Chapter 32: So Much Charity!? I’m Blushing

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Chapter 156: Accidentally Started A Universal War V

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"Didn't see that coming... How could I? This doesn't make any sense... Well, it kinda does," Ian shook his head with exasperation. He was on his knees, seeming to be on the verge of collapse.

"What are you speaking of?" The creature before him wondered as he walked up to Ian.

"You won't understand because even you don't understand yourself. We're kinda alike in that way..." Ian smiled, as he slowly stood up, finding difficulty in doing so.

"That we are not... We are nothing alike." The creature stated as he traced his only remaining fingers along something on his palm, a heart.

"You are a human, aren't you? I remember. I... We messed around with your kind a lot. Is this vengeance?"

The speaker was an odd creature, seeming to be one of the white Martians, but special. He was indeed quite special, leaner, and skinny.

Like all white Martians, he was bald, but unlike them, he had no eyes, just dark vacant gaps.

And like Ian, he was bloody and injured all over. He had a missing arm, and even his other arm had most of its fingers cut off.

Not just that, there were several holes in his body, each more deadly than the other.

Ian, on the other hand, looked much more at ease if his missing heart is taken off the equation. That and a deep cut on his neck... Add a long deep cut on his skull.

They both had their own blood and each other's blood on their person. Well, add to the equation the blood of all the other ones.

You see, this was a battle that went on for a whole day in a very desolate part of the phantom zone against the entirety of the shite Martians.

The lands that were once milky clean became a battlefield with nothing but blood and body parts. What Ian could only be assumed to be thousands of Martians.

It looked worse than hell, a place Ian has been to before. Yet even with a huge portion of his kind eradicated, the last white Martian on the battlefield remained expressionless.

That felt incredibly odd to Ian because every other white Martian he encountered so far was a bit irrational.

This white Martian was special, stronger, calmer, and much more dangerous.

"Nah, I was just testing a theory. Just messing around." Ian really felt like a masochist because there was another method to get rid of them.

However, it would've likely evaporated the entirety of the zone, something he doesn't want to do just yet.

"I see... A monster you are..." The white Martian spoke English fluently, quite the odd thing, and Ian noted that.

"I... Gen, my name..." The white Martian murmured, seeming hesitant, but alas, he phased out of reality, leaving with unimaginable speed. His goal was a Martian ship far away, his last resort.

The white Martians' leader escaped in a ship he prepared before just in case. Within were many white Martians, the last survivors.

And Ian didn't stop him, instead, he eyed a certain clump of blood on the ground. Before the monster left, he crushed his heart, and that is all that is left.

"Magic huh..." Ian slumped back to the ground, feeling extremely exhausted for the first time in a while.

This battle felt special, different than any battle he had before. He truly struggled and even felt pain and a headache at a point.

Even the Rose of speed didn't save him from that because what he was facing was an army that can conquer galaxies if a higher power doesn't interfere.

Gen however seemed to be a special case. He was their leader, the most special of white Martians, and he was kind of a mystery even for Ian.

He was a great mind, one in control of all other white Martians. They seemed to communicate telepathically, coordinating deadly attacks on him.

They were so dangerous in fact they left him in such a state, and he would be 'Dead' if not for using magic to keep his blood pumping.

Ian was already an alien to humanity considering his capabilities, but that's only becoming more and more so the case. A missing heart doesn't seem to be a problem anymore.

"Even with my speed, I still..." The white Martians were very similar to the green Martians as they were part of the same race long ago, so their strength wasn't much different.

What that means is that Ian has just faced more than a thousand white Martians which could equate to more than a hundred Supermans.

They weren't able to keep up with his speed before but the moment Gen showed up, it all changed. They started to predict his actions, and they gave him a run for his money.

'But what was their goal. They can leave the phantom zone, of that I'm sure, so why were they still here? What were they planning?'

And many more questions and assumptions came to his mind, such as the fact that he most likely just faced a bunch of cannon fodders.

Ian was certain that someone or something like Gen wouldn't waste so many of his kind for no reason when he could've escaped long before that.

