Wuwuwu!
The Earth's North Pole was battered by fierce cold winds, whipping up millennia-old ice and snow that blocked out the sun. The howling wind sounded like the wails of spirits haunting frozen lands.
Inside the Fortress of Solitude, Clark once again used the spaceship's descent to observe how his cousin, Kara Zor-El, was adapting to life on Earth.
On the screen, on the streets of a modern city, the tall, slender blonde woman, dressed like an ordinary office worker, walked down the street. Wearing square-rimmed glasses, she gazed wistfully at the sky before pushing open a revolving door and entering the office building.
"Ever since H'el tried to destroy the sun last time, and Kara was deceived by him and almost became an accomplice, she moved out of our home and we lost contact," Clark sighed, recounting to Jor-El.
He understood that Kara must have felt guilty about nearly destroying Earth. Moreover, if the past were changed, the happy and beautiful life of the Kent family now would be altered, and the Kents would lose their eldest son.
Having done something like that, how could Kara face the couple who had welcomed her so warmly? The kinder they were to her, the more guilty she felt. After that day, she left alone, her whereabouts unknown.
"She seems to be adapting well to life on Earth," Jor-El commented.
Krypton was gone from the universe anyway. If Kara wanted to survive, she had to integrate among humans. Now it seemed she was integrating very well, apart from occasional longing for Krypton.
After all, Kryptonians who had been exposed to the yellow sun possessed abilities comparable to deities. Even without mentioning others, with their super-brains, adapting to life on Earth wasn't a difficult task.
Seeing his cousin Kara find a clerical job in another city, hiding herself well and not being targeted by anyone with malicious intent, Clark felt a slight relief.
"I hope one day she can figure things out and appear before us again. I've never blamed her; she was just deceived. I understand how she felt – the planet and her loved ones dying together in an explosion, suddenly arriving on a strange planet..."
Putting himself in her shoes, Clark believed he would have been fooled too and would have abandoned everything unfamiliar to try and travel through time.
As he was feeling a bit melancholic...
Suddenly, the spaceship jolted.
"What's wrong?"
Dust fell from the ceiling, and Clark looked around.
"The spaceship's internal sensors have detected a massive energy signal. It's from a Mother Box from Apokolips."
Jor-El waved his hand, quickly bringing up a holographic image.
In the image, the Mother Box, stored in a secure room within the spaceship, vibrated and emitted ripples of energy, impacting the cabin walls and causing the entire ship to shake.
"Mother Box anomaly?"
Clark's heart immediately tensed, his face filled with vigilance.
After David, along with him and the old members of the Justice League, thwarted the invasion from Apokolips last time, the Mother Box was once again divided into three, with one each handed over to Themyscira, Atlantis, and the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole for safekeeping.
"After David killed Kalibak, the Crown Prince of Apokolips, the three Mother Boxes fell silent as if dead. No matter how much they were stimulated, they didn't react. How could they suddenly become active?"
"It seems a signal has connected with it. The signal is extraterrestrial," Jor-El said, looking out towards the sky.
"Is Apokolips invading Earth again?"
Clark recalled what David had said.
That Dark Lord of Apokolips, whether for revenge for his son or for a supreme power from the universe contained within Earth, would surely lead a great army to visit Earth, and it wouldn't be long.
"Now, could it be Darkseid who has arrived!"
Activating his Super Speed, Clark instantly arrived before the Mother Box placed in a separate chamber, wanting to do something, but it was already too late.
Bzzzt!
A boom tube opened.
A towering, imposing figure appeared from the tube, hands behind his back. The aura emanating from him was so substantial it seemed capable of crushing mountains. A strong wind surged, causing Clark to instinctively step back!
"Kryptonian."
After Darkseid led his army into the solar system, he had his spaceship contact the Mother Box, opening a passage that allowed him to reach this world he had longed for ahead of schedule.
"Kneel, or be turned to ash by my Omega Ray."
He closed his eyes, breathing in the long-lost air of this planet, completely disregarding the Son of Krypton before him.
"Kneel, ignorant worm. Do you know who you are facing!"
Granny Goodness, holding an iron staff, and Desaad followed closely out of the tube, their voices sharp and reprimanding.
"You have no other choice."
Darkseid's gaze turned to him, glancing sideways.
"Is that so!"
Clark stared at the figure, half a head taller than him, wondering what kind of being this non-human entity was. Meeting his gaze felt like hearing the screams of countless worlds before their fall and destruction.
But no one had yet made him lose the courage to throw a punch. Gritting his teeth, he charged forward, throwing a punch at the person before him.
A giant gray hand easily grabbed his arm. Clark looked up in surprise, meeting Darkseid's indifferent eyes. He powerfully flung his arm.
Clark, like a lion facing an elephant, was slammed heavily onto the ground. The spaceship's steel floor dented, creating a deep pit.
"Your Majesty, this spaceship has an intelligent life form."
Desaad operated the virtual image on his wrist and reported.
"He wants to communicate with the outside world; I've blocked the signal."
"Deal with him."
Darkseid commanded.
Desaad waved his hand, and his Parademon soldiers quickly inserted virus weapons specifically designed for intelligent life into the spaceship's main control room.
"Kal, go quickly."
Jor-El appeared, but before he could take two steps, his image flickered and died. His body seemed to be eroded by red lava, deforming, twisting, and disappearing completely.
"No!"
Clark shouted, unable to accept it.
Even though he didn't know if an intelligence with Jor-El's memories and thought patterns was truly his father, it was the only thing his parents had left him.
"Interesting, a Kryptonian infant who landed on this planet, adopted by a pair of native farmer couples from this planet, and those couples also gave birth to a son who occasionally exhibited new abilities."
Darkseid's gaze seemed to penetrate everything, as if he could see Clark's past memories within his mind.
"He's the one who killed my son and defeated Kanto and Steppenwolf?"
"Look at me, Clark Kent."
A giant palm grabbed the surprised Clark. A sinister red light ignited in his eyes.
Like two red lights in a distant coastline shrouded in fog, when he met their gaze, Clark, whose emotions were fluctuating violently, felt a moment of daze. His eyelids felt heavy, as if soaked in a cotton quilt. The Dark Lord's voice seemed to sound from afar, or perhaps from the depths of his heart.
"Submit to me, son of Krypton, and clear the obstacles to my conquest of this world for me."
Clark's expression subtly changed. A dense darkness invaded his heart. With a fierce look, he tilted his head towards the sky, suddenly smashing through the spaceship and breaking the sound barrier, flying rapidly towards home.
"The Kryptonians will buy you some time. Go retrieve the remaining Mother Boxes for me."
Darkseid issued his order.
Having gained the Omega Effect, not only could his eyes emit Omega Rays that completely erased life, but he also possessed other abilities, such as energy explosions, molecular reconstruction, soul manipulation, and telepathy.
Simultaneously controlling the will and minds of millions of lives was as simple as eating and drinking for him.
However, this was far from enough for him. What he needed was the entire universe to bow at his feet, and only the Anti-Life Equation could help him achieve all of this!
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Desaad received the order and led a large army of Parademons, along with Granny Goodness leading her meticulously trained all-female Furies, to the coordinates of the Mother Boxes.
Breaking through the warship's hull, Darkseid floated outside with his hands behind his back. The howling blizzards whipped against his rough, dark skin, which was as coarse as rock.
"I don't like this place."
Apart from not being able to see the sun, the eternal cold and snow of the Arctic were the complete opposite of the Dark Lord's homeland, Apokolips, where he was born from lava and toxic fire.
Chii!
With a strange sound, thick, dark red Omega Rays shot from Darkseid's eyes. They bent and impacted the ground. Terrifying heat swept across the area.
The ancient, unchanging ice and snow melted. Before it could even turn into flowing water on the ground, it was vaporized. Looking down from space, the white covering of the Arctic rapidly receded, turning a dark red.
The entire surface of the Arctic continent, which had not appeared for who knows how many years, was exposed to the air. Lava churned, the earth cracked, and hot air with a sulfurous smell rose into the sky.
The familiar environment caused the continuous stream of Parademons arriving through the portal to howl and cheer. Then, following the opened teleportation portals, they charged towards cities across Earth.
"For His Majesty Darkseid!"
...
Crack! Crack!
Bundles of dry wood were split in half.
At the Kent Farm, David, who was chopping wood, frowned and looked towards the distant sky.
"Clark?"
Clark's speed was rarely this furious. He flew without restraint, scattering the clouds. Powerful air currents left long hollows in the atmosphere over the Arctic and the American continent.
Boom!
The ground seemed to explode like a calm sea surface hit by a missile, sending up waves of earth tens of meters into the air. Clark landed heavily, got up with a grim expression.
"Don't come any closer, Mom and Dad!"
The immense sound instantly caused Jonathan and Martha to run out of the house. David keenly sensed that Clark was not in the right state.
"What's wrong, Clark?"
He had never seen Clark wear such a fierce and cold expression, as if he were a soulless killing machine.
At the same time, over Metropolis, Gotham, Central City, Fawcett City... in every city, swarms of Parademons emerged, attacking all living beings in sight.
"Monsters, those monsters again!"
"The aliens from Apokolips are back, help!"
Everyone fled in terror, their cries, screams, and despair filling every corner of the Earth.
The sound of wings beating and rubbing like locusts spread in all directions, a scarlet blood color enveloped the sky, and the Parademons slaughtered and destroyed to their heart's content. Skyscrapers were pierced, houses collapsed, as if the end of the world had arrived.
"You need to be eliminated, David Kent!"
In front of the farm, Clark, with a somber aura and murderous intent, threw a punch. David raised his hand to block it, but the hurricane generated by the ferocious attack lifted the turf of the farm, and the glass of the house was shattered by the blast wave.
Easily catching the fist of Clark, who seemed to be under control, David glanced back. Fortunately, the Lantern Rings worn by his father Jonathan and mother Martha had activated their protective functions, and the two were unharmed.
It was just that the couple looked at Clark, who had suddenly attacked David, with bewilderment and anxiety, calling his name and not understanding why he was suddenly attacking his own brother.
"Clark!"
"Did he come into contact with Red Kryptonite again!" Father Jonathan thought of a similar scene from the past.
"No, it's not the meteorite's problem. It's much more extreme than that."
David turned his gaze to Clark's eyes. There was only a thick, unresolvable darkness, like a non-human monster, completely different from his state when he was affected by Red Kryptonite.
"To act like this in front of Mom and Dad, you need to wake up, Clark!"
David's fist smashed into Clark's face, sending him flying like a cannonball towards Metropolis.
"Clark isn't the only one having problems."
He then looked towards the city, hearing the cries and screams from within, and the rampaging Parademon army.
Not just Metropolis, but everywhere David's penetrating gaze could see was being destroyed and slaughtered by the war from Apokolips.
"Darkseid? Is that you!"
Clark, in a strange state, flew back from the Arctic. Coupled with the global attacks from Apokolips, he instantly thought of what might have happened.
The Dark Lord had arrived, and he should be in the Arctic.
David looked towards the Arctic continent. After killing Kalibak, he had long anticipated this day, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of solemnity.
"Earth has the Anti-Life Equation that Darkseid covets. He will come sooner or later."
Compared to all the enemies he had encountered before, Darkseid was more terrifying—the ultimate darkness that made the entire universe tremble in fear.
"Son!"
Martha took a step forward, extremely worried.
"It'll be alright, Mother."
Withdrawing his gaze and comforting the two, David broke through the air and rapidly pursued Clark.
"However, I need to deal with Clark's problem first."
One reason was to prevent his parents from worrying further, and the other was to prevent Clark from causing other destruction. He didn't care about the lives of other strangers, but Clark was different.
If he were to regain consciousness, he would likely be unable to accept that people had died by his hand during the time he lost his senses.
"That punch just now..."
Recalling Clark's much stronger attack just now, David rapidly arrived above Metropolis. His eyes narrowed. Just as the dense Parademon army was about to pounce, a powerful and terrifying gravity field swept through, clearing the area above the entire city.
All the Parademons exploded into a mist of blood as if struck by an invisible tidal wave with the force of ten thousand tons.
As if crushing a swarm of ants, David's gaze searched for Clark, whom he had sent flying.
With a whistling, piercing sound, a giant golden statue of Earth, the iconic landmark on the roof of the Metropolis Planet building, was hurled with earth-shattering force.
David dodged with an unperturbed expression. The golden Earth smashed through several buildings and crashed into the ground in another district.
"You need to be corrected, David!"
Clark then appeared, exuding immense power, and charged forward with a roar.
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