HISD Chapter 84: Doomsday vs Homelander
Beyond the mist.
Across the Xinglong Federation, billions of people fixed their eyes on Homelander as he ventured eastward, deeper into the shrouded zone. They awaited the triumphant return of their so-called savior, expecting him to slay the monsters lurking within the fog and emerge as a hero.
Yet within the Eastern District's Supernatural Department, panic spread the moment Homelander declared his mission. Emergency meetings followed one after another.
"Our guardian, the Dragon Maiden, is still trapped in her crystallized state. What if Homelander takes advantage of the situation to strike at her?"
"Homelander… he wouldn't be insane enough to go that far, right?"
"Maybe not. But we can't rule anything out. Whatever he decides, no one here can stop him."
"Then we should consult with Him—the Kunlun Divine Dragon."
Someone hesitated, then asked, "Do you think… Homelander might actually fail inside the mist?"
Silence fell across the room. Finally, someone gave a dismissive laugh. "You're overthinking it. That's Homelander, the guardian of the Western District. Even if he can't resolve the fog crisis, if he wants to protect himself, nothing in there poses a real threat to him."
…
Inside the mist.
Homelander looked utterly battered. His blond hair was charred black, his body covered in wounds. His blue battle suit and flag-draped cape were shredded. No longer the shining hero, he fled desperately from Tianhe City, rushing toward the safety beyond the mist.
Behind him—
Boom!
Buildings collapsed one after another. A massive, gray-white humanoid with jagged bone spurs leapt forward at impossible speed, relentlessly pursuing him, never letting him escape its reach.
Homelander flew as fast as he could, his eyes bloodshot, his chest heaving. He didn't dare slow down for even a second.
He finally understood. The monster chasing him wasn't just strong—it was monstrously, impossibly powerful. A true monster.
Worse yet, it wasn't even awake. It was sleepwalking, wandering aimlessly in some kind of instinct-driven dream state.
No… that was no comfort at all.
If this creature could push him to the brink while asleep, what would happen if it ever woke up?
A shiver ran down Homelander's spine. For the first time since adulthood, he felt something he thought he'd long forgotten—fear.
As he flew, he glanced back—only to see the bone-spurred figure soaring upward, leaping thousands of meters into the air. Its outstretched, gray-white claws nearly reached his back.
It's leaping faster than I can fly?!
Shit!!
Homelander's face twisted with panic. He forced himself higher, cape shredding completely under the monster's swipe. "At least… it can't fly!"
He exhaled in ragged gasps, stopping only when he reached the stratosphere, ten thousand meters above the ground. His handsome face was pale, his chest heaving.
Finally… he thought he had escaped.
Until—
A gray-white figure burst through the cloud layer after him, breaking past ten thousand meters with ease. On its shoulder rested a small car, which it hurled with monstrous force.
The car smashed directly into Homelander, exploding into twisted metal as both he and the wreckage plummeted back to earth.
Crashing down from ten thousand meters, his flight ability only absorbed part of the impact. Even so, he gouged a deep trench into the ground before grinding to a halt.
Before he could rise—
Smack!
A colossal bone hand slapped him like a rag doll, flinging him hundreds of meters away. His face throbbed, his vision spun, and the world roared in his ears.
"You… you dare hit me? You dare hit my face?!"
Staggering from the rubble, Homelander's once perfect face was swollen and bloody. The humiliation cut deeper than the pain.
He was Homelander, guardian of the Western District, the future god of humanity. No one hit him. No one.
Normally, he would have torn off his mask of morality and snapped his opponent's neck without hesitation. That was how the world worked: whoever had the stronger fist ruled.
But now…
The stronger fist wasn't his.
This monster wasn't just hitting his face—it was beating him within an inch of his life. And worst of all, he couldn't even scratch it.
Shame. The deepest shame he had ever felt in his life.
Rage, humiliation, grief—he swallowed them all, rose silently from the rubble, and fled again at top speed.
Run, run, run.
Bloodied and broken, Homelander fled in desperation, narrowly dodging another blast of destructive lightning and another sweep of that crimson-gold annihilation beam.
"I'm Homelander! I will not die here!" he screamed, his trembling voice echoing through the forbidden mist.
He didn't even realize it himself—
He had gone from arrogant declarations of "sweeping aside all monsters"...
To nervously insisting, "Just a quick sweep, then I'll leave."
To desperately hoping, "If I can just beat this sleepwalking monster…"
And finally—
"If I can just survive this monster… if I can escape this mist alive… Mommy!"
His standards fell lower and lower.
Pride? Honor? The heart of a conqueror?
None of it mattered anymore. Against this nightmare that existed only to destroy, survival was the only rule left.
Run! Run! Run!
He scrambled, flew, crashed, clawed his way forward, dodging bone-crushing strikes and annihilation beams, fleeing back toward the mist's edge.
…
He didn't know how he endured. But somehow, staggering and broken, he reached the edge of the fog.
His entire body was wrecked—face swollen and bruised, blood pouring from his mouth, battle suit reduced to tattered rags, skin charred black from repeated blasts. Compared to when he'd entered, he was unrecognizable.
Escape. Hope. So close.
Barely conscious, body screaming in pain, Homelander crawled forward. He could see the light outside the mist, the promise of survival.
Then—
Boom!
The monster's clawed hand slammed into his back, driving him into the ground. Razor-sharp spurs pierced his invulnerable flesh, drawing blood that soaked the earth.
No… not when I'm this close…
"AAAAHHH!!"
With a desperate scream, Homelander burned the last of his strength, surging forward. The claws tore four deep wounds across his back, blood spilling in rivers, but he broke free.
With one final burst, he shot across the boundary and out of the mist.
Behind him.
Doomsday Yi Meng stood frozen at the edge, eyes closed, claws dripping with blood. Motionless, like a statue. Sleepwalking still.
The tiny witch doll hanging from his waist swayed gently in the breeze.
Everything just now had been nothing more than Doomsday Yi Meng's destructive instincts lashing out in his dream state.
His subconscious still held him back, forbidding him from leaving the mist.
But then…
A faint golden glow appeared at the center of Yi Meng's bone-white mask, revealing the hazy outline of a gem.
[Please give powerstones if you're enjoying the story.
500 stones = 1 extra chapter
patreon com/GuessMyName33 for up to 40 chapters ahead]