Boom!!!
A faint echo seemed to ripple through the cosmos. Accompanied by a violent shockwave, the imperceptible sound erupted from the clash between Fiona's fist and the blade of Steppenwolf's axe!
Steppenwolf and Fiona were each sent flying back over a thousand meters. For two combatants incapable of flight, anchoring themselves in the vacuum of space was proving to be a genuine struggle.
Fiona's power forced a solemn expression onto Steppenwolf's face. It had been far too long since he had fought a Kryptonian. Could a mere Kryptonian actually bring him this much pressure?
As for Fiona, she blinked in equal shock.
Apokolips truly lived up to its legends. An unknown nobody on a mere small spacecraft could actually withstand her strength!
To become the second-in-command of the Kryptonian army, Fiona was, after all, a rare powerhouse among her people.
Aside from Zod and a select few, hardly anyone could contest her in raw physical might!
Even that Clark Kent on Earth—despite acquiring some baffling abilities from who-knows-where—didn't surpass Fiona by much in terms of sheer strength!
They had clashed more than once. Fiona admitted she was no match for Clark Kent, but she could certainly hold her own!
At this thought, Fiona raised her right fist for a glance. A tiny crack had appeared in the armor over her knuckles.
"This one's weapon is surprisingly exceptional. It actually has the capacity to damage our armor. Be careful during the fight—don't let similar weapons injure you too heavily. We can't afford to be exposed to the chaotic rays and radiation of deep space!"
"Copy that!"
"Understood!"
"Approaching the Apokolips spacecraft!"
Reports continuously streamed in from her subordinates. Fiona gave a curt nod.
"Tear that ship apart. Don't let a single Apokoliptian life escape!"
"Received!"
Thirty-seven soldiers instantly latched onto Steppenwolf's spacecraft. Using only their bare hands, they ripped the already fractured vessel into pieces in the blink of an eye.
From the Apokoliptian ship—roughly the size of three aircraft carriers—poured out approximately fifty thousand Parademon soldiers.
Flapping their wings furiously, the swarm of Parademons instantly engulfed the Kryptonian warriors.
Seeing this, Fiona's chest tightened. She rode the momentum of her backward flight, slammed against her own ship to brace herself, and launched back toward Steppenwolf.
On the other side, a dozen Parademons flanked Steppenwolf from behind, catching his massive frame.
Together, the Parademons hurled Steppenwolf back onto his shattered ship.
Steppenwolf ignored the incoming Fiona and brought his axe down on the nearest Kryptonian warrior.
The warrior had just been in the middle of tearing a Parademon in half, but in an instant, the giant axe sent him hurtling out into the cosmos.
Fiona caught the passing warrior and threw him straight back toward the broken Apokolips ship.
Simultaneously, she landed heavily on the ship's outer hull.
A vacuum environment makes fighting inconvenient?
That didn't affect a Kryptonian like her!
She stomped down viciously, her feet instantly sinking into the ship's deck, providing her with ample leverage.
Using this foothold, Fiona unleashed a flurry of punches with both fists. Her close-combat technique was enough to make Clark Kent shut his eyes in shame.
All around her, Parademons died in droves. With every swing of her fists, at least two or three Parademons fell dead on the spot!
Amidst the slaughter, she felt her heart ease.
Apokolips had been a Kryptonian legend for a very long time, and this was her first time battling its inhabitants.
She had assumed that all of Apokolips was on the same level as that giant with the axe.
But from the looks of it now, at least on this ship, there was only one such heavyweight!
Too weak. Far too weak!!!
"Three of you, converge on me! The rest of you, isolate the Apokoliptian creatures from the four of us. Let's have a proper fight with that giant!!!"
"Copy that!"
The Kryptonian warriors sprang into action. Leaving countless propulsion tracks in their wake, they instantly divided the Apokoliptian forces.
The ordinary Parademons brought by Steppenwolf stood no chance of halting the Kryptonians' advance. Even gathered in their hundreds or thousands, they lacked the strength to bar their path!
And this was without these Kryptonians even having soaked in yellow sunlight!
Across the battlefield, Steppenwolf gritted his teeth. He knew he was likely outmatched!
Especially now—the injuries he had sustained in his previous space battle with the Green Lanterns had yet to heal!
He scanned his surroundings and, without a moment's hesitation, decided to flee.
As the former Commander-in-Chief of Apokolips's army, the brother of Yuga Khan, and the uncle of Darkseid...
Steppenwolf fought with his brain!!!
He absolutely could not let his battered body perish in the void of space, not even having set foot on Earth yet.
He had to withdraw from the battlefield, conceal himself on Earth, use its native lifeforms to breed different strains of Parademons, and then unleash a tidal wave of them to divert those damned Kryptonians' attention!
Finally, he would secure the three Mother Boxes and herald Darkseid's descent!
Therefore...
Steppenwolf gritted his teeth, gripped his axe, and bolted toward his small escape pod.
Parademons lined up ahead of him, continuously forming a pathway in midair, which he used as stepping stones to accelerate.
This shift made Fiona frown in the distance. Damn it, were Apokoliptians really this spineless?
"Accelerate!!!"
She let out a low growl, leading with her right shoulder to constantly smash aside the Parademons trying to block her path, frantically chasing down the fleeing Steppenwolf.
With the Parademons' aid, Steppenwolf finally reached his small craft.
Seeing the rapidly approaching Kryptonian, he knew his time was up. He didn't bother starting the ship's engines; instead, he directly triggered its emergency escape function!
In a flash, the pod transformed into a streak of light, shooting into the distance.
