Shadow Monarch in DC-Chapter 80: Alternate Reality

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Arthur groaned, his body screaming in defiance as he forced himself upright. His legs trembled, every nerve in his body alight with pain, but he stood anyway. Blood dripped from his mouth, his chest rising and falling with jagged breaths.

"Damn it..." he muttered, clutching his side. "That was... some weapon. I couldn't even exchange my way out of there..."

The ground beneath him was still scorched, the earth torn as if reality itself had been punched. And then... he saw them.

Bodies.

Dozens of them.

Each one twisted and broken, their flesh blackened and ruined, yet unmistakably familiar.

Just like Lex.

Not copies of him. just People in similar state. Each one lying at the heart of its own shallow crater. The air reeked of ozone, of death and something unnatural.

"This..." Arthur whispered, eyes scanning the twisted forest clearing. "What the hell is this place anyways?"

A sound.

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Faint.

But enough.

His head snapped up.

A figure moved through the shadows, wounded, bloodied, stumbling. But very much alive.

Galatea.

She stepped into view, one arm hanging limp, the other curled into a trembling fist. Her suit was torn, her lip bloodied, a deep wound carved across her shoulder.

And yet her eyes... still burned with fury.

They locked eyes.

Two broken warriors.

Two survivors.

She said nothing.

But her expression screamed everything.

Grief. Rage. Confusion.

Without a word, she charged.

Arthur didn't hesitate. His instincts roared to life. His right hand surged with energy, dark tendrils coalescing into a weapon of death. The Kryptonite sword shimmered into existence, alive with a sickly green pulse.

Galatea came at him with everything she had left.

A scream.

A punch.

A flurry of movement.

But Arthur's eyes...They glowed.

That familiar skill of his Bloodlust ignited once more, casting a darkness around her. And before she could even realize it

The blade was already through her chest.

Her eyes widened.

Breath hitched.

She gasped, blood bubbling at her lips as the green glow of the Kryptonite pierced her very core.

Her body trembled.

"...D-Doctor... gave me...a Soul.." she whispered. Her voice was so small. So fragile. "Father..."

Arthur's grip tightened on the hilt. Her hand shakily lifted, as if reaching out to someone who would never answer again.

"...Why did he... leave me...?" Her eyes welled. Not with anger. Not anymore.

But with grief.

Arthur's expression softened, if only a little.

"...Just to make you feel a little better," he murmured, lowering her slowly to the ground, "I didn't kill your 'father.'"

He met her gaze, one last time.

"It's clear to me who did, and he is lying dead there." Arthur gestured towards Lex.

Galatea's lips twitched into a faint, pained smile.

A breath.

A tear.

And then...

Nothing.

Her hand went limp.

Her body stilled.

the sword fading from his hand. The wind whispered through the broken forest around him. A moment of peace in the wake of chaos.

Arthur just stood there next to Galatea's lifeless body, his breath shallow, his blood hot. Silence engulfed him, save for the soft sound of wind rustling through the broken trees.

He didn't speak at first.

Then, softly..."I need to go back," he muttered, clenching his fist. "And finish off Cadmus..."

Without wasting another second, Arthur extended his arm, shadows curling from his fingers like smoke. His eyes pulsed with dark light as he whispered:

"Exchange."

Nothing.

His heart skipped.

"...Exchange." He said louder, trying again, this time with urgency.

Still nothing.

His eyes widened.

"...No."

"Exchange NOW!"

Nothing.

And then

[System Notification]

Unable to complete exchange: Target exists in a different reality.

"...You must be fucking joking."

Arthur staggered a step back, his breath catching in his throat. The weight of the message crashed down on him like a hammer.

His fists clenched, shadows reacting to his spike in emotion, tendrils slashing at the dirt.

"That... wasn't a weapon," he whispered slowly, piecing it together. His eyes darted toward the craters around him, the disfigured corpses of Lex clones, the charred remains of failed jumps.

"That was a teleportation machine..."

He looked around again, suddenly everything made sense. The dead people around him. The strange environment. The silence of the system. The air even felt different.

"These dead people... they were lab rats," he growled, "Lex tested this on them... and I just got added to the list."

His mind raced.

"What a situation..." Arthur exhaled sharply, then nodded to himself.

"I left a significant number of shadow soldiers behind. Kaisel and Blade are with my family. They should be fine."

Still, he felt the tight pull in his chest. This wasn't just separation.

This was exile.

Arthur turned toward the horizon, his expression hardening with grim resolve.

"First... I need to figure out where the hell I even am."

He looked up stars looked the same. The moon was still there. Nothing really unfamiliar.

"At least this is Earth... still though...I have no idea what kind of alternate reality this is..."

Arthur stood alone amid the wreckage of bodies and smoldering craters. He stared into the horizon, still grappling with the reality:

He was stranded in another world.

With no way back, Yet.

"...Well," he muttered to himself, brushing dust and dried blood from his sleeve. "I'll do this first, and he'll figure it out."

