Boom!
Brilliant orange flames blossomed across the starry sky. The once-silent darkness of space was transformed into a blazing inferno, as if the void itself had become a burning purgatory.
Fire clouds expanded everywhere.
Wreckage from destroyed warships drifted through the battlefield, illuminated by the constant flashes of exploding reactors. The entire region looked like a hellscape suspended among the stars.
And all of it had been caused by a single breath.
One exhale.
A hurricane born from Ethan Drake's lungs had devastated most of the Kree fleet.
The spectacle was almost impossible to comprehend.
But Ethan had known exactly what would happen. Otherwise, he would never have laid such an elaborate trap and waited patiently for the Kree fleet to step into it.
When the ability first awakened, his Super Roar had barely begun developing. Even then, a single breath had been enough to flatten an entire forest.
Now the power had grown tremendously.
With the ability refined to an advanced level, one exhalation could unleash a storm powerful enough to destabilize massive warships drifting through space. When the hurricane hurled the fleet's own artillery back toward them, the consequences were inevitable.
Their firepower had become their destruction.
And this was only the beginning of the technique.
With continued training, Ethan could eventually release a breath capable of extinguishing solar flames themselves. In time, the power might even reach a stage where a single storm could sweep across entire star systems.
Compared to that potential, the Kree fleet was nothing.
They had come here hoping to hunt Kryptonians.
Instead, they had delivered themselves directly to their own grave.
"You wanted to wipe out Krypton," Ethan said coldly as he hovered in the void. "Now this star field will become the burial ground of the Kree."
He had no intention of showing mercy.
Whoosh!
His black eyes flickered with icy blue light. The pupils glowed brightly, and the surrounding irises shimmered with cold radiance.
A moment later—
A beam of freezing energy erupted from his gaze.
The ray cut through the vacuum like a blade of ice and struck a distant battleship.
Boom!
The warship had barely recovered from the earlier storm when the freezing beam pierced straight through its hull. The vessel exploded instantly, flames engulfing the entire structure as it shattered apart.
"No!"
The furious roar of Ronan the Accuser echoed from the flagship.
The massive command ship had been thrown several kilometers away by the hurricane earlier. Only now had it barely stabilized its position.
If the vessel had been closer to the front line, it would have been destroyed along with the rest of the fleet.
"Damn it," Ronan muttered, his fists clenching tightly.
A flicker of unease appeared in his expression.
"That bastard… he's gotten stronger again."
The surrounding officers kept their heads lowered in silence.
None of them dared speak.
Everyone present understood the truth: the enemy had lured them into this trap deliberately. The disaster surrounding them had happened only because Ronan had insisted on pursuing the bait.
The cost of that decision was catastrophic.
Most of the fleet had already been wiped out.
But Ronan refused to admit defeat.
"We haven't lost yet," he growled.
The Accuser's eyes burned with ruthless determination.
"Bring out the weapon we prepared for this mission. The Accuser Guard will leave the fleet with me."
He stepped forward, gripping his massive hammer.
"We'll kill that Kryptonian ourselves."
Moments later, several armored figures exited the battleship and floated into open space.
They wore specialized combat suits designed for vacuum warfare. Among them were Ronan's elite warriors.
Several of the soldiers carried an unusual weapon.
While most of the guards held energy rifles, these particular warriors gripped ancient-looking blades. Compared to the sleek beam cannons surrounding them, the cold weapons appeared strangely out of place.
Yet the edges of those blades glowed with an eerie green light.
The faint radiation surrounding them revealed their true nature.
"Kryptonian Superman," Ronan shouted across the void. "Today I take your life."
His earlier frustration had vanished completely.
Because the true weapon of this mission was never the fleet itself.
It was the mineral embedded within those blades.
Kryptonite.
A radioactive substance believed to have formed during the destruction of Krypton.
For ordinary beings, the mineral had no special effect. Even Kryptonians without awakened powers could withstand its presence.
But for a Kryptonian with fully developed abilities…
It was lethal.
A Kryptonian Superman might possess strength capable of shaking planets, the power to fly through the heavens themselves.
Yet the moment such a being encountered kryptonite, that overwhelming power would collapse.
The victim would weaken rapidly, reduced to a state so fragile that even an ordinary human could defeat them.
The longer the exposure continued, the closer the Kryptonian would drift toward death.
It was as if the universe itself had created kryptonite to restrain Krypton's greatest champions.
Which was why Ronan had been so confident.
Kryptonite was incredibly rare, a substance that appeared perhaps once in a century. Yet for this mission the Kree Empire had gathered every piece they possessed and forged them into specialized weapons.
All for one purpose.
To kill the new Kryptonian Superman.
"Bastard," Ronan growled. "You're going to die here."
The Accuser and his elite guards accelerated forward, racing through space toward their target.
Within seconds the distance between them shrank rapidly.
Ethan floated calmly in the void, watching the approaching Kree warriors.
Their earlier losses had not shaken them at all. The surviving soldiers rushed toward him like predators, their eyes burning with murderous fury.
It was the kind of hatred born from devastating defeat.
"Pathetic rage," Ethan said with a faint chuckle.
The attack began instantly.
Energy beams erupted from the Kree soldiers' weapons, streaking toward Ethan from multiple directions.
He reacted effortlessly.
His body had been hovering in place a moment earlier, but a single thought was enough to propel him aside. His movements were explosive and precise, slipping through the incoming barrage with ease.
The firepower was dense.
Even Ethan didn't bother dodging everything.
In truth, he rarely did.
For Kryptonian warriors, evasion was rarely necessary. Their invulnerable bodies allowed them to confront attacks head-on.
It was almost a cultural habit among Kryptonians.
Why waste time dodging when nothing could truly harm them?
Better to charge forward and see whose body broke first.
Several beams struck Ethan directly.
The energy weapons exploded against his chest and shoulders, but the damage was negligible. The attacks felt little more than faint vibrations against his indestructible skin.
"That's it?" Ethan asked calmly.
"So who exactly gave you the courage to leave your ships and challenge me?"
The words had barely left his mouth when—
Hum!
A sudden flash of green light burst toward him.
The brightness was so intense that it momentarily resembled a searchlight.
Ethan blinked in confusion.
A searchlight?
Why would someone bring that to a battlefield?
"Die!"
Ronan's voice exploded with savage excitement.
The Kree warriors surged forward like sharks sensing blood.
For a moment Ethan felt puzzled.
Then his eyes landed on the glowing green weapons in their hands.
Understanding dawned instantly.
"So that's it…"
Kryptonite.
Hum!
More green beams ignited, spreading outward like a web. The eerie glow surrounded Ethan from every direction, forming a tightening cage of radiation.
The Kree warriors closed in rapidly.
Ronan raised his hammer and laughed.
"Goodbye, Kryptonian Superman!"
....
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