Chapter 72: It’s begun

The force of the explosion reverberated through the factory as the box Green Lantern had tossed away disassembled itself midair. With a booming crack, the box expanded violently, creating a swirling, dark portal. The shockwave was so powerful that it shattered Green Lantern's forcefield as if it were made of glass.

On the opposite side, the box encased in Toneri's red shield struggled to follow suit, but as it began to expand, Toneri's eyes narrowed. 'Oh no you don't,' he thought, raising his arm forward, clenching his fist. The red barrier around the portal immediately began shrinking, and any part of the box that touched the inner barrier was incinerated in an instant. With a final squeeze of his hand, Toneri crushed the box using his shisekiyoujin. 'One problem down.'

He shifted his gaze to the other portal just as the first Parademons began pouring out, their grotesque forms emerging from the dark void. 'It's begun,'Toneri thought grimly. 'Looks like mine and Batman's invasion theory was right… just like I had seen in the recording of that box.'

Before, they had only faced one or two Parademons. But this time, it wasn't just a few — it was hundreds, swarming toward them in a chaotic frenzy. The first demon to cross the portal's event horizon let out a blood-curdling cry, "For Darkseid!"

Toneri moved.

In an instant, the ground beneath him shattered, spiderweb cracks spreading across the concrete for meters as he burst forward. His speed was so immense that only Superman's eyes could track him, and even he was momentarily caught off guard. 'Fast,' Superman thought, eyes widening.

A Chidori Katana, formed from pure, crackling lightning, materialized in Toneri's hand. The air around him displaced into a cone, blossoming into a shockwave as he tore through the battlefield with the sheer force of his movement. Behind him, the air rushed into the vacuum he left, creating a thunderous sonic boom that shattered every window in the abandoned building.

The first Parademon didn't even realize what had happened. Toneri's lightning blade cut cleanly through its grotesque form before it could react, its body flying past him for a split second before collapsing into pieces.

First blood had been drawn.

As if on cue, hundreds more Parademons began pouring out of the portal in a relentless tide. Toneri muttered, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu( fire style: fireball)" A massive fireball erupted from his lips, surging toward the demons. The fire was so hot it melted their armor on contact, incinerating them alive, their monstrous screeches cut short as their bodies were reduced to ash. The heat was intense enough to melt diamond, and the explosion that followed sent a wave of force crashing through the factory.

Some of the Parademons detonated themselves in a desperate attempt to stop the onslaught, pushing Toneri back. With a graceful backflip, he landed upside down on the ceiling, suspended above the battlefield.

For a moment, there was silence.

Everyone—heroes and demons alike—stared at Toneri in shock. Batman's eyes narrowed in calculation, while Green Lantern, slack-jawed, muttered, "Dude… that was fire."

But Toneri didn't acknowledge any of it. His Byakugan glowed ominously as he glared at the Parademons below. They halted in their tracks, staring up at him as he hung from the ceiling, an immense pressure radiating from his form. For a brief second, it almost seemed as if they contemplated what he had just done.

Toneri's eyes narrowed further, and his voice, though gentle, sounded as dangerous as a sharpened blade. "I'll give you one second… retreat, or die."

The weight of his words hung in the air, chilling even the heroes beside him. His killing intent poured out, suffocating the room with a presence so oppressive that even the mindless Parademons hesitated.

But expecting them to back down was too much for the war-hardened machines.

"As if a switch had been flipped, the Parademons screeched their war cry in unison, "For Darkseid!" Hundreds more began to pour out of the portal in a torrent of death.

Two chakra rods slid from beneath Toneri's shirt, extending into black katana as he stood, calm and composed, watching the horde.

'Mindless insects,' he thought. The battle was far from over.

Superman's heat vision blazed across the battlefield, cutting down dozens of Parademons in a single sweep. Green Lantern conjured constructs of weapons, shields, and walls to fend off the relentless tide. But it was clear this was only the beginning of something far more dangerous.

Toneri's eyes gleamed with cold determination as he surveyed the battlefield.

'Death it is, then.'

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The battle raged on inside the factory as Parademons continued to pour from the portal in relentless waves. Hundreds of them filled the space, swarming the heroes. Batman fought them off with expert precision, but for every one he took down, five more took its place. He was beginning to get overwhelmed.

