Karl was leisurely recuperating. He had expended far too much energy yesterday, and now he could finally get some proper rest.
Still, he had an uneasy premonition. As the Sorcerer Supreme, he was perceptive enough to know when something was wrong.
The two Skrulls sent yesterday had never returned. That meant their mission had failed.
From here, the Skrulls had only two possible paths.
Karl considered both possibilities carefully.
First, they could send an even more powerful expert to assassinate him.
Second, they could move their planned invasion of Earth forward and launch it ahead of schedule.
Either possibility gave Karl a headache.
"By all logic, they've already finished assembling everything. So why haven't they launched their attack yet?"
"Maybe they're waiting for something. The right moment, perhaps, or some other opportunity."
Karl pondered the matter, rubbing his forehead before casually waving his hand.
The book in front of him flew back onto its shelf.
He irritably tapped his fingers against the table.
Then he felt a faint tremor beneath his feet.
Karl frowned.
After the previous massive battle, everything should have already returned to normal.
"Come out."
Karl spoke softly.
A figure suddenly emerged from the corner. He wore a black robe with dark adornments across his shoulders.
Karl only needed to glance at him to know exactly who he was.
"Impressive. You're already making your move?"
Karl had known they would eventually come after him, but he hadn't expected them to act this quickly.
That could only mean the enemy was afraid—or that their composure had already been shaken and they desperately wanted to eliminate him before he became a greater problem.
"Let's get this over with!"
Tothwanwell was straightforward.
What he hated most was allowing potential problems to linger.
Their plan was about to begin, and he refused to allow even a single unpredictable factor to interfere with it.
"What's the rush? I've heard that you Skrulls are exceptionally good at learning from others."
"I'm curious. Once you capture me, what exactly are you planning to do? Take me back for experiments? Or tear me apart right here?"
Karl sat with one leg crossed over the other, looking completely unconcerned.
Seeing him like this, Tothwanwell found it difficult to believe that the young man standing before him was actually the Sorcerer Supreme.
If he hadn't personally fought Karl before, he never would have believed that someone like him could unleash such tremendous power.
Tothwanwell raised his head slightly.
He was extremely tall, and his green skin made Karl instinctively uncomfortable.
The Skrulls possessed brilliant minds, exceptional judgment, and destructive capabilities that were difficult to imagine.
"Consider that a mystery for now. Once I truly capture you, you'll naturally find out where you're going."
The moment Tothwanwell finished speaking, he raised one hand.
Everything in the room immediately began floating into the air.
Karl grimaced.
All of those things were his treasures!
"Can we take this fight outside? Why do people always insist on wrecking my room?"
Karl waved his hand.
When Tothwanwell opened his eyes again, he discovered that he was standing in the middle of a vast green grassland.
Finding a place like this within such an otherwise barren universe was impressive in itself.
"You brat! You can even use Illusions?"
Karl's technique had completely caught him off guard.
Tothwanwell immediately became even more cautious.
He now understood that Karl possessed power he absolutely could not afford to underestimate.
Even he found it difficult to believe just how extraordinary that power was.
Then Karl saw a gauntlet suddenly appear in Tothwanwell's hand!
So the Skrulls really had been collecting powerful artifacts.
They clearly had not finished gathering all of their Ultimate Weapons yet.
"The Infinity Gauntlet?"
"You even managed to reproduce something like that? I knew you Skrulls were supposed to be intelligent, but I didn't expect your ability to replicate technology and artifacts to reach this level."
Karl frowned slightly.
But his surprise quickly turned to disdain.
In the end, they were still copying the creations and powers of others.
Karl floated halfway into the air, wanting to see exactly what Tothwanwell was capable of.
"Still, what a pity."
"What's such a pity?"
Tothwanwell's voice was cold, and displeasure filled his expression, though beneath his enormous cloak Karl could barely make out his face.
"It's a pity that despite being so intelligent, you're still so insecure."
"You're wasting those brilliant minds of yours."
Karl's words struck directly at Tothwanwell's pride.
Tothwanwell had always possessed an enormous ego.
Without another word, he immediately activated the Infinity Gauntlet!
He intended to distort spacetime itself!
Karl naturally understood how terrifying the power associated with the Infinity Gauntlet could be.
He immediately became serious and prepared himself.
Before his eyes, spacetime itself was twisted into a circular structure!
Karl launched several palm strikes, but the energy from his attacks seemed to be redirected into another spacetime entirely!
They couldn't harm Tothwanwell in the slightest.
Tothwanwell didn't merely understand the Infinity Gauntlet's basic functions. He could use it with remarkable skill.
By manipulating spacetime, he redirected an opponent's own force instead of confronting it directly.
He continuously shifted between one spatial layer and another.
For a moment, Karl was completely disoriented.
Still, he forced himself to remain calm.
"Don't bother trying to provoke me with those disgusting remarks. Every one of you Earthlings will eventually fall before me!"
"Whether they're so-called sorcerers or gods, all of them will become defeated enemies beneath my feet. In the end, god-tier power will belong to me alone. I am the only one worthy of possessing such things!"
Karl shrugged when he heard this.
He genuinely had no idea where these Skrulls got such overwhelming confidence.
Not only were they convinced that they could control everything, but they also seemed to believe they were incomparably intelligent.
Karl could only wonder whether their own cleverness would eventually become their downfall.
By then, regret would be useless.
Karl didn't spell everything out explicitly.
He only hoped they could understand the warning behind his words and stop creating even more disasters.
"Now that you understand how powerful I am, surrender quietly and I may still spare your life!"
"If you continue resisting, I'll make sure there isn't enough of you left to bury."
Karl finally understood the answer to the question he had asked before their fight began.
With the Infinity Gauntlet, Tothwanwell really did possess methods capable of leaving him utterly annihilated.
If he was repeatedly thrown between different spaces and different points in time, Karl might not even know where his remains would ultimately end up.
Karl merely raised his eyes slightly.
His gaze became sharp as he stared directly at Tothwanwell without yielding an inch.
At that moment—
A streak of crimson light suddenly swept across the sky!
Karl looked toward the distant horizon, where blue and green seemed to meet.
The brilliant crimson glow was impossible to ignore.
Tothwanwell had no eyes in the back of his head and had absolutely no idea what was happening behind him.
(End of Chapter)
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