Scott flew toward the two heroes with the black hole bomb secured firmly on his back, its ominous weight a constant reminder of the devastating power he carried.
"Leave the next phase entirely to me!" Scott announced with determined confidence.
Hearing Scott's resolute voice, Thor and Captain Marvel immediately ceased their combined assault on the metallic barrier, stepping back to give him operational space.
The specialized metal shell had been designed to prevent Thor's lightning from concentrating on any single point, and because it was deeply embedded within the stone wall structure, Stormbreaker could not deliver direct strikes against it. This meant that if Thor wanted to completely destroy the protective casing, he would first need to demolish the entire stone barrier surrounding it - a time-consuming process they could not afford.
The attacks that had actually caused meaningful damage to the shell came from Captain Marvel's cosmic energy impacts. She had successfully created a breach in the metal casing, though the opening was considerably smaller than what had been depicted in the sky screen prophecies.
This reduced effectiveness was entirely due to Ego's awareness of their presence and his constant interference with their assault operations.
However, despite the hole's modest size, it presented no significant obstacle for Scott's mission. Due to the biological survival requirements of Ego's consciousness core, the outer protective shell was naturally perforated with numerous ventilation and maintenance holes, and Scott could easily navigate through these openings once he had reduced his size sufficiently.
But Ego was far from foolish, and his cosmic intelligence certainly retained clear memories of Scott's extraordinary shrinking abilities, which he had observed during the Civil War conflict broadcast on the sky screen. Therefore, he immediately transformed these essential holes into an intricate three-dimensional maze of unprecedented complexity.
Even if someone attempted to deliver a bomb directly to the consciousness core as shown in the prophetic broadcasts, they would require substantial time to navigate through these deliberately confusing passages.
This was precisely the challenge that Scott now faced as he entered the protective shell.
Confronted by dark passages extending in every conceivable direction, Scott found himself momentarily uncertain about which route to pursue through the bewildering labyrinth.
However, Scott had never been a person who strictly adhered to conventional rules or expected protocols.
Rather than following the predetermined route that Ego had established to confuse intruders, Scott conducted a careful examination of the cave wall and discovered an almost microscopic fissure in its surface. He made the decisive choice to shrink his body even further and squeeze through this tiny gap.
Ego had not anticipated that Scott possessed the ability to reduce his size to such infinitesimal proportions - so small that even the living planet's enhanced senses could not detect his precise location within the maze.
Thor increased his distance from Captain Marvel and began engaging Ego's defensive tentacles throughout the core area alongside Wanda and Natasha, creating a coordinated defensive perimeter.
Simultaneously, Yondu, who was personally piloting the Blood Eagle in direct combat against Ego's planetary defenses, detected the distinctive energy signature of an interstellar jump point materializing nearby.
He narrowed his weathered eyes suspiciously, wondering who would dare approach Ego's remote location during such a dangerous battle. This coordinates were extraordinarily difficult to locate, and if it weren't for Mantis's unique empathic abilities, he probably would never have discovered this isolated region in his entire lifetime of space travel.
The Nova Corps had only learned these coordinates after establishing contact with Star-Lord and receiving the intelligence directly.
As a massive spacecraft emerged from the wormhole and arrived at this war-torn battlefield, Yondu couldn't suppress his surprise, his eyes widening in genuine astonishment.
The unexpected visitors were none other than the Ravager fleet commanded by Stakar Ogord himself.
"Yondu! You stubborn bastard, still breathing, I see!" Stakar's familiar voice crackled through the communication array.
Hearing Stakar's characteristic greeting, Yondu burst into genuine laughter: "I'll outlive your sorry hide any day! Hahaha!"
"You'd better not die on me! I don't want to waste perfectly good fireworks on your funeral!" Stakar responded with equal mirth.
He immediately began dispatching his own Ravager crews to join the coordinated assault against Ego's defenses.
Stakar personally piloted his flagship closer to the Blood Eagle's position for direct tactical coordination.
"Looks like you boys have been having quite the party without us!"
"If you'd arrived any later, you would have found nothing but Ego's scattered remains floating in space!"
Stakar's eyes narrowed with anticipation: "Really? Then it appears I've arrived just in time for the most spectacular finale!"
Yondu laughed with genuine enthusiasm: "Oh yeah! Things are definitely about to get very exciting!"
With the addition of Stakar's experienced Ravager forces, the pressure on Ego's defensive capabilities increased exponentially.
Because the ancient entity was forced to focus the majority of his attention on the critical threats within his core area and Star-Lord's surface activities, this divided concentration significantly reduced the frequency of his attacks against the external space-based forces.
