Chapter 56 Blame Myself for Not Knowing How to Fly

The scene shifts.

David grabbed Peter by both shoulders, swung him around in the air, and slammed him viciously into the ground!

With a dull thud, the ground instantly fractured into spiderweb-like cracks.

Immediately following this, David glanced at the dazed Peter and exerted force through his hands once again!

*Whoosh!*

Peter's body seemed to transform into a black streak, rolling and plowing a deep, elongated trench across the earth until he smashed apart an electrical tower. Amidst flying and sputtering electrical sparks, his retreating figure finally came to a grinding halt.

Even though his body possessed superhuman durability, harder than steel, he still felt every single fiber of his being sending waves of burning pain to his brain!

Taking a deep breath, he staggered to his feet, his gaze locked fixedly onto David, whose eyes glowed with an eerie purple light.

With a sonic boom, David materialized right in front of Peter.

"Dad, I'm going to send you to hell!"

David's voice was hoarse and aged, coming from a face covered in deep wrinkles, producing a garbled and eerie sound.

Peter: "?!"

Lying on the ground and extremely weak, the Martian Manhunter caught sight of Peter's bewildered expression and offered an explanation: "Cough, cough... he... he absorbs the memories of those he consumes!"

Hearing this, Peter nodded. Presumably, this creature had absorbed the abilities of both Clark and John, and thus possessed fragments of their memories.

"I don't have an ugly son like you!"

As he spoke, Peter lashed out with a punch, sending the creature flying with tremendous force.

With a deafening crash, David smashed into the ground.

Peter moved at maximum speed toward the power plant, hoisted a car, and hurled it at his foe.

*Boom!*

The vehicle crashed heavily into the earth, and a plume of dust accompanied by an explosion rapidly billowed outward.

The next second, before Peter could even track the creature's whereabouts, David charged at him with a speed more than doubled.

Peter quickly crossed his arms in front of his chest to block, but was nevertheless blasted backward by a single punch.

His defense was utterly shattered by the parasitic monster with irresistible force, sending Peter flying through the air with a massive roar before he landed and rolled continuously.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The objects in the power plant met a grim fate, taking the brunt of the relentless impacts.

Walls and machinery were pulverized by Peter along with the kinetic energy carried by his body.

Finally, his body collided with a flight of stone stairs inside the plant with a thunderous crash.

The stone steps exploded into a shower of flying debris, and dust rapidly filled the air.

Peter lay upon the ruined stairs, breathing slightly in gasps, his entire body wracked with overwhelming and uncontrollable pain.

***

The next moment, David plummeted from the sky like a rocket.

Upon impact, the ground trembled violently under his landing stride.

Just as he prepared to resume his attack on Peter, he suddenly heard a sharp sonic crack rend the air.

The entire space seemed struck by thunder, emitting a muffled roar.

"Raaah!"

Homelander suddenly materialized from the darkness, roaring as he locked his arms around David's chest and surged forward.

Like a charging rocket, everything in their path was cleaved directly in half as the two plowed ahead.

Towering trees were ripped apart by the gale winds, and thick vines were torn into shreds by the violent impact.

With an explosive blast, Homelander drove David crashing straight into a storage warehouse within the power plant.

Amidst a thunderous din, the room, ordinarily used for storing miscellaneous items, began to collapse instantly. Wooden planks and steel structures poured down from midair like a torrential avalanche of mud and debris.

"Crash!"

An enraged Homelander pinned the parasitic monster, preventing it from rising, and unleashed a punch to its face with every ounce of his strength.

"How dare you—"

With his face distorted by fury, Homelander's fist struck near the creature's eyes, sending purple blood spraying outward.

"—hurt—"

Another punch slammed into the creature's jaw, drawing a miserable shriek of agony from the parasite.

"—my dad!"

"Bang!"

The final punch utilized almost the entirety of Homelander's remaining strength, battering the creature's facial flesh into a bloody pulp.

Enraged, David flipped over, pinning Homelander beneath him.

His massive palm pressed down on Homelander's head, forcing it into the dirt, and began draining Homelander's energy.

Even with his head pinned as his life force was being sucked away, Homelander gritted his teeth, strained his neck, and struggled desperately, trying to break free from the hold.

"Aaaah!"

Accompanied by a cry of agony, the red laser beams erupting from Homelander's eyes unleashed intense thermal energy, shooting straight toward his opponent.

*Sizzle!*

The heat vision, capable of burning the air itself, struck squarely across David's face.

Caught off guard, David took the full brunt of the attack, uttered a muffled grunt, and was sent hurtling away at an angle.

On the other side, Peter had already gotten to his feet.

Thanks to the brief respite just moments ago, his stamina had recovered to a certain extent.

Taking advantage of the moment the parasitic monster was knocked back by Homelander's heat vision, Peter rose and moved at lightning speed right before the creature, delivering a devastating punch.

***

The immensely powerful blow drove David deep into a wall, producing a cataclysmic shockwave.

"Boom!"

The wall and glass shattered as if struck by a bomb, echoing with a thunderous roar that buried the parasitic monster within the wreckage.

Breathing heavily, Peter looked toward Homelander, who looked equally battered.

"John, get out of here, right now."

Disregarding the need to puzzle over why Homelander had shown up, Peter urged him to leave immediately.

The worst-case scenario now was for him to go down alongside the Martian Manhunter.

There was no need for John to throw his life away for nothing.

Though his personality could be quite scummy at times, the affection he felt for the son he had raised for seven years was entirely genuine.

"No! Dad! I'm not leaving!"

Homelander wiped the dirt from his face, gasping for breath as he spoke with stubborn defiance. "I said it before, if necessary, I can sacrifice myself for you, Dad. You said it yourself, a man's promise must always be kept."

Young though he was, Homelander understood that Peter was trying to make him leave so that Peter could sacrifice himself.

He held no fear of death.

After all, everyone's life clock would eventually toll its alarm.

What he feared most was his father's clock stopping before his own.

"No one is sacrificing themselves, and no one asked you to sacrifice yourself for anyone, John. Are you going to disobey me now?"

Before Peter's voice had even faded, a thunderous explosion rang out as the parasitic monster burst through the buried ruins, lunging forward to grab him by the shoulders.

Peter immediately counter-attacked, seizing the creature by the throat.

Just as he prepared to exert his strength, a sudden wave of weakness washed over him, and a paralyzing sense of fatigue instantly engulfed his body.

"Fuck!"

Dropping an oath, Peter was dragged straight up into the sky by the shoulders as the parasitic monster carried him aloft.

"Dad!"

Homelander stared in shock as the parasite and Peter soared high into the air.

He reached out an arm, desperately wanting to catch them, completely forgetting the simple fact that he could not fly.

Filled with bitter and agonizing regret, Homelander slapped himself hard across the face.

He cursed himself for never having learned how to fly...