Godfather Owl: Guardian of Batman [194]

Merciless’s statement was directed squarely at Diana.

He made no effort to hide his intentions, outright declaring he was here to kill Wonder Woman.

“Why?”

Diana found the situation strange and couldn’t help but ask, “Did you break up with the other Wonder Woman?”

Could this be a case of love turning to hate, leading him to kill all the Diana counterparts across parallel universes?

Merciless shook his head, letting out a low chuckle.

“Diana, you’re still so naive,” he said. “Don’t romanticize everything. In this world, most things have nothing to do with love—or hate.”

Meanwhile, Bruce stood silent, his expression unreadable, though his internal alarm was blaring at full volume.

Even though Merciless remained conversational, the pressure emanating from him was heavier than even Superman’s.

Because he, too, was a Batman.

The paradoxical Batman who once wielded the memories of a war god and the Speed Force had already driven Bruce to his limits.

But Merciless was the ultimate predator who had clawed his way out of the Dark Multiverse.

Bruce had no immediate counter to someone like him.

His only hope lay in the Speed Force.

A crimson flash flickered in Bruce’s eyes as he activated the Speed Force. Time around him froze, and everything ground to a halt.

Whatever Merciless intended, it was bound to be nefarious.

There was no need for pleasantries—Bruce would strike first, together with Diana, and take him down.

He reached out to pull Diana into the Speed Force—

But then, Merciless chuckled softly.

“The Speed Force, is it? So you’ve mastered that power. Let me give you a piece of advice: it’s not the blessing you think it is. It’ll destroy you before you ever learn to wield it properly.”

Merciless’s voice carried none of the sluggishness one might expect in frozen time.

It was as though he had also entered the Speed Force.

“This is impossible!”

Bruce stared at him in disbelief. Merciless wasn’t the Red Death; he shouldn’t have the Speed Force.

“Is this the extent of the Prime Bruce Wayne’s capabilities?”

Merciless moved with ease through the frozen world, unimpeded by its stasis.

It was then Bruce noticed something—Merciless showed no traces of Speed Force energy.

And neither did he.

Bruce hadn’t actually entered the Speed Force at all!

If that was the case, why had everything stopped moving?

“Bruce, before you act, you should consider one thing,” Merciless said.

He unslung a weapon from his back—a long-handled hammer that looked utterly unremarkable, as though it had been taken straight from a toolbox.

“This isn’t even a weapon,” Bruce realized.

It was just a tool Merciless had grabbed on a whim.

“Before I followed Barbatos, I killed everyone who stood against me,” Merciless continued coldly. “Without exception. No survivors.”

Villains, heroes—it didn’t matter. To Merciless, anyone he deemed guilty faced certain death.

“Among those I killed were Speedsters. If I could end them, why wouldn’t I be able to counter the Speed Force?”

As he spoke, Merciless began walking toward Diana.

He deliberately slowed his pace, dragging the hammer along the ground with a metallic scrape that sent chills down Bruce’s spine.

The sound was primal, reminiscent of a beast gnawing on bone in a primitive age.

Merciless clearly knew how to get under someone’s skin.

There was no way Bruce would let him harm Diana.

“Stop!”

Bruce lunged toward Merciless, trying once more to summon the Speed Force.

But it was useless.

Not only did he fail to tap into the Speed Force, but his movements also became agonizingly slow, like a video playing in slow motion. Even his cry of stop stretched into a distorted, drawn-out wail, unrecognizable as his own voice.

Merciless smirked, watching Bruce’s futile efforts.

“You really don’t know much about this world,” he said. “Did you think the Speed Force was invincible? Have you never heard of the Still Force?”

The Still Force was the antithesis of the Speed Force—a cosmic power rooted in entropy and inertia that negated all motion.

Any Speedster caught within its influence would lose their most prized ability.

On Earth, the Still Force had originally been discovered by Turtle Man and later mastered by Gorilla Grodd.

Grodd was a unique gorilla with intelligence surpassing that of humans, capable of telepathic control over other beings—a gorilla version of Professor X.

