the alien sea gods' wrath, rebellion was their only path.

Superman shared a similar mindset. You got screwed over by Earth's sea tribes tens of thousands of years ago and now you've come knocking? Fine.

Demanding some compensation—be it an apology or material reparations—was fair enough. But invasion? That left no room for negotiation. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Especially flooding the Earth and turning humans into fish—who was going to pay for that damage?

So Clark, born on Krypton but raised in Kansas, had already slotted these alien sea gods into the "enemy" category.

Truth be told, the alien sea gods hadn't avoided negotiating with Earthlings. But the first person they contacted was Lex Luthor. With his bald head and silver tongue in full force, the sea gods immediately mistook the Doom Legion for humanity's representatives—their allies.

Luthor declared himself the God of Humanity, telling them he deeply sympathized with their plight. He said he, too, was fed up with Poseidon.

With Earth's intelligent population numbering seven or eight billion, he told them, "Go ahead and kill as many as you like. Kill until you're satisfied, until you've vented your anger, and then we'll call it even, alright?"

And he'd even hand over Earth's oceans entirely, giving the alien sea gods a new home.

He promised to help the sea gods save their people, then split the Tears of Extinction fifty-fifty—starting by offing a Poseidon to show good faith.

But he'd need some help in return. Mutual benefit, and afterward, they'd all be good friends.

The three sea gods listened and thought, This deal... it's got some real sincerity.

And this hairless deity just happened to have a plan that sounded incredibly feasible.

Thus, everything that happened before came to pass.

"Look! The main tomb chamber's door!"

Barry raised the torch a little higher, letting Mera see the end of the passage ahead.

It was another stone door, but the gold plating had almost entirely peeled away, leaving only weathered stone reliefs.

It was a statue of Arian, one hand holding a torch, the other raising the Godhorn, standing at the bow of a ship gazing into the distance.

The sea breeze lifted his hair and cape, making him appear full of hope and longing for the future.

But Mera only found it ironic. This explorer's fate wasn't what the sculpture depicted.

Arian wasn't the only one deceived by gods, and there'd be no shortage of others to follow.

Yet Mera hadn't noticed that now the gods had become mortals. The topplers wouldn't acknowledge whatever witch Hecate had once appointed as Earth's overseer.

A massive stone door like this was beyond Mera and Barry's strength. Only Superman, his power greatly diminished, could slowly pry it open.

Even Superman felt the strain. In this state, pushing open a door was like moving the moon in his prime.

But as fine sand and dust kept falling, accompanied by a grinding "ka-ka-ka-ka" sound, the door finally opened.

Inside the tomb, Arian's bones lay scattered across the throne like trash, his clothes thoroughly rummaged through—clearly already searched.

"Damn it, the thing's gone."

If the murals were correct, Arian had died from poison after blowing the conch with his mouth. That meant the Tears of Extinction should have pooled in his skull.

But now the skull was missing.

Just then, a dull voice came from behind them.

"Darling, are you looking for this?"

The trio turned, but in the darkness, they could only see two large red dots. That was enough—the unique eye shape was unmistakable.

"Black Manta!"

Without a word, Mera roared and swung her Hard-Water Sword at the enemy. This was the guy—Atlantis's sworn foe.

But Barry was faster. He stopped Mera, pulling her back in a swift retreat.

When they steadied themselves, they saw the path Mera had charged toward was instantly flooded with purple seawater.

A trap—but Barry had yanked her back from it.

From behind Black Manta stepped Ocean Master and a shrunken Flood Demon.

That liquid-formed monster trailed its master like an oversized pet, spewing vast amounts of mutation-inducing seawater.

Had Mera taken one more step, she'd be a fish right now.

Black Manta clicked his tongue, sounding a little disappointed. Across the barrier of purple water, he raised a skull glowing with black light.

"I got here first. You're too dumb. Once we found the coordinates, Flood Demon's teleportation dropped us right into the main chamber. There's nothing left for you here—only extinction! And the oceans? Time for a new ruler."

"No chance! You'll just be a mad dictator!" Mera couldn't reach him, so she could only shout in fury.

"Wrong! You're the dictators! You forced fear of the oceans on everyone, but that's over. Me and my new pals are gonna change everything. Soon, I'll be the new King of the Seven Seas. As for you and your crew, you can eat my freshly dropped shit!"

Ocean Master nodded in approval. This fit perfectly with the new sea gods' usual tactics, and it pleased him.

"Well said, new Sea King. Now, how do you plan to deal with this trash?"

"Drown them, of course, Commander Ocean Master. Drown them all!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Ocean Master was delighted. He raised his hands to the collar around his neck, and the Flood Demon behind him instantly swelled countless times larger, smashing through the roof.

In the distance, a purple tsunami surged toward them, pouring into the tomb within this canyon.

Of course, Flood Demon also teleported in Earth's fishman army—former heroes, now grotesque fish mutants. Perfect cannon fodder.

Because Superman and the others couldn't bring themselves to kill them, they could only take the hits.

Soon, things turned grim. At Barry's warning, they fell back to the main chamber's door. It was narrow enough to hold.

But they wouldn't last long. They were relying on Mera's Hard-Water Barrier to fend off the external purple seawater, and Superman's strength was nearly spent.

Their attackers were once Earth's heroes—fishified Zatanna, Firestorm, Captain Atom, and a slew of familiar and less familiar faces.

If not for Barry's Speed Force letting him fight like a hundred men, they'd already be dead. But this effort was speeding up his own fishification.

Black Manta and Ocean Master stood with arms crossed, watching from the sidelines, their shaking shoulders suggesting laughter.

Mera glanced around, holding the barrier while searching for one last shred of hope.

Black Manta held Arian's head, brimming with Tears of Extinction. It didn't look like he'd blown the conch's tears out—it was more like he'd drunk them.

If her guess was right—

Sure enough, Arian had been a hero. He'd rebelled against Poseidon, though too late.

Maybe after blowing out some of the toxic water and seeing the alien sea gods' shocked looks, he'd realized the truth. But Poseidon's control was too strong, so he chose to gulp down all the Tears of Extinction himself.

He succeeded. The sea gods weren't poisoned and survived to be imprisoned by Poseidon.

But Arian died—died resisting Poseidon.

That resistance gave Mera a chance.

On Arian's spine, Mera sensed a different flow of sea energy. A liquid laced with faint black threads was seeping from the joints of his spine, soaked in purple water.

The Tears of Extinction were most concentrated in the skull, but they also lingered in his neck and upper chest vertebrae.

As his flesh decomposed, the venom naturally clung to the nearest bones.

Though Arian died instantly upon drinking it, he'd swallowed a bit.

Mera thrust her Hard-Water Sword into the gaps of the remains' spine and swiped. In an instant, the once pale-blue, translucent blade turned pitch black.

A cold, desolate aura shot straight to her core.

She knew she had the weapon. The murals outside had tipped her off—thanks to Zatanna's literary education.

"No! Manta! You told me all the tears were taken!" Ocean Master saw Mera's move and the weapon in her hand.

He felt a chill. With a speedster on their side and now a god-killing weapon, this fight shouldn't go on.

That blackness made Ocean Master recall the pain from ten thousand years ago. He couldn't match it.

Black Manta shrugged. Who knew there'd be more in Arian's spine? Besides, Luthor's plan didn't account for this—

Mera looked at Barry. After a brief pause, he placed a hand on her shoulder. Golden lightning surged through her, lighting up the entire tomb.