Like a God

"Charlie, look."

"That's Homelander, right?"

By a stream a kilometer away from Silver Tree Town, two young men in plaid shirts were fiddling with a drone's controller.

Through the live feed transmitted by the drone, they saw a blue figure flying toward a small town.

"Why would Homelander come to a place like this?"

"Who cares, Charlie."

"Quick, have your drone follow and film Homelander."

"Forget the wilderness survival special. Let's make a Homelander feature instead."

The young man named Charlie made a sound of surprise. "Wait, I see the military. Look."

On the screen, military SUVs were driving out from outside the town.

The two young men saw the scene clearly.

Then they cheered.

"There's the military, and there's Homelander."

"Something huge must be happening here!"

"Film it. We have to film it."

"Once we upload it online, I bet it'll break a million views!"

Meanwhile.

Inside the military camp.

Livewire glanced at a drone filming from afar and said quietly, "Should we shoot that thing down? It doesn't look military."

Element Man shook his head. "Forget about that. Homelander told us to stand by. If anyone from town tries to break out, stop them."

"So I think we should focus."

Princess Frost, tall and built like a supermodel, gave a cold snort. "Relax. I can handle the blockade and interception by myself."

Starlight, standing nearby, rolled her eyes, sensing the faint hostility between the newcomers.

She looked at Homelander, who had already flown above the town, and said softly, "What does he plan to do next?"

Azu looked down at the town from above.

The mission requirements flashed through his mind.

No need to rescue hostages this time. That makes things much easier.

Then I'll wipe out the Nightcrawlers along with that so-called Midnight Clown.

As he spoke, Azu's eyes gradually began to glow. Within moments, they were filled with golden light.

It was as if those eyes contained a sun, radiating the brilliant light of noon!

The golden radiance grew ever brighter, spilling from his eye sockets and illuminating even the capillaries around his eyes.

The temperature around the town rose sharply. In an instant, even the people in the military camp cried out in surprise.

They felt the searing heat and were drenched in sweat in the blink of an eye. Looking around, the scenery itself had become distorted and blurry.

"What's going on?"

"Why is it so hot?"

Even Supers like Princess Frost found the heat unbearable.

Element Man's eyes turned emerald green, and wind immediately rose around them. Unfortunately, the air was far too hot at that moment. Even the wind came in scorching gusts.

Princess Frost, however, parted her lips and gently blew out a breath, instantly bringing coolness to the surroundings.

At that moment.

In midair.

Azu had raised the temperature of his Heat Ray to three thousand degrees!

That temperature was enough to melt steel.

Thus, although not much of the heat reached the ground, it was still enough to make the armored vehicles' shells scorching hot and turn the earth into a furnace.

The next moment.

A golden beam erupted from Azu's eyes. Its temperature was so high that it ignited the air as it tore through it.

As a result, blazing flames suddenly surged into the sky above the entire town, centered on Azu!

The astonishing heat wave rushed toward them, forcing Starlight and the others to retreat involuntarily.

When they looked again at Homelander within the flames, their hearts pounded with both reverence and fear.

Princess Frost especially.

She had fought Azu one-on-one before.

She had originally thought that even if Homelander had not used his full strength then, he had at least used eighty percent of it.

But now, it seemed.

Homelander had not been serious at all back then.

If he had fought like this, she would have been melted by his beam long ago!

Looking at the godlike figure within the flames, Princess Frost's breathing grew heavy, and her eyes became slightly dazed.

The waterfall-like golden beam instantly tore through the air and was about to strike the town.

Suddenly, the beam twisted, then turned sharply, roaring across the ground toward the town square.

At some point, a fat man had appeared there. He opened his mouth wide and made an inhaling motion.

Azu looked over and instantly saw that the fat man's mouth seemed to lead to another world, gleaming with bizarre and fantastical lights.

The next second, his Heat Ray was sucked into the fat man's mouth and projected into another space.

The whole process lasted several seconds. Azu saw no sign that the fat man was about to burst from being overstuffed.

He immediately stopped firing the stream of superheated light.

At the same time, he frowned.

His Heat Ray could trigger explosions. Once a three-thousand-degree beam exploded, its power would be quite formidable.

Yet that fat man was completely unharmed.

Azu immediately used Insight on the fat man.

Name: Big Eater

Life Level: Level 4 (Super)

Status: Nervous

Talent: Dimensional Projection.

Sure enough, he was a Super.

Just then, the broadcast atop the Circus Tent in town crackled to life.

"Homelander!"

"You really came."

"But I expected this."

"So this time, I brought a secret weapon."

"Big Eater!"

"He'll devour every last one of your prized energy beams!"

"And gentlemen of The Boys."

"You broke your promise. You brought Homelander here."

"So there's no other way."

"Negotiation Breakdown!"

Before the voice had even faded, cannons suddenly boomed in rapid succession from the rooftops of buildings around the town.

Shells were fired into the sky, though it was unclear what they were.

Azu ignored them and shot toward the fat man in the town square with a whoosh.

He intended to kill him first.

But the moment he moved, the ground before Big Eater bulged upward. Rocks rose and formed into a Stone Golem over two meters tall.

The Stone Golem lowered its center of gravity and crossed its arms in front of itself, trying to intercept Azu.

Bang!

Azu slammed into it headfirst, smashing the Stone Golem to pieces. But when he landed, he saw Big Eater scrambling into the Circus Tent in a panic.

Azu smiled and was about to pursue him when chunks of rock from the shattered Stone Golem flew over.

They attached themselves to Azu's body, forming a Rock Prison around him.

Then a face appeared on one of the rocks and said, "I won't let you through, Homelander."

At that moment, the light above Azu's head suddenly dimmed.

He looked up and saw vast dark clouds forming, blocking out the sun and casting shadows over the earth.

The weather changed in an instant.

The sky became gloomy, and the sunlight was gone.

Then Midnight Clown's voice sounded again over the broadcast.

"Go, Servants of the Night. Tear the oath-breaker to shreds."

"Let black terror spread and consume everything!"

As the voice fell, the front door of a nearby two-story building suddenly shattered. A figure crashed out and rolled several times across the ground.

Then it crawled to its feet. It was a hairless, pitch-black "person" whose eyes emitted red light.

Veins bulged across its body, fangs protruded from its mouth, and the nails on its hands curved like claws.

With a hiss, it sprinted toward the edge of town.

The next second.

The doors and windows of building after building in town shattered in succession.

A large number of mutated townspeople rushed out of the buildings, roaring as they charged madly toward the outskirts like wild beasts, toward the military and Supers like Starlight!

It was New Year's Eve. Tomorrow would be the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Pigeon wished everyone a happy new year in advance and hoped that, in the coming year, everyone would be healthy, safe, and prosperous.

The past year had truly been difficult, but we made it through.

May the bitter winter fade away in the new year, and may the galaxy shine forever.