Chapter 87: Absolutely Worth It
Metropolis was truly a disaster-prone city; it seemed unable to escape its curse, no matter which multiverse it was in.
On Monday, masked robbers in a dump truck robbed a bank with a rocket launcher. On Wednesday, a supervillain who could either shoot lasers or lift a building with their bare hands would have an all-out brawl with Superman on the street. On Friday, aliens would invade in a spaceship, dragging along a cannon. Saturday was for rebuilding, Sunday for redecorating. The paint wouldn't even be dry before the same house was blown up *again* the next week.
At this moment, the citizens of Metropolis were watching the daily routine of Superman brawling with an alien robot.
*Boom!*
An alien cannon shell exploded in mid-air. Superman, who met the artillery fire head-on, went spinning as he fell, crashing with a loud bang and creating another deep crater in the already ravaged ground.
Of course, while the fall looked severe, at most it only dealt "1 HP" of damage. For Superman's seemingly endless health bar, that was basically no damage at all when rounded down.
He shook his head and was about to get up when he suddenly heard a child by the roadside point to the sky and shout, "Look! It's a big bird!"
Everyone looked in the direction the child was pointing.
They saw a blurry shape, at first just a huge dot flying from the far side of the sky, its size rapidly expanding in everyone's vision.
"No, it looks like an aircraft," someone said.
"Well, whatever it is, it's definitely not Superman," a soldier holding a gun nearby said. "Because he's taking a nap over here."
Superman, who had just climbed out of the ruins: "..."
A massive afterimage descended, wrapped in an intense light. It vaguely revealed a colossal red-and-silver body, trailing a path of light and afterimages as it delivered a flying kick sideways into the head of the alien robot.
With a violent boom, Guntraus toppled over heavily. The radiance dissipated, and the red-and-silver giant landed, still in its flying kick pose. Propelled by inertia, it performed a sliding tackle for a great distance in a classic stance that would give any road maintenance crew a heart attack.
Orin Vale slowly stood up amidst the dust, turned his head, and locked his gaze on the alien robot.
A height of 110 meters.
His regular size was about fifty meters, but an Ultraman's size was never fixed. When he wanted to be bigger, he could be bigger; when he wanted to be smaller, he could be even smaller than a toothpick. The only difference was energy consumption.
Around fifty meters was the standard size for most Ultramen, achieving a perfect balance between combat power and energy consumption. Under normal circumstances, even when facing a larger opponent, there was no need to forcibly use Gigantification to match them, as the increased energy consumption was not cost-effective.
However, if it was a case of a power-up...
*Who cares.*
I'll be as big as I damn well please.
Besides, this "big" wasn't just a visual effect. Thanks to that boost from Old Bu, Orin Vale's all-around attributes had received an explosive boost. Even he didn't know how high they were now.
But it seemed he was about to find out for himself.
He pushed off, flashing forward in an afterimage of light. Guntraus, who had been knocked down by the flying kick, had just used its back thruster to launch itself up, only to be met with a magnificent, face-smashing, sonic-speed giant fist.
A dull thud like colliding metal rang out. The robot swayed slightly and took two steps back, its steel feet stamping deep pits into the ground.
A barrage of hook punches and swing punches followed, then a heavy blow from his elbow. The golden light special effects erupted into a transparent fluctuation from the point of Orin Vale's elbow strike, caving in Guntraus's face and sending shattered parts flying onto the rooftop of a building.
Orin Vale used a glide step to move forward, deftly executing a lateral dodge to avoid the cannon barrel of Guntraus's left arm cannon, and clamped down on the mechanical arm. Guntraus's right arm then transformed into a blade and swept toward him, but he caught that too, holding it securely in his palm.
Orin Vale pinned both of the robot's arms. He channeled the light energy within his body, about to use his divine power to forcibly rip the two arms off, when he suddenly noticed a mechanism on the robot's chest click open, revealing two rows of hidden cannon barrels.
His reaction was incredibly fast. He immediately let go and shot into the air, ascending in a fraction of a second. The two neat rows of laser cannons fired, barely grazing the soles of his feet before flying off into the distance.
Guntraus maintained its lock, and all sorts of weapons popped out from its chest, hands, arms, and shoulders. A motley assortment of firepower, both large and small, was unleashed frantically at Orin Vale in mid-air as if it were free.
Orin Vale dodged left and right, flashing around while continuously firing light bullets from his palms, evading and counter-attacking simultaneously. Multi-colored beams of light and a continuous barrage of fiery explosions instantly covered a large swath of the sky. It was an apocalyptic landscape—horrifyingly shocking, yet gorgeously beautiful, leaving everyone breathless.
Orin Vale tucked into a ball, performed a series of supersonic somersaults, and landed on Guntraus's left flank. He made a sharp turn and was about to charge toward Guntraus. But the robot's AI responded extremely quickly. A particle cannon on its left shoulder had already locked onto him, its cannon barrel crackling with arcs of electricity as it prepared to fire.
However, in the instant before it could fire, the energy suddenly dissipated, the light extinguished, and the entire cannon barrel was instantly frozen solid!
Kara, seeing its movement, accelerated and flew over. With a single Freeze Breath, she froze the shoulder cannon solid. Then, with both fists forward, she used her body like a cannonball. A red and blue afterimage pierced through, and with a *bang*, the frozen cannon was shattered into a sky full of ice shards.
But Guntraus reacted extremely fast. In a flash, it had already adjusted its strategy in response to the unexpected interference. A hidden steel tentacle shot out from its back, opening a powerful metal pincer as it shot towards the charging Orin Vale.
Yet, it was also ineffective!
It was Superman. With lightning-fast reflexes, a shockwave from breaking the sound barrier erupted behind him as he flew. The metal pincer had barely extended halfway before he grabbed it.
Superman let out a great cry, "Hraaaah!" An unbelievable super strength erupted from his small body, and he tore the thick metal tentacle out by its roots. The broken end sizzled and popped, sending sparks flying.
In the blink of an eye, Orin Vale had already lunged right in front of it. With its countermeasures continuously thwarted, Guntraus had no more chances to react. It could only watch helplessly as the heavy punch, trailing a golden light, came smashing into its face.
A lightning-fast piercing, a deafening impact. A silvery-white heavy punch smashed through the robot's face and out the back of its head, carrying a burst of golden radiance.
The utterly terrifying divine power, combined with that already oppressive, gigantic body and the magnificent golden light special effects, created a visual impact that was almost indescribable.
All the citizens couldn't help but look up at this battle of the gods, feeling their entire worldview from the first half of their lives shatter with a deafening crash.
Among them, one particularly bold photographer pushed past the crowd, raised his camera at the front, and began snapping away furiously.
Jimmy Olsen of the Daily Planet, Superman's personal photographer and best friend.
He recorded this battle of the century with perfect lighting, shadows, and angles, while also feeling his soul tremble at the close proximity of this great power that was far beyond human comprehension.
For a moment, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Do I really need to risk being crushed into meat paste by them at any moment to be taking photos here like my life depends on it?"
This question troubled Jimmy for about three seconds.
Three seconds later, he raised his camera again.
"Ha, what was I thinking? Of course, it's absolutely worth it."
(end of chapter)