The next second, the earth-shattering sound of an explosion roared!
A quantum blast, with the force equivalent to billions of tons of nuclear energy, erupted within the World Forger. His body emitted a terrifying white glow, his eyes rolled wildly, and he staggered back, like a collapsing mountain, crashing heavily to the ground.
However—
It was only an explosion.
It didn't even come close to harming the source of his power.
The massive form of the fallen World Forger swiftly dissolved into the earth, but in the blink of an eye, his form reconstituted in higher-dimensional space, taking shape again in his original form!
"Manhattan!" the World Forger roared.
He raised the World Forger Hammer, aiming to strike down Dr. Manhattan, but Dr. Manhattan turned his attention to Superman. In an instant, his body shrank to human size as he reached out to help the wounded Superman to his feet.
The World Forger Hammer cleaved the air, missing its mark.
Dr. Manhattan spoke to the severely weakened Superman, "In two minutes, the World Forger will kill me."
Clark nodded silently, his chest—both flesh and bone—mending at a remarkable speed.
With Dr. Manhattan's assistance, he stood, unsteady on his feet but resolute, gazing at the quantum being.
"Timeline?" he asked.
Dr. Manhattan nodded. "Yes."
Clark asked no more.
He didn't care what Dr. Manhattan meant by the timeline, only that he would fight for this world until his last breath.
With his battered body, he took to the skies again.
Just like every time Superman soared above the horizon—
Just like that very first time, on December 22, 2005, when he broke through the clouds, bathed in the radiant light of the yellow sun.
Without hesitation, without fear, despite countless failures and brushes with death, he once again flew straight at the World Forger.
The World Forger turned to pursue him.
Now that Dr. Manhattan had revealed himself, there was no longer any need for delay. The World Forger bent space and time, preparing to unleash his most powerful strike against Superman. Just as his power was about to make contact—
Dr. Manhattan sent him into yet another quantum explosion.
This time, the World Forger experienced the quantum blast within a distorted space.
From the Wall of Origins at the universe's edge, a superluminal particle mist traversed the entire cosmos, finally reaching Earth. Within the twisted space that the World Forger had sealed himself inside, it transformed into yet another quantum explosion, obliterating the body the Forger had just reconstructed!
Dr. Manhattan, too, was caught in the blast within the same space as the World Forger, enduring the full force of the quantum explosion.
The folded space was battered by repeated quantum shocks, quivering and rippling, until the blast wave finally shattered it, returning the area to three-dimensional space.
Dr. Manhattan's form was rapidly disintegrating.
Particles glowing faintly with light scattered into the wind.
The shockwave, like a relentless storm, swept across the quantum observer, who existed outside the confines of the timeline, scattering him piece by piece.
Superman came to a halt mid-air.
He looked ahead and saw Dr. Manhattan turning back toward him, his expression as calm as ever amidst the explosive, surging air.
Those pure white eyes, however, were not focused on him—but straight past, to the figure behind him!
—Soren was trudging toward the battlefield's center, his body wrapped in a makeshift cloak.
"Soren, stay back!" Clark's voice was filled with desperate urgency as he shouted in alarm.
But Dr. Manhattan raised his hand toward Soren, extending a finger.
A brilliant stream of white particles—like a scattering Milky Way—poured out from Dr. Manhattan's dissolving body, flooding toward Soren!
The energy particles, as they touched Soren, dissolved soundlessly into his body like grains of salt dissolving into water.
Soren was engulfed by the torrent of particles, his form glowing like a radiant sphere of light, illuminating the world in an instant.
Soren's eyes widened—
The particles that merged into him brought with them all of Dr. Manhattan's power, as well as the memories buried deep within the forgotten corners of his soul.
And as the energy left his body, Dr. Manhattan's figure grew ever fainter.
He said nothing.
He merely kept his pure white eyes fixed on Soren, waiting for the light to fade.
Just before he vanished entirely from the universe, this quantum observer—who had guarded the timeline alone for billions of years—finally allowed himself a soft sigh: "Time…"
From the chaotic beginning of the cosmos, through the primordial void, from the birth of the universe in the Big Bang to its collapse at the end, Dr. Manhattan had existed above time itself. Though he observed time, the timeline had simultaneously imprisoned him, denying him free choice.
After countless erasures and decisions, he was finally allowed to return to the void.
…Dr. Manhattan was gone.
But the World Forger's new body had already begun to form.
He was furious, enraged by the grievous injury Dr. Manhattan had inflicted, nearly forcing him out of this world and back to the omniversal plane. After struggling to reconstitute his body, the World Forger finally noticed something descending from the sky—a brilliant, radiant sphere of light!
Within that light, ten golden wings shimmered like pure gold. The celestial figure, clad in gleaming silver armor, wielded a broad sword and struck at the World Forger!
