Multiverse: Deathstroke

As they ascended, Su Ming kept a close watch on Diana.

It seemed that Dawn and Black Orchid's defeat by suffocation, thanks to Stranglehold, had taught Hecate a valuable lesson. She had made improvements to address that particular weakness.

Diana now had a spell that allowed her to breathe in a vacuum, preventing Su Ming from pulling another outer space excursion.

Previously, when Diana went into space, she needed an oxygen mask.

But now, even with the thinning oxygen at high altitudes, she could still breathe easily.

She stayed close behind Su Ming, trying to snare him with her Lasso of Truth and then hit him hard with the Sword.

If she actually managed to catch him and strike him, it would be Su Ming going to the Justice League's ultimate machine.

Whether the surgery would work was one thing, but Batman would definitely take the opportunity to extract his blood sample or study his body strength to devise a plan against Su Ming.

So, during this fight, he had to avoid any potentially fatal wounds—Nth Metal was sturdy, but the joints between bones were not.

Among the Justice League, Su Ming only trusted Barry, along with Diana and Aquaman, the two honest members. He didn't trust anyone else.

Originally, Superman was also trustworthy, but he listened to Batman too much.

"Guard against fire, theft, and Batman" wasn't a joke—he had to keep his data from falling into Batman's hands.

Batman always discovered his teammates' weaknesses but never safeguarded that information properly. Enemies always managed to steal it, leading to all sorts of problems.

And just now, who knew whether Batman had noticed the cloak and symbiote's performance? If he did, he was likely already researching Stranglehold's and the anti-gravity cloak's weaknesses.

Without a way to counter Deathstroke, Batman wouldn't sleep well. Su Ming's greedy demeanor might have lowered his guard a bit, but it wouldn't deceive him for long.

When it came to Deathstroke, Batman was always vigilant, regardless of which version of him it was.

Shaking his head and feeling the wind rushing past his armor, Su Ming refocused on the current battle.

Knowing that high altitude wasn't affecting Diana's breathing, Su Ming turned and lowered his altitude a bit, choosing the troposphere—above 12 kilometers from the ground—as the battlefield against Diana.

Because the environment there was extremely complex and variable, especially the wind speeds.

The differences in air pressure would create special turbulent streams, like rapids, either horizontally or vertically. In some cases, the wind speed could exceed 150 meters per second.

Unlike water, air currents couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

Entering these currents would cause violent turbulence for any aircraft and even the risk of crashing.

That's why modern civilian aircraft generally fly higher, into the stratosphere, where things are more stable.

Of course, for Su Ming and Diana, the air currents had little effect—they weren't going to be blown apart.

But for both of them, these were invisible traps, and it was a matter of who could adapt faster once they hit them.

In battle, there were always invisible hands pushing your back or pulling at your legs, and it all came down to reaction speed.

He stopped fleeing, turned around, and used the greatsword to deflect the Lasso of Truth, keeping his distance from Diana as they circled each other.

Right now, Diana had the advantage in strength, endurance, destructive power, and energy projection.

Su Ming's advantages lay in speed, Nth Metal, spatial calculation ability, regeneration, and magic resistance.

Looking at these aspects alone, the fight seemed evenly matched. But since he couldn't go for a kill, many of his attack options were off the table.

However, the persona created by the mark only knew how to fight, and that could be exploited.

Su Ming tapped his shield, making a noise to provoke Diana into attacking him.

"Die!" Diana roared.

The result almost made Su Ming laugh. She opened her mouth at just the wrong moment, inhaling a gust of wind from who knows where, causing her cheeks to puff out like a bun.

He almost couldn't resist pulling out his phone to take a picture.

However, her attack movement didn't change much, so he dismissed the thought and dodged.

If he could take a picture of Batman making a funny face, he could probably blackmail him for a plane or a yacht.

But Diana had nothing—no money, and even her gear was mostly sponsored by the League or Hephaestus.

If he kept such blackmail material, Diana would likely hunt him down once she recovered.

Letting Diana attack him, he focused entirely on dodging. Now that they were airborne, he had 360 degrees of space to evade, unlike on the ground, which doubled his options—not bad.

And when dodging from below, he could openly look up Diana's skirt and make exaggerated exclamations to see if he could provoke her.

It didn't work—the marked persona was utterly shameless.

But Diana's true consciousness in the deepest corner of her mind was about to faint from embarrassment.

She never thought much of wearing a swimsuit-like uniform on missions, but now, with Deathstroke flying under her, making exclamations—it was driving her mad.

She loved her blue shorts with white stars, but being stared at by a man in such a direct way—this was a first.

She felt a strange feeling in her heart.

As the fight progressed, Su Ming grew more familiar with her power and style, and the distance between them closed.

The air was filled with the roar of wind and the shrill sounds of weapons cutting through it.

Stranglehold's attacks were very effective—Diana constantly had to dodge the Gauss rifle's electrified rounds, which always gave off an immense sense of threat.

She could endure hits on other parts of her body, but Stranglehold mimicked its host too well—it aimed for her eyes, ears, and nostrils, all weak spots.

If she couldn't dodge, she used her bracelets to block. Even if she got pushed back, she refused to draw her shield.

Her own attacks were also causing Su Ming trouble. After lifting the seal, her sky powers, bolstered by the mark, had become even stronger.

The magical lightning she shot out with each attack was thick as a human waist.

Light-speed attacks couldn't be dodged, and Su Ming had to endure them with his armor and anti-gravity cloak.

Though they caused no visible harm, his muscles were tingling all over, making him very uncomfortable.

Their battle had already lasted three to four minutes, and the situation on the ground was becoming more dire—Hecate was gaining the upper hand.

If this dragged on, things would worsen, and Su Ming couldn't wait for her to draw her shield any longer.

The air currents were affecting them both, but his thinking speed was faster. Even if the currents only altered Diana's movements by less than a millimeter...

That slight margin was all Deathstroke needed.

After hundreds of exchanges, he finally found an opportunity.

The monocular on his helmet flashed red, and the cloak propelled him forward at high speed. Watching Diana's sword graze his chest armor, sending sparks flying, he seized on a barely noticeable flaw, dodging sharply to dissipate the force.

Then, using the momentum, he shoulder-charged Diana's chin, and the speed brought by the cloak sent her flying.

Taking advantage of the moment, he grabbed the other end of the Lasso and had Stranglehold extend a tendril to hold it.

As Diana was sent flying, Stranglehold swung the Lasso, causing her to loop through the air in a circular plane.