Barbados was awakened, not because he found that his power had diminished, but because he discovered that he suddenly possessed much more power than before.
He was the source of darkness in the cosmos; all the darkness in the universe was actually a part of him, akin to a person's limbs or skin.
Whether it was Bruce previously stealing electricity through various projects, or Shiller using these powers to harvest energy into Constantine, since each time the amount was very small, similar to skin scraping, Barbados was too busy to bother with it.
All of these powers were taken away little by little; the amount taken each time was so insignificant, like the shedding of a flake of human skin going unnoticed, Barbados hardly felt anything.
But if every flake of dandruff that had fallen off in a lifetime suddenly grew back on your body, the sensation would be different, especially if it didn't appear on your head but on your hand, as if you suddenly grew an extra finger. It would be impossible not to notice.
When Shiller and Bruce released all the stolen power at once, Barbados immediately felt something was amiss. What's going on? Where did this power come from? Why don't I remember investing so much energy in this place?
There was a problem, and of course, Barbados wanted to investigate, but he was trapped; the barrier set by Michael was still there, and he was completely unable to leave the source of darkness.
But his inability to leave didn't mean he couldn't investigate the matter. Barbados immediately made a call to his faithful son Bruce, urging him to check on the situation.
Bruce immediately assured him over the phone that the task would be completed. How could he not succeed? Not only was he in the same universe as the incident's location, but he had also been waiting on the ship for half a day.
Bruce knew that Barbados, being trapped, couldn't feel the situation as accurately, so he simply played some music on the ship until Barbados called again anxiously. Only then did Bruce calmly suggest that this was probably a demon's plot.
Barbados knew that demons from Hell were always lurking around his house, although he didn't know why they took such an interest in him. But those cloven-hoofed creatures were never up to any good.
Bruce sent Barbados a photo showing a pattern filled with runes, and some of them clearly featured goat elements.
Although Barbados wasn't part of the Heaven and Hell system, he recognized this as a type of curse from demons, looking like some sort of beacon. While its exact purpose was unclear, judging by the complexity of the curse and its power level, it seemed the Demon King was involved.
Barbados immediately became anxious. He was already unsure about how he had offended Heaven and was now imprisoned. If he additionally provoked the Demon King of Hell, things would be even more difficult. Wasn't it known that, despite their overt warfare, they were in cahoots?
Barbados promptly told Bruce to keep away from the area, but soon Bruce sent back new information: he felt an intense power of darkness there, suggesting that the demons had stolen Barbados's power and were now up to something with it.
Barbados was anxious, and, hindered by the barrier, had no knowledge of the occurrences outside; he could only rely on Bruce's messages.
After a while, Bruce brought him terrifying news—he had sensed the presence of angels nearby.
How could it not be felt? As Bruce returned to play music with 140 pairs of wings, Tupac and Christopher thought he was departing for a Victoria's Secret runway show.
Barbados could also vaguely sense the environment around him through the power he'd released; indeed, he felt the authentic but faint presence of angels.
Now Barbados was even more frantic. Both angels and demons were involved—was he just a dragon that had stayed at the source of darkness for tens of thousands of years, never stepping out? Had he violated some divine law?
But Murphy's Law seemed to apply to all beings in the cosmos: things could not just go badly; they could always get worse.
A little later, Bruce called again—Lucifer had arrived.
Of course, Lucifer had come. The sea weather had turned chaotic, with whipping winds and pouring rain, tornadoes running rampant, and thunder roaring—a clear indication of abnormal weather. Tourists had rushed out to take pictures, and the bar owner, with nothing better to do, joined the crowd to watch the excitement.
At first, it was all fine; it was just another day of Atlanteans fighting among themselves. To his sense of time, Atlantis had not sunk that long ago. He merely commented, "People of this kingdom do love to fight," before planning to leave.
But then he realized something was amiss. Why was there dark power at the bottom of the sea?
At this moment, Lucifer recalled that Shiller should still be on the gambling ship called Dakotazo. Although he didn't understand why someone who got seasick would board a ship, the matter was certainly related to him.
After thinking it over, Lucifer decided to check it out. He had long realized that Shiller had been tricked and that the stolen wool came with a curse that caused his seasickness. But it was just Atlantean power, which, apart from discomfort, posed no other danger.
However, Barbados's power of darkness was a different story; it was related to Batman, and all powers in the universe connected to Batman were unreasonable. Lucifer couldn't guarantee that the place with this power wouldn't see any accidents.
If an accident did happen while Shiller was still getting seasick, then things would indeed become troublesome. Hence, Lucifer still headed towards the Dakotazo.
