At this moment, the Supreme Deity was clearly struggling in vain. As the believers saw the shifting perspective in the sky, they finally realized that Clark wasn't lying. When their fear of death surpassed their faith in the Supreme Deity, the entire belief system further collapsed.
"Hmm? How is this happening?" As another body was blown apart by Clark, the Supreme Deity's consciousness froze in place because he could no longer sense pure faith power.
Although the Supreme Deity's faith power hadn't completely disappeared, none of the remaining believers were fanatics. This not only meant that the Supreme Deity's power had been weakened to its limit, but also that he had no way to jump into another believer's body to survive. This was something the Supreme Deity could not accept.
"It looks like you won't get another chance!" Clark, sensing the location of the Supreme Deity's soul, glanced at the dimming image in the sky and said calmly.
"No! I don't believe it!" Upon hearing Clark's voice, the Supreme Deity's soul trembled violently, and his consciousness snapped awake. He couldn't accept the fact that he had no way to continue living, so he summoned what little faith power he had left, attempting to extend his life a little longer.
Deep down, the Supreme Deity knew this was futile. Even a weakling god like him, who had just stepped onto the path of divinity without a divine kingdom or pantheon, could not face death calmly. How could he, having lived only a few decades—less than a normal human lifetime—be willing to die so soon? If he could survive just one more second, he would try to hang on and struggle.
With a hum, the image in the sky became increasingly blurry as the Supreme Deity called upon his faith power. Once the image was no longer supported by any faith power, it completely disappeared. At the same time, those who still had some faith in the Supreme Deity clutched their heads in pain and collapsed. The degree of their pain was directly proportional to their level of faith, making it clear that the Supreme Deity was draining them in a desperate last-ditch effort.
The Supreme Deity's power recovered slightly as his believers suffered, but it wasn't enough to change his situation or allow him to possess another believer's body to live even a minute longer.
Sensing the believers' pain, Clark acted decisively. A burst of intense heat vision shot toward the location of the Supreme Deity's soul, directly piercing through his already weakened soul consciousness.
"No!" The Supreme Deity, snapping back to reality, screamed in terror and frantically tried to flee from Clark. But even in his soul form, no longer bound by the rules of the material world, the Supreme Deity's speed was far inferior to Clark's.
With a sizzling sound, Clark, like a god surveying the world, continued to emit red-hot heat vision, burning through the void at the exact spot where the Supreme Deity's soul was hiding. It was clear that the Supreme Deity had no way to escape Clark's lock-on. As time passed, the Supreme Deity's soul consciousness was completely obliterated.
Or rather, it was the last remaining faith power connecting the Supreme Deity to this world that was extinguished. With the Supreme Deity's weak soul, he wouldn't have lasted this long. But faith power is special, and even though he had already drained his believers, some still continued to believe in him, giving him just a bit more time.
As for why some of the believers kept their faith despite the excruciating pain, it was likely because they thought the pain was punishment for betraying the Supreme Deity. After all, the Supreme Deity had punished so many before, leaving them with an indelible fear.
But with the Supreme Deity's death, these believers gradually began to forget about worshiping him. Since the Supreme Deity hadn't been around long enough to establish temples or other structures, otherwise, entire rows of temples would have been torn down.
"It's over. I hope you all stop believing in anyone and live your lives in peace." After eliminating the Supreme Deity, Clark sighed in relief, gazing at the ordinary people who once believed in the god.
Clark thought it was over, but was it really? Clearly not.
While the Supreme Deity was gone, the images he projected in the sky had been seen by far too many. This place may have been the Supreme Deity's domain, but it wasn't isolated. There was communication and the internet. With the help of the internet, the video footage spread rapidly.
Even though the first part of the video showed Clark fighting the Supreme Deity without raising much concern, the later footage, showing Clark killing ordinary people, caused an uproar. After all, viewers couldn't understand that Clark was eliminating the Supreme Deity, who had taken over his followers' bodies. They only saw Clark repeatedly killing defenseless, seemingly harmless people.
This was exactly the situation the Supreme Deity had hoped for. With some malicious individuals fanning the flames, the footage spread even more widely. Not even Jarvis could completely suppress it.
The situation was made worse by the absence of audio in the footage. Until someone publicly shared Clark's warnings, even those who sided with him didn't know how to defend his actions.
"What a golden opportunity! Superman, I never thought you'd put on such a show. It looks like you're destined to fall from grace." In a secret underground base, Lex Luthor smirked as he typed on his keyboard, interfering with Jarvis's attempts to block the footage. Clearly, he wasn't the only one involved.
