(Aden's P.O.V)

I just realized something. I hate swamps. The Phantom Stranger had swept out his cape towards us, my energy sense briefly getting a taste of The Stranger's magical power and oh boy…this dude had hidden depths. From what I could feel…his power was of a higher tier than what was accessible to mortals. Infact…it was distinctly angelic. Just missing an aspect of…miracle or if you want to get technical, holiness. It was only for a brief second and I could confidently say that The Phantom Stranger was atleast as powerful as an elite angel. Which begged the question of why he didn't personally interfere.

I didn't think he would tell me even if I asked, but I was curious about him. I made a mental note to myself to grill Blood on who or rather what the Phantom Stranger was. My vision was briefly obscured by darkness for a second and then light assaulted my eyes, making me realize just how dim Xanadu's place was.

"Make haste. For the longer you linger, the more harm they inflict on the world."

The Stranger's voice echoed out before disappearing.

I looked around and found myself standing on a mushy ground, with my feet sinking into the mud slowly. I grimaced and floated up. All around me was an eerie atmosphere that was not in the least bit diminished by the sun peeking through. The buzz of mosquitoes and other insects along with my surroundings culminated in one undeniable truth about myself.

"I fucking hate the swamp."

Blood merely grunted and started walking towards the massive green plant peaking through a few trees, some distance infront of us.

"Nice of the Stranger to teleport us close to the structure but not too near. I can't imagine wading through all this murk to get where we need to go."

Blood spared me a look that said, 'bruh you can fly. I'm the one wading through the murk.'

"Hey you want some help? I could levitate you with my powers. It would be faster that way."

I offered only for the centuries old man to shake his head.

"I'm fine. Let us hurry. We need to stop Wotan and the rest so that we can move on to more important things."

I spared him a look from the corner of my eyes. This fixation on Allyssa seemed a bit…odd. Something told me there was a lot more that the Demonologist was not sharing. Then again, everyone had their own secrets. If it was important enough, there was no way whatever Blood was hiding would stay locked up in a void of obscurity. Call it karma, fate or sweet baby Jesus but such things found their way into the light eventually.

On another note... something worried me, I was yet to receive a mission from the system. Did it mean that as long as I had a chain quest active I couldn't receive a different mission? Or did the system vet my missions based on a criteria that I didn't know? It bothered me not to have clear answers because lord knows I needed some training points.

Back to the mission, I had my energy sense, air sense and spiritual attunement on ever since the Stranger dropped us in the swamp. All three skills were in an active state, scanning our surroundings as we closed in on the mega structure that was growing bigger and bigger in our vision. For starters the building was shaped like a dome from what I could perceive. The sunlight from above hit the top of the building and was reflected off, meaning it was made of glass while the foundation was concrete. It's size was huge. Like…why waste so much time and resources building this thing in the middle of nowhere, if it was a one off strategy? Somehow despite Lex's bullshit amounts of money, I didn't picture him as the sort to just waste it. Which meant this was something that the Light had been planning for some time. I remembered only the part about the Injustice League being a cover for the Light or something. Nothing too concrete.

I tensed my neck muscles as something made itself known before us. Without thinking too much, I jumped infront of Jason just as a huge albino gorilla leapt from behind some trees a couple of dozen meters away from our position. How the fuck had I not felt him before he consciously moved to attack us? Could there be something in the air masking their presence or was it the swamp itself? Bullets pelted my air shield, making it ripple like the surface of water without breaking through.

"Blood, we seem to have some company."

"Yes, I can see that."

The man replied scanning our surroundings for any more attackers.

"So what's the plan?"

I asked while flicking a finger towards Ultra-humanite's position with my left hand, sending wind bullets to pelt his position too in a sort of 'can you take what you dish out' courtesy move. The other hand was outstretched to maintain a strong shield around Blood and I.

Something broke through the ground, aimed at us. I neatly controlled the sphere of air surrounding our bodies and floated us away from the spiked vines. Poison Ivy. Luckily it didn't seem like she was around. She could probably sense us all the way from the building. Still, it was frankly terrifying how powerful she could be in her element. The plants all around us moved to box us in. The sphere in my control changed to a whirlwind of sharp wind currents that made short work of all the branches and plants seeking to ensnare us once they got too close. I rounded up on my colleague, a little angry. You never freeze when you're on the field.

"Get your head in the game, Blood. If this is too much…tell me and I will create a portal for you to leave."

