They faced each other across empty sky. Jordan's gaze remained calm. Homelander's expression shifted to surprise.
With enhanced vision, he could clearly see Jordan's face from over ten kilometers away. But only now, this close, did he register the oppressive aura radiating from beneath that black and gold battle suit.
I'm the one who intimidates others with raw power, Homelander thought, confusion creasing his features. So why do I feel such overwhelming pressure from this man?
"Were you spying on me just now?"
Looking at this unfamiliar figure dressed in standard superhero attire, Homelander spoke with genuine puzzlement.
"That wasn't spying. I was greeting you openly and honestly, and you sensed it, didn't you?" Jordan shook his finger at Homelander, vehemently denying the accusation. "Otherwise you wouldn't have found me so easily."
Homelander's frown deepened. The other man's tone lacked the respect everyone else showed him—absolutely unacceptable, even within the Seven.
However, he instinctively recognized that this guy engulfed in blue flames and wrapped in a jet-black lightning suit was no ordinary superhuman. Which was why he hadn't attacked immediately.
Then came the question.
Vought Corporation controlled all the world's superhumans. This man was undoubtedly superhuman. Even the plans Homelander had secretly pushed forward hadn't produced many success stories yet.
So is this man one of ours?
Even Homelander felt uncertain. He couldn't help but ask, "I don't think I've seen you before. Which division's newest superhero are you?"
"You got half right. I am indeed a hero."
A bright smile—so perfect even Homelander envied it—spread across Jordan's handsome, resolute features. But his next words shattered the atmosphere instantly.
"And you're just a super scumbag disguised as hero."
The provocation ignited Homelander's fury. His eyes flashed with fiery red light that had struck terror into countless criminals. His face revealed that signature fake smile he'd performed a thousand times. "Buddy, I have to say you seem a bit too confident—"
A devastating straight punch interrupted both his taunts and the heat vision gathering in his eyes.
Homelander's vision blurred. Black lightning materialized in front of his face. An unexpected heavy blow crashed into his jaw almost simultaneously, sending him rocketing backward like a cannonball!
In the sky, Jordan's clenched fist occupied the space where Homelander had been. The force field cloak behind him snapped taut from the gale-force wind, demonstrating exactly how powerful that righteous sucker punch had been.
After a brief mental blank, Homelander stopped his backward flight and touched the corner of his mouth in disbelief.
A faint bloodstain marked his red glove. Only then did the pain in his jaw register.
He was actually injured.
Minor, yes. But an injury nonetheless. An experience Homelander had never had since reaching adulthood.
"Very well. You've successfully angered me."
A violent sonic boom erupted. Homelander shot forward at even greater speed, his right fist carrying enormous kinetic energy, slamming toward Jordan's face in obvious retaliation.
The ideal was noble. The reality was that Jordan sidestepped effortlessly, causing Homelander's certain strike to cut only air.
Taking advantage of the moment before recovery, Jordan drove another punch into his abdomen.
Homelander gasped. Pain flared, though his prepared defense prevented actual injury. But the distance had closed. He could finally attack properly.
Two superhumans immediately engaged in aerial combat.
Heavy, pile-driver impacts rang out continuously as two figures breaking the sound barrier entangled and chased each other. Each traded several devastating blows in the blink of an eye.
The boundless sky became their arena. The battlefield stretched from New York's skyline all the way to open ocean.
A ripple spread from between fist and cheek. Having taken a direct punch from Homelander, Jordan's only reaction was tilting his head back slightly.
He turned back. A fierce headbutt interrupted the heat vision building in Homelander's eyes.
The impact sent shockwaves through the blond superhero's skull. He was momentarily dazed. Then Jordan's Leaf Whirlwind kick caught him in the neck, driving him down into the ocean with a tremendous splash—a diving performance so terrible even a dog would shake its head.
"Oh no. Beating up Homelander while in Sage Mode might be a bit cruel."
Jordan looked down at the still ocean surface with mock concern.
Homelander's base stats were already inferior to Jordan's normal state. Now at full sage power, he was completely outmatched.
The Compound V factor in his body provided a base force and speed increase of tens or even hundreds of times normal human capability, but Jordan possessed similar superhuman enhancement through completely different means.
Just as Jordan considered easing off, a memory surfaced.
General Zod. The Kryptonian military commander who started Man of Steel by brutally beating Superman, only to be killed in the end when Clark finally stopped holding back.
The current situation mirrored that Kryptonian civil war far too closely.
Learning from past mistakes, Jordan thought, and to prevent Homelander from suddenly unleashing protagonist plot armor, he quickly set aside his hesitation and clenched his fists tighter.
"Then let's make it even more cruel!"
Two red beams like lightning bolts evaporated massive amounts of seawater and shot toward Jordan.
Homelander emerged from the water with the aura of a returning king, heat vision glaring fiercely at Jordan, forcing him to dodge rapidly in somewhat disheveled fashion.
"You can't run away!"
Homelander's face lit up with that long-absent sunny smile, though the bruises across his features were even more noticeable beneath the crimson glow, making him look decidedly unkempt.
"Hey, getting excited, are we?"
Dodging by flight proved more difficult than using movement techniques. After being chased and shot at all the way back toward the city, Jordan suddenly raised his arm and effortlessly blocked the high-temperature rays capable of cutting through steel.
Homelander's smile vanished instantly, replaced by complete bewilderment.
He subconsciously stopped firing. Two faint red spots marked Jordan's wrist guard where the beams had struck. The surrounding force field structure surged and flowed, repairing the damaged area until it looked brand new within seconds.
Homelander was utterly shocked. He'd never encountered an enemy whose strength and speed matched his own, who could also withstand heat vision with bare hands.
The smile didn't disappear, though. It simply transferred to Jordan's face.
Let's be honest. No more pretending.
Two jewel-like red lights ignited in Jordan's eyes, as if molten lava churned within them.