Upon arrival, he saw that Shiller was fine, but Lucifer still wanted to inquire about the situation. So, he stood on the deck and struck up a conversation with Shiller.
Below the cabin, Bruce was saying to Barbados, "That's right, at least from what I've observed, Lucifer definitely isn't sincerely returning to Heaven. Having lost the first fall from Heaven, he wouldn't just let it go..."
"Yeah, I think so too. In case he goes crazy and wants a second round, who do we side with if angels and demons start fighting? Getting involved would be trouble."
"Besides, as far as I know, Lucifer's real target has always been God. Who knows what's really going on between father and son... I think we'd better retreat for now. You should get your power back first. If a real battle breaks out, and Dark Power gets mixed in, even jumping into the Yellow River won't cleanse us if God finds out."
"What? You can't get out?" Bruce raised his tone, "Not all the power of darkness is... Well, it's troublesome that you're bound to the Dark Source."
"I think the demon that stole your power released it here to frame you. They'd want to take someone down with them even in death. We need to transfer the power away first. Even if we can't get it back to the Dark Source, we need to keep it far from this battlefield."
Barbados mumbled something.
"I really don't know what to expect from you." Bruce sighed, "Didn't I tell you before? Be prepared and plan ahead. What else do you do in the Dark Source if not just sleeping? Now you see, trouble has come."
"Luckily, I've foreseen this day. Your indiscriminate transfer of power to the Light Universe was bound to cause a blowout eventually, so I've prepared some backup plans."
"What exactly? What else could it be? I'll find a way to take this power through Heaven and send it back to the dark universe... Don't call me for the time being, it's annoying."
As soon as Hal and others landed, they saw the previously rampaging Dark Power calm down, but it still converged rapidly towards a focal point, when suddenly a figure appeared above the power of darkness.
140 wings of light spread out, flooding the entire sea area with endless light, even filling the entire Mariana Trench, and the rising column of light could be seen even from the distant coast of Gotham.
Countless amounts of seawater, golden light, dark energy, and the three onlookers were all enveloped within it.
The next second, an intense flash of light blinked, and they found themselves submerged at the bottom of a lake, overhead a beautiful world emanating a faint glow, with holy chanting heard nearby.
But this lasted only a few seconds, the next second they found themselves immersed in dead water, enveloped by the aura of death everywhere. Although the power of darkness had dissipated, it was as if the power of darkness permeated everything.
Four figures fell into the sea, the lowest not being Batman but Atlanna, who still flickered with faint light; Hal, having lost consciousness and thus his power, immediately used the Green Lantern's Power to pull Batman and Clark towards him, warily watching Atlanna as she began to awaken.
Upon waking, Atlanna was somewhat confused. He looked at the three men opposite him, and anger quickly spread across his face.
"You damned land..."
"There are land-dwellers! Land-dwellers!!!" A sharp cry came from the bottom of the sea, interrupting Atlanna's roar.
Making out the Atlantean language, Atlanna listened carefully. Although it differed from the language of his era, he could still understand it since the civilization had not been interrupted.
He was about to assert his authority as king, chiding them in the Atlantean language, when two tridents were placed under his arms and two exceptionally strong Atlanteans seized him.
Atlanna felt an overwhelming weakness. Aside from being roughly handled by the dark power earlier, the seawater here did not respond to his commands. He was surrounded by uncontrollable energy elements, wild, heavy, and very dark.
The three men opposite had realized this too. Clark felt particularly uncomfortable, and considering Clark's condition, Hal didn't dare to waste Green Lantern energy frivolously. They slowly descended to the ground, where several Atlanteans rushed over and propped them up with their tridents.
Hal and Clark turned their heads together to look at Batman in the middle.
Batman remained expressionless. He lowered his voice, "Don't resist for now, something's off here. Conserve your strength."
To his surprise, Hal and Clark actually bowed their heads and said nothing—in the past, wouldn't Hal argue with him about not sitting idly by, and wouldn't Clark wave his fists around to prove he still had strength?
"Who are you?!" Atlanna roared in ancient Atlantean language, "How dare you offend the great King!"
"Are you crazy?" one of the Atlanteans said, "Our king is the Queen of the Sea!"
Seeing the bewildered expressions of the few men, the Atlanteans mistook this for mockery and provocation. They thrust their weapons into the seabed sand, shouting loudly.
"Damn land-dwellers, you'll soon be doomed! The Queen has already led the army to the land, even Batwoman is no match for us, long live Atlantis! Long live the sea!"