He was already twisted by nature, a coward at heart, afraid of death, and weak. Now, seeing that all hope was lost and Superman could end his life at any moment, he completely broke down. Sobbing uncontrollably, Homelander crawled toward Superman, his tears and snot mixing with the dust as he cried out, "Don't kill me, Superman! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Superman, I'm so sorry! Please, I beg you, don't kill me!"
His face was covered in blood as he reached out, wrapping his hands around Superman's red boots, his tears mingling with the fresh blood streaking down his face.
At this moment, he was a pathetic sight, his face wet with tears and blood, several teeth knocked out, nose bleeding, and snot dripping down. He was utterly disgusting, pitiful beyond words, a far cry from the all-American hero that Vought International had painstakingly crafted for the world.
Clark looked down at him, his expression cold and emotionless.
His large hand, hanging loosely by his side, slowly began to rise.
Seeing this, Homelander screamed in terror. He scrambled backward on his hands, trying to distance himself from Superman, wailing, "Don't kill me—someone save me! Please save me! Goddammit, I still want to live! Save me!"
He started screaming madly into the air as if he'd lost his mind.
Clark frowned, sensing something off. Just as he reached out again to grab Homelander by the collar—
Another hand grabbed his wrist before he could touch him.
It was a hand identical to his own, though the skin was withered and wrinkled.
Clark followed the hand to its owner.
…It was another Superman, elderly, with white hair, wearing a platinum-colored Kryptonian battle suit. This older Superman firmly held Clark's wrist.
"There's no need to kill him," said the platinum-colored Superman. "You have more important matters to attend to."
Clark stood in silence, staring at the older version of himself, as though waiting for him to continue.
Sure enough, the platinum-colored Superman spoke again. "I've come from the future to find you, Superman. Our timeline has run into some trouble, and you need to come with me to help fix it."
His expression revealed deep concern, as though carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. "The future needs you…"
Clark remained silent.
In those few seconds of quiet, the expression on the platinum-colored Superman's face began to stiffen.
"Who are you, really?"
A few seconds later, with that calm question, Clark shot into the sky and unleashed his heat vision, blasting straight at the platinum-colored Superman from above!
—"Ha, I knew you'd figure it out," the platinum-colored Superman said with a chilling smile.
Despite the relentless assault of the heat vision, he stood firm, as relaxed as if he were taking a stroll in a backyard. He looked up at Clark, smiling coldly across the hundreds of meters between them, and then, in an instant, his entire body dispersed!
Billions of particles scattered into the wind—
At that very moment.
The entire Earth began to tremble!
Everyone on the planet felt it at once—a terrifying, overwhelming force surged across the surface of the Earth.
It was a power that transcended time and space, far beyond the dimensions humans lived in—
Seven billion people around the world instinctively looked toward the sky.
No matter the country, no matter what second the clock struck, no matter where the line between day and night fell on the globe, everyone could clearly see the massive figure rising in the sky. It was as though a god had descended, omnipresent, arriving on Earth.
When a being from a higher dimension enters a lower-dimensional world, to humans, it's like a flat line drawn on a piece of paper trying to comprehend something far beyond its reality.
Humans could only look up from their perspective, like a flat line on paper, staring at the true god above.
This three-dimensional world, invaded by a higher-dimensional entity, began to shatter under the pressure, like a black hole collapsing in on itself under immense gravitational forces.
The Earth and the universe let out ancient echoes, low, mournful sounds that resonated like a dragon's roar, reverberating in the hearts of every person.
Fear gripped the minds of humanity; they teetered on the edge of madness, losing their grip on sanity.
No one dared to speak it aloud.
Even though the god had only just appeared.
But in that single moment when everyone saw this higher-dimensional god, they realized one thing:
—The end of Earth had come.
This being, beyond the comprehension of human imagination, stood across all layers of time and space on Earth, overlapping in every dimension.
The god had luminous blue skin, circled by crimson bands, and in its hand, it wielded an impossibly large scythe. Its eyes burned with a bright yellow glow, as if the sun itself were ablaze within them.
Superman hovered silently before it, his red cape like a splash of fresh blood.
"I am the World Forger, the god who created this universe. I've come to reap a world that should have been destroyed long ago."
The higher-dimensional god gazed at Superman with its enormous eyes, speaking in a voice that was unnervingly calm.
"The universe you exist in should only have 52 worlds, but the one you're standing in right now has no number, Superman."
True fear… is when there is nothing in existence that can compare.
Under the looming shadow in the sky, humanity trembled, powerless to resist.
