There was no suspense or even a flicker of resistance.
The solid spatial barrier, capable of withstanding almost any known attack, disintegrated the instant Soren's pure destructive fist collided with it.
The entire quiet room evaporated into drifting powder, reduced to nothing but dust and debris scattered through the air like the broken remnants of a dream.
The explosion's echoed across the compound.
Within moments, a crowd gathered and stared at the devastation. In the center of the ruin stood Soren, purple destruction flickering across his skin.
The sheer pressure rolling off him made even the bravest among them stiffen instinctively.
"Soren… what are you…?" Thor questioned tightening.
For a god who wielded storms and carried the essence of destruction, this purple aura was… true annihilation. It sent a chill through him.
Soren's power always brought surprises. Today was no different.
Soren exhaled and allowed the violent aura to fade, though the air still hummed around him. There was excitement in his eyes, a thrill impossible to hide.
"I've mastered the power stone," He said casually, as though he weren't announcing an impossibility.
Some paled.
Freyja and Jean exchanged a glance… they knew Soren better than anyone. Four of the six Infinity Stones were now under his control.
At this point, the universe itself had reason to be afraid.
"It's almost time," Soren said, stretching his fingers, feeling strength coil through every muscle. "Let's go."
With a simple gesture, he tore open a glowing spatial corridor. One by one, the group stepped through.
Zilant let out a bellowing roar, elated. He had been trapped on Macaluso Island far too long. His war-born instincts had stagnated, starved of battle.
Now, with combat finally upon them, his blood was hot with anticipation.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
The air shimmered.
A massive space channel opened above the endless dunes of the soon to be Death Desert, and Soren's team emerged. Only…the desert wasn't there anymore.
In its place stretched a metallic wasteland.
Tens of kilometers of sand had been transmuted into a sea of heavy metal, shimmering under the burning sun.
The temperature climbed sharply, but everyone present was far beyond human endurance. The heat was merely an annoyance.
A figure soon approached… Magneto.
After Soren's potential-awakening, Magneto's magnetic control had risen to near-absolute levels.
Not only could he manipulate all metal, he was discovering that his own body was beginning to metallize… an evolution that even he had never imagined.
Soren crouched and pressed a hand to the metal earth. His senses flared outward.
The metallic ground extended for tens of kilometers in every direction… dense and almost indestructible.
A perfect battlefield.
"Good," Soren murmured. "Even if the sky collapses, nothing beyond this area will be harmed."
The group began dividing tasks and positioning themselves across the metallic plain. Each warrior or mutant took a sector.
It wasn't about teamwork, each of them was powerful enough to fight independently, and none wanted to show weakness.
"Zilant," Professor X called. Through a touch of telepathy, he conveyed his intent. "You're the commander-in-chief."
"Wherever the battle is most critical, you'll go. Support whoever needs it."
Zilant rumbled in acknowledgment, his serpentine eyes gleaming. The idea of being the central pillar of the battlefield pleased him greatly.
"…??" Everyone watched in uneasy silence.
Zilant… Soren's pet, in name only, had displayed raw power that surpassed most of the warriors present.
The realization left more than a few faces flushed with embarrassment. If even Soren's pet was this overwhelmingly strong, then how vast must Soren's true power be?
But Soren had no time to bask in their astonishment.
Three days were nearly up.
Thanos's forces were drawing near, and Soren needed to prepare the battlefield so that the Black Order's army would arrive exactly where he wanted them.
A miscalculated jump could scatter them across the planet, unleashing chaos on the Earth he was trying to protect.
A complex space magic circle ignited in his hands, runes flaring with brilliant blue-white light.
The instant the circle formed, Soren stopped…
Something felt…different.
Ever since adapting fully to the Power Gem, subtle changes had been unfolding inside him… changes he hadn't yet fully understood.
But now, as the space circle hummed in his palm, he felt it clearly.
His control had multiplied and the energy available to him was limitless.
Space itself felt lighter in his grasp.
Soren inhaled and pushed his will through the runes, pulling on every strand of spatial energy he could reach. The power unfurled outward in all directions…
Within seconds, he felt the entire planet wrapped in his grasp.
But the energy didn't stop there.
Soren guided it further past the atmosphere, through the cold veil of space, stretching across planets and orbital paths.
The magic circle pulsed as he expanded his reach, threading spatial anchors through the void.
At last, after a minute of intense concentration, he released the breath he'd been holding.
He opened his eyes, his influence now blanketed the entire solar system.
A shocked laugh slipped from him. "The Power Gem… has boosted me this much?"
With a few magic circles, his combat potential would skyrocket far beyond what he had anticipated. The upcoming battle no longer brought pressure.
Soren allowed himself a moment of exhilaration, but only a moment.
He tightened his control and withdrew the vast field of power, gathering it back toward Earth. Spatial barriers blossomed like invisible walls across the planet, sealing off potential jump coordinates.
All but one.
The desert before them, the metal plains they had prepared was designated as the only viable entry point into Earth's space.
If Thanos's generals attempted a warp jump, the spatial pathways would funnel them here.
No matter what path they tried or how they arrived.
Their army would land in one place, and one place only.