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"Enough, if you want Lazarus Pit, I'll give it to you."
The Demon's Head had never compromised due to fear or anger, but now, out of concern, he couldn't help but give in.
"Do not threaten me with Talia!"
The person before him possessed terrifying abilities; his warriors and ninjas couldn't even put up a slight resistance against him.
He had never encountered such a formidable opponent before. There were few things he cared about in this world. Rarely did he feel unrest, but now it surged like a tide. He wasn't certain he could protect his daughter from this person's murderous intent.
"In the Rocky Mountains depths is a Lazarus Pit. You can get what you want from there."
With a humiliated expression, the Demon's Head provided coordinates.
In fact, Lazarus Pits weren't limited to one on Earth; he searched far and wide, establishing important bases.
The headquarters of his assassin alliance couldn't be disclosed to the person before him.
Otherwise, the organization he had painstakingly built over centuries could be destroyed with a wave of his hand.
"Take him with us, Clark."
Not intending to trust him easily, David handed the leader of the league over to Clark.
He didn't necessarily need the Lazarus Pit in the Middle East; as long as it had healing effects, it would suffice.
Getting the water closer and sooner would spare his father, Jonathan, from more harm.
"Where are you taking him?"
Batman broke through the ceiling, his bat wings extended, his deep voice resounding.
He looked at the somewhat embarrassed Ra's Al Ghul with complex emotions.
"I believe you are the true master ninja."
Ra's Al Ghul had been his mentor during his time training with the League of Shadows. He had taught him many things, even hiding his true identity behind a mask, becoming an enigmatic figure that inspired fear. This was what he taught, and he was both teacher and friend back then.
"The ninja master in the monk disguise is just your puppet."
"No, when I'm not around, he is indeed the ninja master."
Ra's Al Ghul gazed at his most accomplished disciple with a touch of nostalgia.
From the lower half of his face that he recognized, he knew this was his former student. He had also long suspected the identity of the bat that had recently appeared in Gotham.
"You've truly followed what I taught you, concealing your vulnerability behind a mask."
"That's enough, the conversation ends here. If he didn't deceive me, I would spare his life and bring him to you for judgment."
Anxious to help, David furrowed his brow, not intending to give this teacher and student more time to reminisce.
This time, Batman assisted him by providing a lead.
With that, he and Clark disappeared from the scene, taking Ra's Al Ghul to the Rocky Mountains.
...
The Rocky Mountains, often called the spine of North America, stretched for thousands of kilometers from north to south, composed of numerous named and unnamed ranges.
The air was thin in an unnamed branch of the Rocky Mountains, at an altitude of over two thousand meters.
A stone palace stood at the peak of a mountain, covered in white snow.
Swoosh!
David and Clark, along with the demon lord, suddenly appeared. A gust of wind blew snowflakes behind them.
"We're here."
"I saw a pool at the bottom of the palace."
Using his X-ray vision, Clark saw a pool-like area at the bottom of the stone palace, guarded by many people.
Getting the water would mean saving his father.
However, David wasn't that naïve to believe that seeing a pool meant it was the Lazarus Pit. He turned his cold gaze to Ra's Al Ghul, who was astonished at arriving here so quickly and warned once more.
"You better not have deceived me. Otherwise, you should prepare a coffin for your daughter in advance."
Dozens of ninja and samurai assassins leaped swiftly from the stone palace, surrounding the two, ready for a fierce battle.
David glanced at the tiny cameras hidden between the branches of the tall snow pines around them and looked away.
"You're quite advanced here."
"Step aside, all of you."
Despite the shock still lingering on Ra's Al Ghul's face, he ordered the ninja, observing the familiar surroundings. A storm surged within him.
It was hard to fathom where these two had come from, crossing over a thousand kilometers from Gotham to the Rocky Mountains in less than half an hour.
One person could be believed in a stretch, but the fact that both possessed this unimaginable power was astonishing.
"Who exactly are you? Where did you come from?
I have traveled all over the world, encountering things ordinary people can hardly imagine.
But I have never seen or heard of your existence."
"You don't need to know all of that."
Ignoring the assassins who holstered their weapons but still kept a watchful eye on them, David and Clark led the Demon's Head to the depths of the palace.
A cave-built chamber came into view, containing a pool with a deep green hue.
In the dim light, the eerie green water made Clark's face turn slightly green. He disliked the color green, and it instinctively made him feel uneasy. He looked at his brother.
"Is this really the pool with all those miraculous effects that you mentioned?"
It didn't look much like the fountain of rejuvenation that could bring the dead back to life. It seemed more like something produced by a demon.
"Is this the Lazarus Pit?"
David furrowed his brow; this was his first encounter with a pool that supposedly granted resurrection. He crouched down, placing his hand into the pool, and replied to Clark.
