DC: Rise Of The Kryptonian Tyrant

At the entrance, the cold, clean air from the air conditioner filled the space, adding an eerie stillness. All ninety soldiers wore gas masks, breathing carefully to slow their movements as they stood in tense silence. Their eyes were locked on the 20-centimeter-thick composite alloy steel door, the last barrier between them and Bardi.

Slade had divided the soldiers into 18 squads, their positions strategically crisscrossed to cover one another. Hidden traps were carefully set, designed to force Bardi into vulnerable positions as he advanced. The soldiers clutched their weapons tightly, each one bracing for the inevitable clash.

Even with all their preparations, Slade couldn't shake the gnawing sense of doom.

His instincts told him that Bardi was too dangerous.

It wasn't just Bardi's overwhelming physical strength—it was his cold, precise, and ruthless battlefield experience that made Slade feel cornered.

Slade, who had survived countless wars, including the jungles of Vietnam, prided himself on his mastery of combat. He had faced overwhelming odds, taking down entire squads single-handedly, and was considered a near-legendary soldier.

But what Bardi had accomplished was beyond human.

Bardi had eliminated nearly 80 soldiers on the lower floors in just 50 seconds, dodging bullets with terrifying speed and precision. His movements were deliberate, his strikes lethal, and his tactics honed from a lifetime of battle.

By comparison, Slade's own accomplishments felt insignificant. Even when he had wiped out multiple squads in the jungles, he had relied on terrain, traps, and ambush tactics. He had barely managed to survive.

Now, standing before this enemy, Slade's pride as a soldier was overshadowed by grim resolve.

His jaw clenched, his expression hardened, and his sharp eyes glinted with determination. There was no turning back.

Bardi would spare no one.

Slade knew this in his gut, even though he'd barely spoken to him. He could sense Bardi's brutality, his merciless nature.

This fight would end one of two ways: either Bardi would die, or everyone on the negative fourth floor would be slaughtered.

The cold air from the air conditioner swirled in the room, as if the air itself could sense the tension.

Suddenly, a faint metallic clink echoed from the stairwell.

Every soldier froze. The grips on their weapons tightened. The silence was suffocating.

Bardi removed a test tube filled with dark yellow liquid from the pocket of his uniform. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled it at the electronic keypad of the steel door.

The test tube shattered on impact, the glass splintering into shards as the liquid splashed onto the composite alloy steel.

Zzzzzzz…

A corrosive hiss filled the air as the steel began to dissolve, the sharp, acrid stench of oxidation spreading into the stairwell. The metallic smell was overpowering, making Bardi wrinkle his nose in discomfort. His heightened sense of smell picked up every nauseating note of the chemical reaction.

He took a step back, shielding his face with his hand as he watched the door succumb to the powerful corrosive agent.

The steel burned away like paper touched by fire. Bubbles of molten metal formed, dripping like lava as the liquid ate through the composite alloy. In a matter of seconds, the steel had disintegrated, leaving a hole more than 20 centimeters wide. The circuitry within the lock had been completely destroyed.

The sight was both shocking and awe-inspiring.

Smoke curled from the edges of the corroded hole, the stench of oxidation thick in the air. Through the gap, Bardi's enhanced vision easily picked out the soldiers waiting beyond the door.

They were fully armed, dressed in tactical gear, and equipped with gas masks. Their weapons were raised, ready to fire.

Without hesitation, Bardi raised his M16 automatic rifle and fired two bursts through the opening.

The bullets tore through the air with supersonic speed, leaving visible sonic boom trails in Bardi's sharp vision. They found their marks instantly, striking two soldiers in the head. Blood and bone exploded outward as their helmets provided no protection.

The soldiers dropped like stones.

"N16!"

Slade's sharp voice barked over the comms, a split second too late. The soldiers on the other side of the door hadn't stood a chance. Bardi's reaction time was faster than any human's, and no one could match the speed of a bullet.

Slade's face darkened as he saw the two soldiers fall. His narrowed eyes gleamed with a mix of rage and grim understanding.

