Behind his raised palm, Soren's sharp eyes, like piercing blades, locked onto Homelander.
"Even if you kill all of us, it won't matter anymore," Soren said as he stood protectively in front of the terrified tourists. The smooth, mirror-like surface of the Edman alloy bracelet reflected Homelander's glowing, intense Kryptonian-blue eyes. "Because just now, 130 million people saw exactly what you're trying to do."
The bracelet's faint blue light flickered.
From the beginning of the confrontation, every moment had been captured by a hidden pinhole camera and transmitted via wireless signal to a base station. From there, it traveled through undersea cables, reaching every continent in the world—
On Instagram, an obscure account with only a handful of followers had become the most-watched live stream on the planet.
In the span of just a few minutes, millions of people had tuned into the broadcast.
At first, viewers thought it was a tourist in distress, live-streaming a superhero taking down a villain. Many stayed, excitedly cheering for Homelander's arrival, expecting him to save the day.
But then, something didn't seem right.
More and more people joined the stream and began witnessing Homelander being defeated over and over again by the creature.
—Wait, isn't Homelander supposed to be as strong as Superman? How could he struggle against a creature that looks this weak?
—What's going on? Is this really the full extent of Homelander's power?
—What is Homelander doing? Has he lost his mind?
Comments flooded in from around the world, the chat scrolling nonstop like a never-ending wheel.
When the creature reverted back to human form, the viewership skyrocketed to the billions.
At that same moment, across every continent, country, and time zone, people excitedly shared the same live stream link with everyone they knew.
Over a billion people watched as Homelander raged, losing control before the world's eyes.
Everyone saw it: the moment when his gaze swept across the tourists, brimming with murderous intent.
When the heat vision blasted from his eyes toward the crowd, millions screamed in terror.
—Fortunately, Homelander didn't succeed.
Soren, using the defense shield Tony had built for him, blocked the attack.
And in doing so, he ripped away the perfect mask Homelander had worn for so long, exposing him before the entire world.
Now, Homelander stood exposed—disheveled, furious, and savage, like a cornered wild dog ready to lash out in desperation, prepared to take someone down with him in his final moments.
Homelander's face turned pale, a mixture of fear and shock. Veins bulged on his forehead as he realized what Soren was implying. His rationality had already shattered. "I'm going to kill you!" he screamed.
No longer caring about his public image, Homelander, in a fit of madness, charged at Soren, attempting to break through Soren's defense shield with heat vision, ready to kill everyone in his path.
Soren, arms extended, raised his shield once more to protect the people behind him, standing tall and unafraid. His bright Kryptonian-blue eyes fixed on Homelander, and in a voice so soft it almost seemed like a whisper, he uttered, "—Superman."
"Come save—"
Before he could finish the sentence, the pyramid shook with a deafening sonic boom!
A brilliant red cape filled the frame of every camera.
Tall and powerful, like the sun god Apollo, Superman stood before everyone, using his chest to block Homelander's heat vision.
In front of Superman, those beams of red light were nothing more than trickling water, not even strong enough to disturb the edges of his cape.
As the heat vision exploded, casting red light all around the passage, Superman, glowing in the scarlet hue, reached out and grabbed Homelander by the throat.
He held back slightly, not snapping Homelander's neck immediately, but instead lowered his gaze to the terrified man and said, "You said you were going to kill him?"
That one glance, devoid of any emotion, carried the weight of a mountain of corpses, a pressure so immense it felt as if the universe itself had cast its gaze upon a comet, rendering Homelander drenched in cold sweat. It was as if Superman's power alone had already reduced him to dust.
Superman's question wasn't meant to be answered.
After speaking, without even glancing at Homelander again, he grabbed him and shot through the pyramid's outer layer, carrying Homelander high into the sky.
He swung a single, effortless punch, landing it on Homelander's chest.
But that punch, though light for Superman, struck with the weight of an entire star, driving Homelander from the heavens straight into the ground!
Boom—
The earth quaked violently, shaking as if in the throes of an earthquake. The shockwave was so intense that Soren, having just escaped the pyramid, had to steady himself by gripping a stone block to avoid falling.
Soren gazed into the distance, where a massive dust storm had erupted. Amidst the swirling clouds of sand, Clark's figure was obscured, reduced to a dark silhouette.
The silhouette of the sun god Apollo, striding forward step by step.
The delayed wind finally caught up, howling past Soren's ears as the sandstorm brushed against his face.
He lifted his arm to shield his nose and mouth, peering through the dying winds toward where Clark stood.
A massive crater had formed in the vast, sandy ground.
At the bottom of the pit lay Homelander, barely clinging to life, trembling in fear as Superman approached him, step by step. His teeth chattered as he pleaded, "Superman, don't kill me, don't kill me—"