Batman grunted, his movements getting slower as the numbers pressed against him. Just as a few Parademon lunged at him, Superman's heat vision sliced through the air, disintegrating the attacker before it could strike.

Batman rose to his feet without missing a beat, not offering thanks. Superman, hovering in the air, smirked slightly. "You're welcome."

Meanwhile, Toneri was a blur of movement, his kenjutsu skills on full display. He spun through the factory like a ghost, one moment at one end of the battlefield, the next at the opposite. Wherever he moved, Parademons fell in droves, their bodies dropping to the ground, perfectly dissected with a single, flawless cut. No attack could touch him, and no demon could make it past him.

One Parademon, dismembered in midair, fell to the ground in pieces as Toneri landed with the grace of a feather, his black chakra rod katana humming with power. His movements were precise, his swordsmanship like a deadly dance. Each strike was meticulous, each cut severing joints or cleaving through armor with an effortless, lethal elegance. A flick of his wrist would send Parademon limbs flying, their bodies falling apart before they could even scream.

Suddenly, Toneri disappeared again. He flickered out of sight with a Shunshin no Jutsu, appearing next to Green Lantern. "Get back," Toneri warned, his voice calm but commanding.

"What—" Green Lantern began to protest, but his words were cut off as Toneri muttered, "Fūton: Ōami" (Wind Style: Casting Net).

Green Lantern looked back just in time to see a massive net made of razor-sharp wind blades racing toward the portal. It carved through the Parademons in its path, shredding them into pieces before they could react.

"*Oh, shit!" Green Lantern swore as he quickly moved out of the way, the path of destruction narrowly missing him as the wind net carved through the factory, leaving only dismembered demons in its wake.

The winds picked up violently in the factory, howling with a force that shook the building. Light burst forth as a spinning white orb with bladed edges manifested in Toneri's hand — a Rasenshuriken. In an instant, he hurled the devastating technique into the portal.

The Rasenshuriken flew straight into the dark maw of the portal, and for a second, there was silence.

Then—

BOOOOM!!!

The portal shook violently as a powerful gust of wind exploded outward, blowing back debris and sending a shockwave through the factory. For a brief moment, nothing emerged from the portal. Toneri stood poised, his eyes sharp.

'Is that it?' he thought, his hand casually slicing a Parademon that had crept too close, its body falling apart as he passed by.

But the respite was short-lived. With a familiar screech, more Parademons began pouring from the portal once again, as if nothing had changed.

"Tch," Toneri clicked his tongue in irritation.

Green Lantern, looking bewildered, glanced at Toneri and asked, "Dude, was that a bomb?"

Toneri's response was curt. "Focus, Green Lantern."

As Green Lantern re-engaged, he was quickly overwhelmed, Parademons piling on top of him. He struggled to fend them off until a grappling hook snagged him, pulling him out of the pile. Batman landed beside him just as Green Lantern formed a giant mecha suit construct, its cannons firing rounds of missiles at the oncoming demons, reducing them to dust.

Batman landed on the mecha's shoulder, arms crossed as he looked at Green Lantern. "Do you still think I'm paranoid?"

Green Lantern, looking sheepish. "Well… maybe just a little less now, I guess."

Their brief exchange was cut off by the sound of crashing masonry. The walls of the factory buckled and collapsed as more Parademons forced their way in, but Toneri was ready. With a quick motion, he summoned hundreds of chakra rods, shooting them into the sky. The rods impaled the creatures trying to escape the factory, sniping them out of the air with deadly precision.

Superman, flying overhead, joined the assault, his heat vision scorching through the masses of demons trying to breach the perimeter.

Despite their efforts, Toneri's mind raced as he sensed the scale of the invasion. His Byakugan scanned the surroundings, reaching far beyond the factory. What he saw made his eyes narrow.

'This is bad.'

All around the world, his Byakugan revealed the same scene: millions of Parademons flooding across the globe, overrunning city after city. In the span of less than ten minutes, the invasion had escalated beyond anyone's wildest fears.

'It hasn't even been ten minutes… and there are already millions.'