Unlike Professor X, however, Grodd’s ambitions aligned more with Magneto’s. He viewed humans as inferior and believed they should be replaced by apes.

Merciless had killed Grodd long ago.

He had extracted Grodd’s brain and turned it into a device specifically designed to harness the Still Force, making it a tool to subjugate Speedsters.

As for Grodd’s telepathy?

Merciless had no need for it. He had mastered such abilities on his own.

Before Bruce’s helpless gaze, Merciless reached Diana’s side.

He raised the hammer high above his head, ready to strike.

Diana remained frozen in place, entirely unaware of the impending danger.

But Bruce saw everything.

Merciless had deliberately left his mind unaffected so he could witness the tragedy unfold.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Merciless asked suddenly. “Knowing you’ve done everything you can, only to watch helplessly as disaster unfolds before your eyes.

“Bruce, this is the pain we Dark Universe Batmen have always felt. Now, it’s your turn to experience it!”

The venom in his voice left no doubt about the depth of his hatred for Bruce.

The world was never fair.

Why should the Dark Batmen watch their worlds crumble while the Prime Batman basked in the love and happiness siphoned from the Dark Multiverse?

This was fate—but Merciless was determined to break it.

He couldn’t make himself happy, but he could drag Bruce into the same abyss of misery.

Merciless brought the hammer down.

It hurtled toward Diana’s head—

“Stop!” Bruce’s anguished cry rang out, filled with despair.

But just before the hammer struck, Merciless halted mid-swing.

The hammer was mere millimeters from Diana’s head.

“If I actually killed her, it would ruin the fun,” he said suddenly.

With a casual wave, his arm passed straight through Diana’s form, revealing her to be an illusion.

“Well, well,” Merciless said with an amused grin. “You’re capable of illusion magic now? I’ll admit, you’ve picked up some interesting tricks since leaving the Multiverse.”

Far from frustrated, Merciless propped the hammer against the ground and smirked at Bruce.

“Enough!” Bruce’s heart sank.

How had Merciless seen through the illusion?

When Bruce realized the Speed Force was useless, he had cast a Disillusionment Charm.

Unable to move quickly, he had relied on tricking Merciless’s senses, making him think he was approaching Diana when, in reality, he had veered off course.

Diana wasn’t there.

Merciless seemed to sense Bruce’s unspoken question but chose not to explain.

The answer was simple.

The War God’s Helmet had already corrupted Merciless’s mind to the point that illusions barely registered.

The Disillusionment Charm might have worked briefly, but no one could keep a fool immersed in fantasy forever.

With the illusion dispelled, Bruce was left in despair.

He had no other options.

The Still Force rendered him incapable of summoning his Hellbat armor.

“Looks like you’re out of tricks,” Merciless said with a chilling smile. “Now, sit back and watch what happens next!”

He was determined to kill Diana in front of Bruce, to make him feel the same torment he had once endured.

This wasn’t about Diana.

This was a battle between two Batmen.

Diana was merely the tool for this game of suffering.

Merciless raised the hammer again, this time unaffected by illusions.

Bruce, immobilized, could only watch in silent rage.

No one could save him now.

No one.

“Ahahahaha!”

Suddenly, a raucous laugh echoed through the air.

Kathoom, missing for so long, flapped his wings and flew in from the distance.

True, no one could save Bruce—

But an owl wasn’t a person.

Oddly enough, Kathoom moved freely within the Still Force’s influence, unaffected.

Not only that, but he seemed unusually cheerful, perched atop Merciless’s shoulder as if he belonged there.

This bizarre sight stunned both Bruce and Merciless.

“Bruce Wayne! Never thought I’d see the day!” Kathoom exclaimed.

The owl, wearing a miniature Batman helmet, looked absurd but utterly delighted.

“I’ve waited so long for this moment!”

—

T/N: lmaooo what is this bro planning now

This is a fan translation of 蝙蝠侠的猫头鹰教父 by 巴巴罗萨光年. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!