Smallville, Kansas.
The sky was dark, the red glow fading, and the clouds turning white.
The red sun on the horizon looked massive, like a blazing fireball close at hand, walking into the final embers of its burn, casting the last rays of light.
Who said the sunset is infinitely beautiful, but only near dusk?
At the end of the curtain, what good is it?
It used to be dawn—symbolizing warmth, a beginning.
The sun once shone brightly, scorching and radiant, emitting the most intense light and brilliance.
But sunset is lonely, and the evening draws to a close.
The earth was filled with massive craters. Viewed from the sky, it resembled a giant cracked basin struck repeatedly by falling teors. It was hard to believe that all of this was the result of a clash between just two beings.
In the center of a 700-ter-wide circular crater, a black hole nearly 6 ters in diater extended almost a thousand ters into the ground.
It gave off an oppressive, deep pounding sound that made the massive pit tremble.
At the edge of the crater, a large rock loosened and tumbled down.
Within an uneven section of the cavern wall, so falling boulders were deflected and wedged between other stones, getting stuck. As more debris followed, the smaller rocks managed to fill in the gaps. When one stone could no longer pass through, it lodged in place and stabilized the structure. From a physical perspective, the fine rubble acted as a support to hold the collapse.
The black hole was partially sealed by the chaotic debris that had fallen in.
Inside, the muffled, heavy pounding gradually weakened but beca more and more stable.
Boom!
The rock tomb suddenly exploded—stones shot outward in all directions, just as the sun was about to disappear beyond the horizon.
A black figure burst out and soared into the sky, then hovered midair.
The twilight behind him, barely hanging above the horizon, cast rays of fading light upward, piercing his back, illuminating the loneliness of a helpless dusk.
He really wasn't strong enough!
A large section of his chest had caved in. His right forearm had been torn off to the elbow—bones thick, blood trailing through the air. His thighs and back were also damaged in various places. Two of his fangs had been knocked out, and most of his remaining teeth were cracked, with blood seeping from his gums.
His body was covered in white fur, the body of a werewolf. Under the dim, yellow twilight, he appeared horribly mangled and grim.
Though his injuries healed almost instantly, his self-repair kicking in, and his fangs quickly regrew.
His rough, heavy, and grim face was twisted into a terrifying scowl. His fists clenched tightly, knuckles turning white. Fangs bared like a beast, and a low growl rumbled from his throat, filled with frustration.
He had been beaten down. When Bardi's strength matched his own, he was still completely overpowered.
He had been hiding a stronger werewolf form, hoping to kill Bardi in one strike. But he had failed—stabbed in return, gaining nothing.
Now that their strengths were on par, he could no longer match Bardi. Every punch, every strike put him at a disadvantage.
He had already input all of the top-level combat data, imprinted into his genes, ingrained in instinct. He was a master of battle, a true warrior.
But it still wasn't enough.
Neither his physical techniques nor his combat mindset could allow him to overco an opponent like Bardi, soone who had broken through genetic limits.
"Ho…"
Jor-El took a deep breath. His body instantly absorbed the energy within him, restoring his regenerative function, even as the mory of pain lingered deeply.
His eyes sharpened with cold resolve. He opened one large palm and reached behind his neck.
His fingertips brushed the golden kryptonite shards hidden in the white fur at the back of his neck. This was golden kryptonite, capable of dismantling the gene-enhancing chain in a Kryptonian's DNA, causing the Kryptonian genes to collapse and their superpowers to vanish.
This type of stone is ineffective externally. Only once it enters the Kryptonian body can it break the critical genetic chain—and recovery is impossible.
Fortunately, he had claws sharp enough to tear open Bardi's thick flesh.
Jor-El's knuckles turned white. His fingers curled, the tips transforming into sharp, beast-like claws. A cold gleam shimred from the fleshy mbrane between them. He spread his clawed hands midair, fully taking on his werewolf stance, razor claws ready to strike.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sounds rang out from the black hole below.
Bardi's tumor-ridden, grotesquely twisted form leapt out from the depths and returned to the surface.
He still couldn't fly.
Flight required detaching from Earth's gravity, controlling one's own gravitational field, and regulating the body's magnetic field.
But Bardi's current body, though violently mutated, bursting with Kryptonian power and raw energy had no ability to manipulate his internal magnetic field for flight.
High in the sky, Jor-El's explosive movent ford a massive sonic boom. It seed as if the sky itself beca his launchpad. The impact shattered the clouds above, forming circular ripple-like shockwaves around the point of his eruption.
His twisted face contorted. His clawed hands flashed cold light as he slashed downward, striking toward Bardi, who had yet to land.
Escaping from underground, he launched a surprise attack once more.
But Bardi's narrow eyes deeply buried beneath tumors suddenly erupted with blazing red light. His heat vision pierced the air in an instant, crashing directly into Jor-El's charging form.
That intense heat beam sent both Bardi and Jor-El flying apart.
The ray struck Jor-El squarely in the chest, hurling him backward at high speed. He crashed into a nearby mountain, blasting a massive hole into the rocky surface.
It was sudden.
Bardi didn't engage in close combat. Instead, he used his heat vision to blast Jor-El from the sky.
For a mont, Jor-El clenched his teeth, filled with doubt, did Bardi know about the golden kryptonite? Was that why he avoided close combat?
But that wasn't the case.
Bardi simply wanted control, he intended to dominate the battlefield, dictate the rhythm of the fight. He wouldn't battle Jor-El in the air if it gave him even a slight disadvantage.
The heat vision had forced the two apart.
And the mont Bardi's feet hit the ground, a massive crack split open beneath him.
His monstrous tumor form, bursting with air pressure, surged toward Jor-El.
(To be continued.)
***
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