Marvel’s Superman

"Die!"

Ronan, the Accuser, tightened his grip on the war hammer and lashed out once more.

'Your turn?'

'It's not a turn-based game!'

He just needed to keep adding leverage and deal another lethal blow to his opponent. The scales of victory would inevitably tilt in his favour.

Crack, crack! Crack, crack, crack!

The white bones sounded like toothache inducing, un-oiled, rusty machinery cracking and squeaking.

The broken bones pricked the skin and appeared quite shocking.

Perhaps because of the pain, Zod's expression turned distorted.

He roared, and blazing energy surged forth, coalescing into two points of crimson.

Zi Zi!

His eyes glowed red.

They were like two laser swords sweeping across the arena!

The almighty weapon, which was filled with raging energy, seemed to have been drained.

The dazzling light turned dull and weakly faltered.

Ronan, the Accuser, froze, seemingly unresponsive.

A few seconds passed before he could clearly feel the excruciating, bone-chilling pain transmitted back to his brain.

"Ahhh! My ... hand!"

Along with the Universal Weapon, a beefy arm fell to the ground.

It belonged to Ronan, the Accuser.

"I'm not the one who's going to meet death."

Zod's eyes glowed red as if he were a demon from hell.

His left hand reached out like lightning and tightened around the neck of the Kree's Supreme Accuser, interrupting the screams of pain that echoed through the gladiatorial arena.

Crack!

A crisp sound echoed.

The hard skull of the Kryptonian General smashed into Ronan the Accuser's nose.

Blood flowed out like a faucet with its valve broken off, splattering all over his face.

Five fingers, like iron pincers, squeezed the head of the Supreme Accuser of the Kree with force.

The arm, which was almost ruined, struck the opponent in the jaw.

Boom!

The latter was struck high into the air, like a cannonball in full force.

Zod took a few deep breaths and bent down to pick up the long-handled hammer.

Squinting his eyes, he waited for Ronan to fall.

Then, he swung the Universal Weapon created by the Supreme Intelligence.

Bang!

The supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire looked like he had been struck by a baseball bat, tumbling and flying off into the air.

The tall figure tore through the atmosphere and heavily smashed into the alloy walls of the gladiatorial arena.

The sound was thunderous, and the smoke billowed in all directions.

"Ronan ... fell? The Supreme Accuser has fallen?"

The Kree warriors in the audience were reduced to tears as if they couldn't bring themselves to believe what they were seeing.

The Kree Empire had an extremely fervent military culture, and Ronan, at such a young age, was able to become an Accuser, a member of the Accuser Corps and a member of the Kree aristocracy.

Apart from his noble lineage and family support, these factors were also closely related to his own strength.

But Ronan, who was recognised as the number one warrior in the Kree Empire, had lost!

And what was hardest to accept was that he didn't lose to the Gladiator, the Captain of the Guards of the Shi'ar Empire...

Instead, he suffered the biggest failure in his life at the hands of some unknown guy.

Others were shocked at the result, too.

Only those gambles, who were betting on the unknown guy, cheered loudly and celebrated their victory.

'We won! We won! We finally won something! No more debts!'

"Remember this feeling, Supreme Accuser."

Zod strode forward and approached the seriously injured Ronan.

"You're not a god, you're not invincible, you'll bleed, you'll get hurt, and you'll … know fear!"

The Universal Weapon, shaped like a war hammer, didn't hold back and smashed the head of the Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire.

The Kryptonian General was never about that whole forgiveness and letting go.

For him, the best way to show respect to his opponent...

Was to lay a bunch of flowers at his enemy's grave, nothing more.

A look of fear flashed across Ronan's eyes as his consciousness drifted away.

It was the fear of death that was engraved in every creature's bones.

"Battle over!"

The space battleship hovering above the gladiatorial arena shot down a repulsion beam, just in time to shove Zod out of the way.

The Collector couldn't help wiping the cold sweat off his face; there was no way he was going to let the Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire die in Knowhere.

That would definitely start a new war.

When that happened, the Tivan Group would be the one to suffer.

"Congratulations to the powerful .... unknown warrior for winning the final victory!"

To avoid further complications, Taneleer Tivan was eager to announce the results.

"His Excellency, Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, had wagered the resource planet we had auctioned off, so ..."

Bang!

Another figure landed in the arena.

The red cape, the high collar, the tight combat suit and the rather distinctive Mohawk haircut.

A mountain of applause and cheers broke out like a tidal wave.

Because the man who stepped into the arena...

Was the Captain of the Guards of the Shi'ar Empire.

The one recognised as the most powerful warrior in the galaxy.

Gladiator!

"I remember Ronan saying that this was an open challenge with no restrictions, right?"

Kallark loudly asked.

His eyes were fixed on Zod.

If the winner standing in the arena was Ronan, the Accuser...

Gladiator wouldn't come down in person.

The reason was simple.

In his opinion, the Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire wasn't a true warrior.

Relying on powerful weapons without the determination to fight to the death, what qualifications did he have to fight himself?

This was what Kallark had in mind.

"I don't care about the stakes but am looking forward to the fight."

The Gladiator sincerely said so.

"You can go down to rest and recover from your injuries."

Zod ignored his opponent and silently gripped the trophy he had harvested -- the Universal Weapon shaped like a war hammer, and walked to the audience.

Ronan, the Accuser, belonged to him and Gladiator to Luke, something they had agreed on earlier.

Having said that, the big man with the odd haircut looked strong and worthy of a fight.

But the Kryptonian General was exhausted and had lost all interest.

"I'll answer this challenge."

Luke, who was sitting in the audience, slowly stood up and gave his seat to Zod.

He didn't make a stylish entrance like the Kryptonian General and entered the gladiatorial arena very calmly along the stairway.

The sudden turn of events not only left the Collector and the audience frozen, but even Gladiator himself was a little surprised.

His stern eyes swept over Luke, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

He could even be considered plain compared to Ronan and Zod.

"You ... forget it, I'm not interested."

The Gladiator waved his hand; fighting a warrior as powerful as Zod would be passionate and glorious.

But killing a passer-by in one punch wouldn't give him any sense of accomplishment.

In his view, Luke was the passer-by, with little sense of existence and momentum.

The Captain of the Guards of the Shi'ar Empire had his own pride.

He didn't even have any respect for Ronan, let alone for a guy who came out of nowhere.

"I'm his boss. If you want to fight him, you have to ask for my permission."

Luke gently said so.

He looked at the Gladiator like an old farmer looking at the wheat that he was about to harvest.

As long as he could beat him, he would get a chance to draw a lottery.