A significant portion of the white Martians must've already escaped while Gen was either stalling for time, or testing him.

Just like Ian was testing something. His staff appeared right before him, glowing in an odd light. Another vessel was filled.

'The energy of all that is psychic, and even... Anti-life equation...' Indeed, Ian was sure that what he devoured from them was not only their psychic powers but also bits and pieces of the anti-life equation.

He knew it instinctively due to his Death force. The staff of all things has already become a universal artifact, one of the best with the constant strengthening from his Death force.

It got to such a point that he have absolute control over it, nonsensical even. Why? Because everything he devours with it, he gains a certain understanding of it.

How can he have absolute control over something if he doesn't understand it? So the moment he devoured the first white Martian, he understood something, and he sought to understand it more.

'They were studying the Anti-life equation, weren't they? Hidden from all prying eyes, just waiting for a day where they can unleash their understanding of it on the universe...'

What made Ian even more sure of his assumptions was the fact that Green Martians believe in the Life Equation.

That's how Darkseid found out about the Anti-Life equation as a matter of fact, so it wasn't strange for the white Martians to believe in the opposite.

Things become especially dangerous if one knows that the Anti-Life equation is a transcendental mathematical formula originally said to allow those who knew it to dominate the will of any sentient race which is why it's the ultimate goal of Darkseid.

However, even Ian was unaware of what he had started. Not just that, he was also unaware that he made it worse.

You see, Ion vanished. The green light vanished, but the Guardians of the galaxies have a theory that it's actually imprisoned in that power battery.

The question was how can they bring it out? Breaking it would likely have an adverse effect, even killing Ion for that matter.

They first started by testing their theory, and the result was that yes, Ion was somewhere within that small power battery. They detected his energy signal within.

And just when their studies were going somewhere, things started to get chaotic.

Losing Ion means the green lantern corps won't be able to recharge their energy, so once their energy runs out, they'll become powerless.

Even the green lantern corps were dissatisfied and panicked over the situation, let alone everyone else. They're, after all, the power of order. The power that keeps order throughout the universe.

That, however, also means making enemies... The Red lantern corps of Rage. The Orange lantern corps of Greed. The Yellow lantern corps of Fear. The White Martians.

Indeed, the white Martians escaped the Phantom Zone after that, and when they found out about the situation of Oa, their next course of action was very predictable, considering the limits put on them by the guardians.

And so, a universal war started, an accidental war started completely by one person. And Ian would later swear it was an accident, and he meant no harm as usual.

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Chapter 157: So Much Charity!? I'm Blushing I

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"Wow... I'm kinda speechless." Ian noted as he eyed the scenery before him. He was absent far away, dealing with the white Martians only to come back to a different world.

The girls made a mess out of the phantom zone, granted nowhere near the destruction of his battle with the white Martians, but enough to impress him.

Ivy simply scattered her sweet green crystals around, sweet weapons of mass destruction, causing so much destruction Ian was sure she would bring down a small planet if that went on for long.

Zatanna was the gentlest of the bunch, basically doing little to no destruction aside from finding the Kryptonites Ian seeks.

The only damage Selina did was by helping Zatanna scavenge the materials once she sees them with her magic.

Something Ian didn't expect was that the material was very sensitive to magic. In fact, it fails and becomes powerless, so Zatanna found that a lot of workload has been thrown at her.

The reason being was that she had to find the material without her magic coming in contact with it, and she has to scavenge it on top of that which would've proven to be a problem if not for Selina.

This is where Zatanna showed her capabilities as she developed a spell to detect them on the spot, just after coming in contact with one Platinium Kryptonite.

Selina also showed the odd powers of not only her but also her whip, an artifact created by Hephaestus. All she had to do was to control it to surround something, then it tightens by itself.

And so far, there was nothing it couldn't break. Also, considering the whip can extend limitlessly, Selina theorized that if she can control it to circle a planet, she could possibly be able to destroy it.

The unfortunate thing about Zatanna's newly created spell though was its cost, a broken Kryptonite, and the end result was them finding only five tiny Kryptonites across five days of search.

