The entire planet trembled.
A deafening rumble echoed through the skies as if the heavens themselves were roaring in pain. Oceans churned, mountain ranges cracked open, and the very crust of the Earth began to shift. Countless cities fell into chaos. People fled their homes, screaming as buildings collapsed around them, unaware that what was coming was far beyond anything their mortal eyes had ever seen.
In the heart of this worldwide catastrophe stood Rowan.
Lightning flashed across the darkened sky, illuminating his sharp gaze. The wind howled, carrying the scent of ozone and dust. Around him, the air itself seemed to hum with raw energy. His aura was vast and oppressive, so overwhelming that even space around him began to distort.
A deep voice broke through the thunder.
"Rowan," said Hong, leader of the Global Martial Alliance. His normally calm and commanding tone was strained. "Whatever that thing is, its energy levels are beyond planetary scale. Even our satellites can't get stable readings!"
Rowan's eyes narrowed. "It's not from Earth."
Across the horizon, the sea began to part as something impossibly massive emerged. The surface of the water erupted upward, sending tidal waves hundreds of meters high crashing in every direction. Out of the storm rose a creature that defied logic a beast so large that it blotted out the sun. Its skin was black as obsidian, veins glowing with molten red energy that pulsed like a living volcano.
"The core energy signature matches… a planetary lifeform," Babata's voice chimed in through Rowan's earpiece, the AI's tone carrying an edge of disbelief. "But this one… this one has evolved through artificial means. Someone or something engineered it."
Rowan's expression hardened. "So it's not just nature's doing."
He rose higher into the sky, his aura flaring like a miniature star. The purple fire that always appeared when he invoked his divine form burst from his body, forming a halo of radiant energy. Every movement he made rippled through the air with power capable of crushing mountains.
The creature raised its head, and a single golden eye the size of a city glared at him. Then it roared.
The shockwave shattered the clouds and sent Rowan tumbling backward through the air. Entire islands sank beneath the waves from the force of that roar.
Rowan steadied himself midair, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "So this is a planetary beast, huh?"
From a floating fortress high above the Pacific, the world's top fighters Hong, Raydon Storm, and their elite squads watched the battle unfold on a massive holographic display.
"Even his energy output… it's still climbing!" shouted Raydon, his voice trembling. "That monster is feeding on the planet's magnetic field itself!"
Hong clenched his fists. "If it keeps going, it'll tear Earth apart."
Inside Rowan's mind, Babata's voice turned sharp. "Rowan! You can't just fight it head-on. Its mass density and regenerative rate are both off the charts. Even your divine body will take damage."
Rowan closed his eyes for a brief second, then exhaled slowly. "Then I'll stop holding back."
The purple flames around him deepened, burning brighter and hotter until the very air warped from the heat. Space rippled. The mark of the War God on his forehead began to glow, and the ground below him split into countless cracks as his power surged past its limits.
"War God Form Stage Three."
His voice was low, but it rolled like thunder across the battlefield.
Rowan vanished from sight.
In the next instant, the beast's skull jerked backward as a purple blur slammed into it. The impact created a shockwave that flattened the ocean for miles around. The creature howled in fury, swiping its colossal claws toward him, but Rowan was already gone moving faster than light, striking again and again, each blow like the wrath of a god.
"Unbelievable…" Hong whispered, watching the sensors spike off the charts. "He's matching a planet-class monster blow for blow."
But even with his power unleashed, Rowan knew brute force wouldn't be enough. The creature's body reassembled itself almost instantly, molten blood sealing every wound he inflicted. Its very essence was linked to the planet it could regenerate as long as Earth existed.
"Babata," Rowan said, dodging another massive swipe that tore through the stratosphere. "Find me its energy core."
"Already scanning!" the AI replied. "Wait… I've got it! The nucleus is deep inside its chest cavity, but it's protected by a magnetic field stronger than anything I've ever seen. You'll need the Power Stone to break through."
Rowan's eyes blazed.
His left hand ignited with purple light the Infinity Gauntlet shimmered into existence, four stones pulsing in unison. He clenched his fist, and reality itself bent around his hand.
The planetary beast sensed the danger and screamed, its roar shaking continents.
But Rowan was already there.
He appeared before the monster's chest, raising his fist toward the glowing mass of energy beneath its flesh. Purple, red, blue, and green light flared from the stones as he poured everything into one final strike.
"End of the world… for you."
The moment his fist connected, the entire sky turned white.
A silent explosion expanded outward, vaporizing everything in its path. The sea boiled. The clouds evaporated. For a split second, the entire planet seemed to stop spinning.
When the light finally faded, the monster was gone. Only a crater spanning hundreds of kilometers remained, filled with burning vapor and shards of crystallized flesh.
Rowan hovered above it, his armor cracked, his body trembling from the strain. The Infinity Gauntlet flickered weakly on his hand, its glow fading as if exhausted.
"Energy levels stabilizing," Babata reported. "You did it. The planet's safe."
Rowan looked down at the ruined sea below, his expression unreadable. "No," he said softly. "This was only the beginning. Something or someone sent that thing here. And whoever it was… they're still out there."
He turned toward the horizon, where the sun was beginning to rise through the haze of destruction. Its golden light reflected off the shards of the shattered ocean, painting the world in crimson and gold.
Behind him, the survivors of humanity stared up in awe, watching the man who had once again saved their world alone, battered, but unbroken.
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment, then whispered to himself, "Another battle won… but the real war is still waiting."
And with that, he vanished into the morning sky, leaving only a trail of purple light fading into the dawn.
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