Chapter 9: Epilogue Of War, Prologue Of The Expanding Firmanent

"Everything is finally in order," Lex Luthor muttered, leaning back in the spa chair, steam curling around him. "A day without crises... A rare indulgence for a man of my stature." 

Suddenly, the tranquility shattered with an ear-splitting crash. 

"What now?" Lex groaned, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around himself as he hurried to the source of the disturbance. 

In the middle of his penthouse, amidst shattered glass and twisted metal, stood a grotesque creature.

Its glowing eyes scanned the room, wings twitching as it snarled. 

"A... bat?" Lex murmured, observing the sharp claws and insectoid features. "No, not quite..."

The creature lunged at him, but before it could reach him, a concealed turret activated, blasting the intruder into a charred heap. 

Lex approached the smoking remains cautiously, his mind racing. 

"What is this.." he muttered, nudging the body with his foot.

He tapped his wrist communicator. "Mercy, send a team to retrieve this... thing. I want it in the lab immediately"

Looking out the window, his eyes caught the faint glow of distant explosions across Metropolis.

"What the hell is going on"

Meanwhile, in Gotham… 

The Joker lounged on a worn-out sofa, his eyes glued to the flickering screen.

The live broadcast of Metropolis in chaos played like his favorite show. 

"Now this is entertainment!" he howled, throwing popcorn at the screen. "Boom Boom!, flying monkeys, heroes running around like headless chickens—it's perfect!"

He leaned forward, his painted grin widening as Superman was briefly forced back by the horde. "You're slipping, Boy Scout. Maybe I should step in and save the day, huh? Wouldn't that be a twist?"

Back to metropolis, rimuru's anger was evident.

"Enough is enough." Rimuru's calm voice carried across the battlefield.

Darkseid stood, unmoving, as the tension hung heavy in the air.

Rimuru raised a hand, his palm crackling with dark energy.

"If you don't want to die," he said firmly, "get back to where you came from."

Without waiting for a response, he unleashed Beelzebuth, a swirling vortex of devouring power that surged toward Darkseid like a tidal wave.

The tyrant's eyes glowed red, and he tried to resist, but the pull was overwhelming. Beelzebuth engulfed him, consuming everything in its path.

Sensing the mortal danger, this was when he realized. He never stands a chance against rimuru in the first place.

This made him understand one thing, the battle held long. Not because he's powerful. But out of mercy.

This was a one sided battle and an embarrasing defeat.

Darkseid growled and made a swift retreat, escaping through a boom tube at the last second.

But he paid the price—his arm severed and left behind, dissipating into nothingness as Beelzebuth devoured it.

Before the portal could fully close, Cyborg raised his trembling arm and sent a signal.

His body's alien technology resonated with the boom tube, and the portal snapped shut.

"hell," Cyborg muttered, his voice strained.

Suddenly, Wonder Woman collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Superman and Rimuru rushed to her side.

"Hey" Superman called out, panic in his voice.

Rimuru knelt, his hand glowing with healing magic as he checked her condition. "She's not physically injured, but something…something struck her mind," he said grimly.

Meanwhile, Batman and Flash had cleared their zone.

There wasn't much left to save—only a dozen survivors huddled in fear.

Flash, moving at lightning speed, evacuated them all in seconds.

As the parademons began retreating through small, scattered portals, a robed figure stood tall in one of them. His voice was cold and unwavering.

"We will return," he declared, locking eyes with Batman before disappearing into the closing portal.

Batman stood silently, watching the remnants of the enemy fade away.

The battle was over, but the tower still loomed precariously, crumbling bit by bit.

Batman examined the structure and found a control panel still active.

"Flash, take me to that console," he instructed.

"You sure? This place could collapse any second now you know" Flash protested.

"Just do it."

In the blink of an eye, Flash brought Batman to the panel.

Batman connected a device to it, rapidly downloading all the data he could.

Though the alien language was unreadable, he still took all the files he could. Deciphering it is a probpem later, he believes whatever inside these files could be vital for future danger.

