Judgment Day

As the first faint glimmer of dawn pierced Gotham City's heavy cloud cover, dyeing the city of sin a faded gold, the day that would decide Earth's fate had finally arrived.

General Zod's ultimatum hung over all humanity like the Sword of Damocles. Time was running out.

Yet the world had not fallen into complete panic. In Metropolis, thanks to the popularity Superman had built through his heroic deeds over the past period, Wayne Enterprises' no-expense-spared investment, and the unprecedented cooperation of the U.S. military, an evacuation on an unprecedented scale had proceeded in an orderly fashion over the past twenty hours. Millions of citizens had been evacuated to shelters in nearby cities. The once-prosperous City of Tomorrow had become an empty city of steel, silently awaiting the coming storm.

[Metropolis Battlefield]

"Boom—!!!!"

A red-and-blue figure shot skyward from the ground like a cannonball, slamming viciously into the massive Kryptonian ship hovering above the city like a black mountain—the Black Zero!

It was Superman, Carl-El!

He had not waited for Zod's ultimatum to expire. Instead, he had chosen to strike first! It was Bruce's suggestion—to keep the initiative firmly in their own hands.

"Zod! Come out!"

Superman's roar became rolling sound waves through the sheer power of his lungs, sweeping across the sky.

A hatch slowly opened on the Black Zero's hull. General Zod, clad in a black Kryptonian military uniform and wearing a cold expression, slowly flew out. Several equally well-equipped Kryptonian soldiers followed behind him.

"Carl-El, you made a foolish choice." Zod's voice was cold and commanding, devoid of emotion. "You betrayed your own kind and chose to protect these... inferior primitive creatures. Your father, Jor-El, would be ashamed of you."

"My father taught me hope and choice!" Superman hovered before Zod, fists clenched as fury burned in his eyes. "And you, Zod! All you bring is destruction and tyranny! Earth is my home, and I will never let you destroy it!"

"Home?" Zod sneered as though he had heard the funniest joke imaginable. "A cage that forces you to suppress your nature and pretend to be weak? Carl, you do not understand your true power at all! Come back with me. Hand over the Codex, and we can rebuild Krypton together, restore our civilization to the pinnacle of the universe!"

"My answer is never!"

Superman roared, wasting no more words. His body suddenly accelerated, creating a sonic boom that tore through the air as he hurled a punch at Zod!

The two sons of Krypton, the two most powerful beings on Earth, finally began their fated duel ten thousand meters above the ground!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Every collision of fists and feet exploded into a ring of white shockwaves in the air, the thunderous blasts enough to shatter the glass facades of the buildings below. They moved too quickly for the naked eye to follow. All that could be seen were two intertwined streaks of light weaving and colliding through the clouds.

Yet the battle did not unfold as evenly as people had imagined.

Though Superman possessed endless power, his fighting style relied more on instinctive charges and brute force. Zod, however, as Krypton's military leader, was a true warrior who had fought countless battles and had killing etched into his bones.

Zod calmly blocked Superman's powerful straight punch, then twisted with the motion and drove his blade-like elbow precisely into Superman's unguarded ribs!

"Urgh!"

Superman cried out in pain, and his flight posture froze for an instant. Zod seized the opening and closed in, unleashing a furious barrage of punches, elbows, knees, and kicks. Like a precision killing machine, he struck every vital point on Superman's body without pause!

Superman was completely on the defensive, barely able to protect his head with both arms as Zod battered him down from the sky toward the ground!

"Kaboom—!!!"

Like a meteor, he smashed through the roof of a skyscraper, then crashed through more than a dozen floors before finally becoming buried deep within the building's ruins.

"Do you see it, Carl? This is the gap between you and me!" Zod floated above the enormous hole Superman had made, looking down as he spoke. "You possess godlike strength, yet wield it like a child. But I have existed for battle and slaughter from the moment I was born!"

[Indian Ocean Battlefield]

Meanwhile, on the other side of Earth, above the Indian Ocean.

