American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

“Then you should understand that it is an extremely dangerous power. Uncontrollable and difficult to deal with.” Luke patiently advised Barbatos, seemingly for his sake.

But Luke's words and actions only made Barbatos feel that the Abyss was indeed a very powerful force, so powerful that Luke was unwilling to hand it over!

The inexplicable greed in his heart suddenly surged again.

Get it!

Greed shouted in his brain. The other personality did not oppose him at this moment, as if it had been suppressed by the emotion of greed, and retreated back into silence.

“Give it to me!” Barbatos's tone carried an urgency he didn't realize. He didn't even realize that his reason and thinking were quietly being dominated by certain emotions.

“This is your choice!” Luke heard Barbatos's deafening roar, and as if helpless, at Barbatos's urgent request, he reached out and summoned a hellish parchment burning with black flames from the void.

“Come, sign a contract.” Luke spread out the parchment and handed it towards Barbatos in the void.

The parchment, which was long in Luke's hands and stretched out to about three meters, was not even the size of Barbatos's fingernail when it fell into his hands.

But this did not prevent Barbatos from understanding the contract from the energy fluctuations on the parchment.

After all, for him, his observation and insight were more profound than that of humans who believe what they see.

For example, right now, in the eyes of Bruce and Stephen, it was just an eerie parchment, but in his eyes, he could easily understand the energy fluctuations and runes on the unencrypted parchment, and ultimately know what kind of effect it had.

“Why can't you just give me the Abyss directly, but instead make me go find it?” Barbatos was somewhat dissatisfied with the conditions of the contract.

“You find it, and it's yours.” Luke answered crisply. “After the contract is signed, it will open a door to the Abyss for you. You can devour as much of the Abyss's power as you want. You can do whatever you want inside.”

“Then, the contract is established!” Barbatos scrutinized Luke's words, but the greed in his heart and those restless emotions were constantly interfering with his thinking, making him develop a fanatical desire to possess the Abyss's power that was within reach.

He imprinted his power mark on the contract, which was equivalent to his soul signature. And the material of this contract also carried his power well.

At the moment when the contract suddenly burned into ashes, Barbatos sensed a strange dimension calling to him.

That call was hazy and blurred, like a soft whisper in the depths of one's mind.

Barbatos knew that at this moment, he had connected with a certain dimension, and that dimension was calling him, welcoming his arrival.

Barbatos could sense that he only needed to release his power along that inexplicable connection to easily blast open a passage to the other side. This showed that Luke had not deceived him in any way, and had not played any tricks.

“You are very honest.” The corners of Barbatos's mouth cracked into a hideous and sarcastic smile. He bent down and tried to make eye contact with Luke below. “I didn't expect you to really believe me, and point me to the dimension where the Abyss's power is located. A powerful dimension that can allow me to escape final destruction, I have always wanted to find such a place! So lucky, isn't it?”

“I can see that you have signs of going back on your word.” Luke easily sensed what Barbatos was thinking now. He just calmly looked at Barbatos's face, which represented dark bestiality, and said softly.

“We signed a contract! So I can tell you that the World Forge is in this world. But where, you need to find it yourself.” Barbatos smiled maliciously, and the black lightning surrounding him instantly converged into a beam, bombarding a certain void in the hall.

A black hole was blasted open by the powerful dark force, forcibly connecting a fragment of another dimension to this world.

An extremely dark force, so powerful that it was almost tangible, seeped through from the other end of the hole. The heavy sense of oppression and higher level of pollution instantly cast a thick shadow over everyone present.

Bruce even felt that a cataclysmic disaster would occur in the next moment, making him feel suffocated.

This was their second [contact] with the Abyss. The last time was just a projection, but this time, it was like facing it directly.

Stephen didn't even think about it and put a few rune contracts on himself and Bruce. Although these created runes could not completely resist the erosion of the Abyss's power, they could still provide short-term protection.

To put it figuratively, it was like walking in a radiation zone fully armed with protective clothing. As long as the concentration did not exceed the standard, their personal health and safety could be temporarily guaranteed for a certain period of time.

And right now, the weak pollution radiated by the power of the Abyss could still be tolerated for the time being.

“This is the power! But why is it a little different from what I imagined?” Barbatos was first surprised, but immediately realized that something was wrong.

It was true that he coveted the power of the Abyss. But why could he also sense its coveting of him from the revealed energy fluctuations of the Abyss?

Who was the hunter and who was the prey?

Why did the Abyss have a will? Wasn't this like another self?

Barbatos forcibly pulled his attention away from the Abyss, but he found it difficult to do so. Even if the power radiated by the Abyss was small, it was like it had solidified, firmly locking onto him.

Barbatos could even feel several slippery and disgusting invisible tentacles surrounding him silently, winding up his ankles and body.

He could move, but that inexplicable sense of restraint and heaviness clearly appeared in his senses.

Under the switched energy vision, Barbatos discovered in horror that his soul was indeed wrapped in cold white tentacles that looked like they had been soaked in the deep sea for a long time, layer upon layer, tighter and tighter, like prey wrapped in spider silk.

The dark power represented by Barbatos struggled bravely, and it did play a role in slowing down and hindering the process, but those unknown creatures' tentacles, although slow, were still tenacious, firm, and gradually binding him.

The dark power wanted to pry open the shackles of the tentacles, but after a confrontation, most of them would be devoured and assimilated by the power represented by the tentacles, and ultimately, the more fiercely they struggled, the more the entanglement force of the tentacles would increase simultaneously.

When the tentacles wrapped around most of his soul, making him lose even the strength to struggle, Barbatos felt a fear that he had never experienced before. This feeling was so fresh, so unbelievable, but once it appeared, it penetrated deep into his soul.

