Behind the farmhouse, Jonathan and Martha had taken shelter near the back wall. From there they could still see the open fields where their two sons now faced each other like enemies. The air between them felt tight and dangerous, as if a storm were about to break.
The couple held each other's hands tightly, their expressions full of worry.
"Clark used that evil stone," Martha said nervously, her voice trembling. "David said it's basically making a deal with the devil. What are we supposed to do?"
Her eyes were filled with panic.
Both of their sons had already told them about the strange Wish Stone earlier. When an entire classroom of students suddenly lost part of their memory, it had been impossible to hide the truth from their parents.
Jonathan clenched his jaw, trying to think calmly.
"Maybe that ring affecting Clark came from the stone," he guessed.
Based on the little information they had, that seemed like the most logical explanation.
A rock capable of granting wishes sounded absurd at first. But after their sons told them about finding a wizard's diary and witnessing magical metal that could resurrect people and preserve eternal youth, the impossible no longer seemed quite so unbelievable.
Once David explained everything, the couple had accepted the truth far more easily than expected.
Meanwhile, out in the field, Clark's patience had run out.
"That's enough," he snapped. "Don't talk to me like that."
His eyes burned with anger.
"I'm the older brother!"
Clark's body suddenly erupted with terrifying force as he kicked off the ground. The soil beneath his feet cracked instantly as he launched forward, his fist roaring toward David like a missile.
"Even if you're not yourself right now," David said coldly, "your annoying attitude still makes me want to teach you a lesson."
His eyes sharpened.
Cosmic energy exploded from his body, releasing a powerful pressure that surged outward like a raging tidal wave.
[Template fusion: 56%]
With the increase in energy output, the rate at which he could unleash power had grown dramatically. His attacks now moved at nearly ten times the speed of sound.
Unfortunately—
Clark was still faster.
David could barely track the trajectory of Clark's punch. To his eyes, it looked like a blur streaking through the air like a high-speed missile. The pressure generated by Clark's speed compressed the surrounding atmosphere until it almost felt solid.
In that instant, David made a simple decision.
If he couldn't match Clark's speed, then he would increase the size of the attack zone.
He threw a punch forward.
Violent cosmic energy roared out of his fist, forming a torrent of purple force as large as a person. The blast carried enough heat to melt steel instantly.
Bang!
Clark sneered when the scorching energy wave rushed toward him. His body twisted in midair, disappearing from the path of the purple torrent before reappearing from another direction.
His fist tore through the air as it slammed directly into David's face.
"You're underestimating me now!" Clark shouted.
Under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark's personality had changed drastically. His fighting style had evolved as well. The reckless, straightforward approach he once used had been replaced by cunning aggression.
That made him far more dangerous.
Boom!
The collision between the two unleashed violent shockwaves. The resulting gust of wind swept across the fields for hundreds of meters as the ground trembled under the tremendous force.
Jonathan and Martha, hiding dozens of meters away behind the house, struggled to keep their eyes open. They covered their mouths with pale faces, their hearts racing in terror.
"Is that… even possible?" Jonathan whispered.
The terrifying kinetic energy behind Clark's punch was comparable to an explosion of thousands of tons of explosives.
Yet David didn't move.
He stood completely still, calmly raising his other fist to compress the incoming force.
Buzz!
The stored energy rebounded like a massive tidal wave.
Clark was violently thrown backward, flying hundreds of meters before crashing into the ground. He scrambled to his feet, clutching his chest as burning pain spread through his body.
His skin had turned red where the impact had landed.
"You talk too much," Clark growled. "Trying to show off in front of me?"
David's face remained cold as he unleashed another barrage of energy cannons.
Purple beams streaked across the sky one after another, forcing Clark to dodge rapidly as he moved around the battlefield.
"You've changed," David said calmly.
Clark's drastic personality shift had created a new weakness.
At least before, if he lost a fight, he could claim he had been holding back out of kindness. But now that excuse no longer existed.
"You look like a third-rate villain now."
"Shut up!" Clark roared.
His face twisted with rage.
"How dare you talk to me like that, you primitive Earth native! You have no idea how incredible my talent really is!"
Furious, Clark charged forward again.
His fists hammered toward David like a violent storm. Each punch carried enough force to shatter an aircraft carrier. At the same time, beams of heat vision erupted from his eyes, slicing through the air.
Facing the arrogant and aggressive Clark felt strangely similar to facing an evil counterpart of Superman.
David's expression didn't change.
He pushed his energy manipulation ability to its limit, absorbing the impact of Clark's attacks while firing beams from his hands and eyes to block escape routes.
Although Clark landed most of the hits, his frustration continued to grow.
No matter how hard he attacked, David barely moved.
