Kent Farm.
Martha was holding the swaddle tightly in her arms. Her grip was so firm that the edges of the fabric were wrinkled under her fingers. She kept glancing at the sky, her expression full of worry.
Jonathan stood in front of her, looking off into the distance. The wooden thorns on the back of his shirt had already been pulled out, leaving behind faint bloodstains and some torn fabric.
A deafening sound echoed from afar, like a pile driver striking at close range, shaking them to their core.
The ground beneath their feet quivered and trembled, vibrating with intensity.
In such a situation, staying inside the house was no longer an option.
Besides, another large hole had been blasted into the house. They had no idea what was happening, and unease gripped their hearts.
"Jonathan, I'm a little scared."
Martha's face was anxious as she spoke, panic creeping in at the thought that they might get caught up in something beyond their control.
Jonathan turned around and embraced his wife. Martha rested her head on his shoulder as he gently rubbed her arm, pulling her closer to him.
"Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."
A reassuring smile spread across Jonathan's face, calming Martha's nerves just a little.
In his arms, she felt her panic lessen.
Martha leaned into his shoulder, nodded slightly, and added, "And Clark."
"Right."
Jonathan nodded again and, with his other hand, held Clark close, pressing the swaddle between them.
A family, embracing through the wind and rain.
Gradually, the tremors in the ground began to subside.
As they held each other, Jonathan and Martha looked into the distance. Their expressions seemed to ease slightly.
The next moment, a dim red glow illuminated a tiny figure in the sky.
In the blink of an eye, that figure exploded with a loud boom, piercing through the sky, creating a rift. The clouds surrounding it rippled outward in concentric circles, radiating from the center.
The sky unfolded into a spectacular sight, as though someone had stepped through it with sheer force.
Then, from afar, a red line as thin as a needle streaked across the sky, sharp and straight cutting it open before their eyes.
The ground shook again. Small rocks trembled and danced in the air.
Jonathan hugged his wife and child even tighter.
Boom...
Boom...
Bardi was charging forward at full speed. The ground cracked beneath his feet. His body, twisted and massive like a tumor, radiated a fiery red heat, and a white film of a sonic boom cloud surrounded him.
The momentum was terrifying—like an ancient beast from legend bursting forth from a storm of shattered rock, wind, sand, and mist.
Jor-El emerged from the mountains, his body low and beast-like, with four powerful limbs. His fangs and claws gleamed with a sharp, cold light.
He didn't hesitate.
His heat vision was divided into impact force and high-temperature rays, both of which he could control.
The energy beam could be adjusted to create immense impact. This is why, in comics, animation, and film, when Superman activates his heat vision, enemies are often thrown back immediately, due to the combined force and heat.
When precisely controlled, the shockwave generated by heat vision could unleash devastating force, strong enough to repel anything.
The two collided once more.
Jor-El's stance was low, like that of a guard dog, his muscular legs coiled with strength and spring-like power.
In the end, Bardi simply raised his knee, just at the right moment, causing Jor-El to leap directly into it.
Jor-El's chin slammed into Bardi's knee, and a sonic boom echoed out.
His jaw was instantly shattered. A wail escaped his mouth, mixed with blood, fangs, and broken teeth. His mouth filled with crimson.
Bardi's eyes flared violently again. His fists became phantoms, punching through the vacuum, erupting with explosive force. With a loud bang, Jor-El's body once again became like a ragdoll, flailing under the rain of punches.
Once again, he was reduced to nothing more than a punching bag, suffering even more severe damage.
Bardi's massive fists hammered the same spot repeatedly, denting Jor-El's beast-like torso.
First, his legs were crushed by brute force. Over a hundred punches landed in an instant, shattering his knees, rendering him immobile.
His entire beastly form collapsed weakly, yet Bardi's ferocious fists continued raining down on him. The violent bang bang bang bang... sounds slammed him into the ground, keeping him pinned beneath the fists, unable to fall away.
Jor-El's beast-like eyes shone with ferocity through the pain. Like a desperate animal at the edge of death, he tried with all his might to get closer to Bardi's body.
Just one move.
As long as his sharp claws could scratch Bardi's body, the golden Kryptonite shards hidden within them could enter his flesh and nullify his powers.
Jor-El's eyes burned red. He ignored the instincts coded into his genetically enhanced body. All that remained was the desperate urge to land a single blow.
This was undoubtedly the most brutal and hopeless battle he'd ever faced.
A one-sided, inhumane beatdown.
He never expected that even with peak combat instincts, he still couldn't match Bardi.
What's worse, Bardi's strength was only marginally above his, perhaps just a few dozen tons more so why was he being utterly crushed!?
In every aspect—mental, technical, and physical—Bardi completely overwhelmed him. He couldn't resist at all.
If not for the raging energy within him, surging in response to the attacks and constantly repairing his body, healing his wounds, and maintaining his life...
Kryptonian genetics were absurdly resilient. Even though Bardi was stronger, he couldn't kill him instantly.
Even when Bardi struck his temple, the blow was blocked and healed by the concentrated energy within Jor-El. Bardi had once torn out his throat underground, but in mere moments, it had regenerated. This terrifying genetic durability made it nearly impossible to kill him outright.
The only way was to exhaust his energy completely, leave his body unable to recover, render him incapable of resistance, confuse his mind, and make him doubt the very reason he was born a dog.
At last, battered and broken, Jor-El finally seized an opportunity. He reached out with his sharp claws toward Bardi's fist. Hidden within the claws was a shard of golden Kryptonite.
But the moment Jor-El dared to resist, Bardi unleashed a direct blow on his claws. He wanted Jor-El to have no chance of resistance—to kill him outright.
The sharp claws dug deep into Bardi's fist, but were instantly crushed by the force. The claws shattered completely, embedded in Bardi's swollen flesh, where a faint golden glow flickered deep within.
"Sinner of Krypton... Judgment... has come!"
Jor-El finally spoke in Kryptonian, his words gurgling out from his canine mouth. Blood dripped from his lips, his mouth torn, eyelids swollen, body battered and broken, yet he laughed, a miserable, defiant laugh from a ruined body.
(To be continued.)
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