Trigon looked at his daughter, then at Angela, who had already started talking again — rambling about Rachel, their family, everything she believed they'd accomplish together.
His patience ran out fast.
Without warning, he reached out and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground with one hand. Angela clawed at his wrist, struggling to breathe, but he didn't move at all.
"Your job ends here," Trigon said.
"W-Wait..." she gasped. "I brought her here. I did everything you asked."
He didn't respond. He tightened his grip, snapped her neck, and threw her aside. Her body hit the forest floor and went still.
Rachel stared at him in shock. She'd expected her father to come for her — she hadn't expected him to kill Angela the second she'd served her purpose.
Trigon turned back to Rachel, calm, like nothing had happened. "Now, daughter. We have much to discuss."
Lightning cracked across the sky, striking the ground between them.
When the smoke cleared, Daniel and Diana stood there.
Daniel glanced past Trigon at Angela's body and shook his head. "Well, she definitely gets the worst mother award. And she's not going anywhere with you."
Trigon looked more amused than threatened. "The gods of mortals have arrived. Pathetic. You believe stopping me will matter?"
Before Daniel could answer, Rachel stepped forward, eyes pitch black, darkness churning around her. "You're no longer needed. Fuck off."
Diana studied her carefully — the black eyes told her everything she needed to know.
Daniel glanced at Diana, then back at Rachel. "Looks like she's going through her rebellious phase. You take care of her. I'll handle sending this demon off Earth."
Diana understood immediately. She swung her lasso, and the golden rope wrapped around Rachel, holding her fast. Rachel fought it, but the rope only tightened.
Trigon didn't react at all, watching them like the lasso and the threat were minor inconveniences.
He raised one hand. Shadows around him began moving — dozens of dark tendrils erupting from the ground, each lined with rows of snapping teeth, twisting through the air toward Daniel from every direction.
Daniel's expression shifted. "Diana, get as far away as you can."
She didn't argue, grabbing Rachel and jumping clear as the creatures closed in.
The first tendril reached Daniel and burst apart in a flash of dark energy before its jaws could close. The next one exploded the moment it touched his aura. One after another, they rushed him, and one after another, they disintegrated before they got close.
Daniel looked at the disappearing remains. "That's your first move?"
Trigon's eyes narrowed.
The ground cracked beneath Daniel, and a wave of demonic energy launched him into the air. He twisted, caught himself — and found Trigon already there, driving a fist into his chest.
Daniel crashed through several trees before stopping himself against the ground.
He pushed himself up, wiping blood from his mouth. "Okay. You're stronger than you look."
Trigon descended slowly, wings spread. "You continue to underestimate me."
Daniel's mark began glowing, dark energy spreading across his arm. "Actually, I'm trying to figure out how much of you I need to use."
Trigon raised his hand and unleashed a blast of demonic energy that tore through the forest. Daniel crossed his arms and took it head-on, the ground shattering beneath him as the force pushed him back — but he held his ground.
Then he vanished.
He reappeared behind Trigon and drove his fist into his back, sending him crashing to the ground. Before Trigon could rise, Daniel struck again from above, slamming him into a fresh crater.
A hand shot out of the crater and caught Daniel by the throat.
His eyes widened as Trigon pulled him down with brutal force. The two hit the ground together, and Trigon drove a fist into his face.
Daniel slammed into the earth — but instead of staying down, dark tendrils erupted from his back and wrapped around Trigon's arm.
He grinned through the blood on his face. "Now we're getting somewhere."
He wiped his mouth. No point pretending — in raw physical strength, he was completely outmatched. Trading punches with Trigon was a losing game.
His Mark of Nexus began to glow. "But who said physical strength is all I have?"
Trigon barely had time to react.
"Time — Accelerate."
Daniel vanished, perception and movement pushed past anything Trigon could track. He circled the demon at incredible speed, striking from different angles, vanishing between hits, forcing Trigon to keep turning toward attacks that had already landed.
Trigon swung at empty air.
Daniel appeared above him, struck him across the face, vanished again — then stopped several meters away and raised his hand.
"Space — Confinement."
The Mark responded instantly. Space around Trigon distorted and compressed into an invisible prison, locking him in place no matter which way he pushed.
Daniel didn't give him time to break free. His hands moved through a series of signs, and the Mark shifted again.
"Dimension X Domain — Sever."
The space around Trigon changed. A dimensional field formed around him, cutting him off from the world outside it — and inside, the dimension itself became the weapon. Not a cut through flesh. A cut through matter at the molecular and dimensional level.
Trigon's expression finally changed as the first invisible slice passed through him.
Daniel watched closely. This wasn't about overpowering him — it bypassed strength entirely. If it worked, even something as powerful as Trigon could be damaged, because the attack targeted the structure of his existence, not his defenses.
The Mark pulsed against his hand. The recent system update had opened doors he hadn't fully explored yet — every time he used it differently, he found something new.
"Let's see if this works on you."
The dimensional cuts tore through Trigon's body, splitting him into dozens of pieces, limbs and torso scattering across the ground as the domain finally dissolved.
Daniel watched.
A few seconds later, the pieces started moving. Flesh and demonic energy dragged themselves back together, bones reformed, and within moments Trigon's body was whole again.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Trigon looked down at himself, then back at Daniel with real interest. "I didn't expect this world to have someone as powerful as you." He lunged forward. "I want your body."
"No."
Daniel reacted instantly, tearing open a rift in the space directly in front of him. Trigon's momentum carried him straight through it before he could stop.
Daniel sealed the tear behind him.
The demon was gone. Daniel stood alone in the clearing, exhaling, looking at the spot where he'd vanished.
"Fuck. Good thing Superman isn't here."
If Trigon had possessed Superman, Daniel would've been in serious trouble.
Trigon was already strong enough to regenerate from an attack that should've ended him — giving a demon like that Superman's body would've created a completely different problem, and Daniel had no interest in finding out how bad it could get.
*****
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