Outside the White House, countless people were still waiting for death in this most desperate of moments.
But the live broadcast on the screens suddenly switched.
The devastated arena and that heinous, demonically powerful Skrull disappeared.
What appeared on the screen was the Oval Office of the White House.
The President of the United States, Matthew Ellis, wearing a crisp suit, sat upright behind a large desk.
Behind him, a stars and stripes flag and a flag printed with the Vought logo stood side by side.
Viewers across the globe were stunned. At this moment when Earth was on the brink of destruction, the President of the United States had suddenly cut the live signal?
What was he doing? Announcing the surrender of all mankind?
Ellis placed his hands crossed on the desk and spoke slowly to the camera.
"Fellow human beings of the World. I am the President of the United States of America, Matthew Ellis."
Ellis's voice echoed in every corner of the Earth.
"I know you are very afraid right now. You see the sky weeping blood, you see the oceans churning, and you see our strongest heroes lying in pools of blood."
Ellis did not speak fast, but every word carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
"You think the end of the World has come. You think we have been abandoned."
"But I am here to tell you—No!"
"In the depths of the Universe, there is a man who has never abandoned us!"
"Homelander!"
The moment this name was uttered, countless people weeping in despair involuntarily raised their heads.
"He is not dead!"
Ellis's eyes burned with fanaticism, his tone incredibly certain.
"Though he is lost in the dark Universe, he has been doing everything in his power to come back and save us!"
"Just as he has done countless times before!"
"Look around you! Look at this World on the brink of collapse!"
"I do not know if Gods exists in this World!"
"But even if they do, so what?! They cannot save us! They cannot save humanity!"
"If there truly is a god in this World to save us... it will only be our own human god!"
Ellis stared at the camera, his eyes red. He channeled the charisma from his first election campaign, roaring with 300% extraordinary effort until his voice was hoarse:
"That is the God Among Men—Homelander!!"
"Give up those empty prayers! Stop calling to That God, stop worshippingthis God!"
"Let there be only one person left in all our hearts from this moment on!"
"Homelander!!"
Ellis waved his fist excitedly.
"Shout! Use all your faith, use your souls to shout his name!"
"Let the Universe hear our voice!"
"I believe the faith of all mankind can penetrate this blood-red firmament, letting the Universe hear humanity's unyielding roar! Let Homelander find his way back!"
"Call to him! Let him come home!!"
President Ellis's speech came to an abrupt halt on a high note.
But his declaration had already ignited the dry wood in the hearts of the desperate people.
The World fell into a brief silence at this moment.
Two seconds later... it exploded!!
In the live stream, the bullet chat had covered the entire screen in pure white; it was one name composed of various languages.
"Homelander!"
"Homelander!"
"Homelander!"
Those who were originally waiting for death stood up.
Their eyes filled with tears, they roared that name frantically toward the crimson sky.
In a church in Paris, a woman whose crucifix had fallen did not go to pick up that symbol of faith.
She clasped her hands before her chest, closed her eyes, and devoutly repeated the same name with her lips.
Inside a mega-factory, the workers being held at gunpoint by the Federal Inspectorate completely ignored those cold weapons now.
They linked arms and marched in unison, their mouths chanting a single rhythm.
"Homelander!! Homelander!!"
That aura actually scared the collaborators serving as overseers into retreating repeatedly, their guns falling to the ground.
On the Nullarbor Plain.
Jessica lay on the ruins of the battlefield, crystal teardrops falling into the dust.
"Anthony... I miss you. Come back..."
Tony Stark used blood-stained fingers to draw a 'V' symbol on the broken ground, his lips trembling: "Come back... you blond bastard, you've made us wait too long..."
Even in the White House, those usually selfish aides and politicians, under an inexplicable inspiration, actually set aside their prejudices and gathered together around President Ellis.
The Minister of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chief of Staff... they reached out, one after another pressing their hands on President Ellis's shoulders and back.
At this moment, in this center of power, there were no parties and no interests.
There was only one person.
"Homelander!!!"
Millions, tens of millions, billions of people.
At this moment, the barriers of language vanished, and the boundaries of race blurred.
Regardless of men, women, young or old, regardless of wealth or poverty.
All living consciousnesses in the World shared a unique resonance at this time.
And Homelander, who had been hiding his form, heard the system notification sounds in his head more densely than ever before.
It forced him to take the initiative to have the system mute the notification sounds.
However, that was not what he cared about most.
What he cared about most was that a wonderful change was occurring in his body and consciousness.
It wasn't given by the system, but rather another grand and profound power.
He felt countless golden threads gathering from every corner of the Earth, surging toward his body like ten thousand rivers returning to the sea.
His consciousness began to expand infinitely, even 'seeing' every person calling out to him.
That was the faith of billions of people!
That was... Alaya!
At this very moment, Homelander became a God Among Men in the truest sense.
This was no longer a title from Odin, but a... divinity bestowed by the will of all living beings.
[Alert! Detected that the host has obtained the collective will and faith of all mankind.]
[Special Achievement Unlocked: One Heart of a Billion.]
[Your will is the will of humanity. Your existence is the beacon of civilization.]
[Effect: Any negative events, scandals, or smearing will be automatically rationalized and filtered out by the human subconscious. popularity value deductions caused by negative popularity are permanently reduced by 90%! (Limited to the human level)]
Homelander closed his eyes, enjoying this unprecedented baptism.
The sky was still crimson.
The father box's energy had expanded to the extreme, and the premonition of World-ending death had crawled up everyone's spine, as if it would descend in the next second.
"Is it useless..."
"Can he not hear us..."
Despair attempted a counterattack.
But people still held their heads high, using the last ounce of strength in their bodies to shout their final swan song toward that blood-colored firmament:
"Homelander————!!!! Come back——————!!!!!"
At the instant this shout fell.
The consciousness of everyone in the World experienced a momentary blankness.
A familiar voice rang out.
This voice did not come through a broadcast, nor did it ring in the ears.
Instead, it appeared directly in the depths of everyone's heart.
The sentence was very short, but it was so gentle, so confident, carrying a sense of security that put the soul at ease.
"Dry your tears, do not bow your heads. I... am already before you!"