Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
Within the vast arena, silence fell like a crashing wave—so deep, you could hear a pin drop.
The sound of blood dripping onto the floor echoed in Jennifer's ears like a shattered war drum. Her eyes, wide with shock, brimmed with disbelief.
Ego, her man, or rather, the man who once was hers, had just killed Lothar?
The same Lothar she had gone to such lengths to recruit?
No... Where were Lothar's Infinity Stones?
He had two of them, massive ones, at that. Why hadn't he used them?
Staring blankly at the still-bleeding Lothar, it took Jennifer several seconds to process what had just happened.
Then, her fists flared with violet light, and she lunged forward, driving them straight into the chest of the man she once loved!
For her people, she would give up everything.
Even love.
"Ego!!"
The light of a Power Stone Isotope flared where her fists struck his chest. Ego didn't flinch, didn't dodge, he took the blow head-on, eyes filled with one overwhelming emotion:
Disappointment.
Disappointment that Jennifer had actually attacked him.
"All for an outsider monkey…"
Humiliation.
A humiliation he had never known before tightened like a vice around Ego's heart.
Sure, he'd initially pursued Jennifer for her genetic potential, but he had truly cared for her at one point.
And now this woman, not only had she been the one to end things, she'd raised her fists against him for that bastard?
"Why?"
"Tell me why?"
Ego wasn't fazed by the light of the Power Stone Isotope. Seething with fury, he grabbed Jennifer by the wrist.
Was he not strong enough?
Or was Lothar just more… charming?
The words King Rodus of Gafa had once said to him rang in his mind, chilling his gaze with an icy edge.
"I didn't want it to be this way, Ego."
Bound tightly, Jennifer stared into Ego's eyes without flinching, her clear conscience only further igniting his fury.
"I told you, I love you. That's why I can't drag you into this."
"So you turned to him instead?"
"To that… loser?"
Ego's finger jabbed toward the barely-breathing Lothar, bound by silver tendrils, on the verge of death.
Jennifer bit her lip and said nothing.
No one had expected Ego to be this powerful…
Frankly, he seemed more reliable than Lothar now.
"You'd better not say things like that before he's actually dead," came a snide voice, Hela, still bound to a cross by Rodus, scoffed with pointed intent, glancing at Lothar, who was still gritting his teeth and gathering his strength.
She knew this man too well.
As long as he lived, even barely, infinite possibilities remained.
That, Hela had learned through countless encounters with him.
Even if she hated to admit it.
"What did you say?"
Ego flung Jennifer aside and ignored the old dwarf leaning on a cane, walking instead to stand before Hela.
"Are you mocking me?"
"Well, looks like you're at least self-aware," Hela shrugged.
In a flash, Ego's face was inches from hers. Their eyes locked. She could feel his breath.
CRACK!
Suddenly, the chains binding her shattered, cut by Ego in an instant.
Landing on her feet, Hela rubbed her sore wrists, brows furrowed.
"I like you. So—"
"Then let me save you the trouble. I don't like you," she snapped, cutting Ego off.
With a flick of her hands, two blades appeared. Her gaze shifted to King Rodus, who'd been spectating from the sidelines.
If she didn't get payback, she'd never sleep peacefully in Asgard again.
SHING!
Dressed in tight black combat gear, Hela leapt high into the air, blades crossed, and brought them crashing down on Rodus's raised arm.
The explosive wave of force forced Jennifer, still on the ground, to shield herself as the clash of metal rang like a siren in her ears.
"Ego, this isn't what we agreed on."
Rodus's eyes narrowed as he easily deflected the blow.
He'd made things very clear when Jennifer put him in contact with Ego.
He'd agreed to deliver Hela to Ego, after she was loaded onto the ship bound for Asgard the following day.
Once she left Gafa, what Ego did was his business. That way, if Odin came knocking, Rodus could at least play innocent.
"Nothing's changed."
Ego raised his hand.
From above, silver tendrils rained down, instantly binding Hela's limbs.
She didn't even have time to react.
"What?!"
Her blades clattered to the ground.
Hela struggled with all her might, but it was useless.
The same treatment as Lothar.
Only now, facing Ego head-on, did Hela finally understand just how wide the gap between them was.
The pressure he exerted... was just like Odin's, maybe even greater.
"Power on the same level as Father's?"
Teeth clenched, eyes blazing with fury, Hela growled.
"I'll make you fall for me."
Ego traced her cheek with one finger, only to be rewarded with a glob of spit to the face.
Delusional fool.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Just as Ego was about to flaunt his new "prize" in front of Jennifer, a thunderous roar snapped his attention elsewhere—
To Lothar.
Golden energy surged violently around him, blasting away the silver tendrils at his feet. His chest was bloodied, his breathing ragged... but somehow, he had broken free from the very divine chains meant to hold him.
"Warning! Warning! Lord Lothar, your internal energy is critically unstable!"
"Warning! Warning! Lord Lothar—"
Woz's alarm blared endlessly in Lothar's ears. He wiped the blood from his chest and caught three nutrient vials dropped from his wristband. He swallowed them all in one gulp.
"Hey, your opponent… is me!"
Lothar grinned, then vanished in a golden flash, his right foot smashed directly into Ego's side!
BOOM!
The explosive shockwave shattered the control center's reinforced glass!
KRA-KOOM!!!
The structure, once hailed as the most indestructible on all of Planet Gafa, collapsed under that single blow!
If not for Sage Gubo's energy shield, the entire planet might have descended into chaos.
"Fascinating."
"An unstable energy pattern… You're on the verge of evolution, aren't you?"
WHOOSH!
Ego's silhouette rocketed from the rubble and appeared beside Lothar in an instant.
"But in your current state, so weak, even if you do evolve, how long can you possibly last?"
Lothar crossed his arms to block Ego's hand strike, sneering as his foot came crashing down, shattering the silver tendrils Ego tried to summon through sheer willpower.
"Weak?"
Their fists collided, shockwaves forcing them both to skid backwards from the impact.
Lothar rose to his feet, wiped the blood from his lips, clenched his fist, and raised his thumb to point at himself:
"I've been at my peak from start to finish."
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