"Got it," Batman said, just as the tower began to collapse in earnest.

"Time's up!" Flash grabbed him and dashed out of the crumbling structure, depositing him safely back at the main battlefield.

Superman carried the unconscious Green Lantern, who was still groaning faintly from the earlier fight.

Rimuru finished tending to Wonder Woman, who stirred awake slowly.

"What happened?" she asked weakly.

"Thats what i'd like to know"

The night ended with victory.

The parademons were gone, the people were safe, and the heroes stood together, battered but triumphant.

The media erupted the following morning, hailing them as the "world's saviors."

The group stood together as reporters clamored for names and titles.

When asked what their group name was, Flash grinned and said, "The Super Eight!"

Green Lantern groaned loudly. "Really? That's the best you've got? That name sucks.

The others chuckled, and Flash scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Okay, okay. We'll come up with something better."

A week later, after deliberation, they were officially named the Justice League—a name that resonated with strength, unity, and hope.

Rimuru Tempest didn't participated in this naming event thing.

He can but didn't want to.

When the public recognition ended, rimuru—still known to the world as Tempest—returned to his bakery in Central City.

Despite being hailed as a hero, he had managed to keep his true identity a secret.

Walking into the bakery, his two employees, Anna and Lucas, were visibly relieved when they saw him enter.

Anna's bright smile, usually a beacon of cheerfulness, seemed more intense today, her eyes sparkling with happiness that Rimuru was safe.

"You're back! We were so worried!" she exclaimed, rushing over to give him a quick, enthusiastic hug.

Lucas, always the quiet one, gave a small but sincere nod of approval.

He had never been one for words, but his actions spoke volumes.

He helped Rimuru with his coat, noticing the weariness in his movements. "It's good you're okay," he muttered, a rare expression of concern on his normally stoic face.

Rimuru smiled warmly at them both, though he quickly waved off their worries. "I'm fine, no need to make a fuss." His thoughts, however, were elsewhere.

Just because the world saw him as a hero didn't mean he was going to act like one.

The incident with Darkseid and the Parademons was not something he had planned.

He came here for a reason, a quiet life, to live as normal as possible.

Sure, saving a few lives here and there was fine, but he wasn't about to go parading around the city in tights, trying to save everyone in sight.

He only going to save lives only when necessary and when it directly fell within his line of sight.

That's what mattered.

But of course, life had a way of throwing curveballs at him, and those curveballs weren't always easy to ignore.

The following day, Rimuru was finishing his morning routine when he received an urgent message from Ciel. Her voice, usually calm and controlled, was sharp with alarm. "Master Rimuru, I need you to listen carefully," she said, her tone grim. "There's something happening... and it's not good."

High above the earth from different multiverse, in the silence of space somewhere in the multiverse, the remains of the Cosmic Armor Superman drifted.

A being that can never truly die, somehow is in near death state.

Its metallic shell was almost lifeless, fractured from battles long past. 

Suddenly, one massive eye flickered green, faint but growing stronger. 

"Initializing…"

The fragmented consciousness of the Cosmic Armor Superman reawakened, sensing the disturbance rippling across dimensions. 

"It begins again…"

Far beyond Earth, in the unending expanse of the Firmament, Ciel was the first to detect the shift. 

"An anomaly," she noted calmly, "The omniverse boundaries are expanding, encroaching on other omniverses."

Elsewhere, in a palace of crimson and shadow, Guy Crimson felt it too. 

"This is dangerous... " he murmured, gazing into the swirling void beyond his window. "So, it's reaching out again… this is bad."

Velzard, atop her frozen throne, narrowed her icy blue eyes as the sensation washed over her. 

"It's invasive," she said coldly. "Something foreign dares approach our realm."

Ramiris, deep within her labyrinth, flitted about nervously. 

"What was that?!" she squeaked.

Each in their own domain, they felt the disturbance's magnitude.

The omniverse itself seemed to be shifting, reshaping the bridges between realms. 

The Firmament expanded, and with it, came the risk of both salvation and destruction.