Clark's eyes showed a complex look.
"You are my younger brother; I don't want to stop you! Sometimes, I would attribute it to your immaturity and personality issues, and I could tolerate those. The Owl Council was like that, and the homecoming dance was like that; I was willing to compromise with you because you are my brother."
Hearing Clark say this, Eric scoffed, a mocking smile on his face.
"Perhaps what you said is very true, Clark; I believe you would do such a thing. But that's even more pathetic, because it means your bottom line is quite flexible, which is not a thought you, who considers yourself the savior of this world, can possess."
Eric said, slowly rising from the bottom of the pit into the air.
"By the way, let me tell you a fact, Clark, if I wanted to, I could subdue you instantly!"
The next moment, with a "whoosh," Eric instantly teleported in front of Clark again.
Clark, the moment Eric instantly moved in front of him, used his hand to block the punch coming towards him.
But Eric's punch was not aimed at Clark's heart.
It was a feint; after getting close, his right hand immediately shifted.
He shifted the focus of his attack to Clark's lower body.
Eric's fist, like a locomotive, struck Clark's stomach.
Clark had intended to block, but unexpectedly, a beam of light instantly struck him from behind.
The beam, carrying strong lethality and power, hit Clark's back, causing him a sudden sharp pain in his back.
He had intended to react, but Eric's fist had already struck his lower abdomen.
With a loud bang!
The airflow instantly spread in all directions, and the powerful air current stirred up the dirt on the ground, which then fell down like heavy rain.
It was like a downpour of mud.
Clark was hit hard, his body forming a 'く' shape, and his arms dropped from his face as pain surged over him like a tide.
He finally understood what it felt like to have "pain pierce the bone" as described in books!
It was like the agony of those people he saw being dissected and screaming on TV when he was a child; he must be feeling the same pain as them now.
Though he wouldn't scream out in pain.
"You're wrong, Clark, if you hold firm beliefs, that's still not enough, because you haven't thoroughly prepared to fight me! This is you, Clark, naive and childish, you never know what battle truly is."
Eric delivered another punch to Clark's unprotected face.
A cracking sound once again swept through the entire crater, and Clark was sent flying like a baseball.
His body plowed a deep trench until he finally stopped upon hitting a wall.
Eric retrieved the Cosmic Scepter that had ambushed Clark from behind, his expression cold as he watched the extremely disheveled Clark, who was clutching his lower abdomen and gasping for breath.
Yes, Clark had become even stronger!
After flying out of Gotham City Hall, Clark, who had shouted about having conviction, didn't just experience a momentary burst of power; he had indeed become stronger.
The moment Clark lunged at him and threw a punch, Eric confirmed this fact based on the opponent's reaction speed and aura.
Just by Clark having an epiphany, just by him "really wanting to become stronger," his superpowers became infinitely close to his own.
Compared to his own struggles and hard work to gain such abilities, like a cheat.
Clark, merely by being beaten by him, gained an explosive increase in power.
Compared to himself, it seemed Clark was the one who was actually cheating.
Indeed, "transmigrators" can never compare to "Children of Destiny."
However,
Eric shook his head and turned his gaze to Clark.
He knew very well that Clark, as the "Idealistic Superman," possessed extremely high upper and lower limits.
His upper limit allowed him, even when almost completely exhausted, to overcome numerous difficulties through sheer willpower, shatter the multiverse with a single punch, and defeat the creators of the Sixth-Dimensional God Realm. This feat was almost purely idealistic and best exemplified his "Idealistic Superman" nature.
His lower limit was demonstrated when Clark had entered Kandor City multiple times and was knocked unconscious by two criminals from Kandor City with a single rifle butt to the back.
Sometimes, subduing Clark was that simple, and this was one example of his extremely low lower limit.
Combat is never a simple comparison of numerical values; otherwise, Vegeta wouldn't have been beaten by Goku, and the invincible Frieza wouldn't have been defeated.
So even if Clark was the legendary "Idealistic Superman," and even if he broke through in this battle, Eric was still confident he could defeat Clark.
Beyond physical strength, battle is more importantly a game of various related factors.
If one possesses great physical strength but lacks the corresponding mental fortitude, or doesn't have the resolve to use any means necessary, they will be exploited.
The current Clark clearly didn't have the same resolve as Eric to "use every means to eliminate the opponent."
Or rather, it was clear he wasn't as ruthless and "shameless" as Eric.
