DC : The Template System

Darkseid regained his composure as crimson eyes flared to life as he unleashed his Omega Beams, slicing through a handful of the incoming wooden dragons.

But there were too many.

The sky was swarming with them.

He shot upward, trying to escape—but was tackled mid-air by one of Max's limbo clones, slamming him back down into the earth.

And then they came.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The wooden dragons crashed down, one after the other, like divine judgment from the heavens. Each impact rocked the battlefield—wood splinters and shockwaves burst outward, rattling the ground for miles. Smoke and dust billowed into a thick haze.

It was as if multiple high-yield bombs had gone off at once.

When the smoke finally began to clear, a battered figure emerged.

Darkseid.

His armor was cracked and chunks missing from his pauldrons and chestplate. A sinister red aura radiated from his entire body, rippling like heat waves.

His glowing eyes locked onto Max—who now floated calmly in the air, expression unreadable.

But the malice in Darkseid's stare could have incinerated lesser beings on the spot.

As Darkseid prepared to move, Max smirked.

And then—he pointed to the sky.

The battlefield began to glow with ethereal blue light. Darkseid instinctively looked up.

His eyes narrowed.

Above him, the sky was filled with hundreds of Max's clones, each wielding a massive Rasengan the size of a small car.

They were all descending fast towards him.

Darkseid's eyes narrowed, flames flickering at their edges intensifying. Suddenly, a thick red beam burst from his eyes in a straight line—then split into hundreds of Omega Beams, each one locking onto a Rasengan-wielding clone.

They tried to dodge.

But it was pointless.

Each beam struck true—instantaneous, perfect annihilation. The sky lit up with blue explosions as the clones were wiped from existence, one by one.

Max's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that level of precision. But he didn't flinch.

He raised his right hand—and black rods fired out , piercing the ground and surrounding the area in a square. At the same time, Max blurred forward, one of the Truth-Seeking Orbs melting and reshaping around his fist into a compact, dense sphere of destruction.

He punched at Darkseid—who sensed the danger just in time and dodged, flying back with a shockwave as Max struck the spot where he had just stood, detonating the earth with a thunderous boom.

Darkseid prepared to retaliate—but suddenly, the four black rods embedded earlier began to glow red.

Then—boom.

A massive, red-tinted barrier erupted into place, trapping Darkseid inside a perfect square, each side a kilometer long.

"Four Red Yang Barrier Formation."

Max didn't waste the opening.

He teleported directly in front of Darkseid, his hand already fused with another Truth-Seeking Orb. Darkseid raised his right arm instinctively, recognizing the danger, aiming to shield his vital spot.

Bang!

Max's punch collided with his forearm—and Darkseid was launched backward, carving a trench hundreds of meters long into the ground.

He staggered to a stop and looked at his arm.

It was crumbling.

Without hesitation, Darkseid tore off his own arm in a brutal spray of blood before the corruption could spread. His remaining hand glowed red—he reached for the stump and cauterized it, smoke rising in wisps.

A low hum followed as a red energy construct arm formed in place of the original, complete with articulated fingers and glowing runes.

Max landed calmly.

Then—poof.

Four clones appeared, each at a corner of the barrier, shouting in unison:

"Four Violet Flames Barrier!"

A second barrier formed inside the red one, made of raging purple fire—double-layered containment. Darkseid was now sealed between the two.

This was a trap.

Max's final play had begun.

From the ground, a colossal tree erupted, its trunk wide as a city block. Its top twisted into a gigantic flower bud, which bloomed slowly.

At the center of the petals—

A massive Tailed Beast Bomb was gathering, dense black and purple energy swirling tighter and tighter, growing in size and lethality.

Darkseid's eyes narrowed, glowing with malevolent fury. He turned toward the four-sided Violet Flames Barrier that imprisoned him and raised a hand.

Twin crimson streams erupted from his eyes and slammed into the barrier, causing the entire structure to ripple and groan under the sheer power. Outside, Max's clones gritted their teeth, chakra flaring as they poured energy into maintaining the seal.

"Hurry up, boss!" one of the clones shouted through clenched teeth.

Inside, the air warped with heat as Darkseid ceased his beam assault and marched to the edge of the flaming wall. He reached out with both hands—one physical, the other composed of red energy—and gripped the barrier.

Then began to pull it apart.

---

Meanwhile, high above, Max focused on the enormous Tailed Beast Bomb, its massive swirling sphere of black and violet chakra nearly complete. Sweat trickled down his temple. His hands moved with precision, guiding the unstable energy into final formation.

With a puff of smoke, a clone appeared beside him.

The clone didn't speak. It merely stepped forward, raised its hand—and formed a smaller Tailed Beast Bomb, then began compressing it with both hands. The orb glowed red-hot, its energy unstable then unleashed it in a form of a beam towards Darkseid.

Below, Darkseid tore open the Violet Flames Barrier, the flaming wall disintegrating in molten fragments around his arms. Max's clones screamed in strain before being annihilated in a surge of force.

Darkseid emerged, his glowing eyes locking onto the giant Tailed Beast Bomb in the sky.

He saw the danger.

He raised his eyes, readying his Omega Beams to intercept the buildup—

BOOM!

A red beam slammed into him from the side, sending him skidding back.

Darkseid's heels gouged deep trenches into the earth as he dug in and pushed against the beam, shielding himself with one hand. He reached the clone, grabbed it—and crushed it, the clone vanishing in a puff of smoke.

He looked up.

Too late.

The Ten Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb was already descsceding towards him, a monstrous 400-meter sphere of pure destruction.

From behind the bomb, Max raised his hand and whispered:

"Almighty Push."

The air imploded.

The bomb surged forward with unstoppable force, slamming into Darkseid and pushing him back toward the remains of the broken barrier.

Darkseid roared.

His aura flared with radiant red fury, and for a moment—he held the Tailed Beast Bomb in place.

His dual hands, one flesh, one forged of energy, trembled as he braced himself. Then, inch by inch, he began to compress the bomb, his Omega Effect eating away at it like acid, destabilizing its chakra matrix.

Max's eyes widened. He had seconds—if that.

Without hesitation, he extended a hand.

One of his Truth-Seeking Orbs detached and began to morph, wrapping around his body like a black cocoon. The humming of energy rose to a crescendo, and cracks of light appearred on the tailed Beast Bomb.

Max looked straight through the blinding light.

His lips moved.

"Katsu."

BOOOOM!

A second sun bloomed inside the shattered barrier, turning night into blinding day. The entire battlefield lit up as the massive Tailed Beast Bomb detonated with apocalyptic force.

The Barrier swelled outward like an overinflated balloon, barely containing the blast. Smoke hissed from its top edges, trailing into the sky like volcanic ash.

Then-CRACK.

The barrier shattered like glass under pressure.

A titanic shockwave burst outward, flattening trees, ripping up stone, and silencing everything in its path.

End of Chapter.