"Caught it?" The stone demon's expression grew solemn as he watched Clark effortlessly lift the small mountain. Immediately after, the mountain in Clark's hand exploded.
"Boom!" Clark felt the mountain explode and vanished from the spot to avoid the flying debris. The fragments, instead of falling to the ground, gathered around the stone demon, merging into a single entity.
Before, the stone demon had been composed of broken rocks, but now it had transformed into a solid rock entity, complete with two stone demon horns on its head. However, this new form seemed even weaker, indicating that the transformation had come at a cost.
"Keep my coat safe for me." Clark handed his coat to Lana, having managed to avoid getting it dirty while dodging the debris. Now, he was ready to fight without any reservations.
"Human, you've forced me to..." The stone demon, adjusting to his new form and about to spout some harsh words, suddenly saw a fist enlarging in his view.
"Bang!" Before he could react, Clark's punch sent him flying, leaving a huge gash on his face and scattering countless fragments into the air. His new, supposedly tougher body didn't seem to make a difference.
The stone demon crashed into a wasteland, with its demonic energy surging and its facial wound healing rapidly.
"Bang!" Clark, descending from above, punched the demon again and again, controlling his strength not to obliterate him outright, yet not giving him any chance to fight back.
Under Clark's relentless assault, more and more fragments flew off the stone demon, shrinking his body until it became a palm-sized rock with demon horns...
"Wuu wuu wuu! Earth is too terrifying! I want to go back to hell!" The palm-sized stone demon, held by Clark, realized how unpredictable life could be.
The demon had come to Earth to wreak havoc and fulfill the Demon Lord's mission, perhaps even to consume its fellows and grow stronger. Yet, it had just arrived and was already caught by a terrifying being.
The stone demon didn't know how powerful Clark was but felt even at its peak in hell, it couldn't match him, let alone know if even the Demon Lord could...
Clark, finding Earth's creatures formidable, decided not to invade but to defend against a possible counterattack.
"Buzz!" Clark, holding the stone demon, read its mind and saw images of the demon being sent to Earth, receiving orders from a shadowy, black and red Demon Lord sitting on a throne of bones.
"Create chaos on Earth and cultivate followers for us. With their faith, we might expand the rift to Earth and allow me to descend! Then, as Earth's sole demon god, I could return to hell as a lord..."
"If I become a hellish demon lord, how wonderful that would be! This trip to Earth is also my chance..." The stone demon had ambitions too.
After the images vanished, the stone demon, panicked, asked, "What did you do? You read my memories?!"
Each demon had different strengths. The one Robert faced was good at absorbing life force and had decent soul power, while this stone demon could control rocks, potentially using planets as weapons. However, its soul abilities were weak.
"So, you came to wreak havoc on Earth?" Clark asked, not knowing Robert had already dealt with a hellish demon. With three such demons, he worried about Earth's safety.
"No! I'm a kind demon; I never kill!" the stone demon pleaded, suggesting they kill the Demon Lord to save Earth.
"Crack!" Clark crushed the demon mid-sentence, ensuring its complete demise.
"He thinks I'm simple-minded because I'm physically strong? Why would I willingly enter enemy territory?" Clark shook his head, jokingly saying, "He must think I'm like Robert, who only knows how to fight..."
"Why do you like to tease Robert so much?" Lana asked, helping him with his coat.
"Ever since he excitedly beat up the fake Superman!" Clark murmured, planning to teach Robert a lesson in brotherly respect.
"Huh? Where's Robert? And Kara too?" Suddenly, Clark realized both Robert and Kara were missing.
"What's wrong?" Lana asked, seeing Clark's anxious expression.
"Robert and Kara are gone. You go to my house to look after Martha and the others. I'll find them!" Clark instructed before vanishing in search of them.
"Got it!" Lana headed toward the Kent farm, concerned.
Soon after they left, a small rock stirred, and nearby stones began to gather, hinting at the stone demon's revival.
"Ah! Perfect timing!" A frivolous voice sounded, and a hand grabbed the stones. The figure, shrouded in demonic energy, absorbed the stones with terrifying suction.
"You dare!" The stone demon protested.
"What's there to dare? We all had the same plan; I just succeeded. From now on, we are one. I'll grow stronger with your wishes," the figure said, absorbing everything before vanishing, wary of Clark's return.
Meanwhile, Clark had no idea the stone demon survived his blow. He focused on finding Robert and Kara, worried someone might have taken them as they had encountered Gannata.
Feeling a sense of urgency, Clark used his super vision and hearing to meticulously search every suspicious area.
Robert and Kara's ordeal began a bit earlier, while they were using the demon curse to fish for demons. Initially unsuccessful, they were changing locations when Robert sensed a disturbance in the curse but found nothing upon closer inspection.
"What's going on?" Kara asked, seeing Robert's sudden stop.
"I felt a movement in the demon curse, but it's gone now," Robert scratched his head, sensing something peculiar nearby. "Hmm, over here?"
They reached a street corner with an empty space where a building should be. Robert, trusting his senses, covered his eyes with a mix of psychic and qi energy, revealing a hidden bar.
"Let's check it out," Robert whispered to Kara.
"A bar? Isn't this just a wall?" Kara, confused, grabbed Robert's sleeve.
"Hold on to me, don't let go," Robert said, gripping Kara's hand and stepping forward. In the next moment, they vanished.
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