This a Seraphimon at the final stage of the Angemon evolution chain! This diamond soul, having crossed the Wall of Origins from a universe beyond the multiverse, had finally returned to Earth with all the power of the quantum observer, just before the world was about to be destroyed!
The World Forger looked at this unexpected adversary—there was no such being in the world he had created, and thus he had no experience fighting an entity like this.
He raised his arm, attempting to block the angelic warrior's strike, but in the instant his arm lifted, the silver broadsword had already sliced through his palm, cleaving it all the way down his arm.
Ten enormous, golden wings, fluttering like mechanical appendages, hovered in front of the World Forger. Before he could fold space, the Seraphimon raised its hand. From its palm, a torrent of energy erupted like a volcanic explosion, aimed straight at the World Forger's golden eyes, unleashing the "Seven Heavens!"
Seven continuous spheres of radiant explosions, like an unrelenting storm, rained down on the World Forger's face. He staggered backward, unable to shield himself in time. The Seven Heavens detonated across his visage, blasting him through the air.
Immediately, the Seraphimon pursued like a bullet!
The World Forger howled in pain, clutching his eyes, panic rising for the first time. But before he could recover, Superman's mighty fist slammed into his jaw with unyielding force!
Superman's punch tore through the World Forger's body, sending him crashing to the ground. In perfect sync, the Seraphimon followed, charging toward the World Forger on the same plane as Superman.
Enraged, the World Forger rolled swiftly on the ground, dodging Superman's heat vision. He roared in fury, "You are both merely delaying the inevitable!"
Once again, the World Forger stood, his face scarred from the Seven Heavens, resembling the cratered surface of the moon. Even one of his once-glowing golden eyes had begun to crack.
"Superman, do you know how easily I could kill you?"
The World Forger bellowed as he extended a hand toward Superman, and the space around him began to distort once more.
Both Seraphimon and Superman immediately assumed he intended to fold the three-dimensional space again. The Seraphimon quickly swung its broad sword to slice through the space, attempting to stop the distortion from progressing. However, they had not anticipated his true move—he wasn't folding space itself this time… but the Sun.
He folded the space between the Earth and the Sun, like folding a box, separating the two sides and repositioning the Sun to a different arm of the Milky Way.
Instantly, Earth plunged into darkness.
Spanning across 150,000 light-years, not a single ray of sunlight would ever again pierce the dust to reach Earth.
...The broad sword merely traced a futile arc through the void.
Seraphimon stared blankly at the starry sky above, his first thought—without the Sun, how could Superman possibly face the powerful World Forger?
The World Forger's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at Superman, a cold sneer curling across his lips. "Now, this place has become a 'singularity' without the Sun. What will you do to stop me, Superman?"
He launched his assault once more.
Since his arm had been cleaved by Seraphimon, he casually tore off the now-useless limb and regrew a new one with ease. With a heavy step, he brought the World Forger Hammer down toward Superman.
His pitiless golden eyes scanned the heavens, beholding all seven billion souls below.
"Without the Sun, can your so-called savior still save you?" he taunted the entire world.
…Seraphimon and Superman were locked in a desperate struggle.
The World Forger continued to fold space one dimension after another. They had to work together constantly, helping each other break open the folded spaces to prevent the World Forger from gaining the upper hand.
Yet the power of a creator god far surpassed that of this universe. Even though they could interrupt the folding of space, they still couldn't inflict any meaningful damage on the World Forger.
On the contrary, their own strength was rapidly depleting.
Superman had already sustained serious injuries in the previous battle. Back then, the Sun had not yet been folded, and he could still heal using the remnants of its yellow light. But now, with no sunlight left in the world, his wounds only worsened with each passing moment...
To make matters worse, the World Forger had keenly observed that Superman was shielding Seraphimon from every single one of his attacks.
Quickly, he adjusted his strategy, turning the focus of his assaults toward Seraphimon.
During one of these strikes, the World Forger swung the World Forger Hammer toward Seraphimon. Seraphimon flapped his wings to dodge the blow, but in that moment, Superman was struck by the World Forger's scythe and sent crashing to the ground.
He slammed into the earth with a violent impact, sending up a cloud of dust.
The World Forger pressed his foot onto Superman's back, pinning him down. Leaning forward, he grabbed the last tattered remnant of Superman's cape between his fingertips, wrapping it around Superman's throat. The pressure made Superman's spine creak ominously. "Without the Sun, you can't win, Superman—"
"Let him go!!"
Seraphimon, equally battered and bruised, roared with fury and rushed toward the World Forger in an uncontainable rage.
The World Forger turned his head and smiled.
He looked at Seraphimon, his massive, mountain-like fingers pointing toward the angelic warrior. In an instant, the folded space engulfed Seraphimon, sending him plunging into the Earth's crust!