Beyond the Limit (DC)

Chapter 259: 259

The HUD displayed the analysis software which, combined with his enhanced Nova Sense, predicted the paths Hermes would use to either speed toward him or teleport before the blades could land.

First, Joseph needed to eliminate teleportation as an option.

Father Boxes could prevent teleportation within a localized area—a fact Joseph knew from Grail's attack—and Nova had analyzed the remnants of the spell used to trap Dream in the mortal realm. By combining advanced technology with magic, he had replicated a similar effect: a localized field that prevented teleportation and dimensional interference for everyone except himself, lasting a full minute.

A minute, for beings as fast as them, was practically an eternity.

Joseph then preemptively went intangible and, using the Strength Force, sacrificed his durability to amplify gravity within the arena to tens of thousands of Gs. At the same time, he raised tendrils of earth to latch onto Hermes' feet while retreating toward the edge of the makeshift arena formed by Hera's wall of fire, buying himself time to gather Nova Force.

But, as expected of a god of speed, it barely slowed Hermes. His winged boots fluttered as he ran through the air itself, closing the distance.

Just as Hermes was about to reach him again, Joseph unleashed an intense, omnidirectional blast of Nova Force.

Hermes, unwilling to tank the energy, retreated to the ground.

As the light from the blast faded, Joseph watched Hermes swing his caduceus, batting away thousands of the Arrows of Judgment within seconds while continuing his advance.

The god wore an irritated expression—no doubt realizing he could not teleport.

Each Nova blade was the size of a sword, raining down with thunderous force, and Joseph continued generating more.

The battlefield sounded like constant artillery fire as the terrain was steadily obliterated, sand disintegrating and crystallizing under the relentless barrage.

The falling blades dissipated harmlessly against Joseph's body; the Nova Force was his energy, and he could reabsorb it at will.

Joseph created more and more Arrows of Judgment until Hermes finally abandoned his advance, focusing entirely on deflecting thousands of strikes at once. Then he let out a scream of rage.

Hermes raised his caduceus, forming a blue shield, and charged.

The blades slammed into the barrier, shattering it almost instantly—but Hermes pushed through anyway. His hair singed, his red cape and kilt burned away, and his armor began to dent and bubble. Burns spread across his body, but he endured it all just to close the distance and drive the blade of his staff into Joseph.

He moved so fast Joseph could barely perceive him—but the analysis software already had.

At maximum efficiency, it was like seeing the future—and in that future, Hermes died.

Joseph summoned his Soulsword. The simple iron broadsword, etched with faint patterns and glowing softly blue, flared with Nova Force as he moved to strike.

The Soulsword was forged from pure spiritual energy, designed to sever enchantments and harm magical beings. Hermes, as a god—his existence tied to divine Theos—would not be protected by mere physical durability. The blade would strike his essence directly.

Joseph planned to parry Hermes' caduceus and counter in a single motion, decapitating him instantly.

He had to be perfect.

Hermes was a god of speed with unknown limits. If Hermes was still underestimating him, this was Joseph's one chance.

As Hermes closed in and Joseph moved to execute—

A tendril of fire lashed out from Hera's barrier, striking him off course and breaking his concentration.

'This bitch, Hera-'

Hermes seized the opening, swinging the blade of his caduceus in a clean arc meant to take Joseph's head.

Just before it connected—

Joseph vanished.

A shockwave followed, blasting Hermes backward.

Joseph had moved faster than the limits imposed by the Speed Force.

How?

He used Lobo's Spacehog technology.

The Spacehog—a customized SpazFrag 666—was the fastest and most expensive space vehicle in the known universe, purchased through centuries of Lobo's mercenary work. Its top speed reached several million kilometers per minute, enabling effortless interstellar travel.

With Nova optimizing it further, Joseph could move at over 75% the speed of light—8 times faster than what the Speed Force currently allowed him on Earth.

Still scraps compared to true speedsters.

Moving that fast in an atmosphere came with serious risks. In space, travel was mostly in straight lines, and the bike's navigation system would slow it near obstacles. In an atmosphere, however, friction became a major issue.

Joseph's body was durable enough to withstand the stress, but it would still limit his speed—fortunately, his connection to the Speed Force negated friction even at those velocities, allowing him to move freely through the air.

Turning and stopping, however, were another matter.

At those speeds, he couldn't react fast enough to maneuver normally. Boom Tubes were too slow to compensate unless perfectly pre-calculated, which required too many variables.

So instead, Joseph used the Spacehog boost in short bursts.

For less than a second, even at a reduced output, Nova Force erupted from his feet like a miniature atomic explosion, launching him skyward.

He immediately went intangible to avoid damaging shockwaves or accidental collisions.

At that speed, a second would carry him over a hundred thousand miles above Earth.

Mid-flight, Joseph rotated his body using his anti-gravity field, aligning himself based on Nova's calculations. Then, just after exiting the exosphere, he triggered another precisely timed Spacehog burst—sending himself back down with even greater velocity.

The world became a blur.

Joseph trusted Nova completely as he descended like a meteor.

Below, Hermes was still occupied with the relentless storm of Arrows of Judgment when he noticed Joseph hurtling toward him, Soulsword poised to strike.

