One claimed to be the daughter of Zeus, the other a mage. Clark Kent suspected these two were playing a prank on him.
Recalling how the woman named Diana had flown in from space earlier, it proved she was indeed no ordinary human.
As for Ethan, who claimed to be a mage, he had just conjured a thick ice wall with a wave of his hand to block the hole. This miraculous ability truly resembled a mage from novels or films.
"Do mages really exist in this world?"
If this were a pure Superman world, Ethan couldn't be sure, but if it was the DC Universe, he could give a definitive answer.
"This world is not as simple as you think it is."
Ethan glanced at the corpse beside him. He raised his hand, preparing to deal with General Zod's body as well.
Without Zod's body, Superman would be the only Kryptonian left on Earth. Furthermore, Zod's ship hadn't landed on Earth, and the ancient Kryptonian ship hidden in the Arctic hadn't been activated by Zod and shot down by Clark. It contained a complete set of Kryptonian biological cultivation devices.
This meant Lex Luthor wouldn't be able to obtain Kryptonian technology and create Doomsday using Zod's body.
Perhaps Lex would still try to instigate a fight between Superman and Batman, but he wouldn't be able to unleash the ultimate weapon, Doomsday.
The direct result was that the showdown between Superman and Batman wouldn't become irreparable, and Diana wouldn't have to face the threat of that Kryptonian ultimate weapon. Frankly, it was for Diana's sake.
Thinking of this, Ethan no longer hesitated. He raised his hand and fired an ice-blue ray at Zod's body. General Zod, who had been determined to restore Kryptonian civilization, turned into beautiful blue ice shards, just like his subordinates, and slowly dispersed into the air.
"You!"
Clark hadn't expected Ethan to do something to Zod's body. Although he felt Zod might not be someone trustworthy, he never believed killing was the right thing, let alone destroying a corpse. This severely violated his moral code.
"Why did you destroy his body?"
However, Superman was a righteous and reasonable person. Even though he was very upset, the first thing he did wasn't to attack Ethan, but to ask why.
"Do you think leaving his body behind would be a good thing?"
Since everything was taken care of, Ethan didn't mind explaining.
"A Kryptonian body contains many things beyond what Earthlings can grasp. If it falls into the hands of people with ulterior motives, what do you think will happen?"
It seemed reasonable, but Clark still found it unacceptable. Moreover, he still had great doubts about Ethan's identity, so he kept watching him with vigilant eyes.
"Young man, there's no need to look at me with such suspicious eyes."
Ethan's single sentence left Superman speechless, unsure how to respond. He had been on Earth for over thirty years and was an adult, yet he was called 'young man' by a teenager who looked only thirteen or fourteen. This...
"You seem more suited to that title than I do."
"In this world, what you see with your eyes isn't necessarily what you think it is," Ethan waved his hand. "Let's talk somewhere else. If you stay here any longer, you probably won't even be able to stand."
The interior of the Kryptonian ship used a Kryptonian atmospheric environment. Clark, who grew up on Earth, couldn't adapt to it at all. The reason he had been standing there without fighting Ethan, besides being unsure of Ethan and Diana's identities, was that he felt his body gradually weakening. In this state, he didn't dare to act rashly.
This was because the cabin had previously been repeatedly breached, damaging the internal air circulation and preventing it from fully recovering. If it had remained in a normal state, Clark would have collapsed to the ground unable to move shortly after entering.
But Clark didn't know this. He thought Ethan had done something to him, especially since he claimed to be a mage. In his understanding, mages were beings who knew all sorts of strange spells, and making someone feel weak didn't seem like a difficult thing.
"It has nothing to do with me. It's just that your body can't adapt to the air environment in this spaceship."
Ethan raised his hand again, and a white magic blast directly hit the wall behind Clark, disrupting the air circulation again. This made Clark feel a little more comfortable.
But before he could make any move, the young man was already standing beside him, then gently grabbed his cape and pulled him, flying towards the outside.
This young man could survive in space. The vacuum environment had no effect on him.
Diana hadn't said anything the whole time. She was just curiously observing Clark. After Ethan broke through the wall and flew out, she followed suit.
