Barry Allen knelt before the shattered yellow figure, Thomas Wayne's last words still echoing in his ears.
He reached out, seemingly wanting to help the lone Avengers up, but the pure black figure in the sky had once again cast the shadow of death.
General Zod hovered in the air, surveying the battlefield from his vantage point.
His voice was devoid of emotion, yet it carried clearly throughout the block. "The wounded, evacuate and treat them. The rest of you, go find Kara Zo El."
Upon hearing this, the surviving Kryptonian immediately sprang into action.
They helped up their companions whose limbs had been crippled by Barry, dragged them along, and prepared to return to the spaceship.
Zod gave no one a chance to breathe.
After giving his orders, his gaze fell on Barry and Thomas in the giant pit.
The next moment, two scarlet beams of light shot out from his eyes, instantly tearing through the air and heading straight for the two of them!
The terrifyingly high temperature even distorted the air along the way.
Barry's brain processed all the information in an instant.
He could see every inch of the Heat Vision's advance, analyze the destructive energy it contained, and even judge that Thomas's current broken body would be instantly reduced to ashes if it were even slightly grazed.
This General Zod is a hundred times more terrifying than Superman... no, even more terrifying than the Clark he knew!
And they're even more ruthless!
There was no time to hesitate.
The Speed Force exploded within him, and Barry scooped up Thomas Wayne, vanishing in a lightning bolt a fraction of a second before his Heat Vision could reach him.
"Boom--!"
A crimson beam of light pierced the earth, leaving a bottomless hole with edges fused into glass.
At a street corner a few hundred meters away, Barry gently put Thomas down and leaned him against the wall.
He glanced back at the terrifying lava cave, his heart pounding.
This is no longer a battle; this is a natural disaster.
In the brief one or two seconds it took him to settle Thomas, a dramatic change occurred on the battlefield.
" Victor!"
Shazam's roar echoed.
Barry whirled around and saw Cyborg and Shazam charging toward Zod in the sky, one on each side.
Sparks flew from half of Cyborg's body, and his remaining right arm had deformed into a massive white sonic cannon, unleashing a deafening roar at Zod.
Shazam, meanwhile, was enveloped in the most violent magical lightning and punched Zod in the face.
Faced with the two attacking him from both sides, General Zod didn't even bother to adopt a defensive stance.
He ignored the sound waves that were powerful enough to shatter a building, letting the force crash down on him, only letting out a disdainful groan.
He reached out his left hand and precisely grabbed Cyborg's neck.
His right hand met Shazam's thunderous Iron Fist.
"Snap!"
The crisp sound of bones cracking.
The moment Shazam's fist touched Zod, his wrist was crushed by an irresistible force.
The anger on his face was instantly replaced by extreme pain.
Zod didn't even glance at him, and tightened his grip on Cyborg's neck with his left hand.
"Rip--!"
A sickening metallic tearing sound.
Cyborg, a creation born from the fusion of human and Apokolips technology, was torn in two by General Zod... alive.
Countless parts and blue biological fluid, mixed with broken entrails, fell from mid-air.
"No--! Victor!" Shazam roared in anguish.
He forgot the excruciating pain in his wrist, and with his other intact hand, he once again gathered divine power and blasted it toward Zod's chest.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two heavy punches landed squarely on Zod's body.
However, Zod remained motionless.
He glanced down at the two shallow fist marks on his chest, then looked up and threw a punch!
Shazam was folded in half, spitting out a mouthful of golden divine blood, and the lightning on his body instantly dimmed.
Zod didn't stop; he retaliated with another punch, striking him in the back.
"Puff!"
Shazam, blessed by the gods, had his divine power forcibly dispelled, turning him back into the teenage Billy Batson, who fell helplessly from the sky.
There was no pity in Zod's eyes.
He caught up with Billy as he fell, raised his fist, and prepared to end the fragile life.
Swish!
A red lightning bolt flashed by.
Barry caught the unconscious Billy at the last moment and brought him to Thomas's side.
Having done all this, he looked up and met General Zod's eyes in the sky for the first time.
Zod finally took this mortal, who had been saving people from his own hands, seriously.
He landed slowly, his feet landing on the cracked ground, each step causing the earth to groan.
"You're fast, Earthling," Zod commented, a hint of seriousness in his voice for the first time. "But speed can't save anyone."
Before he could finish speaking, the ground beneath his feet exploded, and he transformed into a black cannonball, hurtling straight toward Barry!
That's too fast!
Barry's pupils contracted sharply.
He immediately activated his Speed Force, narrowly avoiding the devastating collision.
