Pong!
Two beams of heat vision, tore through the air. The crimson, searing energy distorted the atmosphere, sending visible ripples through the air before violently twisting and exploding.
Jor-El's reaction was swift but not swift enough.
The moment he saw Bardi injecting solar energy, his heat vision fired, aiming to stop him.
But he was still too late.
Bardi's eyes glowed red as he pressed the syringe, injecting the concentrated solar energy directly into his body.
This cloned body—an exact genetic copy of Bardi—had been stabilized using intricate magical formations designed by both him and Raven. At the cost of genetic collapse, they had carved a structure capable of sustaining the transformation.
The change began instantly.
The genetic helix overloaded with solar photons, the cytoplasm flooded with energy, and the nuclei trembled under the strain. His muscles twisted, and an earth-shattering transformation took hold.
Disgusting tumors erupted across his body, protrusions bulging from his chest and back. His legs stretched unnaturally. Goosebumps swelled grotesquely before black, hardened keratin layered over his skin, obscuring his original form. His severed right arm began to regrow, swallowed by the expanding mass of tumors, nearly burying his head in the process.
This body knew no pain. Only battle. Only bloodshed. Only the primal drive to push Jor-El to his limits.
Bardi's eyes widened with madness. He sneered cruelly, his terrifying visage contorting as he stood above, looking down at Jor-El with a gaze full of brutality. The shifting tumors, the monstrous transformation, it was as if he had become a demonic entity, a grotesque beast clawing its way out of hell.
The dim red sky cast a horrific glow upon his grotesque form, amplifying the nightmarish image. The battlefield itself seemed drenched in an aura of slaughter, transforming into a scene straight from a hellish purgatory.
Even as Bardi's body continued its grotesque metamorphosis, absorbing the solar energy, the twin beams of heat vision reached him.
Bardi twisted slightly, dodging.
But one of the beams struck his left arm, the same arm that had just regrown from the mass of tumors.
Pong!
Blood mist exploded.
The searing heat vision ripped through the air, obliterating Bardi's newly formed arm before continuing skyward, splitting the blood-red clouds above.
The heavens themselves seemed cleaved apart.
A single scarlet line bisected the sky, cutting the clouds neatly in half.
It was a sight so surreal, so immense in scale, that it felt as if the very fabric of the world had been torn open.
On the battlefield, destruction reigned. The earth had already been shattered into a six-hundred-meter-wide crater, and now the sky bore a fresh wound, each act of violence a terrifying testament to their power.
The heat vision flashed once more before fading into the horizon, leaving only the twisted, charred remnants of air, still smoldering in mourning.
Jor-El closed his eyes, cutting off his heat vision. The lingering heat still burned in his gaze.
But it was pointless.
Bardi had already absorbed the energy. The transformation was accelerating.
This kind of change took only moments, perhaps a second or two at most.
Jor-El was no mere warrior. He was a scientist. He understood energy, mutation, and the terrifying implications of what was happening.
He knew exactly what was occurring within that twisted, shifting body.
Blasting it with more heat vision would only fuel the reaction forcing Bardi's body to adapt even faster.
Bardi's arm grew again, this time even more monstrous. Tumors pulsed and spread, thickening his flesh. Dark blood oozed from the grotesque growths. His very bones stretched from deep within, and his entire body expanded, growing taller.
As he ascended, his eyes grew even more bloodthirsty. His face began to elongate, his features distorting, yet his gaze remained locked onto Jor-El—grinning, menacing.
"Barmulodi… are you planning to die?"
A chill ran down Jor-El's spine.
This transformation was no longer human. His genes were on the verge of complete collapse. Could he even survive after this?
No—he wouldn't.
Unless he could obtain the Codex of Life from his own son, Bardi—now in this monstrous form was a dead man walking.
In other words, he had already bet his life on this battle.
He would stop at nothing to kill Jor-El. To take the Codex of Life from Kal-El.
Jor-El's red eyes dimmed.
