In the silent cradle of infinite space, Superman floated—no longer bound by the fragile concept of "Earth." He had drifted far beyond the familiar galaxies, his body absorbing the raw essence of a thousand dying stars. Their explosions whispered through his cells like ancient hymns, feeding the being who once called himself Kal-El.
His eyes opened.
Each iris glowed with miniature suns—burning golden cores that pulsed with cosmic rhythm. Around him stretched the aftermath of a supernova field—a realm of pure destruction and rebirth. The remnants of stars shimmered like tears in the void, and in every fragment of light, he could hear something.
A voice.
No, not one voice—a chorus.
> "You were born of one sun… but now you carry the burden of all."
He turned slowly, realizing the voices came from light itself. Each photon vibrated with consciousness, carrying the memory of creation. The cosmos itself was speaking to him.
"Then… this is what I've become," Superman murmured. His voice trembled—not from fear, but awe. "The child of stars, ascending into their father."
He looked down at his hands. No flesh. No bone. Only radiant plasma threaded with divine patterns. Within every atom of his being danced the equations of gravity, time, and eternity.
He could see the flow of stellar energy moving through him—billions of nuclear reactions blooming and dying within his heart every second. Each reaction created universes in miniature, folding and collapsing inside him.
He could feel time slowing.
No, he was slowing time.
---
In the far reaches of reality, an entity stirred—the Celestial Warden, a guardian older than the first light. Wrapped in armor forged from collapsed quasars, it sensed an anomaly within the cosmic balance.
> "The Kryptonian ascends again… beyond measurable limit."
Its form tore through spacetime as easily as a human steps through mist. In moments, it stood before Superman—a being of titanic size, voice echoing through dimensions.
> "You defy the natural cycle. No being may contain the light of one million suns. Your existence disrupts the equilibrium of eternity."
Superman's gaze rose, calm yet unyielding. "Equilibrium?" His tone was quiet thunder. "When darkness consumes creation, who restores the light? Who balances the void?"
> "That is not your purpose, mortal."
"I stopped being mortal a long time ago."
The Warden's eyes ignited, twin galaxies twisting with judgment.
> "Then you are a threat to existence itself."
---
The first blow cracked through dimensions.
The sound—if it could be called sound—was the birth cry of a new universe.
Superman didn't move when struck. The impact split the void into color, scattering auroras across infinite planes. But when he raised his arm, time itself bent around it, halting the spread of destruction.
> "I will not fight to destroy," he said. "But I will not bow."
Energy surged.
The Warden's next strike came like a collapsing star—but this time, Superman countered. His fist met the blow, and reality shattered into light.
The explosion expanded for light-years. Nebulas were born, black holes uncoiled, and existence blinked with the brilliance of divine warfare. Superman's cape, now woven from raw sunlight, fluttered in a storm of dimensions.
---
As the light faded, the Warden stumbled, half its form unraveling into stardust.
> "What… are you?" it gasped.
Superman's voice was a calm resonance now—more idea than sound.
> "I am the echo of every sun that ever lived. I am what remains when hope refuses to die."
He reached out, and instead of destroying the Warden, he healed it. The broken fragments of its being reformed into new stars, their light scattering through the emptiness.
> "Creation is not balance," Superman whispered. "It's mercy."
---
Then came the silence again.
But this time, the universe was not empty. A new dawn had begun to ripple outward—an invisible pulse traveling faster than thought, faster than causality. Every world that had lost its sun… flickered once more.
Light was reborn.
Superman looked toward the endless void ahead. Beyond even this field of suns lay the Absolute Core—a myth whispered by cosmic beings. The place where all light begins.
He could feel it calling to him now, faint and distant, like a heartbeat beneath all creation.
And he knew—this was only the beginning.
The journey to Absolute Prime had truly begun.
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