With Ronan's death, the Dark Asterisk was left devastated and crashed directly into the city of Xandar.
The Guardians of the Galaxy were also caught in the crash, scattering in different directions.
Fortunately, the ship wasn't too far from the ground, and the Dark Asterisk's material was durable enough to withstand the impact.
Moreover, there was no excess energy left in the ship.
Otherwise, the explosion caused by the crash alone would have been enough to obliterate everyone on board.
"What happened? Everything was fine just now—why did it suddenly turn out like this?"
Star-Lord and the others clung to Groot's branches, trying to stabilize themselves as the ship went down.
During the fall, Groot extended his body, grabbing onto various parts of the ship to stabilize himself while simultaneously saving the others.
Even so, they still sustained numerous injuries.
Among them, Star-Lord, who had yet to awaken his celestial genes, was the most severely injured—his entire body ached.
"Looks like... Ronan is dead?"
"How did he die?" Gamora asked instinctively.
"Who else? The God of Magic killed him."
"That fast? We were only in there for a short while, and Ronan was already taken out? Too weak!"
"I was hoping Quill could distract him with a dance."
Rocket was stunned.
Wasn't Ronan supposed to wield the Power Stone, a force capable of obliterating entire planets?
Yet, despite having such immense power, he was slain by Aaron so effortlessly.
It all happened too fast—too unbelievably fast.
"Damn, didn't they say Aaron also possesses the power to destroy planets?" Star-Lord muttered in disbelief.
"What do you think?" Gamora rolled her eyes. "The God of Magic has two Infinity Stones!"
She was about to continue when she suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
Her expression changed drastically, and without hesitation, she sprinted off, leaving Star-Lord and the others bewildered.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
A Few Minutes Later
Gamora finally caught up with the fleeing figure.
Nebula turned to see Gamora pursuing her and, after confirming she was alone, drew her weapon.
"Gamora, look at you. You're a mess."
As she spoke, she subconsciously rolled her shoulder, revealing a faint red mark.
Twice now, she had endured spaceship crashes.
Even though most of her body had been cybernetically modified, she still felt the residual pain.
"Sister, don't do this. Ronan is dead. Come with me—we can fight Thanos together. We—"
"Wait! You said Ronan is dead? That's impossible! He had the Power Stone!"
"Sister, you can't even lie properly now."
Nebula scoffed, cutting her off.
How long had she been gone?
And now she was being told Ronan was already dead—even before the Dark Asterisk had completely fallen?
Utter nonsense!
That was the Power Stone they were talking about!
"Yes, Ronan is dead—killed by the God of Magic."
"The God of Magic?!!"
Nebula froze, then asked again for confirmation.
"Are you sure you're talking about the God of Magic from Earth?"
"Who else? He's the one who attacked you earlier. He came with us."
Seeing Nebula waver, Gamora pressed on.
Nebula's expression darkened.
No wonder she hadn't recognized her attacker earlier.
So it was actually the God of Magic from Earth!
Ronan's death was utterly tragic.
He had just arrived on Xandar, ready to exact vengeance for his father and grandfather, intending to wipe out the entire Xandarian race.
And then, out of nowhere, the God of Magic showed up and killed him.
Talk about bad luck.
Bad luck for Ronan.
Bad luck for her.
Nebula gave Ronan a moment of silent mourning in her mind before shaking off the thought.
It was unfortunate that Ronan hadn't lived long enough to kill Thanos for her.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"Come on, Gamora, let's see how much you've improved since we last fought. I hope hanging around that group of misfits hasn't made you soft."
Without waiting for a response, Nebula lunged forward.
It was just like old times.
The same familiar fighting techniques.
They had both been trained by Thanos.
But in reality, they weren't just trained—they were forged into killing machines.
Since childhood, they had been raised to master combat and various assassination techniques.
Thanos had deliberately pitted them against each other to accelerate their growth.
Whoever lost suffered inhumane punishments.
Nebula lost every time, despite pushing herself to the limit.
And with each loss, more of her body was replaced with machinery.
Even now, she had never once defeated Gamora.
And today, she was determined to change that.
But This Time, She Miscalculated
Seeing Nebula charge, Gamora knew talking wouldn't work, so she prepared to fight.
However, instead of drawing her Godslayer Sword, she used magic.
"Where did she go?!"
Halfway through her attack, Nebula suddenly lost sight of Gamora. She stopped abruptly and scanned the surroundings.
"Sister, you're no match for me anymore. I've learned something new—magic!"
When Gamora reappeared, she was already behind Nebula, with the Godslayer Sword pressed against her neck.
One swift motion, and she could slice through Nebula's mechanical defenses.
"Magic?"
Nebula was dumbfounded.
Since when had Gamora learned magic?
That wasn't something they had ever been exposed to.
At least, not under Thanos.
Gamora's next words sent shockwaves through her.
"This is the Magic Net—the gift of the God of Magic! With it, we gain the power to kill and destroy!"
"You're joking, right? We can learn magic too? And you think we can kill Thanos? You know how powerful he is!"
"Ronan was powerful too. And yet, he's dead. We may never reach the God of Magic's level, but even if we gain just half of his power, we could kill Thanos easily!"
"Come with me, sister. With your help, we can finally achieve our goal!"
Gamora saw that Nebula was completely intrigued.
She lowered her sword and extended an invitation.
Over the years, she had grown attached to Nebula—seeing her as a true sister.
Now, with the Magic Net, she was more than willing to share its power.
"Besides," she continued, "the Magic Net has other benefits."
She then explained everything about the Magic Net and Aaron.
Nebula's eyes grew brighter with every word.
"Wait... can I start learning magic now?"
Nebula was sold on the idea.
But then, looking down at her heavily cybernetic body, despair hit her.
She wasn't even fully organic anymore.
Could she even wield magic?
"Well..." Gamora hesitated.
Aaron had said that even a tree, as long as it was alive, could practice magic.
But what about Nebula?
She wasn't a machine from birth—her modifications were done over time.
Would that make a difference?
"We can ask the God of Magic!"
Gamora suddenly had an idea.
"If we can gain enough authority within the Magic Net, we might be able to ask him to restore your body!"
"The world of magic is beyond our imagination. He might be able to reverse your modifications—bring back your flesh and blood."
"And even if you return to your original body, you'll still retain your ability to use magic!"
Nebula's heart pounded.
She couldn't wait any longer.
"What do we do next?"
"Come with me. The Xandarians need magic to protect themselves too, don't they?"
With that, Gamora led Nebula toward their next step—toward a future where they could finally challenge Thanos.
And far away, on Earth, Aaron was already beginning the next upgrade of the Magic Net.
After the previous research on the Time Gem and Space Gem, the difficulty of incorporating the Power Gem's blessing into the Magic Net had been reduced significantly.
After all, the Power Gem's role was simply to provide energy, which was relatively straightforward.
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