Zod's attack missed, but he didn't stop, turning around to throw another punch.
Barry could only dodge again.
He became a small boat in a raging storm, barely managing to stay afloat amidst Zod's relentless attacks.
Each time he dodged, the force of the punch stung his cheek.
He must fight back!
Barry seized an opening, accelerated instantly, circled behind Zod, and thrust his small Kryptonite straight into Zod's back!
Just as the dagger was about to touch the skin.
"Smack!"
Zod didn't turn his head; he simply clasped his hands together.
A terrifying shockwave, visible to the naked eye, exploded outwards from him!
The power of this shockwave far surpasses that of any bomb.
Barry was hit head-on by the gust of air, and was thrown violently into the air, rolling on the ground more than a dozen times before coming to a stop.
Damn it! He didn't even give me a chance to get close!
Barry struggled to his feet, but before he could even stand properly, a bone-chilling cold rushed towards him.
It's Freeze Breath!
Zod opened his mouth and exhaled a terrifying stream of cold air.
Barry twisted his body with all his might, but his right leg was a beat too slow.
"Snap!"
His right leg, from the knee down, was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture, firmly stuck to the ground.
Oh no!
Barry's mind was on high alert.
The next second, a huge, steel-like hand grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air.
A feeling of suffocation washed over me instantly.
Barry's vision began to blur, and the air in his lungs was being squeezed out bit by bit.
He could clearly feel his neck groaning under the strain in the other person's hands.
He looked at Zod's emotionless face, and the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything.
With his last ounce of strength, he raised his left hand, which was gripping the Kryptonite dagger, and plunged it fiercely and with all his might into Zod's abdomen!
"Pfft!"
The dagger pierced the Krypton general's body without any resistance.
Zod's movements suddenly froze.
A violent, unprecedented feeling of weakness instantly spread throughout my body.
He looked down at the dagger emitting a green glow in his abdomen, and for the first time, a look of pain and disbelief appeared on his face.
"Ugh--!"
He let out a suppressed roar, and subconsciously loosened his grip on Barry's hand.
But before he could throw Barry away, he used his other hand, fueled by boundless rage, to deliver a powerful punch to Barry's left leg!
"Snap!"
Another crisp cracking sound of bone breaking.
Barry was thrown out and crashed heavily to the ground.
He felt no pain at all, because the extreme agony had completely numbed his nerves.
One of his legs was frozen, while the other was twisted at a bizarre angle and completely severed.
Zod knelt on one knee, panting heavily.
He pulled the Kryptonite dagger from his abdomen and casually tossed it a short distance away.
Under the yellow Sun, the green wound began to heal slowly at a rate visible to the naked eye.
He stood up and walked step by step toward the red figure that had completely lost the ability to move.
"It's time to end this."
Inside the Batcave.
On the giant screen, this desperate scene in Central City was being broadcast live.
Nora Allen covered her mouth tightly, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
She looked at the screen at her son, who was being choked and had his legs broken, and felt so heartbroken that she could hardly breathe.
People all over the world, countless people who saw this scene through satellite broadcasts, fell into a deathly silence.
Their hero, who saved them, has fallen.
The invincible Krypton was walking towards him, preparing to deliver the final blow.
Hope seems to have been completely extinguished.
Just as Zod raised his fist, ready to smash it into Barry's head—
"Buzz--!!!!!"
A tremendous sonic boom, indescribable in its power, came from the sky without warning!
The sound was so terrifying that all the glass in the Central City shattered instantly!
Zod stopped moving.
He suddenly looked up at the sky, a look of surprise and uncertainty appearing on his face for the first time.
What is that?!
A golden streak of light, trailing a white contrail thousands of meters long, plummeted from the depths of space at a speed that defied the laws of physics!
It didn't crash into anyone; instead, it slammed precisely and hard into General Zod!
"BOOM--!!!!"
The earth trembled violently, and a circular shockwave blew everything around it away!
General Zod didn't even have time to utter a scream before he was blasted deep into the ground by this unparalleled force, disappearing without a trace.
Smoke and dust filled the air, obscuring everything.
As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, a figure was found silently suspended above the giant crater.
She has long, jet-black hair and wears a blue and red bodysuit with an "S" symbol representing hope on her chest.
She landed gently beside Barry Allen, the golden sunlight bathing her and making her radiate a divine glow.
Kara Zo-El.
She glanced at Barry's broken legs, then at the unconscious Thomas in the distance, and her azure eyes blazed with boundless fury.
She turned to Barry and spoke softly, her voice gentle yet carrying an undeniable strength.
"Step back, Barry."
"Leave this guy to me."