So, the generals, staff, and experts on Earth who had been monitoring the situation went crazy again, and this time it was even more devastating than before.
Earlier, they could suspect that Diana's fight with Zod was an internal Kryptonian conflict. But what in the world was a young man wearing ordinary Earth clothes? Did Kryptonians dress exactly like Earthlings?
"Who is this now?"
No one could answer this question. They were all staring blankly at the screen, a group of experts trying their best to deduce information from the footage.
However, there was too little useful information at the moment. They could only confirm that these three people could fly and survive in outer space. This not only meant they didn't need oxygen but also that most extreme environments on Earth, such as high temperatures and ultra-low temperatures, had no effect on them.
If these things were somewhat acceptable, what happened next challenged their common sense even more.
The person on the screen, wearing casual clothes, suddenly turned around after exiting the spaceship and stretched out his hand towards the ship.
While they were still wondering what he was doing, circles of blue-purple light suddenly appeared around the massive spaceship. These lights formed various mysterious runes and combined into different patterns. Finally, a huge magic circle appeared above the spaceship and then swept over the ship from top to bottom.
And that huge alien spaceship, as if swallowed by the giant magic circle, slowly disappeared before everyone's eyes.
"This..."
Although there were no experts in the occult present, everyone on Earth recognized what a magic circle was. It wasn't something unusual. Even those who weren't superstitious or didn't study that field could tell it was a magic circle.
The sudden appearance of a magic circle was already enough to leave people speechless. What was even more shocking was that this thing didn't seem to be merely a decoration created with light and shadow, but actual magic.
"What is that? What on earth is that? Where did that spaceship go?"
"That... looks like a magic circle?"
The observer, who had been questioned repeatedly by the general, finally spoke this time because he finally recognized it. Although before today, he had always thought magic and such were illusory.
Ethan, who had performed a special dimensional teleportation on the Kryptonian ship using magic, turned to ask Clark, "Do you want to fly back like this, or teleport back to Earth with us?"
"Teleport back?"
Ethan shook his head. "If we fly into Earth, what do you think the people who are currently live-streaming and watching us will do?"
The military and even the media were constantly monitoring this area, which was no secret to anyone present.
Clark understood what Ethan meant. He had considered surrendering to the military before, but that was to prevent General Zod from starting a war with Earthlings.
Now that Zod was dead, and even the spaceship had been taken somewhere by this so-called mage, did he really need to reveal his identity in this situation? He still preferred to remain hidden and live on Earth like an ordinary person.
"You have a way?"
Ethan waved his hand, and Clark turned his head to see a portal right in front of him. Through the portal, he could even see the other side, which seemed to be a room.
Without hesitating for too long, the recovered Clark no longer needed Ethan's support. Since Diana had already flown in, he immediately followed.
Ethan flew in right after. The portal then vanished, and this part of space became calm again, as if nothing had ever been there.
"Where did those people go? Find them immediately!"
The military was in a frenzy, while Ethan, Clark, and Diana had returned to the hotel they were staying in.
"You two men chat. I'm going to change."
Diana also wanted to talk to Clark, but she had already determined that she likely wouldn't be fighting anyone today, so she didn't need to keep wearing her armor.
As for having a bad talk with Superman and having to fight, wasn't Ethan there?
Clark stood there, using his super hearing and super vision to scan the surroundings. After confirming that this was indeed the Earth he was familiar with, he gradually began to believe Ethan's claim of being a mage.
"So... a mage?"
"That's right."
Ethan lightly hooked his finger, and a drink flew out of the refrigerator. One bottle of beer flew directly toward Clark.
"Thank you."
Clark took the beer and saw Ethan sitting naturally on the sofa, gesturing for him to sit. So, he didn't stand on ceremony and sat down opposite him.
At this moment, Diana, who had changed her clothes, came out. Seeing her completely disarmed posture, Clark understood her intention. She didn't want a conflict with him. So he sat down, wanting to ask for a detailed explanation of what was going on.
Zeus? Human guardian? Mage? How many secrets did Earth still hold that he didn't know about?
(To be continued.)