Once the command was given, the roar of slaughter became the only necessary reply.
As the battlefield entered its white‑hot climax, brutal and savage killing intent flooded the heavens. With Thanos and Esdeath locked in a savage clash at the center, the super soldiers of the Nova Corps and the Shi'ar fought with everything they had to support their allies. Maintaining distance control, they encircled the universe's greatest terrorist at the core, launching relentless attacks without pause.
Warship cannons thundered. Blades met at close quarters. To restrain the Black Order's reinforcements and to harass the firepower aimed at their own commanding general, Esdeath, some had already been blasted into mangled chunks of flesh drifting through space. Yet the surviving warriors—and the endless stream of reinforcements—continued to fight fiercely, suppressing the Black Order's advance.
"Wah—!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Proxima Midnight regained consciousness aboard a Leviathan bio‑warship. Terror had reached its peak. It felt as though someone had hacked away half her brain with a dull blade. Her psychic power had suffered catastrophic damage in an instant.
"Lord Thanos..."
Murmuring weakly, her face turned deathly pale as cold sweat soaked her body. Trembling, she forced herself upright. "A Celestial. A Celestial! There's a Celestial hiding inside that defensive core planet of those thieves!"
Thanos was a Titan. The Titans were an offshoot of the Eternals created by the Celestials. This was no secret in the universe. It could even be said that the extinction of the powerful Titans was something most cosmic factions were happy to see—and even willing to help along.
"Wah—!"
Proxima Midnight vomited blood again and collapsed to the floor. She wanted to transmit everything she had sensed and deduced directly into Thanos' mind, but the damage to her psyche was too severe.
Moreover, where Thanos currently stood, immeasurable cosmic energy converged, collapsed, and detonated—burning, freezing—one moment like a stellar flare at the brink of explosion, the next nearly absolute zero.
Her shattered, unfocused psychic tendrils simply could not lock onto Thanos' high‑speed movements with any precision, let alone establish a link to pass on information. The Shi'ar and Kree bastards maneuvering outside visual range to provide support were also deploying various psychic suppression measures. They were clearly guarding against her.
As one of the Black Order's elite, Proxima Midnight was no nobody. The fearsome reputation of a powerful telepath preceded her across nations.
"Ugh..."
Struck again by backlash, blood seeped from her nose and the corners of her eyes. Her once‑fine features were now drenched crimson. Her head felt as if it were about to explode. Forcing herself to remain conscious, she issued an order to the soldiers loaded within the Leviathan beneath her feet.
"Connect to the communicator. Contact Ebony Maw. Have him control Sanctuary III and project an interstellar hologram to transmit a message to Lord Thanos..."
"Tsk. Such loyalty."
Clang—!
A flash of cold light became a streak as a cross‑shaped short spear shot forth, embedding itself into the Leviathan bio‑warship. At a vicious angle, it scraped past the joint of the outer exoskeletal armor, nailing the Dark Order soldier who had just begun operating the organic terminal—and piercing straight through the console.
Boom!
A chain reaction erupted. Explosive sparks blasted hundreds of responding Outriders into the void.
Hoofbeats thundered like rolling thunder. Three divine horses drew a comet‑like chariot. Clad in silver light armor, Achilles leapt onto the prow of the Leviathan. With already extraordinary base speed—now elevated into the realm of divinity—his legs burst through the defensive fire network in an instant. Armor shattered beneath his steps as he crushed through the plating, seizing the returning spear under Proxima Midnight's grinding stare.
Only then did she realize—their battle line had been pushed this far forward?
No. They had been forced back.
Through the observation window, she saw it clearly. Under the coordinated assault of large formations of super soldiers (Servants) interweaving with the main fleet, the Black Order's offensive had slowed.
Swish! Swish!
In the blink of an eye, Achilles skewered every living thing still moving nearby. Resting the spear over his shoulder, his handsome features carried a teasing smile. He raised a brow in mock regret.
"Tsk tsk. Beautiful alien lady, what a shame. My Master and big sister Gorgon want your life. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind drinking with you till dawn." Greek attitudes toward romantic ethics were famously... flexible.
"Vulgar posture. Base Earth male who thinks with his lower half."
Pointing at Achilles, Proxima Midnight spoke in halting Earth English. "You have no idea what you are opposing. Lord Thanos will—"
Bang!
"Achilles, you talk too much—and you're far too frivolous. No wonder you got beaten senseless by the Root Empress when she traveled incognito." (Root—an honorific used by magi and certain Heroic Spirits in the Nasuverse world to address Selene.)
