DC: Rise of the Kryptonian Tyrant

Bardi stepped forward and shoved the solar capsules into his mouth.

He swallowed them all in one go, his throat convulsing as the golden capsules slid down. His face twisted with ferocity.

There were three hundred and eighty solar capsules. Each one alone was enough to replenish his energy reserves but together, they far exceeded his body's physical limits.

The reaction was immediate.

A massive surge of solar energy detonated inside him, flooding every cell. The energy tore into his cytoplasm, instantly evaporating its fluids. His cell nuclei screamed in agony as they melted under the overwhelming force. The energy was simply too powerful, far exceeding his cells' ability to absorb it.

His body began to break down at the cellular level, dissolving under the sheer intensity of the solar energy. His trench coat disintegrated as an intense, blinding light burst from his skin.

The pain was unimaginable, so overwhelming that he couldn't even scream.

The light shining from his body grew so intense that it outshone the surrounding blood-red glow, transforming him into a burning star on the Cross Corridor—a sun on the verge of explosion.

But then—

A shift.

A transformation so sudden it occurred in an instant.

The dissolution of his cells meant his genes were collapsing.

And at that moment, just as his cells broke apart, their force fields crumbling, his mind was freed.

He had studied psychic power under Zatara, who had taught him the secret meditation techniques of the Zatara family how to harness mental energy, how to focus, how to wield it.

A magician is one who moves the world with the power of their mind and soul.

Bardi's soul and mental strength were far beyond ordinary.

Back then, he hadn't understood the significance of psychic energy. He hadn't grasped the true potential of the soul.

But now, after learning from Zatara and Raven—he understood.

And in that moment, he unleashed it.

His psychic energy plunged deep into his hematopoietic bone marrow, seizing hold of his Kryptonian DNA with sheer, unrelenting willpower and fury.

"ROAR!"

At the summit of the sacred peak, dark clouds churned.

Within the inner layers—above the Cross Corridor—the hellfire flames below flickered wildly, their cruel, blood-soaked glow filling the mountaintop. Blood-colored dust swirled like mist, a hazy fog of carnage.

Then—

A thunderous roar shattered the haze.

The blood mist ripped apart as violent shockwaves erupted outward, tearing through the space in expanding rings.

Bardi threw his head back and bellowed toward the sky. His voice boomed like a furious storm, shaking the very air until it nearly exploded.

His chest heaved, his shirt torn away as his body expanded, swelling like an overfilled vessel.

Deep within his bones, his hematopoietic cells went into a frenzied overdrive. His Kryptonian genes distorted, breaking away from their stable arrangement.

Instead of maintaining their natural structure, they were forced into an accelerated mutation, triggered by his unrelenting mental power erupting into a single, devastating surge of growth.

This—

This was the forbidden path once researched by ancient Kryptonian scientists, who had sought to create the Doomsday organism, a lifeform of unparalleled destruction.

But Bardi.

He was different.

His transformation had no sustainability, no evolution, no future potential.

Unlike Doomsday, he wouldn't adapt. He wouldn't regenerate.

This was a one-time detonation. A single explosion of power, after which he would burn out, collapse, and die.

His bones shattered, regrew, and shattered again, jagged spikes bursting through his skin. The pain was relentless.

The veins beneath his skin writhed like raging rivers, pulsing with untamed energy. A thick layer of keratinized armor formed over his body, a protective exoskeleton born from cells that lived and died within mere moments, stacking atop one another in a desperate attempt to contain his unstable form.

He grew.

Seven meters tall.

His figure twisted into something monstrous, terrifying in its sheer brutality.

Yet—unlike Doomsday, he wasn't grotesque or bloated.

He still retained a humanoid form, his build slender but dense with sheer power. His muscles, dark and jagged, formed deep, brutal contours, like a living suit of armor sculpted from destruction itself.

His face—

His face was still his own.

Expressionless.

Emotionless.

Yet his eyes, his eyes burned with nothing but cold, unyielding fury.

Bone spikes jutted from his body, forming a natural armor of razor-edged barbs, as though he had been forged from the abyss itself.

He stood there—silent, unmoving, like a demon clad in spiked obsidian.

A figure of rage.

A figure of solitude.

"NO!!!"

Raven's eyes widened in horror.

Emotion—raw, unfiltered—exploded through her sealed barriers, shattering her composure.

She screamed.

She knew what Bardi was doing.

He was releasing all of his power, at the deepest, most fundamental level of his existence.

He was burning himself alive.

Bardi's body could barely withstand the power of ten solar capsules. If he exceeded that threshold, his genes would collapse.

Yes, his soul was powerful. His mind was strong enough to shatter genetic limitations.

But even so—three hundred and eighty times his limit?

Impossible.

He couldn't survive it.

The only thing keeping his body together was his psychic energy, forcefully twisting his Kryptonian genes into temporary cohesion.

This was nothing more than a desperate final detonation.

A surge of power that would grant him a fleeting moment of unstoppable strength.

And then—

His body would collapse.

And he would die.

It happened too fast, there was no time to stop it.

