Diana stared at the floating man with glowing red eyes, trying to process what she had just witnessed.
He had killed the Harbinger Prime with a single beam of energy from his eyes, something that would have taken some effort from even her. She had been fighting its army for over an hour, and this stranger had eliminated their leader in less than a second.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice carrying both curiosity and caution.
The man's face had a neutral look, and Diana noticed how his crimson hair seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. The half-sun mark on his forehead was clearly visible, glowing faintly with some kind of inner light.
"I am Kon-Rao," he replied, "The Emperor of Kryptonians."
Diana's brow furrowed slightly. The name meant nothing to her, and she had made it her business to know about the various species and civilizations that existed, like Asgardians, Jotun, Vanir, etc.
Her mother had taught her about countless races, both those that dwelled on Earth and those that came from the stars.
"Kryptonian?" she repeated. "Forgive me, but I have not heard of your race."
The man's expression did not falter, as if he had expected this response. "You are forgiven. I do come from quite far after all."
There was something in his tone that suggested distance wasn't just measured in physical space, but Diana didn't have time to contemplate that mystery.
Just then, the remaining Harbingers began moving frantically. Without their Prime to coordinate them, they seemed to lose whatever tactical discipline they had possessed.
Instead of retreating through the gateway or organizing a defensive formation, they simply surged forward in a desperate rush toward the city.
Diana clutched her sword tightly, her muscles tensing as she prepared to intercept them. There were still hundreds of the creatures, maybe more. She could fight them, but civilians would die before she could eliminate them all.
She glanced at the man who called himself Kon-Rao. "Get ready. They will not be retreating."
But instead of preparing for battle, he looked at her with that same calm expression.
"Relax, Princess. It's all taken care of."
Diana bristled slightly at being told to relax in the middle of a battlefield. She was about to respond when he spoke again, his voice carrying easily despite not being particularly loud.
"Var-Mo, bring the ship behind me."
Diana's eyes widened. There was a ship? She looked around but saw nothing in the sky except the fleeing Harbingers.
A voice responded from seemingly nowhere. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Kon-Rao didn't even turn to verify that his order was being followed.
He didn't use his super vision to check the ship's position. He simply stood there, completely confident that his command would be executed exactly as he intended.
Diana realized he must be hearing something she couldn't, some sound that indicated the ship's movement. Her own senses were far beyond human, but apparently not as refined as his.
Then Kon-Rao turned toward the swarm of Harbingers. The creatures were spreading out, trying to bypass the beach and reach the city from multiple angles. There were so many of them that the sky looked red with their bodies.
His eyes began to glow again, that same crimson light that Diana had seen when he killed the Harbinger Prime. But this time, the intensity was far greater. The light built and built until it was almost painful to look at directly.
Then the beams erupted from his eyes.
But these weren't the precise, focused beams he had used before. These were massive torrents of energy that seemed to grow wider and more powerful the farther they traveled from his eyes.
The beams started as pencil-thin streams at his face but expanded into columns of devastating power that were dozens of meters wide by the time they reached the Harbingers.
Diana watched in awe as he slowly moved his head, sweeping the beams across the entire swarm.
Everywhere the energy touched, Harbingers simply ceased to exist. They didn't fall dead or burn away gradually - they were vaporized so completely that not even ash remained.
The heat from the beams was incredible. Diana could feel it from where she stood, a wave of warmth that made the air shimmer and distort. The ocean itself began to steam where the energy passed over it.
Kon-Rao's head continued its sweep, and Diana saw with horror and fascination that he wasn't just targeting the Harbingers. The beams were heading directly toward the inverted pyramid gateway structure floating in the ocean.
The energy struck the massive structure, and for a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then cracks appeared across its surface, spreading like spider webs. The gateway began to glow from within, its structural integrity compromised by the overwhelming power of the attack.
