One more in the collection

https://discord.gg/BZ442Rms

-

Nagato felt immense threat coming from the person, whose entire body glowed with purple marks. The true power of the stones unveiled itself before his eyes, not limited by some puny weapon. It was beautiful, yet extremely terrifying.

Nagato glanced at his rear, however, the path of retreat was blocked by this violent energy. Though the man was in insufferable pain, he could control some of the stone's powers. Surprisingly.

'I have nowhere to go.' Nagato thought resentfully, glancing around the surroundings full of this violent force. He promptly took out one rod and pushed it towards the man. Unfortunately, it deflected away without even nearing him.

Nagato frowned.

The least he could do right now was steel his nerves and prepare to defend himself against the upcoming attack, for he knew the enemy was preparing one.

'Is he truly just a mortal? How is he able to hold on to the stone for so long?' Nagato grew impatient, feeling the raw energy brushing past his cheeks. The human was concentrating all the power into one singular attack, preparing a deadly peril to Nagato. This shouldn't be possible in the first place.

Eventually, the enemy extended his hands forward and Nagato beheld a mass of pure power rushing at him. Just the thought of facing something like this made him shiver, however, he kept his cool. Whenever he stayed alive or not solely depended on his abilities.

The power engulfed him, and Nagato immediately felt incredible pain. His clothes diminished into nothingness in an instant as his skin began to shred away piece by piece, forcing blood out of his body.

Nagato embraced himself and activated his powers, absorbing this potent energy inside of him. All of his injuries healed rapidly, then reopened right away. This painful process proceeded for a few instants before Nagato felt his fingers going numb.

His hands were slowly turning into stone, causing his expression to sulk further. The Infinity Stone was filled with the natural energy of the universe itself, meaning that Nagato couldn't absorb much of its power or else he would conclusively turn into a rock.

Immediately, Nagato stopped absorbing the power, once again exposing himself to the danger. The environment was so intense that Nagato couldn't even breathe, and his face burned with heat.

Releasing all the power he has absorbed so far, Nagato used the Almighty Push. He pushed as he has never pushed before, forcing some of the pressure on his body to lessen.

Nagato's mouth opened wide as he roared together with the flow of his powers. The skin on his cheeks continued to rip, however, he paid no heed to the pain.

He just simply continued to push, and push, and push. His goal still hasn't been achieved... he still couldn't let himself die. Not yet. For the sake of the future, he had to live.

-

Gamora never felt like this. It was like the emotions, which accumulated through the years of her life, just rushed out of her. Doubt, sadness, and, most of all, anxiety.

'Why did Quill have to rush into the battle by himself?' Gamora jumped other yet another cliff, running as she has never run before. Quill suddenly flying away wasn't actually that surprising since they had to stop those monsters as soon as possible. It was something Gamora would do herself if she had those Quill's devices.

However, it still felt made her notably angry. What could Quill possibly do against Ronan and that peculiar human? Why couldn't he have just waited till everyone thought of a plan?

Gamora increased her speed. She kept on running, feeling her legs throbbing with pain. Soon, she felt the air around tense visibly, and she heard the sounds of a battle.

'No way...' Gamora stepped over another stone, regarding the unfolding scene happening below. Ronan's dead body, which was penetrated by multiple black rods, immediately drew her attention.

She then glanced to the side, and her mouth opened wide. A cavity of ridiculous deepness extended through the perimeter, and in the middle of it stood that monster. Next to Quill's lifeless body.

Her breathing intensified.

-

Nagato felt his body burn with pain, yet his expression stayed calm. Somehow, but he withstood the force of the stone head-on, though it left him with grave injuries. However, adrenaline rushed through his veins, pushing him onward.

Nagato extended his hand towards Quill, attracting his lifeless body to himself. Surprisingly, the man wasn't even dead, though his entire body was left a cripple. Well, that didn't matter anymore.

"I don't know what kind of creature you are, but you have certainly been dangerous," Nagato said, looming over Quill from above with a rod in his hand.

"Perish." Nagato propelled the rod forth and slit Quill's neck thoroughly. Blood painted the ground, flowing towards the middle of the hole. To Nagato's delight, the stone in Quill's palm was still excluding its absolute power.

Nagato summoned the King of Hell when he suddenly heard a loud yell from the rear. He turned around, only to see a woman approaching at a brisk speed, though she was still quite a distance away. There were tears in her eyes.

Yet, Nagato was more captured by the sight beyond her. The Dark Astern, without the control of Ronan, was conclusively defeated in no time, and now all the Xandar soldiers were departing his way.

There were thousands...perhaps even tens of thousands of them.

Nagato frowned. He could deal with the woman with no problems, however, fighting an entire army wasn't something he could do in his current state.

The King of Hell darted his tongue out and embraced the stone, for Nagato didn't dare to touch it. It held power much more dense than that of the Tesseract.

Then Nagato unwillingly extended his hand towards the Space Stone, grabbing it into his palm. Though using it left him in a pathetic state, it was better than dying in a battle against an ordeal of soldiers.

Immediately, power surged through his arteries. It felt like the world itself opened up to him as thousands, no... millions, of planets appeared in his reach. The Tesseract was surely hiding the Infinity Stone's true power.

Nagato felt himself growing weak, his sentience slowly slipping away. He had used too much of his stamina, and using the Tesseract was adding up to his exhaustion.

"There."

In the end, however, Nagato managed to focus his attention on one particular planet. The one he was familiar with. Just like that, Nagato disappeared from Xandar, leaving nothing but terminal destruction and death behind.