With a series of casual parries and blocks, he caught all of the Hulk's attacks. He hadn't retreated a single step throughout the entire exchange, even having the leisure to observe and critique as he fought.
"Impressive. This level of strength would make you a first-rate powerhouse even
He paused, then shook his head.
"But your technique is truly atrocious. To possess such immense strength and speed, yet be completely unable to apply it effectively... frankly, this talent is going to waste."
Hearing this critique, the Hulk only grew angrier.
"Hulk is the strongest!"
Though he refused to accept it, the reality was plain to see. The Hulk had been going all out in a frenzy, while Gladiator merely defended casually without any intention of striking back. The disparity in their
At that moment, Juggernaut, Red Hulk, Abomination, and Ben Grimm, the Thing, all swarmed forward, mobbing Gladiator in a chaotic brawl.
Gladiator remained unfazed. His hands moved as fast as lightning, blocking every single one of their attacks. The monstrous strength of the Hulks, Juggernaut, and the Thing couldn't touch him at all.
Even so, their display had the people of the Shi'ar Empire staring at them as if they were monsters.
After all, in their minds, Gladiator was an invincible existence. Let alone the Shi'ar Empire, even in the entire universe, one would be hard-pressed to find a handful of powerhouses who could rival him.
And while these superheroes looked no different from the enemies they had faced before, and were similarly being dealt with effortlessly by Gladiator, the fact that they had fought this fiercely without taking a single injury was truly astonishing!
"Interesting. So you're all enhanced warriors who take this same brute-force route."
After trading a few more blows, Gladiator noticed that even Stark, the man in the iron suit, had transformed into a massive brute resembling the Hulkbuster armor to join the siege.
The armor he wore was fascinating. It wasn't as if Gladiator had never seen nano-armor before, but he could usually destroy it with a casual swipe. Yet the armor Stark wore...
was unimaginably resilient. No matter how much force he applied, he couldn't completely destroy it.
In other words, as long as it had power, this suit of armor was indestructible and capable of fighting indefinitely.
Seeing that the superheroes uniformly relied on this muscle-bound brawler approach, Gladiator assumed Earthlings had mastered a method for creating super-soldiers—it just so happened that this method churned out nothing but giant meatheads.
No wonder the Chitauri had lost. With this many powerful warriors around, the Chitauri never stood a chance in a ground invasion.
Gladiator felt a newfound appreciation for their talent. After all, given the superheroes' strength, they could easily serve as high-ranking officers or top generals in any of the four great empires, or any faction in the universe, for that matter.
One could even argue they had the potential to become cosmic overlords in their own right, much like that Mad Titan, Thanos.
To ensure he could subdue this group, Gladiator decided to get a little serious. Instantly, the superheroes felt his power spike by several magnitudes. In just a few moves, he laid them all out flat!
Earth had truly given him far too many surprises.
Previously, he had worried that the Chitauri were simply exaggerating—that they had only painted Earth as an incomprehensibly terrifying place to save face after botching a mission on such a backwater planet.
But now, having come to Earth to see for himself with skeptical eyes, he found that the combat prowess of Earth's native warriors far exceeded his wildest expectations.
If he could recruit this massive band of enhanced warriors, the Shi'ar Empire's ability to maintain universal peace would undoubtedly grow stronger!
However, just as Gladiator opened his mouth to recruit the Hulks, he suddenly turned his head to gaze in the direction of Earth.
Two or three minutes passed before the spaceship's sensors finally detected an unimaginable energy source rapidly approaching.
"There's another powerhouse on Earth!"
Gladiator found it somewhat hard to believe. In his mind, the existence of this massive group of enhanced warriors was already beyond his expectations.
But his superhuman senses told him that the incoming individual's energy level was on an entirely different plane from these brutes!
"Earth's strongest warrior, perhaps?"
Gladiator mused.
"Does your Earth have an even stronger warrior?"
Gladiator asked the superheroes.
"Of course. There's a guy far stronger than any of us. Looking at your expression, I'm guessing he's arrived?"
Stark said with absolute confidence. Even after watching Gladiator effortlessly crush their entire team, none of the superheroes showed the slightest hint of despair or dejection.
Because they still had that man.
Gladiator naturally noticed the superheroes' expressions. It was a look of sheer acknowledgment.
Interesting. Even after witnessing my power firsthand, they still have absolute faith in this warrior?
Gladiator was highly satisfied. This implies that Earth's strongest warrior might just possess the same ability to dispatch these enhanced brutes as cleanly and effortlessly as he did.
Otherwise, their expressions wouldn't read as, "I can't believe there's someone this strong here," but rather, "I can't believe someone this strong exists in the universe!"
The thought made Gladiator's blood boil. He had roamed the cosmos for many years, his name renowned far and wide. Even the infamous Mad Titan, Thanos, who struck terror into countless civilizations, had taken one look at him and made a point to steer clear ever since their first encounter.
Everyone else was merely a one-punch job. He hoped this strongest warrior of Earth wouldn't be too disappointing. At the very least, they should be stronger than Thanos, right?
A streak of golden light pierced through the spaceship's airlock, appearing before the crowd.
Stark and the others immediately wore strange expressions, realizing that Zodhis was now wearing a new suit of armor.
It was the same black armor, the same black cape. The difference was the sheer power now surging from his entire being, radiating an overwhelming pressure that bore down on everyone present.
"Gladiator."
Gladiator stated his name.
"Dark Knight."
Zodhis gave a slight nod. In the next instant, both men simultaneously threw a devastating punch at one another.
Their fists collided with a thunderous impact!
To the absolute shock of the Shi'ar, their commanding officer—the invincible war god in their eyes, the universe's greatest warrior—was sent flying backward!
And it wasn't just stumbling back a few steps or meters. He transformed into a shooting star, smashing clean through the hull of the spaceship and vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Let alone the Shi'ar, even the superheroes were left completely dumbfounded. You've got to be kidding me. That was the alien who had just effortlessly curbstomped their entire team, and Zodhis had taken him out with a single, casual punch?
Just how absurdly powerful was this guy?!
Zodhis crossed his arms. Guided by his superhuman hearing and vision, he watched as Gladiator flew back at a hundred times the speed of sound, looking completely unscathed.
"I underestimated you, Dark Knight!"
Gladiator was thoroughly excited. Fueled by his surging confidence, terrifying energy erupted from nowhere, swelling to unprecedented levels.
In the next moment, Gladiator vanished as if teleporting. When he reappeared, his fist was already caught single-handedly by Zodhis. More importantly, Zodhis hadn't moved a single inch after taking that full-powered punch
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)