An RPG missile was launched toward the hole in the steel door, its tail flames trailing black smoke through the air. The intent was clear, Bardi wasn't going to be allowed to step through without a fight.

Even before seeing it, Bardi's enhanced hearing picked up the missile's trajectory. The portable RPG wasn't particularly fast, and as expected, it appeared at the edge of the corroded opening.

Boom!

Bardi, his expression indifferent, raised the M16 automatic rifle in his hand and casually fired.

Pong!

The missile didn't explode into flames and a heatwave as one might expect. Instead, the shot intercepted it mid-air, puncturing its casing and triggering its internal release.

The broken missile spewed a sickly green mist that quickly began spreading toward Bardi's feet. He frowned slightly, his wariness growing. He didn't know how the gas would affect him.

As the green mist crept up the stairs, Bardi recalled the corroded hole he had made earlier. Through it, he had seen a soldier wearing a gas mask, but his hands had been exposed. That was all the confirmation he needed, the gas required skin contact to work.

It wasn't enough to simply inhale it.

Bardi's thoughts shifted. He had more than enough lung capacity to hold his breath for over half an hour. That would suffice.

Reaching behind him, he pulled two smoke grenades from his belt and hurled them through the corroded hole, the pins clinking against the steel.

By the time the green mist reached his boots, Bardi had already braced himself. With one powerful step, he launched himself forward, his feet denting the rubber-coated floor with the force of his leap.

Boom!

The sound of impact reverberated as the nearly ten-ton steel door was kicked askew. The force of Bardi's blow sent shockwaves through the air, disturbing the poisonous gas and thick smoke from the grenades, making them swirl chaotically.

Amid the distorted fog and the sharp screech of twisting steel, a towering figure emerged.

Bardi's powerful frame rose out of the haze, his presence commanding and overwhelming. In the eerie stillness, he seemed like a spirit of vengeance, a force of destruction that could not be stopped. His aura alone was enough to unsettle even the most hardened soldiers.

"R8!"

Slade's voice snapped out like a whip, issuing the command for their contingency plan. This was the moment he had been preparing for, his strategy for taking down Bardi coming to life.

As the words left his mouth, Slade instinctively dove to the side.

Bang!

A bullet whizzed past him, so close it grazed his cheek, leaving a thin red line of blood. It had been fired with deadly precision, aimed directly at his head.

If he had moved even a second slower, the shot would have killed him.

Cold sweat ran down Slade's back as his pupils contracted. Watching Bardi fight on the first floor had already given him the sense that the alien could locate targets by sound. But now he truly understood just how deadly accurate Bardi's senses were.

Bardi himself was surprised that Slade had dodged the shot. Few humans could evade an attack like that, especially under these conditions. Slade's combat instincts were sharper than Bardi had expected.

Yet Bardi didn't have time to dwell on it. He adjusted his aim to fire again, but before he could pull the trigger, dozens of thick-barreled cannons appeared in the soldiers' hands, aimed directly at him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The cannons roared, launching massive metal nets into the air.

The nets spread out like a deadly web, filling the space above and around Bardi. The soldiers had coordinated perfectly, creating a 360-degree attack that left no room for escape. The steel wires gleamed as they descended, trapping him from all angles.

Bardi's super hearing kicked in, and he immediately sensed the trap closing around him. His mind calculated the positions of the nets in an instant, his eyes flickering as he assessed his options.

With a burst of speed, he moved toward the area where the nets were less dense, creating a whirlwind of smoke as he dashed forward.

When the first net came close, Bardi grabbed it mid-air, his powerful hands gripping the steel mesh. With a single motion, he rolled the net upward like a sheet of fabric, flinging it aside.

But as he did, his expression suddenly shifted.

Electric currents surged through the metal net, blue arcs of energy crackling as they coursed through the wires.

The moment his hands made contact, the electricity flowed into Bardi's body, paralyzing his muscles and making his movements sluggish.

Slade, who had just hit the ground from his dive, turned to see Bardi entangled in the electrified net. His eyes widened with triumph, and he roared his command.

"Fire!"