This tactical shift allowed a massive volume of coordinated attacks to strike Ego's energy barriers directly, causing the entire protective matrix to vibrate and destabilize under the relentless bombardment.
It became increasingly obvious that Ego was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the multiple simultaneous battlefronts, and his desperation to capture Star-Lord and extract his celestial energy grew more urgent with each passing moment.
After all, the current tactical situation was extremely unfavorable to his continued survival. The four heroes operating within his core area possessed extraordinary combat capabilities, and his defensive tentacles could not approach them effectively.
Wanda's chaos magic allowed her to directly interfere with his energy transmission systems, transforming any tentacles that approached her position into harmless piles of rubble and debris.
The other three heroes demonstrated amazing physical strength and combat prowess. Whether it was the enchanted hammer wielded by Natasha or Thor's mystical Stormbreaker, both weapons could effortlessly destroy his tentacles with single strikes.
Captain Marvel presented an even more problematic threat - she possessed the ability to absorb energy directly from his tentacles and redirect it against him, rendering his attacks not only ineffective but actually strengthening his opposition.
Most concerning of all, Ego could not locate Scott, who had successfully penetrated the core protective shell and was now operating within his most vulnerable areas. This represented his greatest fear and the source of his mounting panic.
Scott carried the devastating bomb through the complex maze, and although the internal structure proved incredibly complicated and disorienting, he managed to determine the correct direction toward Ego's consciousness core.
He navigated carefully through microscopic cracks in the surrounding material, and soon Scott successfully located Ego's actual core position within the protective chamber.
Since he had approached through the structural gaps rather than the intended passages, he did not emerge in any normal corridor, but this unconventional approach posed no significant problem for his mission parameters.
He carefully adjusted his size proportions, enlarging himself slightly to achieve better stability while clinging to the chamber wall. After activating the black hole bomb's detonation sequence and securing it directly to Ego's pulsing consciousness core, he immediately shrank back to microscopic size and began his urgent evacuation.
"Mission accomplished! The device has been deployed!" Scott announced through his communication system.
"Understood! Extract immediately!" Captain Marvel responded, raising her hand to release a concentrated energy wave that completely destroyed an approaching tentacle.
On the planetary surface, Star-Lord and Tony continued their coordinated battle against Ego's manifestations, but the ancient entity had detected the black hole bomb's attachment to his consciousness core, and his desperation reached catastrophic levels.
Ego abandoned all other tactical considerations and focused his complete attention on his surface avatar, which immediately gained phenomenal power beyond anything previously demonstrated.
After delivering a devastating blow that sent Tony flying through the air, Ego rushed toward Star-Lord with murderous intent, grasping his throat tightly and slamming him violently into a nearby canyon formation.
As Ego raised his hand with malevolent purpose, the canyon walls began closing inward, and massive quantities of soil and rock directly buried both combatants beneath tons of planetary material!
Several tentacles glowing with intense blue and white celestial light emerged from the soil and wrapped themselves tightly around Star-Lord's struggling body.
One particularly large tentacle pierced through his back and began attempting to drain his inherited celestial energy directly from his life force.
Star-Lord immediately understood Ego's desperate plan. He channeled every ounce of his remaining strength to push away the crushing soil, locked eyes with Ego, and roared with primal defiance: "You'll never succeed!!!"
However, Ego's power exceeded Star-Lord's expectations, and despite his enhanced abilities, he could not break free from the ancient entity's overwhelming restraints.
After several unsuccessful escape attempts, Star-Lord changed his tactical approach and began engaging in direct energy combat, attempting to drain Ego's power even as the entity tried to steal his. He accomplished this by biting directly into Ego's avatar's neck, creating a direct energy conduit.
On the other side of the battlefield, Scott burst from the protective shell at maximum speed. Recognizing his successful extraction, Wanda immediately began opening a dimensional portal, and while Ego remained completely focused on his desperate power absorption attempt, the entire team evacuated from the core area.
Star-Lord managed to tear away a substantial portion of energy from Ego's avatar and absorbed it into his own system, then pushed against his captor with renewed strength.
Soon both combatants arrived at the core area location. Ego examined the bomb attached to his consciousness center - he could not identify the specific type of explosive device, but his cosmic intelligence recognized that it possessed sufficient power to destroy him completely.
As the countdown display on the black hole bomb gradually approached zero, the device detonated with universe-shaking force, and an incredibly powerful gravitational singularity formed at the exact center of Ego's consciousness.
"Peter! No!!!" Ego looked at Star-Lord with complete despair and released a final, anguished roar that echoed across dimensional boundaries.
In that instant, everything in the immediate vicinity was consumed by the rapidly expanding black hole, and Ego's consciousness core vanished completely into the infinite gravitational well.
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