A silent, solemn stillness hung in the air.
Black Dwarf's rage had solidified into palpable flames, boiling and churning. With a sudden upward surge, he launched himself skyward, moving with the speed of a charging thunderbolt!
His immense bulk did nothing to impede his momentum. In a blur of motion, his fist slammed toward Arthur's face.
Arthur clenched his fists, crossing his arms defensively before his face.
BOOM!
With a dull thud, immense force crushed Arthur's body as he plummeted like a meteor, smashing through skyscraper after skyscraper before crashing onto the street.
Just as Arthur staggered to his feet, he looked up to see the enraged Black Dwarf descending from the sky. His crimson eyes burned with cold fury as his colossal fist, radiating terrifying power, hurtled downward.
Even before the blow landed, a gale-force wind swept through the area, sending debris swirling around them.
Arthur raised an arm to meet Black Dwarf's fist.
BOOM!!!!
Another deafening impact drove Arthur's feet instantly through the pavement, the hardened pavement crumbling like tofu under the force.
Suddenly, Black Dwarf twisted mid-air and seized a hovercar that had been speeding toward them, only to swerve violently at the last moment.
Grasping the hovercar's edge with one hand, his fingers piercing the hardened alloy in an instant, he unleashed his full arm strength. The hovercar's four thrusters erupted in fiery bursts, carving dazzling arcs of light through the air as it hurtled toward Arthur's head like a deadly projectile.
BANG!!!
The roof of the hovercar slammed violently into Arthur's head, yet he made no attempt to dodge. He merely stared calmly at Black Dwarf, his gaze as impassive as if he felt nothing.
"Hmm?"
That look was infuriating!
Consumed by rage, Black Dwarf flipped the hovercar over and slammed it back down, repeatedly flipping it and smashing it down... BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The thunderous impacts echoed across the area. Arthur stood like a nail, while Black Dwarf became the blacksmith, the hovercar his hammer. With each brutal strike, he seemed determined to drive Arthur straight into the ground!
The hovercar visibly deteriorated with each blow. The alien friend trapped inside nearly became extraterrestrial bean paste, while parts flew off in all directions like shrapnel.
Twisting, deforming, and the ear-splitting screech of buckling metal reverberated through the air, making one want to cover their ears in agony.
The rampaging Black Dwarf unleashed formidable power, rivaling the Hulk in his fury.
After another devastating strike, just as he was about to lift the mangled car, he suddenly found it as if welded to the ground. No, even if it had been welded, Black Dwarf's immense strength should have allowed him to lift it effortlessly. Instead, it felt as if the car had grown roots into the ground.
Massive force surged through the car's frame, twisting the metal and deforming the chassis.
Realizing one hand wasn't enough, Black Dwarf gripped the vehicle with both hands, channeling every ounce of his colossal power into wresting control.
Suddenly, the opposing force that had been resisting him vanished completely.
With nowhere to vent his colossal power, the next instant, Black Dwarf and the car's mangled frame were flung into the air. After several mid-air tumbles, he landed heavily on his backside, still clutching the mangled chassis, his face a picture of utter confusion.
He sat motionless for what felt like an eternity, his mind gradually reorienting itself to its original train of thought.
With a sudden flick of his wrist, he hurled the car frame aside. Glancing back at the deep crater, he discovered that Arthur had vanished without a trace.
Before he could erupt in fury, a voice echoed in his ear: "What exactly are you so angry about?"
Black Dwarf whirled around, his expressionless face, ashen skin, and withered fingers already pressing against his face. An indescribable, overwhelming force slammed his massive body to the ground.
BOOM!!!!!
A deafening explosion erupted. From the point where Black Dwarf's head hit the ground, shockwaves radiated outward with terrifying intensity. Concentric rings of power cracked and shattered the earth, sending shards of rock flying in all directions.
CRASHING!!!!!
The surrounding skyscrapers trembled. One by one, their massive glass facades shattered under the relentless force.
The streetlights flickered and died, their circuits instantly severed. The hovercar's indicator lights dimmed instantly. Everything seemed to vanish into nothingness under the force of the hand pressing Black Dwarf's head down.
Black Dwarf's pupils lost all their light, his spirit utterly crushed.
Arthur tilted his head, studied him for a moment, then rose, grabbed one of Black Dwarf's legs, and slowly walked into the darkness.
"I thought you were strong, so I blocked you with both hands... But you're not as strong as I imagined, so I switched to one hand. In the end, I realized you're as fragile as a girl..."
His voice was flat. With a sudden flick of his wrist, Black Dwarf's body was hurled into the air.
The void above had been empty, yet as Black Dwarf's body arced through it, it inexplicably split in two.
It was as if an invisible, razor-sharp blade had been concealed in the void, effortlessly slicing Black Dwarf's body in half.
Having done this, Arthur cracked his knuckles. "Three left..."
After Hank involuntarily joined Camp Lehigh, Arthur began to reassure Lily.
After making a thorough circuit of Earth, he departed for the depths of the cosmos.
Fortunately, Camp Lehigh's operational model was remarkably resilient; it didn't collapse entirely in Arthur's absence.
In fact, Arthur, as the supreme authority, rarely intervened in its day-to-day operations anyway.
Before he knew it, a year and a half had passed since he arrived in this bizarre corner of the cosmos.
During this time, Arthur had focused on two primary tasks:
First, disguise!
No pretense could withstand scrutiny, and Arthur possessed the utterly broken Transformation Art. If he genuinely wanted to impersonate someone, it was child's play.
After a year and a half of diligent effort, Arthur had cultivated a reasonably successful persona.
He had also created a plausible scapegoat for all the blame.
The second part of his plan was investigation.
This involved getting to know a wide variety of people and gathering intelligence, primarily about Thanos and his subordinates.
So far, he had taken action twice, the previous time being six months ago, and this time, now.
"Corvus Glaive... Proxima Midnight... and Ebony Maw."
Arthur tilted his head back to gaze upward. "Should I just go confront Thanos directly? But if I did, wouldn't all my careful preparations seem utterly ridiculous?"
(End Of This Chapter)
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