The transformation occurred in an instant.

The moment Bardi swallowed the three hundred and eighty solar capsules, an intense light erupted from his body, blazing like a miniature sun. Then, in mere moments, his form mutated, growing wildly until he stood seven meters tall, his slender frame twisting into something cold and monstrous. Bone spurs jutted from his body, encasing him in a grotesque armor of jagged protrusions.

He stood alone—silent, unmoving—in front of Raven.

The bone spurs pierced through his own flesh, a sight so harrowing that Raven clenched her teeth in anguish. She stared at Bardi's demonic, battle-scarred back, her heart wrenching in pain.

Tears spilled from her eyes as she let out a desperate, furious roar.

"Are you insane?! You're going to die!!"

For the first time, she was overcome with rage, her emotions breaking free from their usual restraint. In a fit of desperation, she yanked back her hood, revealing her pale, tear-streaked face.

She had already surrendered to Trigon.

All she had to do was kneel, beg Trigon to spare the Earth.

If he did, Earth could survive.

Bardi could survive.

That was all it would take.

But that was only Raven's delusion.

Bardi had never believed, not for a second that Trigon would let him live.

Nor would he spare Earth.

Even Raven herself was nothing more than a tool to him.

What bargaining power did they ever have?

"Stop!"

Everything happened too fast.

Trigon's colossal, blood-red body rose into the sky like an unholy monolith. His demonic horns pierced the heavens, six eyes burning with an expression he had never worn before—shock.

Even he, the ruler of countless hellish realms stood from his throne in disbelief.

Because at that moment when his gaze fell upon Bardi's soul he saw something beyond imagination.

He saw a uniqueness that defied all understanding.

In an instant, he knew.

Bardi's soul was more valuable than Raven herself.

Without hesitation, he would have traded ten million Ravens, a hundred million versions of her across the multiverse, just to claim this one soul.

Because this soul, this insignificant mortal soul.

Had the potential to transcend.

Transcend the multiverse.

Transcend the laws of time and space.

Transcend the boundaries of the Speed Force.

A being unrestricted by rules, unfettered by time or dimension.

Such a trait should not exist in anything but a singular, supreme entity, an existence that surpasses even the divine.

An entity like Trigon himself.

It was impossible.

And yet—

It was real.

A mortal should not possess such a thing.

Only one true being could transcend all things.

Just as he did.

Trigon was ecstatic.

But—

Bardi had already swallowed the solar capsules.

Three hundred and eighty of them.

And that much raw destruction was already devouring his body and soul.

Yes, his potential was limitless. But potential was meaningless if his body could not withstand the power.

Bardi was still too weak to survive this.

And Trigon.

Trigon was furious.

This was a waste.

A sacrilege.

A man destroying his own prize.

This soul belongs to me!

"I'M GOING TO DEVOUR YOU!!!"

Trigon's six eyes blazed with hellish fury.

In an instant, his pupils turned blood-red, glowing with an unholy light.

A demonic hand—colossal, red, and monstrous descended.

It was vast.

It was unstoppable.

A blood-red giant palm, stretching wide enough to blot out the sky.

There were no lines upon it—only smooth, unbroken skin, as though it had been forged in a crucible of pure malevolence.

The nails were long, sharp, and curved, gleaming like obsidian blades.

The hand descended.

Breaking the sound barrier, it tore through the atmosphere like a meteor, the sheer force ripping the sky apart.

It came down directly onto Bardi, carrying an oppressive weight like an entire planet collapsing upon him.

BOOM.

The impact shook the world.

The moment the demonic hand collided.

The entire corridor shattered.

The ground caved in, cracks spider-webbing outward, turning solid stone into fragmented ruins.

A suffocating storm of dust and debris erupted into the air, drowning the battlefield in a thick, choking fog.

The blood-red glow of the hellfire beneath the Divine Peak surged chaotically, scattering wild embers into the atmosphere.

Raven—

Raven couldn't breathe.

Her cloak was ripped away by the violent winds, leaving her delicate frame exposed.

A terrible, creeping dread coiled around her heart.

Trigon's power was overwhelming, so unimaginably vast that she felt paralyzed beneath it.

She had never been so terrified.

And then

The dust began to clear.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The ground had collapsed into a massive crater.

At the center—Bardi still stood.

His feet sank deep into the earth, buried beneath shattered rock.

Cracks spread outward from where he stood, the sheer force he endured fracturing the entire corridor.

But—

He was still there.

Still standing.

His arms were raised, his fingers clamped around the colossal red palm of the demon lord.

His body—

His body was burning with power.

The keratinized armor covering his form had begun to fracture, the sheer intensity of his strength tearing apart his own flesh.

The bone spurs on his back jutted outward like weapons, each one gleaming with terrifying force.

And yet—

He was holding Trigon's hand back.

Bardi—

Bardi was wrestling with him.

The dust settled completely.

Raven's tears blurred her vision as she stared at the scene before her.

His cold, solitary figure, towering amid the wreckage.

His spiked, monstrous form, unyielding before a god.

Standing there—alone.

(To be continued.)

**

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