Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 98: Ch.97 Executing the Strategy

Underneath Su Ming's mask, his expression remained unchanged. The fact that the Merciless could break free from the Lasso of Truth was already part of his plan.

After donning the War God's Helm, he had essentially become a true god. Although not entirely complete, he had access to very few divine powers—he couldn't summon an army of spirits out of thin air or incite the rage in people's hearts with supernatural abilities, for example.

But the divine essence in his body remained unchanged; his mortal form held an enormous amount of energy.

In the Olympian pantheon, if ranked by battlefield performance, the strongest was undoubtedly Zeus, followed by the Firstborn, then Poseidon and Hades. After them came the War God, Ares. Whether the Titans could still be considered part of the pantheon was debatable.

If included, there were many powerful beings among the Titans, but they had fallen out with Zeus. Although their origins were rooted in Greek mythology, they never set foot on Mount Olympus.

War God Ares, aside from his penchant for cruelty, bloodlust, and impulsiveness, was leaps and bounds above Apollo and the other children of Zeus on the battlefield.

The Lasso of Truth was a divine weapon crafted by the Hephaestus. To think it could bind a War God was impossible. When it came to divine strength, both possessed it, and in a contest of sheer power, a lifeless object was no match for a living god.

However, this was all according to Su Ming's plan. Diana's role was to buy just a little time, allowing Su Ming to get close and engage the Merciless.

This task should've been Barry's job, but unfortunately, Barry's combat skills were limited to "push and run" or "hit people on the back of the head." The Merciless was covered head-to-toe in War God armor, rendering these tactics useless. Even if Su Ming handed him the Nightfall greatsword, Barry would still refuse to kill.

A series of thoughts raced through Su Ming's mind as he leapt into the air, bringing his sword down in a powerful strike aimed at the Merciless' head, who had just broken free from the lasso.

Unsurprisingly, the Merciless easily blocked the strike with his now battered warhammer.

A strong counterforce traveled up the weapon into Su Ming's hands, but he had anticipated this. This strike wasn't about skill; to deal with an experienced warrior like this, tactics were essential.

Using the recoil, Su Ming performed a backflip, landing steadily before lunging forward with another thrust. "Not bad strength. Should I call you Bruce or Ares?"

"Sss... A dead man asking for my name? You have no chance!"

The Merciless knocked Su Ming's blade aside with his massive warhammer and then immediately countered with a sweeping blow. Su Ming rolled to evade, the hammer just barely missing his nose.

Su Ming could parry all the Merciless' attacks, but he couldn't take any of the Merciless' hits head-on—the power disparity was just too great.

But this was all part of the plan. Su Ming didn't stand up but swung his sword low towards the Merciless' ankle, using the momentum of his fall. "If you changed your name, wouldn't your mother be unhappy? What was her name again? Martha, right?"

"Shut up, mortal!" The Merciless lifted his foot to dodge the strike, then swung his hammer down at Su Ming.

Su Ming immediately pushed off the ground with his hand to dodge, evading the attack with ease. "Oh? Seems I got it wrong. Was Martha the name of some streetwalker?"

The Merciless didn't respond but continued to hammer at Su Ming, blow after blow. The once smooth ground was quickly transformed into a cratered mess, debris flying everywhere.

"Martha, oh, hehe..."

Su Ming could no longer counterattack, putting all his effort into dodging, yet he continued to laugh obscenely, repeatedly calling out Batman's mother's name.

The Merciless' eyes glowed even brighter with rage. Even though Diana was attacking desperately with two Swords of Ares, his focus remained on Su Ming, as if determined to eliminate him first.

But to eliminate a weapon master in close combat, especially one like Deathstroke who was only dodging and not attacking, was no easy task.

Even though the Merciless was a War God, no amount of strength mattered if he couldn't land a hit. Su Ming could discern his moves just from the way he positioned himself or raised his weapon.

With Aquaman absent, Su Ming had to take on the role of the tank. He wasn't as durable or strong as Aquaman, so his only option to draw aggro was to keep taunting.

Despite spewing a continuous stream of insults, Su Ming's mind was clear, and there wasn't a trace of humor in his thoughts. Facing a god was an extremely dangerous task. He could cackle and spew nonsense to provoke the Merciless, but he could never truly believe that the Merciless couldn't harm him.

"Does your Diana take clients?"

"I'm actually your dad."

"You're so weak; you're not even stronger than your mom."

No matter how he insulted or slandered, the Merciless didn't say another word. But Su Ming could feel the Merciless' strength growing with each attack, the War God's power surging around him, stirring up a bloodlust deep within Su Ming's heart.

It seemed like the Merciless was enraged, but Su Ming knew he had already seen through his initial strategy. The Merciless was playing along; he wasn't actually affected by the taunts. If Diana or Barry made a mistake now, they'd face a killing blow.

Barry stood a short distance away, rubbing his fists. He had thrown thousands of punches at the Merciless, but they had no effect. The armor remained intact, though his own fists were beginning to ache.

Diana's twin Swords of Ares were somewhat effective. Whenever the Merciless attacked Su Ming, she would dart out from behind and slash or stab, managing to damage a few joints in the War God armor. But divine metal weapons could not inflict significant harm on the Dark Knights.

Seeing this, Su Ming knew it was time to continue with the plan. He had now drawn the Merciless' aggro and convinced him that Barry and Diana were no longer threats.

This was true. Holding the Nth metal weapon made Deathstroke the highest priority target, far more than the other two.

Su Ming dodged another hammer strike. Because of Diana's harassment, the Merciless seemed distracted, exposing a flaw in his defense.

Reading the Merciless' intentions, Su Ming decided to turn his strategy against him.

He swung the greatsword toward the Merciless' neck. Of course, this was a deliberate move by the Merciless; it wasn't a real weakness but a trap.

The warhammer came back with terrifying speed, and Su Ming had no choice but to block it with his greatsword, using techniques to deflect some of the impact. But the power gap was too vast. The Nightfall greatsword flew far away.

Su Ming crashed through a series of display cases, various tools and weapons scattering everywhere. He tumbled across the floor like a rolling pin, carving a trench in the ground and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn, if that hit had landed, I'd be a pancake right now." He thought as he rubbed his chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps, bloodlust and a flood of memories overwhelming him. This was a serious injury.

He gritted his teeth and immediately drew the God Killer from his waist, charging at the Merciless once more.

The God Killer transformed into two curved blades, emitting a blinding golden light, amplifying his bloodlust a hundredfold.

He felt as if he wasn't wielding the weapon, but rather the weapon was controlling him. It wanted to strike at the neck and abdomen simultaneously; Su Ming was merely its vessel.

This sword was dangerous, almost sentient, but it only knew how to kill.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

A flurry of weapon clashes filled the space between Su Ming and the Merciless, sparks flying as Su Ming switched to dual-wielding, drastically increasing his attack speed.

The Merciless had no intention of being struck by the God Killer. It would utterly destroy his armor, which was his trophy, his War God's honor.

So, for a short time, Su Ming actually suppressed the Merciless in terms of technique.