Ethan felt a bit of regret after killing Faora.
She had been an outstanding second-in-command and a formidable warrior.
Considering Maria Hill had only come to him for advanced training and would leave sooner or later, and Nebula was merely using his help to deal with Thanos and would likely leave once her goal was achieved, he had briefly considered recruiting this Kryptonian deputy who had once overpowered Superman.
However, given the current circumstances, there was no chance to recruit her. If he didn't act quickly, he might end up facing Superman, Clark Kent, or rather, Kal-El.
Besides, he hadn't figured out how to persuade Faora to abandon her people and beliefs and join him.
After all, he lacked some kind of overwhelming charisma, nor did he possess the power to brainwash or twist others' wills. Ethan himself was fundamentally repulsed by such abilities.
Since he couldn't recruit her and wasn't willing to let an enemy live, the only choice was to eliminate her cleanly and decisively.
Not just Faora. In that moment, Ethan had also turned all the Kryptonians in this "room" into ice shards, which had been sucked out into space through the breach and fully merged with the void.
So when Clark Kent flew in at full speed through the opening, Ethan was the only one standing in the room, smiling and waving at him.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Ethan."
Although the hole beside them continued sucking air into the vacuum of space, it had no effect on the two of them. Only the air rushed past them, making it look like they were standing in strong wind.
Ethan gently raised his hand, and a thick layer of ice slowly formed over the breach, completely sealing it.
The wind stopped, and the ship's artificial gravity began to return to normal, though it hadn't affected the two of them much anyway.
"Who exactly are you?"
Superman kept staring at the young man in front of him and was surprised to find that he couldn't see through him at all.
"That's not very polite, Mr. Kent."
"You know me?"
Clark looked slightly surprised. At this point, he was still just a farm boy from Kansas, not yet a reporter, much less a famous one. His identity as Superman wasn't known to the public yet. He was just an unknown individual with powers, hiding among Earthlings.
"I just happen to know a few things about you."
Clark frowned. He was beginning to realize that this situation was more complicated than expected.
He had come here originally intending to surrender, to confess to the military that he was the one Zod was looking for, and then let the military hand him over to prevent Zod from attacking Earth.
However, he wasn't sure whether Zod would stop there and spare the planet, as he didn't trust Zod. Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly sensed something unusual happening on Zod's ship.
Having awakened more and more powers, Clark now had extremely sharp vision and hearing. Even though Zod's ship was in space, he could still see it.
That was when he discovered a battle was taking place on Zod's side.
In fact, he wasn't the only one who noticed. The military had also detected it.
Ever since Zod's ship appeared, almost every available observation device had been locked onto it, tracking his movements.
Among other things, the scene where Diana knocked Zod out of the ship was clearly captured by Earth's observers.
The operator monitoring the ship 24/7 almost thought he was hallucinating, because the scene was simply too unbelievable: a woman clad in armor that looked like a mix of ancient and modern (it should clearly belong to the cold weapon era, so why did it look so refined and modern? And was that armor even protective?) wielding a sword and shield, suddenly bursting through the ship's outer wall—was that wall really so fragile? And she had charged into outer space without any protective gear. Was she trying to die?
At that moment, despite having countless questions, the observer could only sigh in pity. What a shame, such a beautiful woman.
Though he didn't know who she was (maybe some internal Kryptonian incident?), going into space dressed like that, her fate seemed already sealed.
But then something that nearly made the observer lose it happened: the woman was completely unaffected, even able to swing her weapon and continue chasing the other person, who was fully geared for space?
He had no idea how she was surviving or moving so freely. If he hadn't checked the equipment several times, he would've suspected the monitor had accidentally switched to a movie channel—she really looked like a Hollywood star.
Shortly after, the military and countless amateur astronomers watched a battle unfold that completely shattered their understanding of the universe. Zod's ship had been approaching Earth and was very close when he issued his ultimatum.
What made things even crazier was that soon, another person appeared on the screen, and based on previous data, this person had flown up from Earth.
"Are you telling me someone flew directly from Earth and is approaching that spaceship?"
The generals and officers in the command center were all on the verge of collapse. More than one person wondered if they were dreaming. How could such absurd things happen? And not just once!
"Is that the alien Zod mentioned, the one hiding among humans?"
Everyone was speechless. Who were they supposed to ask?
But most had already made a judgment in their hearts: this was probably the target Zod had been referring to. They just hadn't expected him to be this special.
He could fly. He could even leave Earth and fly into space, moving freely out there.
Thinking back to the beautiful woman earlier, perhaps Kryptonians were a race that could fly and survive in the vacuum of space?
Before learning Diana's true identity, the military had assumed she was also Kryptonian and saw this battle as an internal conflict.
What they didn't know was that most of the Kryptonians intending to invade Earth had already been wiped out by Ethan. The one he was now facing was actually the righteous Kryptonian who wanted to protect Earth.
Just as Clark was about to ask more questions, another large hole burst open in the wall beside them. Diana flew in, carrying a body, and casually tossed it onto the floor.
Ethan looked at her speechlessly, then waved his hand again, sealing the second hole with a thick layer of ice. Only then did he glance at Zod's body, discarded like trash.
Zod's combat strength was formidable, even stronger than Faora's. This was someone whom the newly awakened Superman couldn't defeat. After being exposed to Earth's yellow sun and awakening his powers, Zod had quickly adapted and demonstrated incredible power.
But none of that had happened yet. Zod couldn't fly before awakening his powers, and in the vacuum of space, without that ability... the outcome was predictable.
Although Diana's previous attacks had damaged Zod's armor and exposed him to sunlight, allowing his awakening, at that moment, he fell into disarray. And for someone like Diana, who never held back once she saw an opportunity, that moment of disorientation sealed his fate. Just as his enhanced vision and hearing overwhelmed him, Diana's blade pierced his heart.
Zod had hoped to awaken his powers and reverse the situation. That would've only been possible if his opponents weren't people like Diana and Ethan, who never gave their enemies a chance.
After killing Zod, Diana glanced back. She had noticed Clark's movements long ago but hadn't been worried. Just like she didn't fear Clark disturbing her, she believed Ethan wouldn't give him a chance.
Returning to the ship with Zod's body, Diana casually wiped her blade clean on Zod's cape before sheathing it on her back.
Clark looked at the woman, then at Zod lying on the floor. He could see clearly that Zod was dead, and his frown deepened.
"You killed him?"
"Yes."
Diana felt the question was unnecessary. Wasn't it obvious?
"Why?"
"Because he wanted to occupy Earth, exterminate humanity, and turn Earth into New Krypton," Diana calmly explained. "As the protector of humanity, I won't allow that to happen."
"Protector of humanity?"
Clark was confused. He felt like the Earth he knew had completely changed.
"Are you from the government?"
"I am Diana of Paradise Island, daughter of Zeus and Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons."
"Zeus?"
Clark tilted his head, his expression slightly twisted. He was wondering if this Zeus was the same Zeus he knew of.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Ethan, who had been quietly watching him, suddenly spoke.
"Yes, that Zeus."
Clark took a deep breath, decided not to dwell on the topic for now, and turned back to face Ethan.
"So you are...?"
"I already told you, I'm Ethan."
At that moment, the Book of Inheritance that Ethan had thrown earlier slowly floated back and hovered beside him, opened.
Ethan glanced at it, then smiled with satisfaction. He raised his left hand and gently opened it, and the Book of Inheritance, now hovering over his palm, suddenly disappeared.
"Just a passing mage who happened to lend a hand."
(To be continued.)