The Anti-Monitor sat on the Mobius Chair like a boat swaying in wind and rain. He stared into the black rift in space-time before him, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

From within the crack, an aura that spanned the universe and shattered the sky pressed down on the Anti-Monitor, crushing him to the brink of collapse. His body groaned like metal being twisted, unbearably strained.

Bardi, clad in his imperial armor, emerged from the darkness like a colossal entity in the cosmos.

Every step he took from the crack in space-time echoed like a thunderous impact in the Anti-Monitor's heart.

Boom... Boom... Boom...

There was no actual sound in the void, yet the tremors shook the universe.

The Anti-Monitor gritted his sharp teeth, biting into his gums as blood dripped onto his dark metallic armor.

His fists clenched tightly, the grinding metal sound piercing. In his chest, his heart thundered like a war drum—bang bang bang bang—echoing in his ears.

It was the heartbeat of fear.

Bardi walked casually through the space-time rift. A dark curtain veiled his dark-gold emperor armor. He emerged from the abyssal crack, his presence blanketing the universe. The dark-gold cloak behind him flowed down his back, as if the stars were bowing in submission.

His overwhelming momentum was like the Milky Way flowing in reverse.

Bardi stood in mid-air, his cold gaze cast down from above, looking at the Anti-Monitor like an ant.

"Barmulodi!!"

The Anti-Monitor bared his teeth, blood seeping from his gums. His eyes, glowing like lanterns with anger and unwillingness, widened in fury.

He clenched his fists tighter, rage boiling within him like a star going supernova. His blood surged like crashing waves, and his body, pressed by Bardi's aura, rose and fell with heavy gasps, greedily sucking in the suffocating air.

"Barmulodi... I am willing to surrender. I offer the Anti-Life Equation."

The Anti-Monitor's eyes flickered with unwillingness. Suppressing his rage, he spoke in a raspy voice from deep in his chest.

He could no longer bear it. Everything he possessed had collapsed in this moment.

But as the one who once unified the Antimatter Universe and created the Mobius Chair, he still had reason. Though overwhelmed with resentment, he clearly understood that giving up everything now and becoming Barmulodi's subordinate was the only logical path.

Otherwise, only death awaited him.

How could someone with the Anti-Monitor's power and intellect, who had destroyed countless positive matter universes, fail to see the situation clearly?

He had once risen from the microcosm, created the Mobius Chair, obtained the Anti-Life Equation, and destroyed the pasts of thousands of universes. Though it pained him to lose all that, he believed—so long as he bided his time—he could rise again.

Using the Mobius Chair, he had calculated that Barmulodi required strength and powerful subordinates to help him destroy the multiverse. Furthermore, even beyond the multiverse, in the realm of the gods, he would face powerful entities.

Coincidentally, even without the Anti-Life Equation, the Anti-Monitor still possessed immense power and could serve Barmulodi—killing, destroying, carrying out his will.

At that moment, the Mobius Chair beneath him trembled. His figure quivered, and the light in his eyes shattered. Swallowing all his anger, he pleaded shakily:

"Barmulodi, please retract your multiverse-level aura... so I can step down from my chair, kneel before you, and offer the Anti-Life Equation."

As Bardi's aura became more terrifying, the oppressive force sweeping across the universe felt like the impact of a new Big Bang. The Anti-Monitor trembled even more under the crushing pressure.

He dared not meet Bardi's gaze. A sourness welled in his heart, and his fury turned to sorrow.

Bardi's face was cold and expressionless. Ever since Mandrakk, the Spectre, Golden Superman, and the Phantom Stranger schemed behind his back and took Raven, Bardi had held back his fury. No one could act recklessly in front of him anymore.

He crossed the starry sky and the universe, clad in dazzling dark-gold imperial armor.

The moment he stepped from the space-time crack, the entire Antimatter Universe seemed to tremble in fear at his arrival. The Anti-Monitor's expression darkened further, and within his unwilling gaze, a deep fear took hold.

The Mobius Chair beneath him rocked like a tiny boat caught in a storm.

Bardi's eyes were frigid. Without a word, he extended a massive hand—metallic, cold, and dark gold. It reached for the Anti-Monitor, the palm seeming to contain the flickering lights and darkness of the cosmos, as if the universe was held within.

"No!"

The Anti-Monitor's eyes filled with fear as Bardi's hand expanded, as if the entire universe were bearing down on him. It loomed above him, becoming a cold, dark universe speckled with starlight like dust.

The suffocating hand descended to grab him, as if the cosmos itself were closing in, and only his terrified screams echoed.

"No!!"

"I have the Antimatter Universe! I can destroy all positive matter universes! I can serve you!"

"I possess the Mobius Chair! I know everything! The secrets of the universe are yours!"

"I offer the Anti-Life Equation—please, no!"

"You can't kill me!"

"You need my strength!"

"I can be your subordinate!"

The massive dark-gold metal hand grasped him, plucking the Anti-Monitor from the Mobius Chair and holding him in its palm.

The power gap between him and Bardi was vast. He was no longer the future Anti-Monitor King feared across the multiverse.

Now, he was nothing more than an ant in Bardi's grip.

Bardi was the multiverse's terrifying and hopeless God-King of horror.

"No! You can't kill me!"

"Beyond the multiverse, outside the Speed Force Wall, there are many gods waiting to seal you, to defeat you!"

"You need me! I can help you!!"

Despite his fearful pleas, the Anti-Monitor was held like an insect. He struggled desperately, swinging his fists at Bardi, but only brought more pain upon himself. His lower body was crushed like a mosquito.

Through blurry, desperate eyes, he saw Bardi's cold and tyrannical gaze.

"Barmulodi, you will die! Darkseid will kill you! The Demon God Trigon will kill you! The Great Craftsman God will kill you! You! Will! Die!!"

His voice was filled with hatred, rage, and despair.

"I won't accept this!"

"Why were you born in the multiverse?!"

"You shouldn't exist!!"

"This multiverse timeline should belong to me! This universe should be mine! Mine!!"

"I had everything!!"

Bardi's eyes turned colder and more violent. With a single crushing motion, he squeezed the Anti-Monitor into a pool of blood.

"From the moment you ended that call..."

"You had nothing."

(To be continued.)