Barbatos felt that he seemed to have made a wrong decision in the previous transaction.

Before, his connection with the Abyss dimension was only faint, and he could sense the other party's coordinates, but the distance between them, or rather, it was impossible to describe the separation between them with distance.

At that time, as long as he was not proactive, this connection would be able to continue safely for a long time. Under the condition that the contract was not tampered with, he would not be able to meet the Abyss for at least a billion years.

But that was only the most ideal result before he opened the coordinate channel.

After the coordinate channel was opened, his connection with the Abyss instantly jumped from intermittent to full signal. Right now, as the tentacles wrapped around his soul became more and more numerous, and his soul became heavier and heavier, and darker and darker, the connection signal between the two was simply off the charts.

He probably couldn't get rid of the Abyss in the future.

Before having close contact with the Abyss, Barbatos looked forward to this moment.

After having close contact with the Abyss, Barbatos hated the arrival of this moment.

He jumped from a deep pit to an even deeper pit.

And the instigator was that guy who guided him to this step step by step!

Thinking of that guy, Barbatos controlled his numb body and looked at Luke, who was like an ant below. Now that he had become more emotional, he could even clearly see the smile on Luke's face that he hated so much.

“Deception!” Barbatos's angry roar was like thunder. He sensed that the tentacles on his soul were tightening, and his body and consciousness were becoming heavier and heavier.

His connection with the Abyss was becoming closer and closer, and he was constantly moving unconsciously towards the Abyss dimension. The opened hole was being diligently expanded by the Abyss dimension, and it was releasing a black hole-like suction towards him.

He was like a star captured by a black hole, and could only gradually merge with the other party.

“How can it be said to be deception? I just reminded you of the existence of the Abyss. You took the initiative to ask me for the power of the Abyss. I kindly reminded you that the Abyss is very dangerous.” Luke spread his hands, shirking all responsibility: “I gave you a choice, but your persistence moved me!”

Barbatos almost exploded when he heard Luke's words. Who gave him those messy emotions and interfered with his judgment? Although there was no evidence to prove that Luke did these things, Barbatos, whose soul was now messed up, immediately locked onto and firmly believed in the culprit.

But he couldn't bother to argue with Luke now, he was being devoured by the Abyss dimension bit by bit. It was literally what it meant, the suction of the hole distorted Barbatos's body and soul, and gradually swallowed him into its body.

Bruce and Stephen watched as Barbatos's huge body was drawn into abstract thin strips and gradually submerged into that living hole, their faces solemn.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, and it seemed to be just a blink of an eye. When Bruce and Stephen woke up from that impactful scene, the hole had been forcibly closed and erased by Luke.

Only at that last moment, Bruce and Stephen seemed to hear a satisfied sound after being full.

Without Barbatos's tall body, the entire hall instantly became much more empty. Stephen did not remove the protective runes on them, and strengthened and updated them again.

The Abyss dimension had left, but the power that had overflowed before might not have all left with it. The essence of the Abyss's power is mystery, devouring, and expansion. It was no surprise that in billions of years, the power of the Abyss might be much more concentrated in this area.

The three of them hurried towards Luke. As they approached him, Bruce asked.

“Is he dead?”

“How could he die?” Luke looked back at Bruce, and they both knew who he was talking about.

“Wasn't he swallowed by the Abyss?” Bruce's heart tightened. After all, Barbatos was the mastermind behind the Batman Who Laughs and was known as the Dark Dragon of Destruction who had destroyed many universes.

Once he reappeared, Luke might not have any problems, but they, who came with Luke, would probably be targeted by Barbatos. What were Barbatos's weaknesses? Should they prepare early?

“Being swallowed and assimilated by the Abyss does not mean death in your understanding.” Luke, with his goal about to be achieved, did not mind telling Bruce some secrets.

“The Abyss is no different from other energy dimensions, except that it is more extreme and more like a living thing. But this is also what its energy characteristics have created. There is life in other dimensions, and naturally there will be life in it.

As the Dark Dragon of Destruction in your universes, Barbatos's energy level is not as high as the Abyss dimension, but it is not enough to be instantly digested and devoured by the Abyss. It should be a long tug-of-war.”

“Then…”

“You want to ask if he can still come out from inside the Abyss?”

As soon as Bruce opened his mouth, Luke understood what he wanted to say and asked proactively. Seeing Bruce nod, Luke patiently explained: “If there are no accidents, life that has been swallowed into the Abyss and not [digested] cleanly is almost impossible to be released.

Even I can only summon the life that has been completely transformed by the Abyss. It has its own will!

If you are lucky enough to see him in the future, then he will never be Barbatos, who represents darkness and destruction, but Barbatos the Abyss Dragon. I do not recommend that you meet him again. Although he may not remember you at that time, once his mass is transformed into an Abyss species, all the universes that see him and where he is will inevitably be quickly polluted and captured by the Abyss. You and your partners will not even have a chance to fight to the death.”

“Abyss species generally do not appear outside. Luke has locked it up. I can't imagine who, besides Luke and my teacher, can summon Barbatos, who has been transformed into an Abyss Dragon, from the Abyss.” Stephen comforted the two of them.

He had dealt with the Abyss quite a bit, but it was nothing more than borrowing the shallow power of the edge of the Abyss. Besides disgusting people and completely destroying them, who would pull out those Abyss species from the Abyss? They have long been distorted to the point where you can't see their original appearance. Just looking at them is an extreme soul pollution. At that time, even if Barbatos really reappears, it is doubtful whether Bruce and Stephen will be able to recognize him.