"Of course, it's not ideal. The Lazarus Pit can heal all wounds, revive the dead, and grant eternal life. But if used excessively, it exacts a corresponding price. For instance, driving a person mad—what goes in good comes out bad."
Ra's Al Ghul looked at his own reflection in the pool and sneered.
He had long known about the pit's mental erosion effects. However, he didn't believe he could be changed. It was all his choice.
"Huh?"
Clark looked at his brother with astonishment, puzzled by the new information that he hadn't provided in advance.
"Stop thinking nonsense, my brother."
Letting Clark take out the plastic water container he was carrying and asking him to fill it, David got up, swinging his hand over the pool water that didn't seem to emit any energy.
"You should know that drinking too much water can also lead to poisoning and death."
In some comics, it's said that the Pool of Lazarus is due to impure Dionysian Factor - a liquid metal that grants immortality and eternal youth, some say it comes from magical energy, hence these abilities.
'I'm not sure about the other pools, but this one seems to come from the Dionysian Factor.'
Looking at the emerald pool water, his gaze slightly narrowed, suddenly having an idea.
Even if his ability to manipulate energy hasn't reached its peak yet, and he can't absorb magical energy, his sensitivity to energy is unparalleled.
'Perhaps it could evoke the darker side of people with negative emotions...'
But with formulating the dosage, this thing can be used unscrupulously; even if you avoid soaking in any of these pools, in this world, if someone has been having a bad day, they might turn into crazed clowns.
Moreover, humans naturally generate negative emotions; if they're not intense, like a momentary sadness or annoyance, they are quickly forgotten.
Clark hesitated thinking about the negative consequences but decided to listen to his younger brother. He had no other way to save their father.
'Better than the outcome of Dad dying from poison.'
After filling a water container of half his height with the pool water,
"We can go back now."
Clark glanced at Ra's Al Ghul with some concern. His brother had him wear a blue hood to hide his identity, so he never used David's name or mentioned that they were trying to save their father in front of anyone.
"Wait a moment."
With some of the pool water saved for insurance, David could now try something bold.
He shot lasers from his eyes, into the pool water.
The emerald pool water began evaporating rapidly.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to destroy it?"
A bright light lit up the dim stone chamber, and Ra's Al Ghul's face turned ugly with shock. Even though he controlled more than one Pool of Lazarus, being captured, and forced to reveal a pool's location was shameful enough. Now, they were destroying his Pool of Lazarus right in front of him.
But he sensibly refrained from doing anything drastic.
Clark looked puzzled at David's actions.
"If you don't want to be buried here, keep your mouth shut!"
David emitted terrifying cosmic energy from his eyes, heating the pool water to boiling point.
The DC universe has various miraculous metals, such as N-Metal, Amber Gold, etc. The Dionysian Factor is named after the Greek god Dionysus, representing rebirth.
The pure Dionysian Factor allows for rebirth, immortality, and eternal life, all without driving people insane.
'With pure Dionysian Factor, Father's recovery would be more secure.'
And besides...
'With the Dionysian Factor, an incident like today won't happen again.'
David gritted his teeth. He was ready to face demons in hell to save his parents' lives.
But, if possible, why not eliminate the possibility in advance?
The pool, over ten meters wide, was evaporated within a breath, leaving molten earth and stone, turning into boiling magma, filling the chamber with the pungent smell of sulfur.
But David didn't stop, increasing the energy output.
The air in the chamber became thin. Ra's Al Ghul couldn't breathe and had to turn and flee.
At the bottom of the pool, a magma pool of more than ten meters was formed. The target of his lasers had been heated to a temperature exceeding the surface temperature of the sun, to thousands of degrees, and it was still rising.
Terrible heat radiated, covering the entire building and only Clark could withstand the temperature now. If Ra's Al Ghul hadn't left earlier, he would have turned into ashes right now.
Still not seeing any signs of the metal, David frowned.
'Could it be that the Dionysian Factor in this pool forms very rarely or has it sunk to the bottom of the magma?'
Just when he started doubting and wanted to give up.
At the bottom of the pool, a puddle of iridescent 'liquid' gathered like it had a life, forming a thumb-sized liquid metal floating on the magma, distinctly separated like oil and water.
David's expression brightened, and he rushed onto the magma. At his incredible speed, the magma beneath his feet was as solid as the ground. He picked up the deep green liquid metal and returned to his spot.
Sizzle!
Feeling that the Dionysian Factor in his hand wanted to enter his body, David instantly cut a stone test tube with an energy beam and placed it inside. He shook it and ensured that there was no leakage.
"Is this what you wanted, David?"
Clark walked over, his face puzzled, examining the contents of the test tube.
"What's it for?"
"It's safer to use this to save Dad."
David's eyes glinted with a strange light as he tightly held the test tube.
"Now, let's go back."
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