Shillar really resonated with a remark that Red Hood had once made about Bruce – "He's a little too trendy" – he felt very much the same at that moment, just like that remark had once upon a time.
Somehow, Shillar had ended up with the exceptionally cool Artifact Shredder. The man had no idea how. In the same vein, Bruce had gotten the over hundred shards that Shillar collected for the KGB.
He had also not a clue how God fell into a panicked retreat from the theater in the Shillar Thinking Hall, or how the shredder had ended up in Gotham University's office. Similarly, he was clueless as to how Victor and Anna burned through their yearly vacation all at once and fled Gotham, and hadn't shown up in the university's office for a whole month afterward.
Before Bruce took his leave, Shillar asked him a question: "Why do you want to collect all the Eclipse Fragments?"
Bruce only hugged the box of shards and smiled, saying, "Like I told you, the essence of manipulation is love."
Upon returning to Wayne Manor, Bruce brought all the shards to the batcave on the outskirts of the city. Instead of rushing to put all the shards together, he began to draw a magic array on the ground using magical materials he had prepared in advance.
However, after the magic array was complete, he didn't put energy into it. Instead, he began toying with all the shards.
The Dark Heart shards instinctively attracted each other. Bruce didn't have to consciously assemble them; he just piled them up and the numerous similarly shaped black diamonds started changing and slowly piecing together.
Because Bruce had filled the entire room with magic arrays, no matter how the black diamonds assembled. As soon as the last core fragment flew out and was inserted into the center of the black diamond. When the Dark Heart was fully assembled, an earth-shattering power burst out.
It was full of infinite anger, reminding anyone of rampant thunder and terrifying floods, but Bruce remained unmoved. He simply stood still, watching the black fog at the center.
Just as the Dark Heart released its power, the array under Bruce's feet automatically absorbed the effused energy and emitted a sort of soft radiance, binding the Dark Heart.
"Release me, human! Unseal me and let me bring anger back to the world!" A roar of fury came.
"I can see the unparalleled fury in your heart; the death of your parents makes you full of resentment towards this world. You should release the anger in your heart..."
"My dad is at work."
These words rendered the Sky Corrosion silent for eighteen seconds.
Once said, Bruce no longer paid attention to the Dark Heart and redirected his attention to another room to draw the magic array.
He carefully drew out a silver, very complex magic array, and then fetched a drawer of magic tools stolen from mages by the thieves of Gotham.
Bruce began to imbue the magic array with the power of each item, using an exponential growth rune to double the energy. As the array spun, the holy light in the room became more intense. After an unbelievable shriek, a dumbstruck Gabriel appeared at the center of the array.
Upon seeing Bruce's face, Gabriel instinctively widened his eyes. He ignored all the previous grudges, and in disbelief, he yelled, "You summon angels so casually? What if I was taking a bath?!"
"I have a towel here. Do you want it?" Bruce answered calmly.
It was then Gabriel's brain finally cleared. He watched Bruce warily and said, "Your compulsory summoning can summon angels? Damn, this is a trap!"
"I'm giving you something. Come with me, oh, by the way, you'd better not even think about running away, or I'll just pull you back."
Gabriel stood still for a moment. It wasn't until Bruce walked out the door and waved at him that he hesitated and then took a step forward.
Although Gabriel's authority was not on par with Lucifer's, his omnipotence and omniscience were at a world-class level. He had seen many Batmans and knew how terrifying they could be.
He feared that if he took this step, there would be over six million traps waiting for him. For Batman, this was not an impossibility.
But even if he didn't dare take a step, he had to. What if the room he was currently in had ten million traps?
Being cautious about Batman was a never-ending chain of suspicions. Gabriel realized this and chose to empty his mind.
However, as Bruce led him to the adjourning room, Gabriel couldn't help but feel a wave of humiliation and fury. He stared at Bruce coldly and said.
"Is this what you wanted me to see?! You successfully collected all the fragments, you won, and I lost, is this why you summoned me?! Stupid humans!"
Bruce shook his head. He walked over to Gabriel, looked into his eyes, and said, "The reason I summoned you was to give you the Dark Heart."
Gabriel was stunned.
Turning around, Bruce paced around the Dark Heart and continued, "If you hadn't helped me find the Core Fragments, I might not have been able to complete the Dark Heart. Now that the Dark Heart is complete, and the Sky Corrosion remains sealed and has yet to escape, all the humans who have not been harmed should thank you."