Ivy found only one with her plants while Zatanna and Selina found four. And with their powers, five days were a lot, so it's odd they found only so little.

Ian however was more than satisfied, knowing of their nature and what they can do. In fact, he expected things to be worse, perhaps finding only one stone.

Something even more impressive to Ian however was Harley... She left the phantom zone somehow, went to the Vega star system, and wiped out the Citadels, literally.

The race that tried to rob the Grey Rose before was no more, well, a significant portion of them was eradicated at least.

Annihilating them all is extremely difficult considering their desire to conquer, meaning they're spreading through the star system and its surrounding.

The grey Rose wasn't just a sweet Rose of a ship, it was also a weapon of mass destruction. It not only included Kryptonian technology, but also Martian techs handed to Ian by Batman because of their deal.

Indeed, Batman sacrificed a lot to get Ian to target Doomsday among other things, information that would surely drive a wedge among the Justice League members.

It was a stupid thing to do, but this is Batman we're talking about, so Ian was sure he was planning something.

"Hehe..." Harley giggled at the odd look given to her by Ian, seeming quite happy and not bothered at all.

"Yeah, you're a genius when it comes down to destruction," Ian remarked, letting out a sigh.

He honestly didn't see that coming. He imagined she would bring chaos to the phantom zone which is exactly what he wanted, but this...

"Of course, did you not see it before? No wonder you were so stingy, telling me you'll give me power, but never doing so! Now, you know." Harley repeatedly nodded at herself, proud of destroying a race to prove a point.

"Sure... Can you leave for a while? I have something to do." Ian strangely changed the subject, something unlike him, but that was exactly why Harley gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving without complaint.

And the moment she left, Ian canceled the Rose of Evolution, letting his real self show, the injuries that have yet to heal.

The deep cut on his skull showed itself again. He used the force of evolution to regrow the hair that was cut off in the battle, hiding his injury.

He wore new clothes to hide the gap in his chest as well as his other injuries. Such is the unfortunate thing about the force of evolution. Once canceled, all of its effects wore off like they were never there.

He switched into the Rose of light and focused on healing himself while taking sips of wine, seeming quite focused.

'The white Martians huh... Too dangerous. I should've come here alone, only in that way can I eradicate everything.'

They have a bit of the Anti-life equation, that alone makes them extremely dangerous, and now that they're out there in the universe, there is a possibility of Darkseid finding them.

So Ian quickly left the phantom zone though only after leaving something within, a dark sun, the biggest he has. Only god and he knows what will become of it.

Yet even Ian was unaware that he again! again made things worse, so much worse. You see, Harley's actions have a lot more consequences than what he could possibly imagine.

The green lantern corps were basically the police of the universe. They keep order, stop wars, and seek peace. Now that they lost their powers, is it so hard to imagine what will happen?

War. Destruction. Death. The ones who sought that however needed just a little push because they were still not sure, and the destruction of the citadels was exactly the push they needed.

The exchange of information in the universe is extremely easy for strong civilizations, so they saw what happened, and waited, but the green lantern corps still didn't act... War started.

Basically, on every side of the universe, an age of chaos rose, and with it came fear.

As a result, the yellow lantern corps, a new lantern corps founded by Sinestro found themselves to be stronger than ever.

They're after all the ideals of fear, and fear has never been stronger since the beginning of time.

So it was only natural for the yellow lantern corps to start the battle against the green lanterns, and they knew they have the upper hand because they only had to waste the opponent's energy, and there would be no way for them to stand back up like them.

The only obstacle on their way were the guardians of the universe, well, most of them at least, some of them vanished, and neither their location nor their intentions were known.

And Ian could only stare in bewilderment at the completely different cosmos he went back to, "What the fuck happened? Did someone start a war while I was away for only five days? How?"

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Chapter 158: So Much Charity!? I'm Blushing II

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And Ian could only stare in bewilderment at the completely different cosmos he went back to, "What the fuck happened? Did someone start a war while I was away for only five days? How?"