Amanda Waller stood in Sky Eye Bureau's command center, staring at the massive screen with a grim expression. On it, dozens of U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter jets formed an attack formation and screamed toward the equally enormous Kryptonian ship responsible for deploying the World Engine.

"All units, fire! Bring it down!" Waller ordered coldly.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"

A dense barrage of air-to-air missiles streaked toward the Kryptonian ship with long trails of flame, like a swarm of enraged hornets.

Yet humanity's finest weapons seemed utterly laughable before Kryptonian technology.

An invisible energy shield flared across the ship's surface. The instant every missile struck it, they exploded as though they had hit an impassable wall, turning into brilliant yet useless fireworks.

"General, our attacks are ineffective!" a pilot reported in terror.

Before Waller could issue new orders, the Kryptonian ship retaliated.

Several thin red energy beams shot from the hull, moving far faster than missiles as they struck several F-35s with pinpoint accuracy.

"Boom! Boom!"

The hit fighters did not even have time to explode before they were instantly broken down into their most basic particles and vanished into thin air.

The remaining pilots were terrified by the horrific sight. They pulled their controls, trying to flee this airspace of death. But more energy beams pursued them like Death's scythe, mercilessly harvesting lives.

"Retreat! All units, retreat immediately!" Waller roared through gritted teeth, unwilling to accept it. But it was already too late.

Just as humanity's air force stood on the brink of annihilation, a golden light descended from the sky like a miracle!

"Clang—!!!"

A crisp, thunderous crash rang out!

Wonder Woman Diana, holding the Guardian Silver Shield, appeared in front of the final fighter jet at unbelievable speed! The deadly red energy beam slammed fiercely into the silver shield, erupting with blinding light, yet it could not move the shield in the slightest!

"Is that... God, is that Wonder Woman?" The surviving pilot stared wide-eyed at the Valkyrie-like figure, too stunned to speak.

Diana ignored his shock. She glanced at the Kryptonian soldiers steadily closing in below, then at the enormous ship. Her gaze became incomparably sharp.

"The war of mortals ends here," she murmured, then suddenly hurled the God Killer Sword in her hand!

"Hummm—!"

The divine sword personally forged by Hephaestus traced a perfect arc through the air, golden divine flames igniting across its blade. It effortlessly tore through the Kryptonian ship's energy shield and plunged deep into the hull like a hot knife through butter!

"Kaboom!!!"

A violent explosion erupted from within the ship. The entire vessel shuddered violently, its energy shield disappearing instantly as the energy beams ceased firing.

Diana beckoned, and the God Killer Sword flew back into her hand. She then turned and swooped toward the Kryptonian soldiers preparing to attack the warships like a golden eagle!

Her fighting style was utterly unlike Superman's broad, forceful attacks. She combined thousands of years of Amazon combat techniques, every movement elegant and lethal. Every swing of her sword and every block brimmed with both strength and beauty.

One Kryptonian soldier tried to attack her with heat vision, but she effortlessly blocked it with the Guardian Silver Bracelets. Another attacked from behind, only for her to snap his neck with a spinning kick without even looking back!

She darted through the enemy ranks, the God Killer Sword carving deadly flashes of cold light. The supposedly indestructible combat suits of the Kryptonian soldiers were as fragile as paper before the divine blade. In mere seconds, more than a dozen Kryptonian warriors were all cut down by her sword!

"Wow..." In the distance, a red bolt of lightning came to a halt. Barry Allen watched Diana slaughter her enemies and could not help letting out a breathless exclamation.

According to the plan, he was responsible for using his speed to support the battlefield and cause disruption. After Diana had "taught him a lesson" last night, he had become much smarter. He no longer charged in straight lines. Instead, using the techniques Diana had taught him, he moved at high speed around the battlefield's edge, creating sonic booms and vacuum zones to interfere with enemy movements and create openings for Diana.

Just moments ago, he had used a Speed Force Vacuum Fist to shatter a Kryptonian soldier's visor, causing her senses to overload instantly in Earth's atmosphere and rendering her unable to fight.

