CHAPTER 20

Jonathan Kent was not afraid of death. The moment Martha ran into the house, he had already prepared himself to face whatever came next.

"Go to hell! You'll never get what you want!" he spat defiantly.

"That's a pity," Faora-Ul sneered, raising her fist high, ready to deliver a fatal blow.

Seeing this, Kaius's heart raced. He couldn't let Jonathan die—especially not in front of his own eyes. If he failed to protect him, how could he ever face Clark?

"Not on my watch!" Kaius roared, rushing toward Faora at full speed.

But just as he closed the distance, the burly Kryptonian, Jor-Lar, intercepted him like a high-speed freight train.

Boom!

Their collision created a massive shockwave, rippling through the surrounding area. Both fighters were sent hurtling backward, crashing into the ground with tremendous force.

Jor-Lar glared coldly at Kaius. "Ignorant fool," he muttered, getting back to his feet.

He turned back toward Jonathan, his murderous intent undeterred. Faora prepared to finish the job, but before her fist struck, Martha cried out, "Stop! What you're looking for is in the cellar of the barn!"

Her voice was trembling, but her determination was clear.

Both Kryptonians paused, their gazes snapping toward her. Martha had revealed the location of Clark's spacecraft, which had been hidden in the barn's cellar. She wasn't betraying her son, though. Martha knew that Clark had removed the ship's core—the key—and believed the Kryptonians wouldn't gain anything from the craft.

"Smart woman," Faora said with a wicked grin. "Sometimes people need a little push to see reason."

She let Jonathan fall to the ground and turned in the direction Martha had indicated. Without hesitation, she headed for the barn, eager to retrieve the ship and complete her mission.

"I've found it!" Faora exclaimed after leaping into the cellar. There, buried in the dark, was the small spacecraft Clark had arrived in as an infant.

With one hand, Faora hoisted the half-human-tall ship into the air. She laughed in triumph. The ship, once so heavy that the Kents had needed a truck to move it, was now weightless in her grasp.

Emerging from the cellar, she smirked at the Kents before striding toward her own larger spacecraft. "Kill them," she ordered Jor-Lar without looking back. "You have ten minutes. If you're not done by then, I'll leave without you. This ship is for General Zod, and I will not fail him."

Jor-Lar, still locked in battle with Kaius, growled in frustration. "Damn you, Faora! You won't even help me?"

"You can't even handle a boy from a primitive planet," Faora retorted mockingly as she climbed into her ship. "You're not worthy of following General Zod. Nine minutes, Jor-Lar. Work harder."

Her words stung, but Jor-Lar's anger only fueled his aggression against Kaius. Meanwhile, Faora loaded Clark's spacecraft into her own and prepared for departure.

Back inside her ship, as the engines began to hum with power, she imagined the praise she would receive from General Zod. "This is just the beginning," she murmured to herself, a sly smile spreading across her face.

As Zod's lieutenant, Faora-Ul had loyalty ingrained in her very being—her reverence for General Zod was etched into her soul.

Meanwhile, Kaius was feeling the pressure in his one-on-one battle with Jor-Lar. He was holding his ground, but it was clear that he had limitations. His reliance on a single superhero character card was becoming increasingly apparent.

Though his system's main card slot could only equip one card at a time, it also featured auxiliary slots. These secondary slots allowed him to equip additional cards, albeit with reduced effectiveness. If only he could collect enough superhero cards and load them into those slots, he might have a chance to turn the tide against these two Kryptonians.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The intense battle raged on. Jor-Lar, a trained Kryptonian warrior, had the upper hand in combat experience. His martial skills far surpassed Kaius's.

But Kaius wasn't entirely without advantages. At least for now, Jor-Lar was still struggling to fully harness abilities like heat vision, which Kaius used strategically to keep him on the defensive.

Their battle was relentless, moving at such incredible speed that, in mere seconds, they exchanged dozens of blows. The fight extended from the Kent farm to the streets of Smallville. This wasn't Kaius's intention, but the sheer force of their strikes sent them hurtling across vast distances with every hit.

The once-peaceful streets of the town erupted into chaos. Cars screeched to a halt as a hulking figure clad in black battle armor crashed into a silver car, caving in its roof. Moments later, Kaius descended, landing on top of Jor-Lar with one hand pressed against his chest. He raised his other fist and pummeled his opponent's head mercilessly.

Crash! Smash!

Each punch sent tremors through the ground. Concrete shattered beneath Jor-Lar's head, and debris flew in every direction.

"My God, is that Avenger?" a bystander exclaimed. "We haven't seen one of them here in months!"

"Who's he fighting?" someone else asked.

"It doesn't matter! He's fighting the bad guy! But... where's Superman?"

The growing crowd began murmuring and speculating. Soon, a police car arrived. Inside, a portly officer grimaced as he watched the superhuman brawl.

"Let's pretend we didn't see this," he muttered to his partner. "These guys aren't human!"

His partner sighed. "We're police. Even if we can't help the Avenger, we need to evacuate the crowd."

"Fine, fine!" The fat officer groaned. "But this town is cursed! The moment my shift ends, I'm applying for a transfer to Metropolis. I'd rather face whatever chaos happens there than deal with this nightmare anymore!"

As the officers worked to clear the streets, Kaius and Jor-Lar's battle intensified. Realizing he could hover, Jor-Lar floated into the air and used his newfound mobility to his advantage, repeatedly slamming Kaius into buildings.

Their clash turned the streets into a war zone. Cars were overturned, windows shattered, and the surrounding area was left in ruins. Despite their best efforts, the police could only provide limited support, taking shots at Jor-Lar to distract him—but their bullets were utterly ineffective.

Eventually, Jor-Lar grabbed Kaius by the shoulders and propelled him through the front of a café. The walls crumbled as the two combatants crashed inside, sending patrons fleeing in terror.

The chaos only stopped when a young woman unexpectedly ran past them. As she moved between Kaius and Jor-Lar, both combatants suddenly collapsed, their strength inexplicably drained.