The Vanguard of Chaos Had Arrived

"Honestly."

"Grounded again!"

In the underwater kingdom of Zebel, within the royal palace.

Mera, whom her father Nereus had personally dragged back and confined, sulked alone.

Whenever anything happened, she was grounded. And whenever nothing happened, Zebel had to hold some kind of friendly gathering with Atlantis.

Recently, they had even brought up an engagement.

She, Mera, Princess of Zebel, had officially become the fiancée of the King of Atlantis.

Though she did not particularly dislike the King of Atlantis anymore, Mera still felt irritated that her father had used such a lifelong matter as a bargaining chip.

Especially the words her father had said after bringing her back today, which pushed her irritation to its peak.

"You’ve grown up, Mera. It’s time you learned to tell right from wrong."

He made it sound as though saving someone had been some terrible mistake.

That robotic cat had obviously been so interesting… After listening to Woz tell stories every day for the past seven days, Mera could at least be considered somewhat familiar with it.

As for Beckett, she did not know him.

To her, Beckett had merely been a stranger soaking in a vat of medicine for the past seven days.

Though she admired how he had single-handedly stood against all of Asgard for the person he loved.

It was a romantic… love story?

At any rate, with Woz embellishing it, it had become a romantic love story.

Mera sat on the windowsill, staring blankly at the nighttime view of the palace outside…

How enviable. Such a magnificent, eventful life…

Though she never lacked food or clothing, had status, position, a measure of power, and inexhaustible wealth, this was not the life she wanted…

Twenty minutes later, a maid who came to knock on the door let out a startled cry. "Oh no! Princess Mera snuck out again!"

On the coast, Beckett dispersed the energy barrier around his body and stepped barefoot onto the soft sand, bathed in gentle moonlight as he looked around in confusion.

Everything was unfamiliar.

"Woz."

"Woz is scanning the environment, His Highness Beckett."

Invisible detection waves spread outward from Beckett, gradually filling Woz’s newly established map database with unfamiliar streets.

"His Highness Beckett, data generation complete."

As Woz reported, all information about the small fishing village around the beach appeared before Beckett’s eyes.

"It’s useless. Kansas is still a long way from here."

"You definitely won’t find any records of Norse Mythology here."

A clear female voice rose amid the sound of the waves.

Beckett turned around.

Under the moonlight, Mera, Princess of Zebel, stood at the center of Beckett’s vision in a skintight outfit. The nobility emanating from her very bones made even the usually arrogant waves prostrate themselves at her feet.

"You know this place well?"

Beckett narrowed his eyes as he looked at the woman who should have been confined.

"Of course. Not only that, I have a map."

Mera raised the item she had brought from the palace.

"Weren’t you grounded?"

"At worst, I’ll go back and write a self-criticism. Just like you." Mera shrugged.

Beckett’s gaze immediately shifted to Woz, who was looking at its nose and contemplating its heart.

"Let’s not talk about that. Can you drive?"

Hela put away the map in her hand, walked with practiced ease to the parking lot by the beach, and looked back to signal Beckett to follow.

Then Beckett saw a proper metal box.

Its quality was probably terrible. One punch from him should be enough to scrap it. It could not compare to his warship.

Manipulating water to flow into the vehicle and open the door, Mera took the lead and sat in the driver’s seat, skillfully fiddling with the keyless ignition.

The exhaust and the roar of the engine played in unison. The headlights lit up, illuminating Beckett’s expressionless face.

"Hey, sit in the seat beside me."

"Otherwise, my father’s men will catch up to us."

Mera tilted her head toward the passenger seat, urging Beckett to get in.

The old, battered pickup sped down the empty road, belching black smoke. The cold sea breeze brushed against Mera’s fair, tender face. Only then did Mera feel like she was truly living.

Whenever she grew tired of staying underwater, she would come up and have fun like this, only to be taken back by the people her father sent before she reached the destination, Kansas City.

"This thing is called a car. In our world, it’s a very common form of transportation."

"It was created by humans on land, and it’s very fast."

Along the way, she introduced him to some things about this world.

"If you want to learn about Norse Mythology, there’s a large library in Kansas. It should have what you need."

"Not only that, there’s plenty of information in that library that can help you get familiar with this worl—"

Screech!!

Mera’s voice came to an abrupt stop as she slammed on the brakes. The friction of tires against the ground was especially piercing in the silent night!

"Those are… members of my father’s guard?!"

Under the bright moonlight, the guard members who, as usual, had been waiting for Mera at the finish line were being devoured by sixteen winged monsters.

"How could this be… Those monsters…"

Mera was certain she had never seen monsters like these before. Not in the royal family’s secret records, nor in any human documents or archives.

"Kree!"

Perhaps the glaring headlights had hurt the eyes of the six monsters. With blood still at the corners of their mouths, they flapped their wings and flew toward the horrified Mera.

As Steppenwolf’s subordinates, they would devour every animal that felt fear upon seeing them.

"This is bad!"

"Run!"

Soundless water condensed under Mera’s control into a wall. Facing such a large number of—

Whoosh!

A silver-white energy shockwave streaked past Mera’s cheek.

Her eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

The sixteen hideous, wing-flapping monsters were instantly annihilated.

Not even ashes remained.

Mera turned back and saw Beckett holding his right hand level, aimed precisely at where the sixteen monsters had been.

Pure moonlight fell across his shoulder, its radiance flowing…

In Gotham, it was another night of drizzling rain.

The nocturnal Gotham Batman had struggled for dozens of minutes before defeating the six monsters he had never seen before.

He had wanted to keep one as a specimen for study, but the six winged monsters had chosen to self-destruct immediately after being defeated.

"Alfred, new enemies are coming."

On the rain-soaked rooftop, Batman’s hoarse voice sounded as he spread his wings and leaped down.

After the invincible Kryptonian fell,

those who had once feared that man’s existence could no longer suppress their restless ambitions.

Bruce Wayne’s instincts had always been accurate.

The vanguard of chaos had arrived.