With a sound like thunder, the pyramid shattered into thousands of pieces. Chunks of the structure fell into the ocean, creating massive waves that rolled toward the shore. But the gateway was destroyed, the dimensional tear sealed, and no more Harbingers would be coming through.
Kon-Rao continued his sweep for several more seconds, making certain that every single Harbinger was eliminated. The beams carved through the sky, leaving trails of superheated air in their wake.
When he finally stopped, Diana looked at the devastation he had wrought in mere moments. There was not a single Harbinger left in the sky.
Not one.
Every creature that had been threatening Gateway City was simply gone.
But the destruction went beyond just the Harbingers. A portion of the ocean near the beach had been vaporized by the intense heat of his attack. She estimated that at least several kilometers of water had been turned to steam, leaving a temporary void in the ocean itself.
The sight was surreal. There was just space where the ocean should have been, as if some giant hand had scooped out a massive bowl of water. Diana could see the ocean floor in that area, exposed to air.
But nature abhorred a vacuum.
Water from the surrounding ocean was already rushing in to fill the gap, creating currents and whirlpools as it sought to restore equilibrium. The sound of water crashing and swirling was like distant thunder.
Within minutes, Diana knew, the void would be filled and the ocean would look as if nothing had happened. But she would remember this display of power for the rest of her very long life.
Kon-Rao lowered his head, and the glow faded from his eyes. Diana studied his face carefully, looking for any sign of exhaustion or strain from such a massive expenditure of energy.
There was nothing.
He looked exactly as he had before the attack - calm, composed, not even breathing heavily. Whatever power source he drew upon, it was beyond her comprehension.
He seemed to be thinking about something, his expression thoughtful. Diana wondered what went through the mind of someone who could casually vaporize an entire invasion force without breaking a sweat.
MC POV
I don't even feel tired.
I have destroyed hundreds of creatures, vaporized kilometers of ocean, and shattered a dimensional gateway structure, and I feel as fresh as if I have just woken from a restful sleep.
The implications were staggering.
I need to test the limits of my abilities more thoroughly. This is a good start, but I still don't know my maximum capacity. I haven't even tested my strength yet, only my heat vision and flight.
There are so many questions to answer. How fast can I fly? How much can I lift? How durable is my body against different types of damage? How do other senses compare to baseline Kryptonian standards?
I need to set up proper testing protocols once we establish our base on Mars.
I turned around and saw Diana standing there, still holding her sword in a ready position despite the threat being eliminated. Her eyes were wide with a mixture of awe and wariness.
Behind her, at a distance, I could see soldiers and some civilians who had apparently stayed to watch the battle. There was a lot of murmuring among them, excited and fearful conversations about what they had just witnessed.
I didn't care about their reactions.
Let them talk, let them wonder. Their opinions meant nothing.
I stepped forward and descended to the ground, my feet touching down on the sand directly in front of Diana. The height difference between us was immediately apparent.
Diana was extremely tall compared to the humans around us. I estimated she stood somewhere around seven feet tall, which would make her tower over most people. In her armor and with her warrior's bearing, she was an imposing figure that most would find intimidating.
But I stood at approximately seven and a half feet tall. Even with her impressive stature, Diana had to look up slightly when I stepped onto the ground in front of her.
Diana opened her mouth, about to say something. But then both of us simultaneously looked behind her, toward the sky in the distance.
I had heard them approaching for several seconds already. The distinctive sound of jet engines, multiple aircraft moving in formation. Diana must have caught the sound a moment later, turning to look in the same direction I was focused on.
Multiple Quinjets were coming toward our location, flying in a standard tactical formation. I recognized them immediately from Alex's memories - these were SHIELD vehicles, the advanced aircraft used by Earth's premier security organization.
They were still several kilometers away, but they were definitely heading directly toward us. They must have been monitoring the battle and were now coming to investigate or possibly intercede.
Diana's posture shifted slightly, becoming more formal and guarded. She recognized the aircraft as well and apparently had some experience with the organization that operated them.
"We have company... an annoying company." she said.
....
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