"Someone who can bring such chaos in just five days... No, even less because Harley didn't see anything different when she went out... This is troublesome." Zatanna noted with a frown.

"It's troublesome..." Ian agreed, eyeing a crowd of ships having a space war against another bunch.

They only had to move for a few light years away from the phantom zone to see two space battles, and if that wasn't enough, the space battle before them was special.

There was a planet not far from them, and it was devastated. This was straight-up an invasion, and it wasn't the last one they saw.

"Yeah, something definitely happened... Space battles are cool though," Ian stroked his chin, contemplating what could've possibly brought such chaos.

He surfed his memory, trying to find anything that might've led to this, to no avail. The chaos was unexpected, odd, and even scary to Ian because he was basically dealing with the unknown.

"The green lanterns..." In the end, he knew the answers to his question would only lie with them because they're the keepers of order, so they must know.

"Yeah, no. Space battles aren't cool," Zatanna shook her head, somehow feeling out of place.

She looked at everyone else in the team, and none seemed to care about the casualties, the unnecessary deaths.

That is certainly not something she's comfortable with, but she knew what she got herself into, knowing that Ian is, well, Ian.

"I... I have to go." Ivy spoke hesitantly, a frown surfacing on her face.

Her words seemed to make everyone except for Ian confused, "You have my ring..."

He stood up and pulled her closer to himself before vanishing from sight for a few minutes. He then came back alone.

"What was that about?" Selina wondered with concern.

"A problem she wants to deal with alone," Ian responded, resting his head on his palm as he controlled the Grey Rose to warp directly to planet Oa, 'The green shouldn't be a problem for her, but just in case...'

Just in case, he left a spell on her to watch over her state because he knows just how stubborn she can be. It was finally time for her to deal with the green's effect on her, to get rid of its influence.

That's, however, almost impossible considering the green is one of the elemental forces in the universe inherent and connected to all forms of plant life.

Thus affecting it in any way is near impossible, and cutting off her connection with it might make her lose her powers. She does have a plan though.

"Huh?" The trip to planet Oa was quick and exact considering he just followed the coordinates of the power battery, the same battery which held Ion within.

Ian switched the ship into its invisible mode even though he was sure the Guardians already noticed him. The other lantern corps didn't though they were quite busy.

Anyone can tell by the numerous sparks flying about throughout the planet of Oa and its surroundings.

The green lantern had allies, in the form of hope, blue lantern corps. Compassion, Indigo lantern corps. Love, violet lantern corps.

They were all helping the green lanterns against the powers of fear, and soon greed and rage.

Unfortunately, the battle was in the enemy's favor as the white Martians soon joined. That's especially so since there are very few green lanterns with energy left.

This brings us now to the confused Ian as he especially focused on the planet of Oa as a whole, noticing the absence of green light, "Just how? You all wait here."

The moment he spoke, he vanished, quickly making his way toward the power battery he feels a connection with.

He had to evade numerous blasts coming towards, not because they saw him as he had some invisibility spells on, but because the battle was so chaotic that one would find it hard to locate a peaceful place throughout the entire solar system of Oa.

The green lanterns however have yet to fall because they had the blue lanterns as support. A benefit of such was the fact that the light of hope can recharge the green rings.

Unfortunately, the blue lantern corps was way smaller than the green lanterns, so there was only so much they could do to help.

He teleported around, finding his way to the core of the planet where he found an ongoing battle going on, a battle that came to a halt the moment he arrived.

The guardians were the first to detect him despite his invisibility magic, then Hal Jordan detected him a second before the enemy.

"Ian?" The superhero murmured in a daze before that quickly turned into rage, "Are you here to make things worse after what you've done?!"

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You are reading story DC: Rose Of Death at novel35.com

The only ones confused in this situation were the enemy. Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern Corps. Whereas other corps recruit their members, Larfleeze is too greedy to share the Orange Lantern Corps, so his corps is made of ring constructs of "members" he killed.

