The bomb exploded two seconds after. It created a large ball of fire that rose high into the sky. The island shook so much that it created large turbulent waves that moved away from the island.
Kelvin didn't feel any danger, but he didn't return to the scene of the crime. He left to do the things he wanted to do.
It was a good reason that he didn't return because the explosion attracted the attention of powerful individuals. Many demigods thought some of them were fighting, so they came to see what was going on.
They didn't see anything, so they left. A few hours later, Icon also arrived at the location of the island.
The island had been incinerated and burned down to stumps. There was no trace of anything, but he could tell that Kelvin had been here.
He stood on top of the island with four puppets around him. One puppet was for protection and flight. One was for teleportation. The third was for perception, while the fourth was for tracking.
He looked around and picked a direction to go in. It was the same direction that Kelvin had gone in.
He might have lost that mark and can't teleport directly to Kelvin's position. But he has met Kelvin face to face before, so he can never lose him.
Never is a strong word. He doesn't have that confidence anymore since he hasn't been able to find Kelvin for hours now. It was only until recently that he picked up the lead on Kelvin's position again.
Be that as it may, as long as Kelvin doesn't use whatever he uses to hide, Icon will always be able to find him. This is a hunt that will only end when one of them dies.
This is not a hunt that he will give up easily. He needs the Ring of Paragon to gain a second ability and to regain his divine spark.
That's aside from the potential of becoming the god king of Earth-11 that the ring will give him. Once he gains that ring and becomes a demigod, he will be able to find the other rings quickly.
So that ring is practically the solution to all of his problems. He used to have it before, but he didn't realize its value, and he couldn't make full use of it. But things have changed now.
He is a changed man now. He is willing to do everything needed to achieve his goal.
It has been many years since he became a demigod and turned down the chance to be a paragon. Raijin and his enemies have relaxed their guard against him.
The rings have also changed hands many times and have stopped being guarded securely after more than 70 years. So this is a good time for him to take his enemies by surprise.
It can be said that time and opportunity have converged for him to create the perfect circumstances for him. All he needs to do is get that ring.
----
Kelvin got his freedom. The first thing he did was to produce all of his shadows and send them away.
He made sure to keep one shadow clone in the core of the world. so that he can always return to it immediately.
The second thing he did was to begin trying to fuse graphene with diamond in order to create a superior hybrid material.
This started with using the Solid Material Shifting ability to copy the graphene. Then he transformed his body into the two of them at once.
One half was diamond. It was incredibly hard, despite looking like glass.
The other side was graphene. It was soft despite looking like obsidian.
The graphene side was easy to scatter and couldn't bear much load. But it could bear more stress than diamond.
So while diamond was more resistant to physical damage, the graphene side could handle more stress from Juggernaut's Force and didn't collapse readily.
He was excited about these differences, as it meant that if he could create a material that possessed the qualities of both of them, it might solve a lot of his problems.
He began shifting his body in the place where the two halves met. This shifting was aimed at mixing the two of them for hybridization.
The process of fusion itself was very easy. He could do it with a thought. But getting a superior material wasn't so straightforward.
He needed to find the right ratio of the two materials that will create a superior hybrid. Unfortunately, this was tedious and would take a lot of time.
What he managed to create was a flaky mess that lacked the incredible qualities of both materials. It wasn't hard or resistant to stress and strain. It was a failure.
He began doing research on how to make the best fusion material. The best he could come up with was using the structure of the graphene to convert diamond into reinforced tubes.
Graphene would form the tube while diamond would fill it in. So it would be like a tube filled in with cement.
Each individual tube would then be wound and woven into a structurally sound material capable of withstanding great pressure and stress.
The material won't break easily. It will possess the high conductivity of graphene and even strength superior to that of diamond.
There were jist two disadvantages with this solution. The first is that the material will lose the sharpness that Diamond is known for.
The second disadvantages is that creating this tubes is very difficult. They are supposed to be a few atoms thick, so he needs incredibly control for it.
It ultimately wasn't something he could manage on is own. So he had a lab try to create the fusion material for him. Then he would steal their result for himself.
But one thing did come out of his failure. He managed to create a monomolecular blade with graphene.
This monomolecular blade is better than his diamond blade because its edge is just one atom thick. It is capable of cutting almost anything in half, even diamonds.
He was impressed with this achievement not only because it is a powerful weapon but also because he could regenerate and recreate it after it is destroyed.
What he created is incredibly fragile. It is the same as the monomolecular blade that labs all over the world are capable of making.
This fragility makes the monomolecular blade a novelty instead of being a practical weapon. But with its regeneration and speed, such a weapon will be very deadly.
Unfortunately, it still can't overcome the defense of a force field. Only brute force can achieve that.
In any case, the lab he employed was making good progress with the mission he gave them. But it was going to take some time, and he couldn't wait for that time.
He didn't mind waiting for them to finish, but he could sense danger by the minute. It was as if something dangerous was getting closer to him every moment.
He doesn't know who the source of danger is exactly, but he knows who it could be. So he had to leave and return in the future to get what he paid for from the lab.
But before he left, he wrote down a message on a wall for his pursuer to see. He wrote it in large words on the side of the building using paint so that his message wouldn't be missed.
His message wasn't missed. Icon came over and saw it immediately.
The message said, "If you turn me into a puppet, you will never be able to defeat your greatest enemy. If you force me, I will ally with your greatest enemy and make it impossible for you to get revenge. Instead, let us work together. Send me a message if you agree."
He didn't mention specifics, but Icon was able to get the whole picture.
It is true that if he turns Kelvin into a puppet, Raijin also would gain Kelvin's ability, which will make it much more difficult for him to defeat the leader of the Justice League.
It is also true that if Kelvin allies with Raijin, such as allowing Raijin to enhance his abilities, Raijin would become stronger, which would make it nearly impossible for him to be defeated.
These are all true and are grounds for cooperation between him and Kelvin, but Icon won't cooperate with Kelvin because his highest priority is no longer revenge on Raijin.
He still cares a lot about paying Raijin back for what the leader of the Justice League did to his family and to him, but he is no longer foolish enough to give up everything else for it.
It is true that he can't defeat Raijin currently and might never be able to defeat him if Kelvin allies with him, but that won't be a problem for him once he becomes the god king of Earth-11. The key to that is the ring of paragon.