Night, silence.
The extra stars shone brighter than on any other night.
In the woods, atop a thick layer of humus.
An ice block containing the frozen Flash lay coldly on the ground. The cold air spread outward, causing the surrounding insects to flee. For a time, the area was cool and silent.
The Flash's struggling expression was frozen vividly within the ice.
He had been frozen for several days, finally waiting for this moment.
In the distance, in the darkness of the southern suburbs, the camp was ablaze with explosions, artillery fire, and the cries of pain.
Suddenly, from the thick ice block freezing the Flash, a yellow electric arc emerged from the dark night, crackling against the cold mist in the air.
Boom.
The Flash's frozen head suddenly blurred. Yellow electric arcs erupted frequently, merging with the sounds of gunfire in the distance.
Only at this exact moment could abnormalities occur without immediately drawing Bardi's attention away from his position. Otherwise, Bardi, who had hidden himself for days and observed with his powerful vision, would have caught everything instantly.
The Flash's face was pale with fear, trembling, his breath forming visible mist. The bone-chilling cold made him almost unable to bear it.
One of the only true weaknesses of the Speed Force was extreme cold. Low temperatures made the Speed Force inert and weakened its resistance.
The Flash lay on the ground, with only his head free from the cracked ice. His gaze was steady and firm as he turned to look toward the darkness and the sounds of battle in the distance.
He and Bruce had once come here, investigating everything related to Barmulodi, and knew there would be an event involving the death of a U.S. general. They knew the exact time.
Only now could the Flash use the small remaining Speed Force to break free from the ice, although only freeing his head to breathe.
But that was enough.
The Flash narrowed his eyes. There was little time left.
"Ugh..."
Gritting his teeth hard, he bit down, using his lower teeth to bite the back of his front teeth, drawing blood from the roots. Blood flowed from his gums, staining his chin red.
Pain flashed across the Flash's face. Clutching the tooth he had bitten free, blood filling his mouth, he glanced around, calculating the angle, strength, and direction needed.
"Bruce, you have to see this..."
He prayed silently. When they had come to the southern suburbs, he hoped they had already set markers, and now he could only pray that Bruce would notice the signal he left behind.
Suddenly, Barry's head blurred again, faint yellow arcs flickering. When he stopped, he quickly wrapped the front tooth in a layer of Speed Force and shot it toward a tall red oak tree.
The tooth slashed across the red oak trunk with several sharp bangs, leaving deep marks across multiple trees. It spun like a ricocheting bullet before embedding deeply into the last tree.
Seeing the distinct markings left behind, Barry breathed a sigh of relief. His facial muscles twitched, and blood continued to flow from his gums.
Gritting his teeth again, he bit down on another front tooth. His mouth was full of blood, and pain etched across his determined expression.
"Not enough! Bruce might not notice from this distance!"
Barry said silently to himself. At the same time, he needed to create a distraction for Barmulodi.
He aimed for the tallest tree nearby, its trunk so thick it would take two or three people linking arms to embrace it.
His head blurred wildly again, arcs crackling, gathering more force, and he tightened his lips.
Bang.
The front tooth, protected by Speed Force, shot out with a supersonic boom, piercing into the thick trunk.
A huge explosion followed. Barry had detonated the Speed Force stored in the tooth, causing an enormous shockwave that blasted the thick tree apart, exposing white, tender wood beneath the bark.
The towering tree, unable to hold its own weight, slowly tilted and collapsed toward the ice block encasing the Flash, raising a great cloud of dust and cold mist.
"Pfft..."
The impact rocked Barry violently. He let out a heavy grunt of pain, his face contorted. The falling tree shattered the ice block, creating multiple cracks. Blood spilled from his mouth, and his complexion turned even paler and weaker.
The blood from his lips splattered across the leaves and the fractured ice, flowing from the corners of his mouth, a shocking sight.
If the first front tooth had gone unnoticed because Bardi was still absorbed in the scene before him, the second front tooth's sonic boom and the tree's collapse, even amid the sounds of gunfire, could not escape Bardi's superhearing.
Bardi, startled by the scene, quickly shifted his distance vision toward the Flash's position. He saw the Flash struggling to use the fallen tree to break the ice. After seeing the Flash dizzy, weak, and clearly low on strength, and after confirming that he had no means of escape, Bardi's gaze returned to the original scene.
When he saw his past self, Bardi was stunned.
In the darkness of the southern suburbs, where shadows spread, there appeared a transparent humanoid figure, like a wave of air forming a tangible outline.
It emerged from the dark horizon, stepping forward slowly, with a strange and ghostly silhouette.
This sight sent a shock through Bardi's heart.
Could it be... that transparent, air-like figure was his past self?
"What is that?!"
He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing. There was no trace of flesh and blood, no sign of Kryptonian blood, only an air-like outline twisting and distorting.
What was even more shocking was that General Vic and all the soldiers in the camp reacted as though they were looking at him, trying to capture him, even though what they were seeing was nothing but an outline of air.
This horrified Bardi even more.
"This is my past self!"
It was the first time Bardi truly understood what Trigon had told him, that he possessed a unique trait, one where neither time, space, nor even the universe could constrain him.
This was the first time Bardi witnessed such a phenomenon, deeply comprehending his singular existence.
He existed only in the present, not in the past or future.
Time merely imprinted a human form based on his behavior, affecting everyone's perception, sight, and even souls, to maintain the stability of the universe.
Bardi forced himself to suppress the overwhelming shock and continued to control Jenny's bionic body exactly as before.
When Jenny exploded, a huge shockwave followed.
When the air fluctuated and the transparent humanoid form slowly left in grief,
Bardi felt like he was watching a thrilling movie, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.
(To be continued.)
***
This book is completed on Patreon. Support me on Patreon to read all advanced chapters: patreon.com/Blownleaves.