Although he had conviction, he still didn't treat Eric as an enemy.
Batman was right; Superman had two weaknesses, and he could never overcome them.
"Goodness" and kryptonite, these two weaknesses were things he could never eliminate.
Eric walked towards him step by step, "You say you have conviction, but how fragile and naive this conviction is. Holding a belief in victory, or that ridiculous sense of responsibility and love, this spiritual power won't transform you into another person; you are still you, Clark!"
While physically attacking Clark, Eric also launched a psychological assault.
"Look at the path you've chosen. Let me tell you, it's a regrettable and pathetic path. You'll become a so-called savior, but what you lose will be far more than what you gain!"
Eric walked up to Clark, who was half-lying on the ground, and said coldly, "You lost your wife, Louise, and the child in her womb; she and Metropolis turned to ashes together. You lost Alicia; hesitation and suspicion made you dare not and would not acknowledge her love. You lost Lana and Jonathan because you only saw the poverty and chaos at the bottom, but couldn't see the source of everything, couldn't see who the real culprit was."
"You will become crazier than anyone else; you cannot bear loss. You will walk a path opposite to what you hoped for—tyranny and terror. You will become your opposite."
"This is your future path; my eyes see it very clearly. You saved countless people, yet couldn't even protect those closest to you."
Eric recounted all the "Bad" endings of Clark that he had learned about in his previous life.
Real and false information were mixed together, making it impossible for Clark to distinguish whether what Eric was saying was true or false.
Clark, with red eyes, slowly stood up from the ground, "This is not the future; this is just the outcome you've imagined. I absolutely refuse to acknowledge such a future!"
"So, you still think I'm wrong, a villain who should be stopped? You still choose to oppose me?"
Eric asked him with a frown.
"Yes, I will definitely bring you back to the right path!"
Hearing Clark say this, Eric couldn't be bothered to waste any more words with him.
He instantly activated "Teleportation," moving to Clark's right side, raised his fist, and slammed it into his right cheek with a thud.
Clark was currently under a mental DEBUFF, his body reacting extremely slowly, unable to dodge, and he took the full force of the punch.
The power of the punch erupted instantly, and Clark felt as if his face had been hit head-on by a large truck.
With a booming explosion, Clark's head smashed into the stone wall.
The wall cracked with a "crunch," a large hole created by his head, and shattered stones burst out like explosives.
Clark's face was covered in stone fragments, his eye socket was bruised, looking very disheveled.
"You never want to see the truth of this world, nor are you willing to see the truth of this world. You believe everything your father said is truth, you hold it as a guiding principle, but you never actively think. You are willing to believe in reason, but which is more important, reason or emotion?! You say you want to protect your family, but this protection is just an illusory lie!"
Eric grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and punched him in the jaw!
Although Clark instinctively raised his arm to block this punch, he was still sent flying sideways.
He slammed violently into a large tree!
The large tree broke in the middle, emitting a groaning "crack."
Most of Clark's uniform was torn, and the cape on his back was blown away, disappearing somewhere unknown.
The dispirited Clark slowly fell to the ground, his muscles trembling all over, unable to exert the strength he should have.
Eric "teleported" to Clark's side again and grabbed his head.
"You think you are the savior who can save this world now! You will be omnipotent? No, you are just a dangerous child who acts on his own whim, a cold-blooded person who acts purely on preference. You think that with your own strength you can save everything, that you can become the guardian of humanity? Do you think that if you become the guardian of humanity, people will worship you?!"
"No, you will never become the person you want to be! I trusted you so much, yet after losing Father and Lana, you were as calm as an outsider! That was our Father, that was someone for whom we should disregard everything! But you repeatedly acted as if nothing happened, and instead stopped me under the guise of being a saint. Those damned people should be punished; this sick world needs to change!"
"I have always been changing the world in my own way, protecting the people around me! Those who deserve to die and this sick world are destined not to last!"
Boom!
Eric pressed Clark's head, slamming it into the ground with a thud.
The earth seemed to ripple like it was hit by a bomb, expanding outwards in layers.
Clark's entire body was pressed into the broken dirt.
The sudden impact made the two observers—Gordon and Harvey—involuntarily recoil.
Both of them gasped in unison when they saw Clark driven into the mud.
"I think we need to do something, otherwise, Superman is truly finished!"
Harvey put down his cigar, a look of terror on his face, and turned to Gordon.
"What do you think, Gordon?"
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