Villain's Rising

-Zhing!

A loud metallic sound rang throughout the world, and a bright flash of light followed.

Two sets of laser beams rained down on the earth, and several of Sam's clones were cut down like a hot knife to butter.

"Kill him! Kill them all!" One of Sam's clones shouted and pointed up in the sky, aiming for Starsuper hovering above their heads.

Starsuper, without a single readable expression on his face, simply looked down on all the clones present there with pure unadulterated hatred.

His frustration was already past beyond any point of reasoning. He lost his best friend in this pointless war. Lightbringer was dead because of Sam.

"Come out, Progenitor!" He roared and shot another pair of lasers from his eyes, severing the heads of several of Sam's remaining clones in an instant.

"Retreat! Starsuper is here! Our work is done! Retre– khuk! Aaah!"

Meanwhile, some heroes who tried to seize this chance and retreat got themselves killed by the clones who managed to survive Starsuper's Heat Vision.

They went ahead and started circling the retreating heroes, crossing off their every escape route.

"Damn it! He has no intention of letting anyone leave alive!" One of the heroes present there murmured.

It was indeed as he said. Sam had instructed his clones to kill everyone they could through his mind link.

"If you're going to get killed, take at least one hero down with you." Those were his orders.

He needed his clones to buy as much time as possible for him to complete analyzing the dragon's corpse.

He knew Starsuper wouldn't be able to use wide-area attacks if the heroes were in his way. So he asked his clones to cut off their retreat and force them to stay on the battlefield for as much time as possible.

And just as he predicted, Starsuper, who was earlier going to throw a shockwave with the force of his punch, stopped upon glancing at the state of the battlefield.

He saw mayhem everywhere. Every Hero present there, middle and lower rank alike, was in a state of utter panic.

Their formations were broken, their hopes shattered, and their spirit was dying as they saw their comrades getting killed one by one in front of their eyes.

-"Do something! Someone!"

-"Starsuper! Save us!"

-"No! Please! I have a daughter- No- Ple- Ahhh! Khaak!"

Powerless against the ongoing onslaught, the not-so-heroic-looking heroes could only wait for the clones to come and get them.

Those who could fly were targeted first. Then those who had some dangerous combat abilities were killed right after. All those remaining right now were heroes with support abilities.

Watching this scene go down in front of him, Starsuper gritted his teeth.

He was no idiot. He knew Sam was buying time by using this cowardly tactic. He was using these heroes who were initially sent here as a reckon squad to find him, as his personal meat shields.

He thought about using Heat Vision to cut down every remaining clone one by one, but that was a problem in itself.

First, there was a chance he would hit an ally in a misfire. Then there was also the matter of time since, by the time he finished eliminating every last remaining clone, there would be no one left to save.

"Starsuper! Do it!" Right then, the very first hero who noticed Sam's intentions yelled Starsuper's name.

The caped superhero looked down in the direction of the person shouting his name.

"Do it! Use Starpunch! We won't survive anyway! If you don't kill us, these clones of the Progenitor will! So do it!"

"....."

When Starsuper heard those words, he was reminded of the reason for which he was fighting this war.

This may not be the planet he was born or raised on. This may not be the race his race that he was fighting so hard to protect. But that didn't matter.

Humanity had an ugly side too. Humans were greedy, selfish, and short-sighted. They drove many species to extinction to gratify their own desires.

That being said, to judge humanity based on just that would be an unreasonable thing to do.

Yes, they were greedy, selfish, and short-sighted, but that was not all. They were also caring, selfless, and visionaries.

So judging only after witnessing their darker side would be an injustice to those who work so hard to make this world a better place.

Remembering the reason he was fighting this war, Starsuper gritted his teeth in a fury. With the reason for his resistance, he was reminded of one more thing.

"There is no justice in the world unless we make it."

Yes, he wasn't going to let the deaths of all those who fell fighting beside him to waste.

And if these heroes are ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of this world, then he won't let their deaths be meaningless either.

He would give justice to all of them and pull the hammer down on Samael Gracefell.

"Let justice be done though the heavens fall!"

Starsuper roared in a fierce voice and pulled back his hand. Clenching his fists, he threw the most powerful punch he could with all the strength he could muster.

-BOOOOOOM!

-BOOOOOOM!

-BOOOOOOM!

Not once or twice, but thrice! By merely swinging his arm and throwing a punch, Starsuper managed to break the sound barrier thrice!

The massive shockwave pulverized everything that it made contact with.

The snowy surface, Sam's clones, the heroes— everything was reduced to fine particles in a matter of a single second.

Nothing was left.

Although Starsuper did muster all his strength, he held himself back at the very last second.

Had he really used all his strength, the entirety of the north pole would've reduced to nothing— affecting the Earth's axis.

"You hold this much power, yet you still strive to fight for the world that isn't yours? Why not conquer this planet yourself?"

Right at that moment, Starsuper, who was still hovering in the sky, heard a voice from behind.

Of course, he had already sensed the presence of a person approaching him beforehand, so he was not caught off-guard.

He slowly turned around and faced the person who dared challenge him head-on.

"You know what they say. I had to be a Hero since I would've been unstoppable as a villain." Starsuper replied with a smile on his face.

Although his face was smiling, his eyes were full of spite and wrath.

He instantly recognized the person before him. This person was responsible for injuring Lightbringer. He was the one who severed his leg.

Yes, he was Lucas. His light red hair fluttered as the winds of the sky brushed past him. His body was constantly elegantly hovering in one spot as if gravity was suspended for him.

"I knew letting you go was a mistake," Starsuper commented. "Good thing I own up to my mistakes and fix them."

"Dude, your dialogues are always crazy!" Lucas, ignoring Starsuper's indirect threat, grinned. "Do you rehearse them or make them up on the spot?"

"Stop playing, Lucas. Tell me where the Progenitor is… or else."

"Eh, no can do, pal. You see, when Sire turned me into a demon, he also programmed my brain to be loyal to him. So I can't betray him, you see."

"Fine then, you shall face justice along with him."