"Then again, you're just the last remnant of the Kryptonians, a small-town boy who didn't even finish school properly. You're not much different from your brute of a brother who only knows how to fight. How can you possibly play the role of humanity's savior for long?"
"You've given me an opportunity, so now it's time to slowly unveil my plan. I'll start by tearing away your false godhood bit by bit in front of the world, and then, using your weakness, I'll send you down the same path as all the gods before you. This world doesn't need gods!"
"Master, do you believe the rumors on the internet?" Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Alfred hesitated before asking Batman, who was typing on his computer.
"Honestly? No, I don't." Batman slowly shook his head.
"Then why...?" Alfred asked, confused as to why Batman was looking into the video footage.
"Why am I preventing them from deleting the videos?" Batman sighed. "You've seen it too, Alfred. Whatever the reason, Superman did kill those people. Maybe he had his reasons, but having reasons doesn't justify acting as judge, jury, and executioner."
"I used to think Superman was kind-hearted, someone who wanted to help humanity. But now I'm starting to think that maybe he really does want to be a god on Earth. He's starting to place himself above ordinary people, and maybe he's growing indifferent to human life."
"You and I both know he's just an alien, a small-town boy with immense power, but not much of a scholar. Who's to say his mind won't unravel? And if he loses control, who will stop him? His brother, who cares even less about life and loves fighting even more?"
"Are you planning to go up against Superman?" Alfred asked, sensing where Batman was heading.
"Not yet," Batman replied, his eyes glinting. "Although we know his identity, we can't use his family against him. Besides, they haven't truly crossed the line... yet."
"I just want him to feel some pressure. Remind him that he hasn't and shouldn't place himself above humanity. If we had a way to restrain him, we wouldn't need a god patrolling the world, flying wherever he wants, doing whatever he pleases..."
"You're under too much pressure, sir. These matters outside Gotham aren't really our concern," Alfred said softly.
"If we don't handle it, who will? The authorities don't have the guts or the means. As for the Avengers, they're on the same side..." Batman said. "If Superman officially joined the Avengers, that'd be one thing—we could exert some pressure on the team. But he doesn't even want to follow basic rules..."
Before Batman could finish, an alert went off in the Batcave. Alfred quickly checked another computer.
"Master, there's an unknown mechanical device carrying a strange energy source near the Batcave. It seems to be searching for our location," Alfred reported gravely.
"I'll check it out!" Batman immediately suited up and left the Batcave.
When he saw the mechanical device, Batman froze for a moment. "This... looks like one of those portable robots from the organization?" he thought, before launching an electromagnetic pulse to disable its circuitry and signals. Cautiously, he opened the device.
"A box? Was this sent specifically to me?" Batman furrowed his brow as he inspected the contents.
With a click, the box opened to reveal several irregular green stones glowing with an eerie light—the strange energy source Alfred had mentioned. But that wasn't the most important thing. Inside the lid was a message: "This is a magical stone. It grants no one power and won't harm ordinary people, but it will make a Kryptonian feel like they're back on Krypton. On Krypton, they weren't all-powerful beings; they were ordinary people, just like humans, with no extraordinary abilities. I call these stones Kryptonite."
"Kryptonite?!" Batman's eyes widened as he stared at the glowing green stones, momentarily speechless.
Batman had searched for countless ways to counter Clark and Robert but had found nothing. Yet now, stones
that could turn Superman into an ordinary man had appeared right in front of him, at this critical moment.
"Lex Luthor!" Batman snapped back to reality, a realization dawning on him. "Damn it! That bastard! I told him about Superman and the Saiyan so I wouldn't have to deal with those two myself. Now, it seems, without knowing my real identity, he's given me the Kryptonite to have Batman deal with them. How did I end up bearing this weight again?!"
"Damn it! If I'd known, I wouldn't have played the role of Bruce Wayne! I only took over Gotham and the Wayne Group because it would help with our plans. But I had no idea Bruce Wayne was as messed up as Tony Stark, with a secret superhero identity too..."
"And this Batman persona? It's exhausting to keep up with! His personality is borderline insane, and he knows way too many secrets. I was planning to shift the blame, drain their resources, and weaken them. But somehow, all my schemes have turned back on me!"
"Damn it, my head is spinning from thinking like Batman all the time. Now, with this new mess, I don't think I can keep it up much longer..."
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