Chapter 650: Superman's Killing Blow
The Conspiracy of Silence
Diana's words made the two heroes—Clark and J'onn—fall into contemplation. Everything they had witnessed, from the records in the Rock of Eternity to their experiences in the Underworld, pointed to one conclusion: over five thousand years ago, Earth suffered a major catastrophe. That disaster ended the Gods and nearly wiped out humanity. It took centuries for the flame of civilization to reignite.
This was why history books only chronicled the last four thousand years.
Diana continued, "If I'm not mistaken, the Valley of No Return must have been sealed off by the Gods of the Human World."
Clark frowned deeply.
"Are you sure?"
"All the evidence suggests that Humans were the losing side in that war thousands of years ago. Because they lost, they desperately sealed the Valley of No Return to prevent the enemies from crossing into the mortal realm."
The two fell silent, a strong sense of unease rising within them.
If that was true, they might never be able to return to Earth, forced to live out their days in the Underworld.
The thought brought a profound sense of loss.
Diana sighed softly. "Now we can only rely on Luke. We have to hope he can find a way to break the seal on the Valley of No Return."
The Dragon's Defeat
The battle continued with savage intensity. The Eastern Dragon composed of Green Flame constantly bound the Underworld Dragon's body, simultaneously corroding its soul.
The Green Flame burned fiercely, subjecting Avogadro to soul-deep agony every moment.
He grew incredibly feral, attacking the Green Flame Dragon's body like a mad beast.
When the Green Flame was destroyed, it immediately reformed and wrapped around the Underworld Dragon again, relentlessly drilling into its body.
"Damned Human, you've enraged me!"
Avogadro roared furiously, activating his self-destruct mode once more.
Boom!
A powerful blast of Black Flame erupted from his body, vast and sweeping, shaking off all the Green Flame covering him.
Using the temporary reprieve, Avogadro broke free from Luke's entanglement and returned to the sky.
"Human, who exactly are you?"
"What do you think?"
Luke dispersed the Dragon form, flashing into the sky to face Avogadro. Though his body was small, his aura was in no way inferior to his opponent's—in fact, it was stronger and more condensed.
"You came looking for trouble. What's wrong? Seeing you can't win, do you regret it?"
"Nonsense! The great Underworld Dragon is invincible! No one is my match!"
Luke narrowed his eyes. "You still dare to boast? You're courting death!"
He raised his right hand, pointing toward the heavens.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, rapidly expanding. Accompanied by thunder, electric flashes raced through the clouds, numerous and dense, turning the black clouds an eerie pale white.
The pressure from the sky poured down heavily, making the air feel thick and viscous.
Avogadro's face was gloomy. He was in a terrible mood. He had expected to capture the four Humans easily, never realizing his opponent was so powerful. If he had known, he would have prepared more contingency plans.
Unfortunately, there was no turning back now.
He had few options: surrender or fight to the death. Surrender was impossible; as the Underworld Dragon, he had his pride and would never bow to an opponent.
But if he chose to fight to the death... his gaze swept over Clark and the others in the distance, his heart sinking heavily.
Luke wasn't interested in giving him time to think. He pressed his hand down, and lightning plunged from the clouds, striking from all directions.
The light of the thunder illuminated the sky. The streaks of lightning, connecting heaven and earth, were like the whips of an angry God, savagely lashing Avogadro's body and soul, causing him intense pain.
Avogadro roared in agony. He was forced to descend from the sky, folding his wings, desperately resisting the lightning.
Clark, Diana, and J'onn exchanged glances and simultaneously rushed forward.
J'onn used his psychic ability to forcibly dull the Dragon's senses. Diana threw the Lasso of Truth, binding his head. With a forceful pull on the Lasso, she shot forward like an arrow toward his single remaining eye.
Sensing the danger, Avogadro instinctively squeezed his eye shut.
The next second, intense pain shot through him. The proud Underworld Dragon couldn't help but let out a wail of despair.
How could an eyelid block the edge of the Sword of Hephaestus? His eyeball was sliced open. Diana, showing no mercy, opened her right hand, consuming one-tenth of her energy to shove a compressed energy cannon into his skull cavity.
Boom!
A blue shockwave exploded inside his skull. Flesh and blood splattered, the eye socket was nearly blown off, and the impact to his head almost knocked him unconscious.
Clark circled in the air, continuously increasing his speed: Mach 1... Mach 3... Mach 5... Mach 7... faster and faster, until he was an invisible blur, the sonic boom from piercing the air gone entirely.
Speed is power. The Superman at his limit, carrying all his momentum, plunged downward like a sharp sword piercing space, slamming heavily into the ground.
A straight line appeared in the air where he passed—space itself was nearly split in two.
Pfft!
Avogadro's neck vanished. It had been blasted into countless fragments by the "sword" that penetrated it, leaving only the enormous head lying on the ground. A bottomless crater appeared where his neck was, its depth unknown.
Having lost its head, the colossal body stopped struggling and lay motionless.
The Underworld Dragon, the ruler of the Endless Lands, the great King Avogadro, was dead just like that.
Adam collapsed, his expression blank, his eyes hollow.
In his decades of life, he had always believed Avogadro was immortal, never once imagining he would lie so quietly on the ground.
Luke walked up to the corpse and, with a strong tug, pulled out the residual soul hidden inside. The soul was enveloped in black light, which, if he guessed correctly, was the divine power of Death.
Luke curled his lips into a malicious smile.
"Great King, come with me. We have much to discuss."
With that, he rose into the air and flew away. He intended to "reward" the Dragon properly, teaching it what it meant to be unable to live or die.
J'onn circled the dragon corpse. Remembering their earlier troubles, he shook his head and gave a wry smile.
"I can't believe we actually killed a dragon. I always thought dragons were just mythical creatures."
Just then, Clark emerged from the pit, kneeling on one knee, looking unwell.
"Are you okay? You alright?"
Clark waved his hand. "Just a dozen broken bones. I'll need some time to recover, I guess."
That last move was the strongest attack he had ever unleashed, pushing his power, speed, and potential to the absolute limit—almost outside the bounds of physical laws. It was a single blow that destroyed the Underworld Dragon's neck, leaving a thousand-meter-deep circular hole in the ground.
However, such a powerful maneuver inevitably came with side effects.
"Where did Luke go?"
Diana jutted her chin toward the distance. "He took the Dragon's residual soul. He's probably going to 'interrogate' it."
Clark sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at the mountain-sized dragon corpse, and couldn't help but offer a wry smile.
"I can't believe we actually killed a dragon."
"J'onn just said that," Diana replied.
"..."
"What do we do now?"
"I don't know."
Diana sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing anymore. It feels like a dream. Maybe we really are dreaming."
"Yeah, it feels like a dream."
J'onn sincerely echoed the sentiment. The Underworld, Death Gods, dragons, vengeful spirits, powerful ghosts, stitched monsters, and the terrifying tentacles—everything was beyond anything they had ever imagined. It truly felt like a dream.
The question was, when would this dream end?
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