"Good work, Barry!" Diana's voice sounded over the comm channel, carrying a hint of approval.

"Hehe, it's all because you taught me well!" Barry said proudly. "But, Diana, I just counted. We took out twelve of them, but... Zod's lieutenant, that woman named Faora, does not seem to be here."

"I noticed," Diana said, her tone turning serious. "If she is not here, then she went somewhere else... Smallville!"

[Smallville Battlefield]

Smallville, Kansas.

The once peaceful rural town was now shrouded in dead silence. Its residents had long since been evacuated by Barry, leaving only empty houses and endless cornfields.

Beside Kent Farm, the infant ship carrying Krypton's hope rested quietly inside the barn.

And atop the barn's roof stood a savage, massive black figure, silently holding a half-kneeling stance.

It was Bruce Wayne, clad in the Fenrir Armor.

He had been waiting here for a long time.

Through its connection to the global Sky Eye system, his electronic eyes took in real-time footage from both the Metropolis and Indian Ocean battlefields. Superman's predicament, the U.S. military's rout, Diana's divine might, Barry's growth... everything had been accounted for in his calculations.

Zod had kept his main force and himself in Metropolis to face Superman head-on. That was an open strategy.

He had assigned another force the task of deploying the World Engine. That was a feint.

And he had dispatched his most trusted and powerful lieutenant, Faora-Ul, to lead an elite squad here to seize the Codex's vessel—the Kryptonian infant ship. That was the true core of his entire plan!

Zod believed he had planned for every possibility, but he had miscalculated one thing.

He had miscalculated that Earth had another Batman.

Suddenly, the Fenrir Armor's sensors sounded an alarm.

"High-energy signature detected. Supersonic target approaching. Estimated time of arrival: seventeen seconds."

Bruce's electronic eyes flickered with a faint red glow.

"They're here."

He slowly stood. The joints of the Fenrir Armor let out a teeth-grating metallic screech. That pure aura born for destruction spread once more.

Above, a small Kryptonian landing craft tore through the clouds and dove toward the farm at tremendous speed.

Yet just as the landing craft was about to touch down, Bruce moved.

He used neither missiles nor energy cannons. He merely raised the armor's left arm. Beneath its savage claws, an inconspicuous circular device sprang out.

"Hummm—"

An invisible high-frequency sound wave, powerful enough to tear apart souls, instantly spread outward in a fan-shaped arc centered on the Fenrir Armor!

This was Bruce's specially prepared gift for Kryptonians—the Infrasonic Resonance Weapon!

Under Earth's yellow sun, Kryptonians gained godlike power, but their senses were amplified thousands of times as well! Those heightened senses were both their advantage and their deadliest weakness!

Faora, who had been about to leap from the landing craft, was instantly struck by a devastating blow!

"Aaaaaaah—!!!"

A shriek so piercing it barely sounded human tore from Faora's throat!

At that moment, her super-hearing became the cruelest instrument of torture! The invisible sound waves were like billions of red-hot steel needles driving viciously into her brain! Blood instantly flowed from her seven orifices, and violent vibrations ruptured her retinas, turning her vision blood-red! Her vaunted super-senses had all become hellish torment in an instant!

She could not even maintain her flight posture. Her body went limp, and she plummeted straight from the air like a kite with its string cut!

"Boom!"

Faora's body crashed heavily into the cornfield at Kent Farm, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The several elite Kryptonian soldiers behind her suffered the same assault. One after another, they screamed as they fell from the landing craft, writhing in agony on the ground and completely losing their ability to fight.

With a single move, an elite Kryptonian squad capable of effortlessly destroying a modern army was wiped out!

Bruce controlled the Fenrir Armor as it stepped down from the barn roof, one step at a time. Each step made the ground tremble.

He stopped before the struggling Faora. His massive black silhouette blocked out the sun overhead.

"Kryptonians..."

Bruce's emotionless voice emerged from the Fenrir Armor's loudspeaker, cold as scraping metal.

"Welcome to... Earth."