"Good! Good! Good!"
Thanos, fuming with rage, repeated the word "good" three times, a sign that the Chitauri could sense today's events were far from good.
A genocidal war seemed unavoidable now.
"I never expected someone in Nidavellir could kill Ebony Maw and dare to declare war on me in such a brazen manner. I want to see who gave them such courage!" Thanos proclaimed as he stood up. "All forces, attack! We're going to Nidavellir!"
"Today, I will turn the renowned dwarven race into a mere footnote in the universe's history!"
With that directive, Sanctuary III sprang into action, crossing through the space wormhole and appearing in the cosmic void not far from Nidavellir.
Nidavellir, I, Thanos, am coming for you!
Ships of various sizes, real mechanical behemoths, and Chitauri motherships surged from Sanctuary III, all hurtling towards Nidavellir. The assault was relentless, an attack not even Odin himself could hope to stop.
Yet, in response to Thanos' overwhelming onslaught, only a single figure emerged from Nidavellir. In the vast cosmos, a lone person seemed insignificant, especially someone who lacked the eye-catching aura of Captain Marvel and was even unnoticed by Thanos aboard Sanctuary III.
Until he made his move.
Suddenly, a familiar purple energy burst among the vanguard of Thanos' forces. In a silent but devastating sweep, the front lines were obliterated, reduced to cosmic dust with no survivors.
This energy was... the Power Stone's energy! No, judging by the strength and range, it was ten times more potent than the Power Stone. Could it be him!?
Before a bewildered Thanos could react, a familiar figure appeared in front of his flagship right after annihilating the vanguard, having teleported there. It was the Prince of Asgard, Clark, the very bane of Thanos' existence, the name Thanos cursed before sleeping each night.
Clark appeared in front of Sanctuary III, silently placed his palm on the center of the ship's bow.
In the next instant, a burst of purple destructive energy erupted from his palm, infiltrating the ship like a thorough massage, permeating every corner silently but invasively.
No good!
Thanos quickly grabbed his reforged oar-blade and stood up to intercept, but it was too late.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
With sharp whistling sounds, the energy that had infiltrated Sanctuary III turned into arrows, mercilessly harvesting the lives of Dark Order soldiers. Chitauri, countless vanguard troops, and even gorilla-like war beasts—all were targets.
However, these energy arrows, while harvesting indiscriminately, steered clear of Thanos himself, focusing merely on cutting down his forces.
As for Thanos, Clark's true form appeared inside Sanctuary III right before him after another teleportation.
"You again?"
Seeing Clark, Thanos felt overwhelmed.
From their last encounter, Clark hadn't seemed so powerful, yet he always took the initiative, leaving a more powerful Thanos beaten and battered. Now, Clark's strength had clearly surpassed his.
Is there even a battle to be had?
Scowling, Thanos growled, "Do you always have to oppose me?"
To Thanos' question, Clark just smirked dismissively, countering with, "The Nine Realms are under my protection, understand?"
Faced with Clark's even more arrogant stance, Thanos moved without further words, closing the distance between them in a step and sweeping his blade towards Clark's midsection.
Thanos' power was comparable to Hela's outside the gates of Asgard's palace. Clark, having refined only one Power Stone at that time, had easily overpowered Hela. Now, having unlocked two more Stones, he hardly considered Thanos a threat.
As Thanos' blade approached, Clark calmly extended his hand, pinching the oar-blade between his fingers and halting it effortlessly.
With the peak power of a singular universe at his disposal, Clark now held an overwhelming advantage over Thanos.
A wave of invisible spatial energy swept them out of the ship into space, thousands of meters away.
Clark casually loosened his grip on the oar-blade and flicked it with his finger.
"Clang!" With a sharp sound, Thanos, along with his blade, was sent flying back hundreds of meters.
Stabilizing himself, Thanos brandished his blade and declared, "You don't think I'm like those weaklings, unable to fight back in vacuum, just waiting for you to slaughter?"
"Of course not," Clark replied calmly, a smile playing on his lips. "I brought you out here just so our fight wouldn't damage my nice spaceship. It would be a shame to break such a fine vessel."
Your spaceship?
And it'd be a shame to break it?
Impression points from Thanos: +66666!
That's clearly my spaceship!
Thanos had always been known as the greatest pirate in the universe, but only today did he realize how unjust this title was in comparison to the seemingly virtuous Prince of Asgard. Next to Clark, Thanos felt like he was just a law-abiding citizen—quite a significant one!
Suppressing his rage and staring at the saintly-looking Clark, Thanos scoffed, "I can't believe how much you've improved in just two years."
Clark simply smiled serenely, "I've been training hard for two and a half years. The hardships I endured are something a troublemaker like you could never understand. Since you're aware of this, prepare to die!"
With that, Clark vanished in a flash, appearing right in front of Thanos and delivering three quick punches.
These punches seemed gentle but were incredibly fast and overwhelming. Thanos tried to dodge but found himself unable to move, forced to meet the attack head-on.
The first punch struck the spine of Thanos' blade, knocking it out of his grasp under its formidable force.
The second punch shattered Thanos' armor.
The third punch hit Thanos squarely in the chest, breaking bones and spilling blood, sending the infamous Titan flying backward.
Shaking his head lightly, Clark felt somewhat dissatisfied with his performance.
Lu Zhishen had killed a man with three punches; Thanos was still breathing after his. Could Clark, the god of vengeance, really not measure up to a historical figure?
Sighing lightly, Clark summoned the oar-blade to his hand, preparing to end the mad Titan's life with his own weapon.
Hm?
Why 'again'?
As Clark mused amusingly, preparing to end the universal menace, a surge of spatial energy suddenly rippled above. Looking up, he saw a ship from Titan completing a space jump, appearing above him and Thanos. A beam of blue light shot from the ship, enveloping the nearly dead Thanos and pulling him aboard.
Were these Thanos' reinforcements?
Clark scoffed coldly, about to destroy the ship and Thanos with it, when a snail-like small craft emerged from the Titan ship, blocking his way. It neither fired nor moved aside, stubbornly standing its ground.
Faced with someone daring to fla
unt themselves before him, Clark, of course… did not act.
Glancing at Nebula's complex expression inside the ship, Clark teleported aboard, nonchalantly sitting in the co-pilot's seat, and said, "I need a reasonable explanation."
Nebula paused for two seconds, then began, "You remember the message I sent you back then? Starfox, Champion, and I were discussing how to deal with Thanos. I didn't have the power to refuse them."
Clark nodded, understanding.
Nebula continued, "Besides us, there was another who had been hunted by Thanos since childhood, who despised Thanos deeply—another surviving Titan."
"Thanos' son, Thane!"
That guy?
Clark clearly remembered being blindsided by that seemingly loyal fellow during the battle in New York. Although Thane eventually left the Heberon, allowing Clark to assimilate it and ascend to a near-Skyfather level, Clark hadn't planned to let that slide.
From the beginning, it had always been Clark who plotted against others. When had he ever been schemed against?
And by a greenhorn, no less? That was even more humiliating.
Clark couldn't stand such an insult!
This situation had to be rectified!
Thinking thus, Clark's killing intent surged as he pointed at the ship Thane had boarded, his voice grave as he asked, "Is Thane on that ship right now?"
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