After sprinting for some distance, Star-Lord's body was enveloped by rocks drawn to him under divine control. They layered over him like armor, transforming him into a massive, boulder-clad Pac-Man.
BOOM!
Quill lunged, jaws wide, biting down directly on the spot where Ego had been standing. Focused on commanding his colossal beast in battle, Ego was caught completely off guard. His body was instantly crushed into dust.
Seconds later, another version of Ego regenerated a short distance away—bones, muscles, veins, and skin all rapidly reconstructed, restoring him in an instant.
Garus blinked—teleporting in a flash—and reappeared beside Ego. With a single punch, he shattered the newly formed body again.
Yet every time Garus destroyed one of Ego's bodies, another emerged from somewhere else. No matter how many he crushed, they just kept coming.
Freed from her restraints, Mantis surveyed the battlefield and cried out urgently, "His brain is at the planet's core! That's his true form—destroy it, and he dies!"
Ego, furious at Mantis's betrayal, roared, "You can't kill me! I am this planet! I am this universe!"
"Then we'll destroy the planet itself," Garus shouted to Star-Lord. "Hold him off up there—I'll handle his brain down below!"
Since the planet was Ego's body—and an ancient Celestial one at that—Garus couldn't simply teleport through it. He'd have to dig.
"Anub'arak!"
A summoning sigil lit up the ground, and a colossal beetle emerged from the depths. It was the King of the Spider Kingdom, the Nerubian Lord himself—Anub'arak.
"What are your orders, master?"
Garus pointed downward. "Dig."
"As you command."
Without hesitation, Anub'arak raised his claws and began tunneling straight down.
The solid rock crumbled easily beneath the Nerubian's razor-sharp limbs, and the descent into the planet's depths accelerated quickly.
Ego raged at the sight. Were it not for Mantis's powers making him sleep at critical moments, he would have destroyed her long ago—just another weak creature in his eyes.
"Quill! If I die, you'll lose your powers too! Is that really what you want?!"
"When you put a tumor in my mother's brain... what were you thinking?"
Quill lashed out at Ego with all his fury. Though their powers were similar—both able to manifest objects and creatures from imagination—Ego's were stronger. But Quill's rage gave him the edge he needed to hold the Celestial at bay.
Before long, Anub'arak reached the planet's core, where a massive rocky heart floated—complete with a grotesque face carved into the stone, its eyes shut.
Ego's consciousness wasn't here—it was still locked in battle above with Star-Lord and the undead.
CLANG!
Anub'arak's claw struck the core, sparks flying as the blow failed to leave even a scratch.
"Let me handle this."
With Frostmourne in hand, Garus made a single clean slice. The cursed blade cut through the stone like it was nothing.
The planet trembled violently.
As Garus stood before Ego's true form—a brain pulsing with golden light—the entire world began to quake. A furious roar echoed through the crust.
Ego had planned to subdue Quill quickly and return to defend his core. But Quill had gone berserk.
Without hesitation, Garus reached into the core and drew out Ego's life essence—a swirling golden light gathered into his palm, coalescing into a radiant gemstone. Ego's brain withered in an instant, shriveling to dust.
Ego, his grand plan unrealized, was reduced to ash.
"The planet's collapsing! Get out, now!"
Since the entire world had been constructed from Ego's essence, it couldn't survive without him.
"Quick—get on board!"
The Milano hovered overhead, with Rocket yelling frantically from the cockpit.
As the ship lifted out of the atmosphere, Mantis glanced back.
"Wait! That human is still down there—isn't that dangerous?"
Rocket waved her off. "Eh, he'll be fine. He'll be up here in no time. So—where to next? Should we go find a job and make some credits?"
"Back to Earth," Garus's voice came over the comms.
"But... ugh," Rocket groaned under the others' gaze. "Fine, fine. Earth it is."
Moments later, Garus shot out from below as the planet crumbled into oblivion.
He appeared inside the ship, calm as ever, and handed the golden gem—Ego's condensed life essence—to Star-Lord.
The power inside the gem was vast, but for Garus, it was useless.
"What's this?" Quill asked.
"Absorb it—you'll regain your powers."
Earlier, the surge of Celestial energy had overwhelmed Quill, and losing it had left him shaken and unstable. Now, with his birthright returned to him, he grabbed the gem eagerly.
As soon as it touched his skin, it sank into his chest, flooding his body with golden light.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, chaos had erupted.
As Garus had suggested earlier, the world needed unification. No one wanted to keep getting stabbed in the back by secret agendas. But the world governments refused. Worse, they allowed ignorant civilians to riot and protest.
Wanda's face was tight with fury. Across from her sat Wilson Fisk—sweating bullets as her scarlet aura flickered with power. All around them, objects had been disintegrated into dust—including a suit of vibranium armor sent from Wakanda.
"What do we do now?"
Wanda hesitated. The U.S. government had clearly gained powerful new support. Every promise they'd made had been broken, and now they were trying to unite the other nations to take control of the planetary defense system.
Fisk asked carefully, "Should we send someone to investigate?"
"Fine. Do it."
They knew the government was aware of Garus and the Mutant Academy's true power. And yet they dared to provoke them? Even with Captain Marvel on their side, it wouldn't be enough—not unless something else was backing them.
"Then I'll have Bobby lead his squad of Death Knights."
Blonsky, Fisk, and Bobby had each formed their own Death Knight legions. Though still newly formed and untested, this was the perfect opportunity.
The Death Knights were created using Dr. Connors' reanimation tech. Bobby's Frost Knights in particular could regulate their body temperature to avoid all detection—thermal scanners, life-sign monitors, everything. They were perfect for reconnaissance.
Suddenly—
"Professor Wanda! Something's happened!"
A young girl named Cece burst into the room, panic all over her face. She didn't even knock.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON