Illusion and Reality (3,000 Words-Please Vote)

The roar from his mouth did nothing to affect General Zod’s actions. He instantly dashed in front of a human soldier firing at the Kryptonians and shattered the man’s head with a single punch.

"I’ll make you pay!"

Like a god of war, General Zod stood before the humans, who were gradually forming an encirclement. Behind him, countless weakened and suffering Kryptonians struggled without end.

"Surrender, Zod. You may possess the physique and abilities of a god, but you’ve underestimated humanity’s resolve. To protect our planet, we can take down any bastard who dares covet this place—even you!"

Looking at the figures at the front of the human soldiers, General Zod immediately recognized them. They were the three speedsters from before, along with the culprit who had killed Faora—that coward wearing a Bird-Beak Mask, too afraid to even show his face.

They were none other than Pietro, Little Barry Allen, Barry Allen, and the others led by Zhang Ye. Standing before the human army, they stared at General Zod with undisguised hostility.

Yet General Zod saw a faint, barely perceptible fear in their eyes.

"Everything I’ve done has been for Krypton’s revival. No matter how many sacrifices it takes, it makes no difference. Do you really think you can stop me!?"

Clenching his fists and feeling the unparalleled power within him, General Zod wanted nothing more than to crush these ants.

"Krypton has already been destroyed, and you are nothing but a Kryptonian reactionary. Zod, you don’t deserve to speak Krypton’s name, nor do you deserve to be one of its people. Surrender now." Kara floated in midair, looking at General Zod as though he were already dead.

"I’ll kill you and avenge my brother!"

"Just you?"

General Zod sneered. He had "calmed down" now and was no longer as unhinged as before, but those who knew him understood that the calmer General Zod appeared, the greater the rage burning in his heart.

If Faora had still been here, she would have easily seen that General Zod had entered the state of a true warrior, just as he had when leading the Kryptonian fleet to conquer other planets.

But General Zod knew that what he was about to do was neither revenge nor conquest. It was simply a bloodthirsty massacre.

"Quick! As long as he comes into contact with the poison gas, it can weaken his abilities!" Little Barry Allen sensed General Zod’s nearly tangible killing intent and couldn’t help shouting.

In truth, Zhang Ye needed no reminder. He had already prepared himself. The tip of the Black Umbrella suddenly erupted, launching a grenade directly toward General Zod.

But how could the shell possibly be faster than General Zod? It would have been one thing if he had been suppressed like Faora, but he now knew the Earth’s trump card. How could he let them succeed?

With a sudden sidestep and leap, he moved several hundred meters away. Before the grenade even exploded, he had already left its blast radius. Even Zhang Ye couldn’t clearly see his speed.

His figure came to a steady stop, carving two tracks into the hard ground. He turned toward the Kryptonian soldiers and saw that the area had been covered in dark green poison gas, like a green ocean.

The Kryptonian soldiers within it collapsed one after another, convulsing and rolling across the ground. Their mouths let out agonized wails and howls, showing just how much pain they were enduring.

Without hesitation, General Zod spread his arms and opened his palms, assuming a cruciform stance.

"Not good, stop him!"

Zhang Ye instantly saw what he intended to do.

Before Zhang Ye had even finished speaking, everyone beside him shot forward toward General Zod. They had no idea what General Zod was planning, but they knew they absolutely could not let him succeed.

"Too late!"

General Zod’s expression hardened as he slammed his palms together with all his strength. The sheer speed created a small sonic boom in that tiny space. At the instant his palms met, the entire world seemed to freeze. Everyone except General Zod wore expressions of shock and horror.

The next moment, an immense force erupted!

Whoooosh—!!!

It was a visible wave of sound. The sound blast carried terrifying repulsive force, leaving everyone no time to react. They were instantly deafened, and some were even permanently deafened by the shock. That force seemed impossible to resist; every obstacle before it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Centered on General Zod, the repulsive force instantly cleared nearly a thousand meters around him. Even tanks and armored vehicles were swept away as if they were made of paper.

It did not only affect the ground. Even the sky was caught in it, including the green poison gas, which was ripped apart by the immense force and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Pietro, Kara, and Little Barry Allen, who were closest to General Zod, suffered the worst injuries. Their suits were torn apart by the overwhelming force, and they were sent flying backward with the shockwave like kites with snapped strings.

Of them all, only Barry Allen endured that terrifying wave of damage. Every cell in his body was vibrating rapidly, allowing him to evade that first horrifying attack.

But General Zod had no intention of sparing him. Before Barry Allen could react, General Zod thrust his hand into Barry Allen’s chest and began vibrating violently as well.

A Kryptonian’s physique could not allow him to move his cells through matter like The Flash, because they had no Speed Force and were not as fast as The Flash.

However, General Zod had no intention of matching The Flash’s speed, nor did he need to. He only needed to disrupt the path of the cells’ movement.

By the time The Flash realized General Zod’s purpose, it was already too late. His body suddenly stalled for a moment, like a musical beat abruptly missing a note. The Flash let out a muffled groan, and his entire body came to a stop.

"Got you, you damned bug."

General Zod smiled coldly. Feeling the beating heart in his palm, the smile on his face gradually turned savage.

With that, General Zod yanked his hand outward. Barry Allen was ripped open and collapsed onto the ground, blood spraying across General Zod’s face. He did not care in the slightest; instead, he seemed almost intoxicated by the thrill of slaughter.

Suddenly, the sensation of being targeted rose from the depths of his heart. General Zod reacted within a second. His eyes flashed red as he whipped around, firing two scarlet beams of Heat Vision toward the source of that watchful feeling.

In the blink of an eye, a massive explosion rang out from high above. But the people on the ground could no longer hear it. They had all fallen into temporary deafness, able only to see a shell blasted into fragments by the Heat Vision—and the Bat-Plane behind it.

Stopping his Heat Vision, General Zod withdrew his gaze and surveyed the devastated battlefield like an emperor.

Pietro and Little Barry Allen’s bodies had already been torn to pieces. Without a physique like Kara’s, they simply could not withstand such terrifying destructive force. As for the humans, they had been almost completely wiped out. Only soldiers far away had survived, but they had been scared out of their wits.

His eyes searched continuously for something, until they finally locked onto the Black Umbrella lying scattered on the ground. As for its owner, he had likely already been buried beneath the battlefield’s ruins.

"Zod!"

Just as General Zod savored the quiet aftermath of battle, an explosive shout came from above his head.

But General Zod had clearly been prepared for it. One could even say that he had been waiting for the final prey to deliver herself to him.

With a simple turn, General Zod immediately displayed his unmatched combat instincts. Facing this sneak attack aimed at the back of his head, he effortlessly dodged Kara’s strike, then used the momentum to slam her violently into the ground.

As if still not satisfied—or perhaps worried that she still had the ability to fight—General Zod followed up with a kick to her stomach.

The immense force drove the ground beneath his foot half a meter downward. Struck by such overwhelming power, Kara spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I will rebuild Krypton, atop the ruins of this planet." General Zod murmured softly, but his tone was filled with certainty.

As his words fell, a sharp blade extended from his arm guard.

"No, don’t. Stop."

Kara slowly raised her hands, seemingly trying to block General Zod, but the pain coursing through her entire body left her unable to resist.

"…Please stop."

Looking at the pain on Kara’s face, General Zod remained abnormally calm. This was a great cause. Everything was for rebuilding Krypton. At that moment, General Zod suddenly realized that perhaps he had been born for this very purpose.

Squelch!

The next second, the blade pierced Kara’s chest without any resistance.

And that strike was like the final straw that broke the camel’s back, ending Kara’s last resistance.

Her mouth fell open as blood continuously gushed from it.

"…Please stop."

Kara gasped for breath, seemingly trying to say something.

"…Why?"

General Zod frowned, then leaned his head closer to Kara’s mouth so he could hear more clearly.

"…Why are you killing us?"

"…We are your… subordinates."

General Zod’s mind exploded!!!