Chapter 235: Jor-El's End

Inside the St. John's Art Museum, the roof and walls pierced by the heat vision began to gradually cool, forming pools of molten lava and ash dripping down, threatening to collapse.

The sunlight, tracing the marks left by the heat vision, sliced through the air like a knife, illuminating the floating dust particles.

The family of three embraced each other in silent tears of relief.

Superman believed he had done the right thing, but doing the right thing didn't always bring happiness; instead, it brought tears of sorrow.

Superman still remembered the House of El battle suit on him, which Jor-El had handed to him upon learning that he wanted to use the power of Kryptonians to help Earthlings, bringing hope to humanity.

Now it had become his despair.

Twisting the neck of both mentor and father, Jor-El, who had once treated him like a son.

In the instant after Superman twisted Jor-El's neck, regret surged within him, pain rising from the depths of an endless sea of suffering, flashing back all the goodness he had shown him.

Every scene of his interactions with him, hearing his life experiences as a mentor, supporting him, being his pillar of support, all flashed in Superman's mind, leaving him tearfully lost in the deepest pain.

H'el walked in from the backlight outside, his face indifferent, sweeping a glance at the lucky surviving family of three, then to the fallen Jor-El on the ground.

Now, his gray Amazo body, with its flattened veins, dim eyes, shattered cervical vertebrae, had lost the ability to control his body.

In fact... he hadn't completely died yet.

Only his cervical vertebrae were shattered, losing control of his body and facial expressions, with all consciousness information converging in his brain, imprisoned by brain function.

This Amazo body and his consciousness electronic information waves were not ordinary, normal biological entities, so death was not that easy.

His brain could gather consciousness, evolving again into a resurrection.

But he no longer had the will to live.

Created by his own hands, giving everything of the House of El, everything of Krypton, all his blood, sweat, and hope, raised as his own son, Superman had killed him, leaving him feeling dead inside.

"You don't need to cry. He's not dead yet."

H'el's black figure walked like a cold void in deep space, carrying an indifferent chill, straight to Superman's face, his black boots stepping on Jor-El's unconscious head.

With a forceful stomp, combining mental power with immense strength, a huge sonic boom erupted on the spot, shockwaves swirling around H'el and Superman, causing their black and red capes to flutter.

The Amazo body of Jor-El's head burst open like a watermelon, oozing thick, transparent liquid from the neck, with no possibility of survival.

"Now he's dead." H'el looked at the bewildered Superman and said.

Upon hearing H'el's statement that Jor-El was not yet dead, the tears on Superman's sorrowful face ceased, and a desire to save Jor-El began to rise in his heart.

Whether it was in mind or body, he wanted to save the unfortunate Jor-El. Everything Jor-El had lost was related to him, and he felt responsible for saving him.

Superman was unwilling to let Jor-El, who had once helped him, supported him, comforted him, and been his backbone, meet his fate at his own hands.

Even without a blood connection tying them together, he was his "father."

Superman was already regretting, regretting twisting Jor-El's neck with his own hands, and now it seemed that everything could be reversed...

H'el's words were like a ray of light in the darkness, standing amidst his sadness, grief, and darkness.

However, as the thought was still emerging, Jor-El's head was crushed by H'el like a watermelon, transparent fluid splattering onto his boots, leaving him stunned and astonished.

"Everything from old Krypton has come to an end."

In H'el's cold eyes, there was a hint of melancholic reminiscence.

From Krypton to this point with himself, Jor-El's actions were influenced by the elitism of the upper class on Krypton, pretending to be loyal while deceiving, pretending to be trustworthy while being deceitful.

Even Jor-El himself believed that everything he did was for the good of Krypton, for the people of Krypton, for the continuation of Krypton.

In reality, his deeds were countless and incomprehensible, all for the honor and lineage of his House of El.

When he realized that Superman was not his son, he had already collapsed.

Everything he had done had vanished into thin air.

To this day, H'el couldn't judge right from wrong, because all of this seemed more like his own journey back in time, leading to the destruction caused by his crushing of Krypton.

It was more like he was a puppet master behind the scenes, orchestrating his own path to self-destruction and being killed by Superman, starting from the moment he crushed Krypton.

The lines between right and wrong, cause and effect, had long been blurred when he traveled back in time.

At this moment, H'el had no words of justification or condemnation. He could only, in truth, send Jor-El, who had lost everything and didn't even want to live, on his final journey, putting an end to the karma they had left on Krypton.

This kind of conclusion even reversed Superman's lineage, making Superman his son.

It was truly a complete and utter end, bringing everything on Krypton to a definitive close.

H'el gently touched his chest with his right index finger, the S symbol still there.

H'el had never replaced the S with his own ∞, simply because the time had not yet come for the change.

But now that everything was concluded, he hesitated no longer. His fingertip lightly touched the cold S on his chest, his eyes filled with nostalgia for the time he had spent on Krypton.

With a gentle stroke, the S on his chest automatically rotated, its two ends extending and crossing through the middle, forming the three-dimensional symbol of ∞.

After briefly reminiscing about the past, H'el's gaze shifted to Superman, who stood stupefied, forgetting even his grief and pain.

Although Superman was indeed his son, H'el did not feel like a father.

He didn't even know what it felt like to be a father.

In the end, Superman was nothing more than a creation of experimentation.

He himself was not an ordinary person, so how could he have the feelings of an ordinary father?

Not killing Superman was already the last act of tenderness from H'el as a father.

H'el glanced down, seeing the S on Superman's chest, and reached out his right hand to touch his chest.

The S rotated horizontally, its ends extending, passing through the middle, forming the symbol of ∞.

"Continue to protect the Earth well," H'el said softly, as he lifted Jor-El's lifeless body into his arms, turned, and walked into the sunlight at the door, his black figure disappearing into the light, leaving this place.

Superman stood still, unable to react for a long time.

What should he do?

°°°

Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!

Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction

I post 10 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.