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The island held its breath.
The air itself darkened, Arthur pushed himself up, the violet in his eyes flared, a cold light, he drew in a long, steady breath. Around him, distant figures on the shoreline had stopped running; they watched with the stunned, stupid awe of people who had never imagined their quiet day would unfold like this.
"Arise."
The single word rolled out, and the world seemed to obey.
Shadow bled from Arthur's boots like ink into water, spreading and thickening until the corpse no longer looked like a body. The dark spilled up and through the wound where Arthur's blade had entered, stitching light and shadow together. A great shadow started to form then folded inward and re-shaped itself into something new.
From the smoking husk a figure rose.
It was H'El in shadow, only not H'El in the way anyone had known him. Where skin had been, smoke and shadow traced a likeness; long hair hung like drifting dark smoke, the old scars burned in violet. The shape that stood was tall, rigid, and very much alive, the same stillness, the same aura that H'El exuded.
For a moment the Shadow simply knelt, head bowed, shadow pooling beneath it like a halo gone black.
"My King," it said. The voice was H'El's familiar, grave but threaded now with a new resonance: hollow and full at once, a voice made of both memory and command. Its violet eyes snapped up to Arthur's.
Arthur's smile was small and satisfied, the expression of a man who'd expected the exact result and enjoyed the proof. He stepped forward, boots sinking into wet sand.
"A marshal off the bat," Arthur said, amused and clinical both. He looked the thing over as if appraising a newly disciplined soldier. "You rival Doom in terms of strength."
The shadow's chest rose faintly. It held itself like a soldier; it held its voice. "I am your servant," it said simply.
Arthur nodded once. "You'll be called H'El, no reason to change it really." He flicked a casual gesture with his hand and the System announced the decree in his mind:
[Marshal H'El].
Arthur's eyes drifted to the ruined body beside them. Beneath the new shadow soldier, the original corpse lay half-consumed by shadow and sun-scorch. The old instinct crept up in him, an animal part that had seen what the living could do with dead Kryptonians and did not trust it. He crouched, fingertips just brushing the air above the corpse as if he could sense its residual charge through skin and sand.
"I don't trust Kryptonian corpses," he murmured, not to the shadow-marshal but to himself. The warning sat heavy in his mind; history was full of bodies that did more harm than the living. "They can be turned into engines, weapons, horrors. Especially this one, even though Lex is dead, someone might do something."
The new H'El looked at him no hesitation, only the steady, obedient alignment that Arthur insisted upon. Arthur folded his arms, the violet light deepening in his gaze. He spoke with the casual cruelty of men issuing orders to an army.
"Your first task," he said, "is to take this corpse and see that it is utterly destroyed. Preferably by fire sufficient to unmake it throw it into a red sun. A black hole will do as well. There's no third option. Make sure nothing of it survives."
For a beat the island was very small: wind, gull, the far scream of sirens. The shadow-marshal rose easily, he then bowed, slow and formal. "I will see it done."
Then he picked the corpse up as if it were a sack, as if holding the ruined body that had been himself meant nothing. People on the beach shrank back, some crying out; a few pulled phones up, trembling hands framing a moment they would fail to explain later. The shadow moved like a missile of midnight and violet: first a hop, then a surge, then a streak until it became only a smear across the sky.
Arthur watched it climb higher, faster until the figure left the atmosphere and was only a pinprick against the glare.
He remained where he stood, cloak whipping, eyes slowly dimming to a simmering glow. He did not look relieved so much as satisfied, pragmatic one fewer variable in the world now disposed of.
Then, it came that familiar sound.
Ding.
A faint vibration rippled through the air as the System's voice echoed in his mind, clean and mechanical, yet strangely alive.
[You have slain: H'El - Kryptonian anomaly.]
[You have leveled up!]
[Reward Unlocked: Passive Ability - Enhanced Vision.]
Arthur blinked as a flood of information burned through his mind like white fire. The world sharpened. Every ray of light fractured into layers, every detail magnified beyond human comprehension. His eyes glowed faintly violet for a moment as the data crystallized within him.
[Enhanced Vision]
[ Description: The eyes of a Kryptonian, evolved beyond biological limitation.
Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Perceive and identify any wavelength within the electromagnetic field, from radio to gamma. Track communication frequencies, radar sweeps, and transmission signals. Evade detection from any scanning or surveillance system. Sense the aura, the living energy signature, of all living beings.
Telescopic Vision: Focus across miles, perceiving distant objects with perfect clarity without distortion.
X-Ray Vision: Observe through any volume of matter except lead, layer by layer, revealing mechanisms or hidden structures beneath.
Microscopic Vision: can see extremely small objects and structures invisible to the human eye.
Infrared Vision: Can see in darkness and in total darkness. ]
Arthur's lips curled into a grin as the glow faded. "So I basically got his eye powers…" he muttered, the faintest amusement in his tone. "Just Kryptonian vision, except a bit more enhanced."
The System chimed faintly in response, as if proud of itself.
"Yeah," Arthur exhaled, "I'll take it."
He stood there for a moment, gazing up at the sky, when he heard voices tiny, excited voices.
"Hey, that's him!"
He turned. A group of kids, maybe six or seven, stood a short distance away, eyes wide with awe. One of them pointed at him.
"I saw him online! That's the guy who fights with those black ghosts!"
Another one grinned, holding up a phone. "He's so cool!"
Arthur blinked, realizing just how visible he'd been. A quick glance around confirmed it—people, hiding behind half-collapsed structures from his impact with H'El, phones out, recording. His face twitched slightly.
"...Shit," he muttered under his breath. "I forgot I'm around people."
He tried to think of something to say to the kids, something heroic, maybe reassuring but words didn't come. He'd just fought a Kryptonian god-clone; his voice still felt carved from exhaustion.
Before he could speak, their mother rushed in, pulling the kids back with wide, panicked eyes. "Sweethearts, let's go..come on!"
The kids waved at him as they were dragged away, smiling like they'd just met a celebrity.
Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling softly. "At least the kids are not afraid of me…"
Then the wind shifted. The air pressure dropped.
He looked up. Two streaks cut through the sky one gold and blue, the other red and blue descending fast. The light of their capes flared as they landed with force that cracked the frost beneath their boots.
"Kara," Arthur said quietly, relief breaking through his guarded calm.
She was the first to move. Her eyes were wide, She didn't hesitate as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Arthur!"
He froze for half a second, then exhaled and returned the embrace, feeling the faint tremor in her shoulders.
Superman stood a few paces behind, his expression unreadable at first. His cape fluttered in the wind, eyes flicking to the blood stain on the ground. "You killed him," he said finally. Not accusation just fact.
Arthur met his gaze. "I didn't have a choice. You saw what he was."
Clark nodded slowly. His eyes softened. "I did." He looked at the cracked ground around them, the faint violet residue that shimmered faintly. "You saved a lot of lives today."
Kara pulled back, still holding onto his sleeve, eyes searching his face. "Try not to take all the glory by fighting alone next time, you could die you know."
Arthur smiled faintly. "Wouldn't be the first time someone tried."
She hit his chest lightly, half scolding, half relieved. "Don't joke about that."
Arthur glanced at her, the corner of his mouth tilting upward. "Then stop worrying like I'm made of glass, you know what I can do."
Superman's brow furrowed, but there was a trace of a smile. "He's got your stubbornness," he muttered to Kara.
Arthur's gaze shifted skyward, eyes briefly glowing violet again as he tested his new ability seeing through the clouds, through the faint hum of satellites, and even the electromagnetic trails that danced invisibly through the atmosphere. He could see everything.
"Yeah," he murmured, mostly to himself, "definitely worth it."
He turned slightly just a glance toward Kara and suddenly froze.
His enhanced vision flickered without warning, layers of reality peeling back in ways he hadn't meant to. A flash of heat signatures, forms, outlines..
Arthur's eyes widened, and he immediately looked away, cheeks tightening as he forced the vision off. "...Okay," he muttered quickly under his breath, "definitely need to fine-tune that."
Kara blinked, confused. "What?"
"Nothing," Arthur said a little too fast, clearing his throat and keeping his eyes firmly on the horizon
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want