From every corner of the Earth—whether in the pine forests of the Yukon, the Guiana Highlands, Tasmania, the Sahara Desert, the Skaftafell Glacier, the peaks of the Himalayas… even at the South Pole—thick, fortress-like layers of clouds slowly drifted across the sky. Beyond those clouds, the body of the World Forger stood like a stone pillar piercing through the dome of the heavens, towering between the Earth and the sky.
The silence and immense presence of the World Forger felt like a planet hovering just a hundred meters above Earth, filling the vision of every human.
The sun, which had burned for billions of years, was at the center of this solar system, with Earth being just one of several tiny planets orbiting it, as small as a grain of rice in comparison.
The sun's volume was 1.3 million times that of Earth, making up 99% of the solar system's mass. Yet, in the grand scale of the Milky Way, the sun—humanity's ancient source of life—was merely a small star nestled between the Perseus and Sagittarius arms of the galaxy. It paled in comparison to the massive stars at the galactic core.
And even the Milky Way itself was but a speck of dust in the vast universe.
But the World Forger was a god who held the power to create entire multiverses in the palm of his hand.
Seven billion people, from every corner of Earth, watched helplessly as they gazed upon the face of the one true god.
Each person heard, as clear as day, the words spoken from the god's mouth—revealing a secret from the deepest reaches of the universe.
...This was a world that should have been destroyed long ago, a world that should no longer exist.
And their Sun God, Superman, stood alone, high in the sky, staring into the eyes of the World Forger.
His red cape hung silently behind him, draped like a royal mantle.
"What proof can you offer," Superman asked calmly, "to show me this world should not exist?"
His bright blue figure was reflected in the cold, emotionless yellow eyes of the World Forger.
...Superman, who had lived through countless resets of the timeline, knew better than anyone how the multiverse existed and was sustained.
The 52 universes, centered around the prime universe, were arranged like stars in the sky, maintaining the order of the omniverse.
In a timeline that had been erased, Batman had used a cross-dimensional transport device to break through space and time, finding members of the Justice League from a parallel world. Through this, he encountered another Clark Kent from a different universe.
That Clark Kent's world shared the same history as his, but often, it was the smallest of differences that led to vast disparities.
For example, that Clark Kent had no Soren.
Soren came from a universe outside the 52 known multiverses. In his world, Superman was nothing more than a comic book character.
Different universes existed and developed independently, but sometimes, due to collapses in space-time, they would connect in unexpected ways.
Superman knew that because of everything he had done, this world could never be part of the 52 universes. He knew that this world existed in isolation, outside of the multiverse's carefully ordered structure. But on what grounds did the World Forger have the right to judge this world?
This was the world he protected.
This was the planet he had dedicated his life to safeguarding...
If that meant defending this world, then every corner of the infinite universe, every star, and even the tiniest particle of dust floating through space, would fall under his protection!
No one could destroy this world in front of him—not even the god who forged it.
Superman launched an attack on the World Forger.
Despite possessing the universe's greatest power, Superman appeared like a futile, raging insect in the face of the World Forger, utterly incapable of shaking the god in the slightest.
The World Forger, with strength billions of times beyond Superman's, seemed to effortlessly raise a hand to block Superman's strongest heat vision—an attack capable of destroying Earth.
Superman's heat vision had once leveled mountains and seas, carving the deepest scars on Earth's surface.
But to the World Forger, the rays were no more than scribbles—doodles drawn on a two-dimensional surface by a lower being.
With a single swing of the Creation Scythe, the heat vision shattered into faint, dissipating light as soon as it touched the blade.
"How could you believe that with your insignificant power, you could stop my plan?"
The World Forger's voice thundered across the heavens.
"I am the All-Father. I am the True God of the Universe. I create worlds, foster life, and oversee the operation of the multiverse. Your world has long since ripened. I will harvest it to nourish a new multiverse."
The World Forger spoke to all the inhabitants of Earth.
"You should celebrate my grandeur. The life force of seven billion Earthlings will fully nurture a brand-new multiverse."
He raised a colossal foot and stomped down with a deafening boom, crossing half a continent. From near the Pyramids of Giza, his foot plunged into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.
Yet even so, the water only splashed around his ankle.
The World Forger swung his scythe toward Superman.
Superman dodged the sharp edge of the Creation Scythe with lightning speed, grabbing the god's wrist with a mighty roar. With a force that could shake the stars, he attempted to hurl the World Forger over his shoulder!
The World Forger was pulled by the sheer strength, forced to step forward. His colossal, multi-dimensional body once again landed on the surface of the African continent. His yellow eyes, like two enormous suns, cast down on the people of Earth.
Superman soared toward the god's eyes.
"I will not allow you to harm this world, not even by the smallest fraction."
Superman declared this while positioned between the World Forger's eyes.
His fist, ready to strike, was aimed at the god's forehead, but the World Forger had already raised a massive hand, ready to cleave Superman down.