His fangs clenched.
His canine face twisted into a fierce snarl.
He had to stop this transformation now.
Kal-El could not fall into his hands.
Bang!
Jor-El crouched, powerful muscles coiling.
Then—he leapt.
His Kryptonian-enhanced legs, engineered for optimal efficiency launched him forward at blinding speed.
A deep crater, nearly a hundred meters wide, cracked open beneath him as the force of his takeoff shattered the earth. A sonic boom exploded in a ring behind him, while a white film of compressed air wrapped around his form as he tore through the sky.
In midair, Jor-El clenched his fists. His broad chest expanded as he inhaled deeply, drawing the surrounding air into his lungs.
His canine features tensed, his mouth lifted slightly as his chest swelled.
Then—
PONG!
Once more, the air was pierced.
Jor-El's muzzle snapped downward.
And he exhaled.
A torrent of blue cryogenic breath erupted from his mouth—an intense, concentrated stream of freezing energy. The air cracked from the sheer cold, shattering the sound barrier as it shot forward.
The recoil forced Jor-El's hovering body backward, stabilizing him in midair.
The freezing blast wasn't aimed directly at Bardi.
Instead, it started at his feet.
The blue torrent expanded outward, forming a circular perimeter around Bardi. Within moments, the entire area was engulfed in ice, trapping him in a large-scale frozen zone.
Bardi's eyes narrowed sharply.
Instantly, a layer of frost formed over his body.
His movement slowed.
For a brief second, his monstrous form stilled. But then.
The violent heat radiating from his body evaporated the frost.
Still, the cold intensified. The clash of heat and ice filled the battlefield with a dense, misty fog.
Bardi's muscles tensed. The chill seeped into his bones, slowing his body's function.
He bent his knees, ready to leap.
But Jor-El was already waiting.
High above, still exhaling the freezing breath, he had already sealed the sky.
A solid mass of ice loomed overhead, forming an inescapable barrier.
If Bardi jumped, he would only freeze midair, becoming an easy target.
Trapped.
Jor-El's gaze burned with intensity.
This was his moment.
The freezing currents filled the air, and icy mist engulfed every inch of space around them.
Jor-El, his canine muzzle aimed directly at Bardi, unleashed another blast of frozen breath.
The freezing torrent struck Bardi's chest instantly. The extreme cold slowed the molecular movement within his body, making it nearly impossible to react in time.
In just a fraction of a second, ice spread from Bardi's chest, crawling over the grotesque tumors covering his body.
Jor-El continued to exhale. The ice thickened, layer upon layer, engulfing him completely.
By the time he finally stopped, a towering icicle—five meters tall—stood frozen in place.
Bardi's monstrous form remained trapped inside, his twisted, tumor-ridden body suspended within the ice. Though distorted by the frost, his face was still visible, locked in a vicious, ferocious expression.
He was frozen.
Jor-El let out a slow breath, his canine mouth slightly ajar as he panted, feeling the dryness in his throat.
He had succeeded.
The freezing breath had done its job, it had halted, if not completely stopped, Bardi's mutation.
The science was simple.
The greater the kinetic energy of particles, the higher the temperature of a substance. Bardi's transformation was not exempt from scientific laws. At minus 150 degrees Celsius, the molecules within his body had nearly stopped moving.
Every atom, every cell that composed him had slowed to a crawl. Too slow to sustain his monstrous evolution.
And there was something more.
He had injected solar energy just moments ago.
Now, under the extreme cold, his cells could no longer efficiently absorb or distribute that energy. The accumulated solar power remained trapped inside him, unable to integrate with his body.
This could only lead to one outcome.
Bardi now an ice-sealed bomb was at risk of exploding.
Jor-El narrowed his eyes. His breath slowed.
His gaze remained locked on the towering icicle, waiting.
Then—
Crack.
A thin fracture split the surface of the ice.
Jor-El's eyes sharpened.
It wasn't over yet.
(To be continued.)
***
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