Wearing similar close‑fitting Greek light armor, though with a Corinthian helmet, Ajax arrived and struck Proxima Midnight unconscious. He roughly tore away her cloak along with the various psychic amplification tubes embedded into her scalp and the back of her head.
"Wow, Ajax. Not a gentle man, are you?" Achilles shrugged.
His embarrassing episode of being summoned to the Throne during a certain Romanian apocryphal Holy Grail War, running his mouth at the Root Empress, and being beaten half to death before getting locked up in solitary confinement had long since become infamous among Greek Heroic Spirits.
Tch. Good news never travels far. Bad news spreads a thousand miles.
"You died because you were careless and let that bastard Paris shoot your heel. Your frivolity hasn't changed." Ajax casually tossed aside the gore‑stained tubes and fragments of brain matter in his hand, his voice muffled.
"Don't bring up old wounds. Didn't you kill yourself because you couldn't stomach humiliation?"
The two former comrades exposed each other's pasts as always. In the end, Ajax hauled Proxima Midnight onto Achilles' raging tide chariot.
"Yah—!"
With a tug of the reins, Achilles wheeled the chariot around. His free right hand formed a V‑sign, fingers pressed to his temple before flicking forward.
"Yo. Looks like I win in terms of leg speed, big sister Scáthach..."
A dark red meteor slowed in the distance. A pair of crimson eyes rippled faintly. Beneath her veil, Scáthach's expression could not be seen. She only said softly, "Mischievous boy."
Then she transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the remaining four targets.
One of the Black Order's five elites had fallen. Four remained.
With the aid of the Limiter, she was evolving through the joy of battle. So were the others. Besides, losing to Achilles in speed was no disgrace.
Whether it was Dromeus Komētēs, Troias Tragōidia, or the long list of passive skills such as divine protection, battle continuation, and valor—among mortals and demigod heroes, none had ever surpassed him in speed, in life or in death.
"Hahaha..."
Unbothered by Scáthach's comment, Achilles laughed it off. Raising his hand, he grasped his spear. Magical particles flooded it, ancient Greek characters blazing to life.
"Go!"
The spear shot forth, tearing through the interior of the massive Leviathan bio‑warship, shredding it from within. As fireballs scattered outward, he drove his chariot away at full speed.
"Orders from big sister Gorgon—we're going after Thanos!"
...
Come. All of you, come!
Thanos was in a foul mood.
Boom!
Blazing flames, like stellar flares erupting within a sun, surged forth in an instant, engulfing Thanos—who had been stalled for that brief moment by the detonated ice anchors. The searing heat pierced through his blood-soaked golden armor and, in the blink of an eye, turned him into a towering torch. Deep space across several surrounding star systems flared into incandescent brightness.
"Kallark!" Thanos roared!
"Thanos, your evil ends here!"
Tearing through the tide of fire in a single motion, war boots striking the void, waist twisting with explosive torque, Gladiator appeared at Thanos' flank. Muscles bulged inch by inch along his arm, drawing taut like a great bow. In that instant of acceleration, his fist surpassed the third cosmic velocity and slammed squarely into Thanos' massive face.
"Hah—!!"
Ripples coursed across Thanos' skin—harder than pure adamantium—like waves across a storm-tossed sea. Rrrrip—! The dark vacuum itself seemed torn apart, releasing a thunderous crack.
Thousands of kilometers away, a celestial body exploded and disintegrated on the spot. Thanos, trailing a stretched crimson arc, was blasted backward at terrifying speed. Friction against interstellar dust ignited visible sparks, like a daylight meteor streaking across the void. He tore through one asteroid belt after another before finally crashing into and shattering half a planet, coming to a halt.
Gladiator and Esdeath—along with dozens of veteran Nova Centurions and members of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard—pursued immediately.
Clang—!
The blade's tip, already blazing with divine runic light, came into view—ferocious and merciless. Thanos' gaze remained unchanged. With a furious roar, he clenched his left fist. Purple lightning crackled and surged across his entire body.
Clang!
His fist collided head-on with the descending saber. One step forward crushed the already-fracturing continental shelf beneath his feet. His Titan body, massive as a mountain, surged upward. Twisting his torso, he rammed directly into Esdeath's arm as she swung.
"...Freeze!"
A breath of ice burst from her lips. Snow-laden winds sliced at the eyes. Esdeath pivoted her body, brushing past Thanos' millstone-like iron fist, then raised her knee and kicked. The conical heel of her war boot howled through the air, punching clean through his already tattered golden armor and slamming into the diaphragm between his chest and abdomen.
In that split second as Thanos arched back, Gladiator flashed behind him and brought both fists crashing down upon his spine.
Boom!!