He turned and walked slowly toward Lex's mutilated corpse, still twitching slightly in the dirt. The sight of it stirred no emotion in him. He extended his hand over the ruined body.

"Arise."

From the remains of Lex, the shadow took form, creeping like black smoke until it took shape. A hunched, twitching silhouette that resembled Lex Luthor himself, kneeling in silence before Arthur.

A notification flickered in his mind.

[Shadow Extraction Complete – Grade: Normal]

Arthur eyed it with disdain. "How weak," he scoffed. "But I'll need you... for your intellect not your strength."

Lex's shadow bowed wordlessly. Arthur turned away without another glance, walking over to the body that did give him pause, Galatea.

She lay lifeless, her blonde hair stained with blood and dirt, her once-terrifying power now reduced to cold stillness. Arthur stood over her.

His hand twitched slightly.

He wasn't sure if it was pity or guilt or just humanity for something that wasn't exactly a human.

But his eyes glowed blue.

" 'a soul' you said earlier...Let's see if you have some of that left in you."

He knelt beside her, placed his hand over her, and whispered

"Arise."

The shadows began to swirl, slow at first... then faster. A pulse of dark energy erupted from her corpse, like a heartbeat echoing across the dead forest. The ground trembled. The air thickened. Black wisps erupted from her body, pulling her spirit from the veil of death.

Then

She moved.

Her eyes opened, Violet and glowing with eerie light.

Galatea, reborn in shadow.

She slowly rose to one knee, head bowed.

"...Grant me a name, my King."

Arthur stared at her, eyes glowing. "You call me my king, yet moments ago you tried to rip my throat out."

Her voice was different now. Softer... but stronger. As though the weight she once carried had finally lifted.

"I had no purpose," she said, eyes still lowered. "I was forged to be a weapon. Used. Lied to. The only person I truly cared about, Dr. Emil, was taken from me."

Her fists clenched. Her voice cracked, not with weakness, but a painful clarity.

"I felt grief... but I didn't understand it. I wasn't made to feel. But now... I see clearly."

She finally looked up at him, glowing eyes locked with his.

"You gave me closure in death. You took care of the one who harmed the only soul that ever showed me kindness. For that... I thank you."

She bowed her head again, reverent. "And now I swear myself to you. I am no longer a failed clone. No longer a tool of Cadmus. I am your sword. Your shield. My king."

Arthur stood still, eyes locked with hers, reading the conviction behind her every word. And in that moment, he knew

She meant it.

"...Then rise," Arthur said, his voice calm but absolute. "Galatea."

[Shadow General Galatea]

The moment her name echoed through the forest, shadow burst from her body like a tidal wave her form stabilizing with regal power. kneeling before him like a knight before her liege.

Galatea looked up once more, a solemn, near-peaceful smile touching her lips.

"Your will... is my command, my King."

Arthur turned toward the skies of this unknown world, a grim smile playing at the edge of his lips.

"Well then... Guess it's time to figure out how royally screwed we really are."

****

Back in Cadmus -

BOOM.

The reinforced steel corridor exploded inward as a blur of red and blue ripped through the hallway like a missile. Kara Zor-El, hair whipping like fire behind her, eyes glowing with seething rage, tore through the walls, obliterating security drones, barriers, and guard units as if they were paper.

One scream.

One punch.

Another wall gone.

She wasn't holding back.

Sirens wailed.

Lights flickered.

The facility was coming apart at the seams.

Supergirl burst through a chamber, and landed face to face with the Ultimen and the justice league squad.

They barely got into stance before Kara's fist was already on someone's jaw.

"Get out of my way."

It didn't take much time.

They collapsed in a heap. Broken. Beaten. Silent.

"Enough!" Batman's voice echoed from down the hall, just as Flash blurred to her side. Green Arrow took position, already loading a kryptonite gas arrow.

"Kara." Batman stepped forward, tone calm but sharp. "You left them on the brink of death. That wasn't necessary, they already suffer from rapid aging, locking them up is the least human thing we can do."

She didn't even glance at him.

"They were dead the moment Cadmus made them," she said coldly, eyes still glowing.

Flash looked between the bodies, stunned. Green Arrow hesitated, lowering his bow slightly.

"They were clones," Kara said. "Disposable. Like everything Cadmus touches."

"Kara!" Batman tried again. "That's not justice. And that's not you talking."

"No," she snapped, turning her head slightly, voice low. "That was a message."

Just then, her comms crackled to life.

A familiar voice came through.

Cool. Confident. With just the right dose of cocky.

Jason Todd.

"I'm done here. You should leave as well. Facility's toast."

Kara paused... then Jason chuckled.

"Oh, and Kara? If Arthur's really dead..."

"...Then why the hell am I looking at his shadows standing right in front of me?"

Kara's eyes widened.

Her heart skipped.

"What...?"

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If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.

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You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want