Steppenwolf drove his axe into the hull, using the axe handle on the outside of the craft to steer its general trajectory.
Seeing Steppenwolf about to escape toward Earth, Fiona clenched her jaws tight.
"Give me a push!"
She roared, leaping fiercely and slamming her feet onto the waiting, charged palms of two soldiers beside her.
The two Kryptonians braced themselves in a half-squat on the ship's deck. Once their palms caught Fiona's feet, they heaved with all their might, catapulting her straight toward the small craft.
Whoosh!
Bang!!!
Fiona slammed bodily onto the light-wrapped craft, landing right in front of a thoroughly stunned Steppenwolf.
"Damn it!"
Steppenwolf bellowed. He used his left hand to steer the craft and swung his right fist viciously at Fiona.
Fiona yanked her head out of the hull, immediately whipped around, and delivered a vicious kick, her foot driving hard into Steppenwolf's enormous fist.
Both combatants staggered. In an instant, the craft showed signs of falling apart, and Steppenwolf's loss of balance caused him to cling to the axe handle, spinning wildly along with the small vessel.
The immense centrifugal force left Fiona without a foothold; she gripped the craft desperately, plunging both hands straight into its hull.
Beside her, Steppenwolf gritted his teeth and steadied his grip on the axe handle.
The two glared murderously at each other for a moment. Fiona pulled out her right hand and reached for the handle Steppenwolf cared so deeply about.
Steppenwolf lashed out with a kick, stomping Fiona's right hand onto the hull, while simultaneously slamming his massive skull into her.
Seeing this, Fiona had no choice but to pull her right hand back and evade. She couldn't afford to lose her combat capability due to a shattered helmet.
This wasn't her first time on Earth, nor was it her first time tasting its radiation.
In her experience, the magnetic fields and radiation near Earth induced hallucinations—hearing countless voices and seeing visions that clouded the mind.
In short...
Earth was toxic!!!
Noticing Fiona's evasive maneuver, Steppenwolf instantly understood. He had found the Kryptonians' weakness.
These people likely couldn't survive in space without their equipment.
So as long as he destroyed her life-support system before landing...
At this thought, Steppenwolf sneered coldly. He violently wrenched his axe free and slashed directly at Fiona's visor.
Without the axe to anchor it, the ship spun even faster. The centrifugal force made it incredibly difficult for Fiona to muster the focus to deal with Steppenwolf.
Their figures clashed repeatedly on the endlessly spinning craft. As the ship rapidly disintegrated, their speed increased more and more!
Finally, their bodies began to glow red and burn with heat—they had entered Earth's atmosphere.
...
Meanwhile, on Earth, Bruce, who had left Themyscira less than twenty minutes ago, suddenly received a transmission from Alfred.
"Master Bruce, I'm afraid you'll need to alter your course. I've just received new intelligence.
Two spacecraft appeared in lunar orbit sixteen minutes ago. One belongs to the Kryptonians who previously visited Earth; the other is unregistered.
Our satellites clearly captured a battle taking place on the lunar surface between the Kryptonians and the unknown ship. A small craft and two battling lifeforms from this skirmish are plummeting toward Earth.
By the time I received the satellite data, the small craft had already entered Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated mid-air.
As for the landing point of the two lifeforms, it's near Cayenne in South America—roughly eight minutes from your current position!"
"Copy that. I'm on my way!"
Batman nodded curtly, banked his aircraft, and surged toward Cayenne, South America.
Simultaneously, he reviewed all the information Alfred had transmitted in the cockpit.
...
Back on Themyscira, Clark had just kicked Arthur away. He charged right into Arthur's trident and forcefully ripped the weapon from his hands.
Thud!!!
With a dull thud, the trident stabbed viciously into the muscle of Arthur's waist, pinning him firmly to the ground.
After days of brutal combat, and knowing full well that no one could die under the bathing sunlight, Clark's attacks had grown increasingly dangerous.
Three days ago, he never would have executed such a lethal maneuver.
Looking at Arthur collapsed on the ground, Clark took a heavy breath. Heisenberg's training regimen for the team made fighting them quite a hassle for Clark.
They all knew he was a weakened version of Heisenberg, so they didn't hesitate to use every underhanded trick in the book on him—tactics they might not even dare use on the real Heisenberg.
But now, with Arthur's defeat, Clark had finally finished his round of combat against the other five members of the Justice League.
He stood before Arthur, surveying his handiwork with satisfaction, and casually shook out his fist.
"You're dead. You're all dead!!!"
As the words fell, Clark couldn't help but laugh. Only now did he realize how utterly exhilarating it felt to say those words!
Watching the smiling Clark, Heisenberg stood up with a smile of his own and clapped softly.
"Beautifully done, Cla—?!!"
Halfway through his sentence, Heisenberg suddenly looked up toward the sky.
The motion caught Clark off guard for a split second before he followed Heisenberg's gaze.
A moment later, the two exchanged a glance. Clark gritted his teeth and asked,
"Is that... an Apokoliptian warrior?"
"Yeah. Fighting our compatriot should be the Apokoliptian warrior!" Heisenberg replied.
Their conversation made the wounded heroes struggling to their feet freeze in unison.
Diana instantly drew the longsword from her waist and shouted,
"They're here?!!"
"No need to be surprised. It's just a small strike force and a leader!"
With that, Heisenberg waved his hand and spoke softly to the group.
"I'll take you to witness the combat prowess of Apokoliptian creatures. I hope your training over the past few days won't disappoint me!
Keep in mind, the first Apokoliptian to set foot on Earth is destined to be the most ordinary among them!"
/-\
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