A muffled grunt escaped Thanos' bloodied mouth. His savage eyes widened, yet he did not cry out in pain. His right arm swung out, smashing into Gladiator's purple face. But Gladiator stood firm—unyielding. The fist print embedded in his cheek, he seized Thanos' right arm and twisted, elbow snapping straight. Following the bend in Thanos' spine—still tangled with regrowing bone and sinew—he delivered another crushing blow.
Crack!
Shockwaves spiraled outward. Even at an altitude of ten thousand meters, the impact gouged the ground below like a plow tearing through soil—craters forming layer upon layer. Like a drummer pounding meat paste, Gladiator's fists blurred into afterimages. Flesh, blood, and bone fragments turned into pulp. Regeneration could no longer keep pace with the damage.
"Hah!"
Blood sprayed. A jagged shard of bone burst from Thanos' back. His lower spine snapped—his waist broken!
In the next instant, bending his arms and leaping into the air, Gladiator locked Thanos by the throat. One foot stomped onto the fractured bones along his back and he heaved upward, trying to rip Thanos in half. The spine stretched with horrifying, brittle cracks.
"You will fail, Thanos!" Gladiator roared.
"NEVER!!!"
Thanos threw his head back and howled. His voice echoed across the entire star system battlefield, spreading toward neighboring life-bearing systems. The cosmic energy contained within that roar—a fusion of gamma radiation and other forces—swept across vast light-year distances, striking countless beings like a crushing blow to the chest.
"Even if the whole world stands against me—even if the entire universe is my enemy—I will shatter your old world with my own hands!"
Truth belonged to the few. This was Thanos' unshakable belief.
His already ironclad will grew firmer still. A conviction strong enough to oppose the universe itself—to punch it apart atom by atom—became unbreakable with the appearance of this old rival. Nothing could shake his will. Nothing could truly harm him.
If anything could, it meant he was not resolute enough.
Splurt... splurt... splurt!
Energy bolts battered his face. Ice blades pierced his flesh. Countless heavy punches hammered every cell in his body. The pain was excruciating—yet Thanos remained utterly calm.
Though body and mind were inseparably linked, his consciousness felt as though it existed apart from his flesh. Detached. To him, his own body—including himself—was merely a tool to achieve his ideal. He would sacrifice everything. Everything...
At the end of all things—at the dawn of a new beginning—his mind would rest in the embrace of the goddess Death.
"I will use you to shatter the old world."
Thanos smiled. For the first time, it was a smile from the depths of his heart.
"Kallark, do you know? Your desperate struggle—your savage determination to exterminate me—only strengthens my conviction that I am right."
Tilting his head, he spat out the clotted blood in his mouth. His ravaged face, marrow visible through torn flesh, seemed to bloom grotesquely with that smile.
Hum hum hum—
Blood-soaked muscles bulged. Gladiator suddenly realized his vantage point was rising.
No—Thanos was standing up.
Purple lightning seared itself into every Eternal cell. Flesh writhed. Violet skin regenerated and covered bone once more.
Incomparable cosmic energy—far surpassing his limit from a mere second ago—erupted from within Thanos. The atmosphere—no, even the space above the planet—began to outline a doomsday-like purple Titan phantom under the influence of his leaking will.
Even Esdeath, standing to the side, was momentarily startled.
Has he broken through? Is this why Her Majesty values him?
"No. Not yet. But he has taken that step. His own forbidden destiny—long sealed away. Esdeath, withdraw to space. I need to give him one more push."
Through the Servant spirit link, Selene's voice echoed in Esdeath's mind.
Thanos lifted his head and grinned.
There was no savage malice. No twisted grimace. Yet he seemed more terrifying than ever before.
"Makhabhatma!"
Without hesitation, brilliance flared in a fleeting instant. Esdeath shouted, "Retreat!" Gladiator and the others reacted immediately, blasting back into space.
In the next heartbeat, when the ice-blue frozen domain that had enveloped the planet vanished—purple radiance swallowed everything.
BOOOOM—!!
...
At the star system's primary world.
Selene radiated vitality, her expression refreshed and luminous.
It's finally done.
To construct a universe from the cosmic energy within one's own body—this was the step that must be crossed to become a cosmic god.
Among Thanos' countless possibilities and fate lines, those who crossed that threshold would be fundamentally different.
Before this step, there were many versions of him—true cosmic emperor, universal tyrant, mercenary, even dying anonymously in some back alley. High and low, noble and base, all existed.
After crossing it, however, only a handful of possibilities remained.
But without exception—they all surpassed the limits of the multiverse.
Especially that one.
The one who caused "God" to fall from grace.
"Issue the order. King Hassan is to execute the Black Order's five generals before Thanos' very eyes."
—
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