Atrocitus, the leader and founder of the Red Lantern Corps. Wielding a red power ring fueled by rage, he has sworn revenge on the Guardians of the Universe for the death of his family in the massacre of Sector 666.

And lastly, a man who seemed more thoughtful than confused, Thaal Sinestro of Korugar, the arch-nemesis of Green Lantern.

At one point the greatest member of the Green Lantern Corps, he was corrupted by his power and exiled for crimes against his own people.

He now seeks to impose his own order and control onto the universe, employing a yellow power ring to combat the green he has grown to despise, leading the Sinestro corps.

"Huh?" The only other person confused was Ian, "I was literally in a different zone entirely far away. What have I done?"

"You! You contaminated the power battery somehow, and yet you act dumb!" How could Hal not be mad? Many of his fellow green lanterns fell today, and many fell throughout the universe all because of Ian.

"Oh..." Things started to click in Ian's head, but he was still unsure as he stared in a certain direction. In what Ian assumes to be a pocket dimension, rejecting all that wants to enter, he could sense the battery.

"Go inside. You'll be allowed." One of the guardians' eyes seemed to brighten for a split second as he nodded at Ian, not seeming mad at all in contrast to Hal Jordan.

"No, wait!" Sinestro intervened, eyeing Ian with a smile, "Is it the power of will that you seek? Why don't we work together? You'll get what you want, and I'll even hand you the power of fear, something far above that of will..."

"Wait..." Ian suddenly realized something. He has never been so confused and bewildered before, so his mind was preoccupied, not allowing him to see the biggest picture.

His eyes brightened, and his mood lightened, letting out a cheery laugh before bowing to everyone, "Thank, everyone. I'll graciously accept it all."

"Hm?"

"? E... Enough," Atrocitus had enough of being confused as he unleashed his rage, attacking even Ian. The latter however vanished, accepting the guardians' offer.

Less than a second later, he found himself in a mostly dark dimension. The only light that could be seen was that of the eight guardians surrounding a small power battery.

A light was in a constant eruption from their hands, seeming like a blast though it did nothing to harm the battery.

While most of the guardians were doing that, the rest were working with instruments to measure things.

The process was so foreign to Ian's knowledge he knew they were at least a few thousand ahead of his technological level, and that says a lot considering he's kind of a Wikipedia of Martian and Kryptonian technology.

All that had to be done for Ian to understand the situation was to let his Death force come in contact with the power battery, getting a reaction out of it in the form of a green glow.

"Oh," Ian was kinda speechless, finally getting a full understanding of what started a universal war, himself.

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Chapter 159: So Much Charity!? I'm Blushing III

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"Oh," Ian was kinda speechless, finally getting a full understanding of what started a universal war, himself.

"You're finally here." A guardian spoke, still not taking their eyes from the lantern.

"Yes, we were expecting you." Another added.

"Albeit, you're a bit late."

"Release Ion, and we shall allow you to take what you want." They didn't seem angry with him at all. In fact, they seemed quite calm.

"Yeah... Why?" Ian asked, confused. Why the fuck did they bring the contaminated power battery to Ion?

"Biases, you know, so you assume others would take the best course of action without the knowledge you have..."

"We didn't know it all, so in our mind, that was the best course of action for the future."

"I guess you're right..." Ian narrowed his eyes, feeling the pocket dimension shaking as if it was about to crumble. An unimaginable battle must be happening outside.

He floated closer to the lantern as the guardians made way for him, getting hold of the power battery, and in an instant, he unleashed a torrent of Death force into the artifact.

'Interesting... My lantern and Ion fought for control, but the latter lost, unexpected. The guardians must've sought a solution for my contamination of the lantern in case I do it again, huh?'

The lantern's glow returned, seeming brighter than ever in fact. Ian closed his eyes, focusing on controlling the lantern.

His goal was achieved as a cluster of green energy started slowly flowing out of it, forming into Ion.

The creature was an exquisite work of art, looking absolutely gorgeous as it started swimming about, seemingly in celebration of regaining its freedom.

"You all are one of the brightest minds in existence, so..." So Ian brought out his staff and lifted it high above him while eyeing Ion.

