Scared out of their minds?
Submit to him?
Damn it.
What an arrogant and shameless declaration.
The two forces that had been moments away from clashing froze almost simultaneously. Both sides instinctively stopped what they were doing and looked up toward the sky.
Above the battlefield, a lone figure stood suspended in the void.
He wore a long, straight coat that fluttered slightly in the stellar winds, and his posture carried the quiet authority of a monarch surveying his domain. Standing high above them, Ethan Drake looked down upon the battlefield as if the entire scene below existed merely for his amusement.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" one Kree soldier shouted angrily. "How dare he disrespect the Kree Empire!"
Shouts and curses erupted from the Kree ranks. Soldiers pointed at the sky, their voices filled with fury and disbelief.
Yet among all the noise, one man remained silent.
Officer Johnny.
The previously arrogant commander stood frozen in place, staring upward with a stiff expression. His eyes locked onto Ethan's face as if trying to confirm something.
"Sir," one of the soldiers beside him said eagerly, "give the order and we'll have the fleet concentrate fire. We'll blast him out of the sky."
Another soldier immediately spoke up.
"Better yet, let me take twenty elite troops and bring him down personally."
Several officers began arguing at once, each one eager to claim the credit.
Johnny didn't respond.
Instead, he continued staring upward.
Again and again he studied the face of the figure floating above them. Each passing second made his expression grow more rigid.
Then a bead of cold sweat slid down his temple.
A man's reputation casts a long shadow.
For three months, stories of a certain Kryptonian had spread across the Kree Empire like a nightmare. Entire fleets destroyed. Military bases erased from existence. Everywhere the figure appeared, devastation followed.
The Kree fleets had been slaughtered like cattle.
Johnny's lips trembled slightly.
Damn it.
That face—
It was him.
The Kryptonian survivor.
The monster known as Superman.
This was the same being who had annihilated entire fleets without effort. The same one who had even overwhelmed Captain Marvel.
How could they possibly fight something like that?
"Damn it! Retreat!"
Johnny suddenly roared, his voice exploding across the battlefield.
"Get out of here! Now!"
The command stunned everyone around him.
"What?"
"Retreat?"
His officers stared at him in disbelief. To them, the figure in the sky was nothing more than a man who could fly.
They had an entire fleet.
How could they possibly lose to a single person?
But the next moment, reality answered that question.
Boom.
Before anyone could react, the figure in the sky suddenly moved.
Ethan's body shot forward like a launched rocket.
In a blink, he slammed directly into one of the Kree warships flying overhead.
The massive vessel erupted into a brilliant orange explosion.
Armor that had been engineered with advanced military technology shattered like fragile paper beneath the impact. The warship tore apart in a storm of fire and metal fragments.
From within the blazing wreckage, Ethan calmly stepped out.
The flames licked across his body.
He remained completely unharmed.
"That's impossible!"
"My stars… what did I just see?"
"He sank a warship with his body!"
"How strong is this monster?"
"Is that… the legendary Kryptonian Superman?"
In that moment, Johnny's terrified order finally made sense to the soldiers around him.
Facing such a creature, their lives meant nothing.
They would be harvested like grass beneath a scythe.
Boom.
Ethan stood proudly in the void for a moment before diving downward. His body descended like a meteor and slammed directly into the surface of Nidavellir.
The impact created a massive crater dozens of meters wide.
Shockwaves rippled outward, and nearby soldiers were instantly reduced to a cloud of blood and dust. When the smoke cleared, there wasn't even a fragment of bone left behind.
"A bunch of trash," Ethan said quietly.
The faint smile on his face made the remaining soldiers shiver with fear.
Johnny forced himself to glare at him.
"So it's you again," the officer spat. "You Kryptonian bastard. Who's been leaking our fleet movements to you?"
Unlike the terrified soldiers around him, Johnny had already accepted the situation.
The Kree fleet movements had been discovered again and again. Someone inside the empire was clearly leaking information.
"The empire will find that traitor eventually," he continued coldly. "And when we do, we'll—"
Thud.
Before he could finish speaking, Ethan's fist shot forward.
The blow smashed Johnny's head apart like a watermelon.
Blood and fragments sprayed through the air.
"Too noisy."
Ethan withdrew his fist calmly.
Then he glanced around at the trembling soldiers nearby.
"Actually," he added casually, "all of you are pretty noisy."
The slaughter that followed required very little effort.
By the time Ethan slowly walked toward the massive forge halls of Nidavellir, not a single Kree soldier remained standing behind him.
Only silence remained.
As he approached the entrance of the dwarven forge hall, a group of warriors in golden armor stepped forward to block his path.
"Stop right there."
These were Asgardian warriors.
As soldiers who served under the protection of the gods, they possessed far more experience than ordinary fighters. They had witnessed miracles during the age of the gods and had seen the overwhelming power of Odin during his prime.
Because of that, the appearance of a powerful Kryptonian did not frighten them.
If anything, Ethan's earlier remarks insulting Odin had already angered them.
One of the dwarven craftsmen stepped forward nervously.
"I believe there may be some misunderstanding," he said carefully.
The dwarves had no desire to provoke further conflict. Their civilization thrived on craftsmanship, not warfare.
But the Asgardians clearly thought otherwise.
"Misunderstanding?" one of the armored warriors scoffed. "Perhaps. But it's obvious this man has his eyes on your world."
For generations, Asgard had protected the dwarven realm. The warriors standing here considered it their duty to defend it.
"The Kryptonian Empire has already been thrown into the garbage heap of history," the Asgardian continued proudly. "Meanwhile, Odin's glory still shines among the stars."
He fixed Ethan with a cold gaze.
"A lone Kryptonian survivor isn't something we need to fear."
"And besides…"
His lips curled into a confident smile.
"Your kind isn't invincible."
"The long history of Asgard has already revealed your weakness."
"Kryptonite… and magic."
He spread his hands slightly.
"True, we don't happen to have kryptonite here."
"But magic…"
The warrior paused deliberately before letting out a mocking laugh.
"Sorry to disappoint you," he said. "Every single one of us knows a little magic."
Asgard was famous for blending advanced technology with powerful sorcery. What he described as "a little magic" was actually a tremendous advantage in battle.
As he spoke, more golden-armored warriors emerged from the corridors of the forge hall.
Within seconds, Ethan found himself surrounded.
The faint glow of magical energy flickered across their weapons and armor.
Ethan glanced calmly at the soldiers encircling him.
He could feel the subtle fluctuations of magic emanating from their equipment.
Slowly, the smile on his face widened.
"Magic?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Sorry."
"I'm immune to it."
....
Join my P@treon get free advanced chapters.
Paid members can get upto 60+ chapters ahead of the public release.
Link : [email protected]/KittyLovesMilk