Chapter 23: Slaying Demons, Summoning Shima Jiro

Carl had killed Shima Jiro. Even in his final moments, when Shima Jiro erupted with astonishing power, he still wasn't Carl's match. Carl wielded the Silver Superman Template. His heat vision could melt and vaporize almost any substance. And not the watered-down version of heat vision from the movies, This was the true, apocalyptic kind. So, Shima Jiro was obliterated in an instant. After all, he had raised his sword against Carl. That made him Carl's enemy. And when facing an enemy? There was nothing to discuss. Just end them. Yet, because Carl possessed telepathy, He had known Shima Jiro's every thought. He'd understood his story, his motives, his history. In his past life, Carl had once played as this hero. He'd even trained hard with him in the game. But he never knew... Shima Jiro carried such a heavy past. Even so, if given another chance, Carl would still choose to kill him. No hesitation. No regrets. But it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. At that moment, the Wall Guard soldiers who'd been flung back by Shima Jiro's final burst of energy rose shakily to their feet. But what they saw Was Shima Jiro's figure, vanishing within the red radiance. There was no need to ask. Carl had slain him. One by one, the Wall Guard soldiers drew their weapons. To be fair, They had seen what happened. They knew, deep down, that Shima Jiro really was a traitor. And yet Despite knowing that... Their loyalty and brotherhood wouldn't let them abandon him. They had fought side by side. They had bled together. Even if he was a traitor, the fact remained: Shima Jiro had been their comrade. Seeing him killed by Carl didn't sit well with any of them. Just then 『Su Lie』: Stand down! The troops looked at one another But none lowered their weapons. Carl was still feeling unsettled. But he wasn't the kind to lash out over emotion. He could kill, but he would never do so out of spite. Carl used his enhanced vision to scan the area. Roughly fifty kilometers away, he detected another city Under siege by demonspawn. Without saying another word, Carl ignored the tense soldiers And rocketed into the sky. In a flash, he vanished. For a long time, The Wall Guard simply stared at the empty sky, speechless. At nearly the same moment, Carl arrived in the besieged city. The defenders were struggling to hold the line. The battle was brutal. Many of the human soldiers were already wounded and forced into retreat. After all, Not everyone was a seasoned warrior like Su Lie. Still bitter over what had happened with Shima Jiro, Carl wanted to vent. But this time, he didn't even use his heat vision. With a flicker of motion, He appeared before a hulking demon, several meters tall. The beast was just about to shove a screaming soldier into its maw When Carl's fist crashed forward. BOOM! The demon exploded into a cloud of gore. Chunks of flesh and bone rained down like confetti. Then, Carl's figure streaked across the battlefield. One punch per monster. Each strike obliterated its target. In just the span of a breath, Every demon in the city had been annihilated. There had been hundreds of them. In fact, There were even more than the ones that had attacked Guan City earlier. The human forces had been desperately fighting for their lives, And suddenly, everything stopped. The fearsome tide of demons had vanished without a trace. In the distance, hovering above the battlefield Was a man in strange armor. The soldiers gawked in disbelief, Then erupted into cheers. 『Soldier A』: The demons! They're gone! 『Soldier B』: Look at the blood and guts on the ground, is that them? 『Soldier C』: It... it has to be! 『Soldier D』: Wait, you're saying they weren't just driven off? 『Soldier E』: They were wiped out completely? 『Soldier F』: That's right! 『Soldier G』: But... how? How did they die? 『Soldier H』: Don't know, but a massacre like this? Who cares! They're dead! 『Soldier I』: Praise the heavens! They had been on the verge of total collapse. Now, the enemy was gone. Of course they were overjoyed. 『Old Commander』: Who are you? He was an elderly commander with snow-white hair. Perhaps a general, or the city's lord. Carl's reply was calm: 『Carl』: I am the God of Mankind. 『Old Commander』: ...God of Mankind? The old man repeated instinctively, the odd title catching him off guard. He looked up at Carl, respectfully. 『Old Commander』: Were you the one who destroyed the demonspawn in our city? He didn't know what exactly had happened, But the sudden appearance of this man... And the vanishing of the enemy... It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Carl didn't answer. Instead, He suddenly felt something stir within him. A new ability awakening. He closed his eyes in concentration. And then, His gaze sharpened. In the space before him, a figure began to materialize. A man with blood-red hair, wielding a jet-black blade. His body was marked with glowing sigils. It was Shima Jiro. Freshly dead, now reborn. 『Shima Jiro』: Master. He bowed low. Carl nodded slightly. He'd felt uneasy after killing Shima Jiro earlier. Not regret, but something that hadn't sat right. So he'd taken it out on the demons. But then This new power awakened. The power to command souls. Carl could now summon the souls of the dead And reforge them into bodies made of soul energy. They would look and behave no differently from their living selves. They would follow Carl's will as their master. When left without orders, they would act as they did in life. If they were killed again, Carl could simply summon them once more. This power wasn't part of the original Silver Superman Template he had acquired from his system. It had only just emerged. Carl stared at Shima Jiro, deep in thought. Perhaps it made sense. The Silver Age Superman had so many enemies, Many of whom were absurdly powerful. So the comics kept giving Superman new powers to deal with them. Now that Carl had the Silver Superman template himself... He was evolving too. 『Carl』: Not bad. 『Carl』: In that case... let's go one step further. 『Carl』: Give me the ability to travel between worlds. He made the request internally. But nothing happened. Was the power unreliable? Or... intermittent? Seconds later, Carl suddenly raised his hand. Before him, space began to ripple and distort. Without hesitation, he stepped inside. And the next moment, Carl stood inside his own home. 『Carl』: ...My house? He blinked, then activated his enhanced vision. In an instant, he located Sky, peacefully asleep nearby. 『Carl』: So it's true... I can travel between worlds now. Carl nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't used the chat group's teleportation feature this time, He had returned using his own ability. 『Carl』: Silver Superman really is incredible. 『Carl』: Whatever power I imagine, I get. He chuckled lightly to himself. Then he stepped back into the King's Realm. Before him stood Shima Jiro once more. Carl looked him over. 『Carl』: You'll stay here in this world. Do as you wish. 『Shima Jiro』: Yes. He bowed and turned to leave. Carl watched him go. Through his enhanced vision, He saw Shima Jiro sprinting westward Toward the very direction where the Wall Guard resided.