"But even the brightest of minds have limits..." A guardian let out a sigh, seeming resigned.

Ian, however, narrowed his eyes at their antics, 'Something is wrong... Beings as dangerous as them wouldn't let this happen without consequence. Not with me being such a variable.'

So he kept his guard as Ion started sending what could only be assumed to be limitless energy into the staff of all things. His energy was so potent it only took a minute to fully assimilate the energy of will.

"Noooo!" Loud shouts reverberated throughout the planet of Oa as it regained its glow. From its gaps, an ever bright green light spurted.

It was so bright it could be seen throughout the universe. Ion overtaxed itself to achieve such a thing for but ten seconds, but that was enough to let everyone know. The green lantern corps are back!

The green lanterns rose again very quickly and supported their allies, fighting back against the enemies.

"Take it with you. It's no longer ours, but please, do not do it again..." The guardians could finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Sure," Ian nodded, not wishing to stay with them any longer. They're a bit too smart, and he absolutely has no idea what they were thinking.

He knows they're eternal as they existed since almost the beginning of time, so he was quite sure using his new psychic powers on them is pointless.

Next thing you know he was in space, looking down on the planet of Oa. So far, the Rose on his back has only grown two petals, meaning he can only use two mods at the same time.

The Rose of speed was necessary, and it was being used nearly at all times. The other, he switches depending on what's needed, and now, he switched to the Rose of All that is psychic or The psychic for shorts.

It's not just telepathy, no, it's so much more than that, and it might just be a Rose he will keep on at all times as it gave him a sort of cosmic awareness.

Before, he could sense things far away with his Death force, but it usually takes time for his force to travel those distances whereas the Rose of The psychic is instantaneous.

The moment he activated it, Ian sensed numerous things all at the same time, the cries of the green lanterns and their allies, either to the death of their friends or pain.

He also heard the growing desperation in the enemy as the green lanterns regained their powers, and the guardians joined the battle.

There were however some that still had hope, like Atrocitus. Usually, entities of the emotional spectrum can only stay in the central power battery of their respective power.

But some have a symbiotic relationship with a host, so they can survive outside. Atrocitus was such an example as at the moment, the entity of rage, the Butcher was within him, increasing his rage infinitely.

The same was for the entity of greed, Ophidian with its host Larfleeze. Most important of all was Sinestro. The man was not only in war with all the allied corps of the green lantern and the guardians but also with the entity trying to take over him, Parallax.

Sinestro wanted absolute control, and letting Parallax take control was certainly not part of that. That made him a bit weaker, but in the guardians' eyes, he was the most dangerous of the bunch.

"Harley... Hahahahaha, so predictable." Ian let out a genuine smile as his cosmic awareness caught sight of what was happening in the Grey Rose.

Harley was suspended in the air, looking unconscious. Around her was a yellow sphere with a small ring orbiting her. It was kind of exquisite, almost like the relationship between the earth and the sun.

That was actually his gift for her. He knew that with her personality,

the ring of fear would be a perfect fit for her.

Even Ian didn't expect what would happen next as another ring flew towards her, joining the orbit, a violet ring.

"Wait, what?" Not just that, Ian noticed another ring heading towards her, albeit, it stopped soon, perhaps because of seeing the two other rings she attracted.

It was a blue ring, one of hope which made Ian wonder, how the fuck does that fit with her personality, 'Is it because she's always hoping for more skulls and things to crush? No way, right?'

Honestly, Ian wasn't sure anymore, but what he was sure of was that he needed to act quickly. Those rings flying about mean that their original owners had died in the war, thus they sought new hosts.

And the number of rings flying about only continued to increase. One thing they all share though was that they avoided Ian, or more like, they don't seem to see him at all.

It was as if he was invisible to them, something to be studied later. For now, Ian raised his left hand, clutching onto the trident that suddenly appeared before him.

It was Aquaman's trident. The bad boy was still behaving badly, usually quite calm when left in the black Rose dimension, but once taken out, it goes crazy at Ian.