With a roar of defiance, Hermes raised his caduceus.

But Nova had already calculated everything.

Time slowed for Joseph as he descended.

Hermes raised his blade overhead as if to meet Joseph, ignoring the hundreds of Arrows of Judgment impacting against him as golden ichor flowed from his lips.

When Joseph descended with his Soulsword, Hermes didn't meet him head-on. Instead, he retreated with a flap of his winged sandals before spinning to cut Joseph the moment he passed—as to be expected from the Greek god of tricksters.

But Nova's predictive analysis software had already accounted for that possibility, and Joseph was prepared.

So Joseph didn't dodge. Reinforcing his body's durability with the Strength Force—sacrificing strength throughout the rest of his body—he applied the Spacehog engines to his sword arm. Nova Force erupted from the glowing circular port on his gauntlet, driving his sword in a devastating arc toward Hermes as he continued his descent.

Hermes' caduceus blade sank into Joseph's back, bypassing his durability—likely through some form of dimensional manipulation—before eventually getting stuck there. At the same time, Joseph's swing cut through Hermes' damaged armor, already softened by Nova Force, and in one motion he severed both of Hermes' legs with such force that it nearly felt like his arm had been dislocated.

Then time resumed, and Joseph hurtled toward the Earth with the force of an asteroid.

But because he was still intangible, instead of creating an earth-shattering impact that would rupture the eardrums of anyone miles away, he simply sank dozens of miles into the ground before quickly flying back up, reemerging into the arena of fire.

Hermes looked pathetic—his armor melted, his body burned, his weapon gone. Tears and ichor streaked his face as he stared in shock at his severed legs, cauterized by Nova Force.

Joseph pulled the caduceus blade out of his back before drawing several seals on it, sped up by the Speed Force. Then he shrank it using Atom's shrink tech and absorbed it into his body.

'I'll have to ask my mentor, Captain Atomizer, for another favor,' he thought jokingly.

As the weapon disappeared into his finger, he felt a strange sensation—his body tingled. Then he noticed his healing accelerate as the wound on his back sealed shut.

'What is that?' Joseph asked Nova.

//It seems the metal within the caduceus has formed a connection with the Nth metal alloy in your body—composed of Dionesium, Electrum, and Promethium—enhancing it further. The signals produced by this combination resemble the power source of most New God technology, including Mother Boxes and Father Boxes, which I have designated as Element X.//

Electrum was a metallic alloy that, when prepared correctly, could reanimate the dead and grant mild regeneration. The Court of Owls had used it for centuries to revive their Talons, and Joseph had kept some on him as a backup method of resurrection.

'So the rumors were true.'

After taking over the Court of Owls, Joseph had sifted through the minds of its leaders and uncovered something that aligned with fragments from Vandal Savage's memories.

The Court traced its origins back to prehistoric times, when humanity was divided into tribes: the Wolf Tribe (also known as the Blood Tribe, led by Vandal Savage), the Bear Tribe, the Deer Tribe (also known as the Bat Tribe or Miagani), and the Bird Tribe, which had splintered from the Miagani.

At that time, the Court was known as the Tribe of Judas. It was unclear whether they were a separate tribe or an offshoot of the Bat or Bird Tribes.

Their origin aparently stemmed from the appearance of a Bat-God named Barbatos. When he came to Earth, the Judas Tribe worshipped him as a god.

Over time, they evolved into the Court of Owls—a violent cabal that used architecture and assassination to exert influence throughout history.

Their true goal was to prepare a descendant of the House of Wayne—prophesied to become a bat—for transformation using five metals from the Dark Multiverse.

Those metals were Nth Metal, Promethium, Dionesium, Electrum, and a fifth undiscovered element with supernatural properties that they had attempted to develop through a company called Powers International.

In return, they believed Barbatos would allow them to rule the world alongside him.

Joseph had swiftly put a stop to their schemes.

As for why Batman had been chosen, Joseph had no idea. The universe seemed to bend itself to allow impossible feats from someone who should have been just human. That was why Joseph knew he had to remain the most vigilant of the Bat.

What intrigued him now was how the divine metal of Hermes' caduceus—the so-called Eighth Metal—was interacting with his Nth metal to produce signals similar to Element X.

He wasn't an omniscient god so he didn't have answers but from the look of things, it wasn't harming him, only increasing his connection to the Source. He wasn't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

'Nice. I'm like an anime character—always getting stronger after fights. Maybe this is the universe telling me I should pick more fights with gods,' Joseph thought as his dislocated arm popped back into place.

//That would not be advisable,// Nova replied flatly.

'Right, right. I still haven't finished dealing with the god in front of me.'

Joseph walked toward the stunned Hermes when a figure appeared, blocking his path.

"The match is over," Hera said, her expression dark.

Joseph sneered. "It isn't. Unless your interference scrambled my memory. Why don't we ask the audience who heard Hermes say: one champion from each side… to the death?"

Brushing past the furious Queen of the Gods, Joseph raised his Soulsword, its patterns now more intricate after tasting divine ichor.

But before he could finish Hermes, the world turned white as lightning engulfed him.