Meanwhile, even if David only managed to strike him once after dozens of punches, the blow still caused real pain and damage.
"No… this isn't right," Clark muttered.
"You're just a native of a backward planet that hasn't even achieved interstellar travel. How could someone like you ever reach my level?"
Resentment burned deep inside his eyes.
Strength.
He needed more strength.
Driven by his anger, Clark's punches grew faster and heavier. The power surging from his body kept increasing.
David frowned slightly as he felt the kinetic energy he absorbed becoming more intense.
Although it still wasn't enough to hurt him, the trend was troubling.
"Feel it," Clark shouted excitedly.
"In the past I was too weak. I kept worrying about my power, my identity, and everything else!"
Each punch struck harder than the last.
"But now I'm not that person anymore," Clark continued.
"The potential inside my body is far beyond what you can imagine!"
His fists erupted like a volcanic explosion, unleashing power beyond human comprehension.
If David hadn't absorbed the kinetic energy so effectively, the surrounding land would have already been shattered. The shockwaves alone could have triggered an earthquake miles away.
Even so, the winds generated by their clash caused nearby houses on the farm to sway violently like grass in a storm.
"Oh my God…" Jonathan whispered.
He quickly pulled Martha farther away, retreating behind a distant hillside.
From there, the couple watched the battle with stunned expressions.
The exploding shockwaves and thunderous sounds made it seem like two monstrous beings were fighting. The speed of their movements was so great that only flickering afterimages could be seen.
Stray beams carved molten trenches into the earth.
It looked less like a fight and more like a war between gods.
Jonathan glanced nervously at the surrounding farmland.
Thankfully, their property stretched for miles in every direction. Otherwise someone might have already witnessed this terrifying spectacle.
But if the battle continued like this…
Would people nearby eventually notice?
"Enough!" David shouted.
He had already tried several times to grab Clark's hand and melt the red kryptonite ring with an energy beam.
But Clark was simply too fast.
It seemed he understood that once the ring was removed, he would return to his normal self. Because of that, he constantly protected the ring and avoided David's attempts to reach it.
Their battle had already caused enormous destruction.
If it continued much longer, the farmhouse and the warehouse would both be destroyed.
David's expression hardened.
"Even if you get hurt," he said coldly, "you'll recover anyway."
Without holding back any longer, he fired beams from both eyes while unleashing energy cannons from his hands in rapid succession.
The relentless bombardment finally forced Clark into a defensive position.
Dodging became increasingly difficult as the blasts closed off his escape routes.
Eventually, only a single opening remained in front of him.
But just as Clark seemed to fall into disadvantage, David's attacks began weakening.
The energy cannons grew smaller.
Less intense.
Like a faucet slowly running dry.
"That's not enough, David," Clark said with a sneer.
"You still don't understand your place."
The two exchanged heat vision for a moment, and surprisingly the beams matched each other evenly.
Clark suddenly realized something.
Of course.
David's power wasn't infinite.
"Your energy reserves are running out!"
Clark knocked aside a weakened energy blast and charged forward with a triumphant grin.
Without the overwhelming energy attacks suppressing him, David's slower movement speed became a clear weakness.
"Without that annoying energy power," Clark laughed, "how are you going to fight me?"
His eyes glowed bright red.
David's earlier barrage of attacks had drained a huge portion of his own energy.
"Kneel!"
Boom!
"My power comes from the sun itself!" Clark declared proudly.
"As long as the sun shines, I am invincible!"
His fist came crashing down.
But it stopped.
David had caught it.
Clark didn't seem worried.
A ferocious grin spread across his face as he unleashed his heat vision at full power. His glowing eyes burned like molten iron while the veins around them bulged under the intense heat.
Chi!
David answered with purple beams from his own eyes.
Chi—Chi—Chi!
The red and purple energies collided violently in midair, annihilating each other.
Gradually, the purple beam began to weaken.
Clark's grin widened.
Just as he thought victory was within reach, something changed.
A blinding purple flash suddenly erupted in front of him.
It was like boiling water exploding directly into his eyes.
"AH!"
David's eye beams suddenly multiplied in strength, transforming into a violent torrent that overwhelmed Clark's attack.
The purple blast slammed straight into Clark's eyes.
Clark screamed and staggered backward, clutching his face.
"My eyes!"
"You dirty bastard!" he shouted angrily.
David remained calm.
"A thief who turned evil long ago and pretended to behave for one day just to steal from me," he said coolly, "has the nerve to call someone else dirty?"
He raised his hand again.
A precise beam shot toward Clark's finger.
The red kryptonite ring melted instantly under the focused energy.
The gemstone evaporated into nothing.
"No—!"
Clark reached out desperately, but it was already too late.
....
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