Its resistance was decreasing as Ian continued to feed it his Death force, but it's certainly still strong enough to escape his clutches if he doesn't use the Rose of magic to control it.

Like a comet, Ian fell back into the planet again with Lucifer's wings already flared out. The next instant, he was standing before one of the yellow lantern members.

The next moment, the agent of fear's arm was cut off, cutting off his connection with the energy of fear.

The poor soul was absolutely unaware of what was happening as Ian's trident sliced his arm with the speed of lightning.

Strangely, Ian then let go of the Trident, and as predicted, it sought its freedom back, starting to escape.

While the Trident moved about an inch from its previous position, Ian already switched from the Rose of magic to The psychic, using the latter to read the poor soul's memories.

Ian found out long ago that the energy held within one lantern agent is nowhere near enough for assimilation. He'd likely need thousands if not more to fully assimilate the said energy.

So his solution to that was getting that energy directly from the source, the entities of the emotional spectrum.

Lantern corps like those of fear are quite secretive, hidden from the powers of order, so Ian sought to read their memories for the entities' locations.

To do that, he has to cut off their connections with their rings because they're known to be largely immune to psychic influence.

And so, Ian switched back to the Rose of magic and caught the Trident once again, pumping his magic into it to make it behave.

The Trident, unfortunately, only moved about five inches from its initial location before its freedom was taken away yet again.

"Hahh," Ian let out a long breath, taking him more than a split second! Before vanishing again, right away. The hunt has begun.

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Chapter 160: So Much Charity!? I'm Blushing IV

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"Hahh," Ian let out a long breath, taking him more than a split second! Before vanishing again, right away. The hunt has begun.

He found out the entity of fear's location, so next came the others. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to cut off the arms of the violet lanterns as they were handed to him on a silver platter.

Amidst the chaotic battle, a red lantern cut off not only one of a violet lantern's arms but also her legs. In a battle on such a large scale, such a thing was bound to happen.

And it happened at such an opportunistic time as Ian suddenly stood right amidst the scene. He could see the violet lantern's arm, hell, even a part of her stood; still in the air, seemingly frozen in time.

Her blood was the same, stuck in the air while everyone around him looked the same.

There are some lantern members capable of moving at unimaginable speeds, even the speed of light, but those are so rare even across all of time.

So naturally, none of the lower brackets of the lanterns were able to perceive him, let alone do something against him.

What's even rarer were lanterns who could use their respective emotional force without the ring, basically summoning the required energy without needing a medium.

Due to that, Ian didn't need to worry about being countered by lantern corps members who could only destroy like just cities.

The violet lantern of love could only stay there frozen as her memories were read like an open book.

That was soon followed by her assailant, the one who cut off her hand, having his hand cut off before Ian read his memories also.

Violet lanterns. Red lanterns. Yellow lanterns. Those were done, only three more to go.

Next came hope, a wonderful thing. Ian appreciates it a lot. It's something he has deep within him, keeping it hidden.

He hopes he can find the answers he seeks. He hopes he won't hate what he finds. He hopes to never die despite how against common sense that concept is.

He hopes to discover what he seeks without losing his life. He can not die, but he can lose his life simply by losing his freedom or losing himself.

He has many hopes, so he went easy on the blue lanterns as he cut off only one finger, the one with the ring.

Then came indigo, the light of compassion. The indigo light can be wielded by one with great compassion for other beings and can manipulate the other energies of the emotional spectrum.

Unfortunately, it's basically brainwashing because aside from the indigo lantern corps' leader, everyone else is completely submissive to the rings' power, a side effect of sorts, just like Red lanterns are lost in their rage.

It, however, has great power as it allows one to manipulate all emotional spectrum, albeit at a limited scale.

Just like the other rings, Ian got it over with without any trouble, but this is where things start to get harder. There is only one ring to go, that of greed.

The orange light of Avarice. This one is very special for one simple reason, there exists only one member in the orange lantern corps.

Now that is odd considering around him many creatures in orange uniforms were fighting all around. That's however where the light of greed's oddness comes from.

