New York's streets cracked like a spiderweb. Impact lifted a dozen cars into the air, severing them at the waist in the deep pits. Russell lay in the center of a giant crater.
Homelander grabbed Russell's collar, about to deliver another punch.
"I am invincible, I am God, and..."
Homelander misjudged. Despite the attack just now, comparable to an intercontinental missile strike, Russell seemed to have suffered no injury. His fist suddenly erupted, hitting the opponent squarely on the chin.
"You're just a mad dog!"
Homelander was sent flying into the air.
Russell pursued the victory, and the two turned into entangled afterimages in the sky above New York. Each collision caused deafening explosions. They fought through several blocks, shattering the glass of buildings.
Red Missile had burns on his chest, Hughie's jaw was dislocated, and Butcher coughed up blood from being beaten.
In the brief exchange with Homelander just now, only Rubber Killer, who Russell had instructed to wait for the opportunity and not fight head-on, was relatively unharmed.
Even Queen Maeve, with one eye bruised and swollen high, scanned the people around her, then looked at the two figures flying away, deeply shocked.
"Almost everyone here is a super-human of the same level as myself. Vought has so many hidden cards."
"Especially Infinitoid, his strength is not inferior to Homelander at all."
The advertising screens in Times Square flickered with electrical sparks in the Impact wave, damaged and darkened.
Russell's fist tore through the air, brushing past Homelander's cheek, leaving a red mark.
Homelander's heat vision swept over almost simultaneously. Russell spun to dodge, and the scarlet beam melted the advertising screen behind him into molten iron.
Before the boiling metal droplets could land, Homelander, who had the advantage in the air, rushed over like lightning. The two crashed into the top floor of a nearby luxury hotel.
Boom—!
The crystal chandelier in the presidential suite exploded with a roar from the Impact wave.
Russell seized Homelander's wrist, turned, and threw a punch. Homelander was punched through dozens of floors and plunged into the underground parking garage. The building, strong enough to resist an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, was as brittle as a biscuit during their fight, pierced from top to bottom.
"Too slow, you're as slow in the air as a wingless moth I can catch with a raised hand!" Homelander immediately shot up into the sky again, bringing up a shower of steel bars and concrete.
Russell swooped down from above. The two collided in mid-air inside the building. The Impact wave caused the entire building to break in half and disintegrate.
The remnants of the building fell, casting a huge shadow over the street.
The entire city suffered, as if it were the end of the World. The people of New York City fled in droves.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every exchange of fists and feet caused an air explosion.
Homelander grabbed Russell's left leg and swung him towards a building.
However, Russell curled up to absorb the impact at the moment of collision, then kicked off the wall with both legs to counterattack, slamming Homelander into the lobby of the New York Stock Exchange. The marble pillars, like those of an ancient Roman temple, snapped and collapsed one after another.
"Seals fighting have more method to their punches and kicks than You do."
Buzz!
From the ruins, Homelander's heat vision scattered the dust and shot out with a roar.
Russell picked up the several-ton Wall Street Bronze Bull statue at the entrance and used it as a shield. The statue vaporized in the laser, but he used the steam from the bronze statue as cover to advance.
Bang!
A spinning whip kick, the airwave sweeping across the entire street. Homelander was sent flying through the dome like a powerfully struck football.
Homelander's mouth bled, his head buzzed, his vision blurred. As soon as he flew into the sky, Hughie took the opportunity to teleport behind him, then teleported him back to the ground. The others, who were ready, immediately swarmed him.
Several people jointly suppressed Homelander, whose clothes had vanished. Rubber Killer quickly transformed, like a giant python, wrapping around him, constricting his limbs and neck.
"Let go of Me!~"
Homelander was furious, pinned beneath them. His struggles caused the ground beneath his feet to shatter, collapsing into a large pit.
But Maeve and the others held his arms, or constricted his neck, pinning him to the ground like a bull about to be slaughtered.
"How dare You!"
Homelander's panting, both ragged and furious, blew up dust. His head was pressed tightly against the ground, his laser eyes unable to aim at anyone.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Russell flashed into existence, standing in front of Homelander, gathering all his strength. His chest cannon, with power comparable to a nuclear explosion, charged like a raging dragon, wave after wave of air currents spreading out.
Stones on the ground bounced. Astonishing energy gathered, emitting terrifying heat.
"What are You doing? Infinitoid!
Get lost, You bunch of lackeys!"
As if in a nuclear meltdown site, the high temperature distorted the surrounding air. Homelander was terrified, his life instinct screaming a warning like never before.
