"Talos Prime is gone."
The Black Queen answered.
In fact, the Shi'ar Empire had really gone all out this time. Not only had most of Thanos's Black Order been wiped out, but many civilizations that had invaded the Shi'ar Empire for revenge or to pick over the remains had also been destroyed along with that supernova.
"So gravitational collapse bombs are pretty dangerous."
Zod said.
If he had been there, he wouldn't have been afraid of the enemy using them. But if he wasn't around, the Kryptonian Empire would probably suffer heavy losses too.
The danger of a supernova explosion was beyond imagination. Only Gladiator could probably withstand it—after all, that guy had a record in the comics of standing unharmed at the center of a supernova explosion.
Everyone else would die.
"I'll step up patrols for the Ultraman squad."
That was all the Black Queen could do. Although this thing was essentially a weapon of mass destruction on par with Earth's nuclear weapons—
But for one thing, to achieve the same effect as the Shi'ar Empire, you'd need to find a star to use it on, and stars were basically all being closely watched. It was hard to pull off.
On top of that, the Shi'ar Empire's move had probably put every civilization in the universe on high alert.
But even though Thanos had suffered heavy losses, Zod knew he probably wouldn't care—in fact, he'd probably be quite pleased.
Because a supernova explosion killed people far faster than his slaughter ever could.
Thousands of planets reduced to nothing in an instant. If Thanos had to kill them all himself, who knew how long it would take.
After dealing with Captain Marvel, Zod returned to Earth.
The Scarlet Witch, Wanda, had undergone modification with the so-called Compound No. 1. She desperately wanted to be able to help Zod.
Zod put her into a deep sleep, then activated Wanda's power through the Mind Stone.
Wanda's power came from Chthon, the elder god of the underworld.
That was a Great Demon God!
In the circles of dimensional demon gods, there were ranks even among them.
The powerful ones, like Cyttorak, Lord of the Crimson Cosmos, could go head-to-head with the five cosmic entities and even the Living Tribunal at the height of his power—provided he stayed within his own domain.
That level of heavyweight—even the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, would show due respect when meeting him.
And then there was the often-overlooked Trinity of the Vishanti, arguably the most powerful magical deities below Eternity.
The reason successive Sorcerers Supreme could be so high-profile—
Aside from their own formidable strength, it had everything to do with their deep backing and solid support.
Dimensional demon gods who wanted to stretch their tentacles into the main universe had to show a little face.
Relatively speaking, the ones who could be called "weaker" were Mephisto, Lord of Hell—
And Dormammu, who was constantly being fleeced, had been dunned multiple times to no avail, and instead got blocked.
The former referred to before he had successfully taken the "Throne of Satan" and unified Hell.
That was Mephisto's peak moment, when he dared to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Odin and even hammered the cosmic measuring stick of combat power—Galactus.
It was just that this Hell Lord's power fluctuated wildly. When he was weak, even Doctor Strange could pin him to the ground and rub his face in it.
So when ranking the hierarchy, people habitually put him near the back.
And Dormammu, the latter, was purely because his own ceiling was too low. He'd squandered that astonishing opportunity.
He had originally been a wizard who accidentally discovered the Dark Dimension, entered it, and became its master.
It was like a newbie village player having their experience maxed out instantly, leveling straight to the top.
This also meant that Dormammu, having joined the ranks of dimensional demon gods, didn't have personal abilities to match that position.
In short, in the circles of dimensional demon gods, the starting point was Skyfather level, and the upper limit could reach all the way to omniversal level.
And Wanda, backed by Chthon's magical power, had become the extremely dangerous Chaos Magic.
She could alter reality at will, and even a mere lapse in consciousness could have enormous effects on reality.
The most classic example was that one line of hers.
"No more mutants!"
Wiping out everyone's superpowers—including the powers of people who weren't even mutants.
Zod wasn't afraid of her Chaos Magic. After all, whether it was Doomsday Superman or Black Hole Superman, both were powerful enough. Although they were technically universal-level entities, even if a multiversal-level being showed up, Zod could still beat them to a pulp.
Humans were extremely curious about the fact that Umbrella Corporation had produced yet another special operative—and this new operative's codename was "Scarlet Witch." What did "witch" mean?
Did she know magic too?
Wanda also found it strange. Wasn't the ability she'd awakened through Compound No. 1 telekinesis?
"Of course not, Wanda. That power of yours is very dangerous. It depends on your imagination—it's definitely not something as simple as telekinesis."
Zod naturally wanted to prevent Wanda from going down the wrong path. When Thanos came, she could probably tear him apart single-handedly.
"My imagination?"
Wanda didn't quite understand.
"Simply put, it's wishing for something and having it come true. Your power lets you do whatever you want."
Zod explained.
Wishing for something and having it come true?
Wanda's eyes lit up. That, she understood!
Then she looked at Zod's face and suddenly blushed.
Zod's brow furrowed. Something had just tried to alter his thoughts, but the black hole power that could act on everything had crushed and devoured it.
He looked thoughtfully at Wanda. Could it be that Wanda had just had some improper thought about him?
Was this Chaos Magic really that powerful? It took effect that quickly?
Wanda left soon after. Along the way, she gradually realized what kind of power she'd obtained. She wanted a drink of water, and a cup of water simply appeared in front of her.
She wanted to see her brother, and Pietro dropped from the sky... in a way that nearly broke his spine.
This made her begin to realize her power wasn't entirely a good thing. It could also bring misfortune.
Based on her situation, Zod recommended she go to Kamar-Taj Academy.
The head of the academy, the Sorcerer Supreme Ancient One, accepted Wanda with a smile on the surface—though secretly she was probably cursing Zod out in her head. But Zod didn't care either way.
Then there was Thor, the God of Thunder.
He settled down on Earth, figuring that if he couldn't go back, he just wouldn't go back. Odin had no choice but to send Sif down to find Thor.
Actually, Thor had it pretty rough. The story of the God of Thunder always seemed to be about the hammer-wielding hero cleaning up the messes his old man left behind in his youth.
Loki was only one of them. Later there would be Hela, Surtur, Jörmungandr, and even the Celestials...
In the later stages, it was like every few days some god-tier boss would pop out of some corner to come looking for trouble with Odin. And Odin—maybe because he was getting old—every time some fearsome boss jumped out, he'd stand there muttering things like "Ragnarök has come" or "It's all over now"—that kind of defeatist talk (for example, in Avengers v7 when facing the Final Host of Celestials).
In the end, it always fell to the hammer-wielding hero to step up and fight tooth and nail, cleaning up the remaining problems for his old man. And every once in a while, if he wasn't careful, he might actually end up dead.
/-\
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