Those aren't living creatures, but merely constructs and creatures killed by Larfleeze.

You see, wielders of the orange light have been shown to become twisted by their greed, and obsessively guard their property and steal possessions from others.

Larfleeze considers the entirety of the Avarice to be his, so he couldn't simply allow others to have it for themselves even if they're under his rule.

That's why His Orange Lanterns were composed of the identities of individuals killed by the Orange Light.

But those orange lanterns also have rings. It's a necessity, but those are just not the rings that matter because they're already dead.

Ian even went ahead and tried it on one of them, but he could read nothing from their mind because the moment they lose their connection with their rings, they become dead cold bodies with no soul.

As such, he had no choice but to target Larfleeze. The problem was that he was a host of the entity of Avarice, Ophidian, one of the strongest entities in all of the emotional spectrum.

Even Ian's unimaginable speed wouldn't do much against such a thing because to a certain extent, those entities are ignorant of time and speed.

Ophidian will definitely be able to stop him from getting what he wants unless Ian went all out, but that will likely lead to the complete evaporation of Larfleeze, thus losing access to Ophidian's location.

"Guardians, I hope you can hear my voice because if not, things will be quite bad. You know my goal, and you should know what I'm doing at the moment... You should also know what I want next."

His voice didn't come out of his mouth but from his mind. He used the energy of The psychic to deliver his words to the guardians as a clear plan emerged in his mind.

"So care to help me for free? By the way, Oa can no longer be your home after what'll do... It's for the better though, isn't it?"

It almost sounded like a threat, but it was not. He was simply asking for a charity, and their positive response almost had him blushing.

Too much charity for him, so much, in fact, he became even more suspicious of the guardians' plans.

These are all minds that lived for eternity. They went through a lot. They saw a lot, and they certainly know more than him, so Ian was cautious of them despite his lightning speed mind.

Not to say Ian doesn't know much because he does. He had read the book of eternity, a book written by Belial, son of Trigon.

The book contains much of the demon's knowledge, recording the history of the universe, but even that wasn't enough.

The guardians of the universe started acting right away, seemingly escaping the battle. All of them suddenly found themselves surrounding Ion with their hands in the air.

It was like a demonic ritual, albeit it was for the good of their people and allies. Ion had already overworked itself, but they sought to do it again on a much larger scale.

The universe glowed green once more with such force, not one being in the entirety of the universe missed it.

Neither Sinestro, Atrocitus, nor Larfleeze were able to stop them. The guardians all acting at the same time was simply too much, something they're able to handle in battle, but this was no battle but a tactical retreat.

A spark of will glowed on all green lanterns and their allies. A second later, Oa became a dead silent planet.

Every one of them vanished from the planet, seemingly teleporting somewhere else.

The only ones left on the planet were the yellow lanterns, red lanterns, orange lanterns, and even white Martians. All were stunned, uncertain of what happened.

Sinestro, however, understood that they escaped which is odd because, in his eyes, they were winning. In fact, he was seeking to escape himself with his lantern corps.

So he was understandably cautious in stark contrast to all the red lanterns whose rage rose to such an extent they lose their mind entirely.

They hate the green lanterns and the guardians more than anyone else, but they can't get them.

Even when they got so close, they still failed, so they redirected their rage on the planet Oa and all that is around them, including the other lanterns around them.

Not just that, Larfleeze was even more lost to his greed, seeking to bring every lantern left on the planet to his side. To turn them into a puppet of Avarice.

And thus started another war as the enemy easily turned on themselves much to Ian's dismay. I mean, it wasn't far-fetched, but it happened so easily.

Still, he didn't dwell on those thoughts as he teleported back to space. His posture changed instantly as if he was about to throw something, a Trident.

"Trident Of Neptune. If you behave and worked with me on what I'm about to do next, I'll let you go. I swear by name as the god of charity."

His muscles tightened, brimming with such a force they threatened to break space around them. He switched from the Rose of magic to that of Kryptonian energy, Platinium energy, his newest find.

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