"Homelander, say goodbye to Yourself!"
Even though it was the first time seeing Russell use this ability, anyone who wasn't an idiot could sense the terror of this move from his murderous expression and the terrifying energy fluctuations he emitted!
The power of the laser eyes that the two could fire by just looking was already terrifying. Nothing on Earth could withstand their destruction.
But Russell was now using this ability, and he was even charging it up so seriously.
Homelander knew without thinking that even he might not be able to withstand this move!
"Quick, get out of the way, we'll be killed together!"
Maeve's expression was one of fear. Although she wanted to help subdue Homelander, she hadn't intended to sacrifice her own life. She retreated in a panic.
But the others were indifferent to being within the range of Russell's charging chest cannon attack, their expressions blank. Maeve was utterly bewildered.
Without her help in restraining him, the force suppressing Homelander's power immediately weakened.
"Get out of My way!"
Seeing the light cannon pulsing, the energy reaching its peak, about to fire, the red glow in Homelander's eyes surged, melting the hard ground into a pool of lava, leaving the non-flying people with nowhere to gain purchase.
Amidst the splashing hot lava, he spun and rolled, shaking off the others.
Homelander immediately wanted to fly up to the sky and escape, dodging this attack.
But Rubber Killer, still wrapped around him, was like an emotionless dead man, extending his body hundreds of meters long, tightly binding several surrounding buildings.
"Lunatics, a bunch of lunatics! What benefits did Vought give You!"
Homelander's upward trajectory was immediately blocked. Looking at Rubber Killer wrapped around him, his face was extremely ugly. Laser beams shot out, cutting at Rubber Killer's extended limbs.
He had only cut off two arms, it was already too late.
Boom!
"Ah ah ah..."
As if a Sun had crashed, it exploded with a roar. A thick beam of light roared, engulfing Homelander along with Rubber Killer.
As if thrown into a furnace, Homelander's screams echoed through several blocks.
It felt like an instant, and yet like a long time.
When the light faded, Maeve opened her eyes, like a clay or stone statue, stunned by the scene of the nuclear-like explosion before her.
Astonishing heat melted the asphalt road surface for hundreds of meters around. Streetlights and vehicles collapsed and melted like chocolate.
The upper halves of the steel buildings behind Homelander were directly vaporized and disappeared.
It was as if the entire sky's clouds were split by that beam of light.
"It hit..."
Russell, who had expended considerable energy, panted slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
In fact, this somewhat useless move wasn't extremely energy-consuming; it just required a long charging time. If it weren't for Butcher and the others, it would have been impossible to hit Homelander.
But—as long as it hit, it would be easy to deal with!
"Hahaha... I... I'm still alive!"
Blown back dozens of meters, Homelander was covered in burns, his face unrecognizable, like a demon. He stumbled to his feet, but it seemed to be just skin and flesh wounds that were not immediately fatal.
Rubber Killer, who had desperately clung to Homelander, was dead, his body melted and twisted beyond recognition.
"Do You have a second shot?"
Homelander struggled to raise his head, looking at Russell with a mocking expression. He bent his legs, striking Homelander's signature slightly effeminate takeoff pose, preparing to escape.
"I... I admit this move of Yours is indeed very powerful, Infinitoid, it's a pity You still didn't kill Me. Even if I lost this time.
But... I will return sooner or later!"
With Russell's seemingly slow flying speed in his eyes, if he wanted to run, Russell couldn't possibly catch up.
Homelander's voice, full of resentment, echoed through the streets. Maeve was deeply shaken.
Even this hadn't killed Homelander. She immediately lunged towards Homelander.
"We can't let him get away. If Homelander escapes, who knows what he'll do to retaliate against us. He's already insane, everyone in the World will be in danger!"
[Homelander template acquired.]
"A second shot?"
Russell sneered, raising his hand to signal Maeve to calm down.
"Knowing You can't catch Me, You simply gave up?" Enduring the intense pain all over his body, Homelander sneered, preparing to launch himself and fly away. Spring... spring...
He jumped up in a comical posture, each time managing to get only a few centimeters off the ground before being pulled back by gravity. After several attempts, still trying, he looked like a comical Joker having a fit and trying to fly into the sky.
But no one on Earth didn't know that Homelander could fly.
"What is he doing?" The frantic Maeve quickly became confused.
After several attempts, he still hadn't flown into the sky. Homelander looked down at his feet with a stiff expression, gradually realizing something was wrong.
"Impossible!..."