It was a low blow. Insulting even, given that I knew of his condition. Loosening the tight grip he had on Etrigan's chains to allow the demon to come out must not have been easy. Especially considering that they didn't really like each other.

"Throw me." Came the Englishman's response. I looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

I studied his face and questioned.

"Throw me towards the building. You handle the ones on the outside and I will handle the ones on the inside."

I hesitated for a split second before nodding.

"Ok. Give em hell."

I laughed internally at the stupid joke, before slamming my hands down onto the ground. A shockwave of wind, blasted out with us at the epicenter, blowing everything close to us away.

The pale white gorilla rolled away from the worst of it, though I could feel him smash onto a few trees, losing his machine gun in the process. Was it even a machine gun? With no more assault, I grabbed hold of Blood through aero kinesis, just as he crouched and started to chant,

"Change change o' form of man,

Release the might from Fleshy Mire…"

I enclosed him in a bubble just as infernal, hot energy with the flavor of sulphur registered in my senses. My spiritual attunement distinctly felt two souls inside the body. With the prime soul, that of Jason Blood, taking a backseat as Etrigan came out. The bubble floated up and then shot off towards the building in subsonic speeds. Meh…he could survive it. Probably. I moved to ran forward when something forcefully stopped me.

A battering ram. Or, atleast what I thought a battering ram would feel smashing onto my forearms. The force behind it slammed me away as I cradled my very likely broken arm. My back punched through the mangrove, vines and trees before I released a blast of wind from my shoulders and feet to forcefully stop myself. The air rippled behind me, sending out a tsunami of murky water, broken branches, leaves and vines.

Someone strong. Very strong had decided to enter the scene. I looked up at the face of the Kandahq royalty. Black friggin Adam.

"You're going to pay for that."

I promised with a slight smile on my face, wincing slightly at the pain on my left hand. There was something about fighting someone who had you outmatched physically that was addicting because then, you're forced to use your brain to counteract your opponent's overwhelming speed, strength and durability with skill or long range bombardment.

"You can't hope to defeat me brat. You. Are. Not. Worthy."

Black Adam told me while flying down in an upright position.

He had me outmatched in all physical parameters but if I wanted to defeat him, I had a few options open to me, though I wasn't sure of they would work. First of, I could deny him air. And…yeah that's it. I got nothing else. That's how freakishly strong this dude was.

Just kidding.

I waited for him to get closer before opening my mouth and letting out a sonic scream, the most powerful one I could handle without making myself lose my voice for a few hours.

The ripple of sound washed over the disgraced champion of Shazam, his hands clasped over his bleeding years in a grimace of pain. I jumped towards him and buried a fist on his belly, pushing him towards the sky, while following him closely behind. The next strike caught him on the the left cheek, whipping his head to the side. Damn, it felt like I was punching hardened rock. Despite being disoriented, Black Adam was conscious enough to sweep his hand out. I ducked under the move and landed a chi blocking blow on the underside of his arm then at his armpit.

The larger, faster and stronger man winced in pain as his arm seized up but didn't completely lose control. He pulled away but a wind blast from his back pushed him towards me again, so he changed tactics and instead of a close quarter combat attack, I felt the brimming of super charged energy before the first sparks of lightning exploded from his form. The streaks washed over me but I was ready. I grabbed onto the energy and instantly understood that I had made a mistake. This energy was not natural. The divine essence inside it fried my arms and I released it just as quickly as I absorbed it, redirecting it to the ground where I felt Ultra-humanite hoisting his weapon up to shoot at me. I felt the lightning connect absentmindedly while I tried to focus on the fight I was embroiled in.

Black Adam landed a glancing blow on my chest that I barely evaded but he pulled his hand back quickly and grabbed my arm in a vice grip. Before I could extricate myself, the world started spinning around me, before he let go of my arm. I smashed onto the murky ground, sending mud and water flying off while coughing as the breath was knocked out of me. Shit…both of my arms were in a sorry state. The left one was probably broken or atleast had a cracked bone on the forearm, while the right one was dislocated at the shoulder. How the fuck did Black Adam reduce me to such a sorry state in only a few seconds? I had had the upper hand! There in lied the problem. I was too cocky.

Changing tactics. I looked up at the sadistically grinning man above me. Like David facing Goliath. Like Hercules facing the Nemean Lion. I was outmatched...and it was thrilling.

"Okay…let's try this again."