Harry sent Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot, all of whom had also signed Lending contracts, to rescue the other civilians, while he shot straight up into the sky.
He remembered Nick Fury once telling him that, aside from the Sorcerer Supreme, Earth also had a Skyfather-level powerhouse.
Her name was Captain Marvel, and decades ago she had driven off Ronan the Accuser, who had tried to invade Earth, all by herself.
Harry felt that after expanding his network of Lenders and increasing the amount of controllable magic power he possessed through them, his own strength was getting close to the Skyfather-level too. So he decided to follow in that senior predecessor's footsteps and attempt the same glorious feat, destroying a starship with his own body.
The moment Harry Apparated into the sky, he saw a beam of annihilation descending from above.
Analytical runes flashed through his eyes. After taking a measure of it, Harry judged that the energy blast was powerful enough to wipe out an entire city with ease.
And with the power he currently had, he ought to be able to stop it with the right spell.
Harry Apparated again, placing himself directly in the path of the beam, and rapidly sketched Runic matrix patterns in front of him.
A radiant golden Runic matrix quickly took shape, forming a massive shield hundreds of meters across before him.
The instant the annihilation beam touched the formation, it scattered and transformed into a sky full of purple butterflies.
The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, while not a purely defensive spell, possessed a kind of absolute defense under certain conditions.
As long as enough magic power was poured into it, it could instantly rewrite any attack and transform it into some other harmless substance.
Just like now, Harry had rewritten the beam's devastating energy into drifting motes of spiritual light.
After dealing with that troublesome beam, Harry shot higher into the sky once more and sped directly toward the Dark Aster floating overhead.
Inside the Dark Aster's command room, Ronan the Accuser stared toward Xandar with a savage expression.
He had never expected the Power Stone to be on Xandar. But now that it was, all the better. Not only could he obtain the stone, he could also completely reignite the war between the Nova Empire and the Kree Empire.
If he fully mastered the Power Stone this time, then perhaps he could use it to destroy Xandar outright and avenge the family he had lost in the war.
But just as Ronan stared grimly at the annihilation beam about to strike a Xandarian city, he suddenly saw a figure appear directly in the beam's path.
Ronan was stunned. That person clearly possessed some kind of spatial ability, but why would he teleport right in front of the annihilation beam?
Had his teleportation gone out of control?
Wait...
All at once, Ronan recalled a scene from decades ago. Back then too, one person had stood alone before a Kree fleet. At the time he had thought the same thing, and yet the result had been that he slunk away in defeat from that backwater world called Earth.
Could it be that this person, like that woman before him, was trying to defeat an entire fleet alone?
The thought immediately filled Ronan with fury.
That woman had been one of the rare true powerhouses of the universe. What made this insect think he could compare to her?
This pathetic worm would be annihilated on the spot by the beam.
But when the figure below began drawing a spell formation, a terrible feeling rose in Ronan's chest.
That man was a mage, and mages wielded all sorts of powerful spells. This could actually become a problem.
By the time the annihilation beam collided with the figure below, Ronan's sense of dread had reached its peak.
Damn it, what kind of monster was that? He had forcibly rewritten the beam's energy into an entirely different form.
Staring at the mysterious figure now rushing toward the ship at terrifying speed, Ronan was forced to admit that he was starting to panic.
Harry didn't use Apparition to keep advancing. That method was convenient, but it lacked the thrill of true high-speed flight.
He flicked his wand slightly, and it was immediately wrapped in a green disintegration beam.
In the next moment, the beam expanded violently, growing longer and thicker until it finally formed a disintegration sword nearly a thousand meters long.
Inside the command room, Ronan and the others felt as though a massive mountain of green light had suddenly appeared before them, bearing down on them so hard they could barely breathe.
The instant Ronan saw that, he surrendered without hesitation.
He immediately ordered the communications officer to send a plea for surrender to the figure ahead.
"Wait! We surrender! We surrender!"
But Harry had never had any intention of showing mercy to a terrorist who constantly started wars across the cosmos.
He brought the enormous disintegration sword down in one savage stroke and split the Dark Aster, that legendary warship that had roamed the stars for years, straight down the middle.
"Excalibur!"
In his normal state, this move had already replaced the railgun spell as his strongest direct offensive attack.
A deafening explosion followed.
The entire battleship began cracking apart from the center like a collapsing mountain, slowly tilting away on both sides.
After splitting the Dark Aster in half, Harry continued swinging the disintegration sword in rapid succession.
Blinding arcs of sword-light wove a dense net, carving apart the ship's enormous hull over and over again.
Energy and burning matter poured from the ruptures in the Dark Aster, swelling into an immense fireball that blazed high above Xandar.
Countless parts and fragments blasted outward with the force of the explosions, forming a dazzling but deadly meteor shower.
Hovering tens of thousands of meters in the air, Harry watched the scene quietly as the disintegration sword in his hand gradually faded away.
When it was done, the space around him twisted rapidly, and he Apparated from the sky, reappearing inside the ten-star hotel.
Only then did the people of Xandar, staring at the magnificent sight before them, erupt into cheers that shook the heavens.
They knew that the terrible crisis had just been snuffed out by a single unimaginably powerful being as casually as brushing away a spark.
After the disaster ended, Nova Prime quickly issued one order after another to calm the frightened public.
But before long, she set aside her mountain of urgent duties and made Harry Potter, who had returned to the ten-star hotel, her top priority.
If Harry Potter had not intervened when Ronan launched his sudden attack, then even if Xandar had still managed to win, the planet would have suffered catastrophic damage.
So whether out of respect for Harry's tremendous power or out of gratitude for what he had done, Nova Prime had every reason to go see him personally.
When Harry returned to his room, it wasn't long before the Guardians of the Galaxy burst through the door and stared at him in shock.
Star-Lord gaped at Harry. At some point, the elemental blaster in his hand had already slipped to the floor. Looking at his fellow Earthling, he said excitedly, "Harry, that was incredible. Can I learn that move too?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. Star-Lord really might have a chance to learn the disintegration sword.
"You just might."
When Harry had tested his magical aptitude, he had already discovered that Star-Lord possessed an extraordinary talent for controlling energy.
If he were given enough magic power, he might learn all kinds of spells at astonishing speed, and perhaps one day even reach the Skyfather-level.
Harry had a strong sense that there was some special power hidden in Star-Lord's genes.
The others in the Guardians of the Galaxy became excited too. Rocket Raccoon hurriedly asked, "What about me? Can I do it?"
This time Harry shook his head. "Out of all of you, only Star-Lord can. The others don't have enough talent."
Star-Lord immediately looked smug. "Hahaha, of course only the great Star-Lord can pull something like that off. You guys can always pay me a little, and maybe I'll teach you."
Just as Rocket Raccoon was about to start arguing with him, someone knocked at the door.
After Harry gave permission, an elegant elderly woman slowly walked into the room.
The moment they saw her, everyone in the Guardians of the Galaxy except Harry went tense.
This old woman was no ordinary person. She was the supreme leader of the Nova Corps, someone whose standing in the universe rivaled even Thanos.
How could they not be nervous in front of a figure like that?
But Nova Prime showed none of her usual sternness. Instead, she gave the Guardians a gentle nod of acknowledgment, leaving them both flattered and terrified.
Then she turned all her attention to Harry. Bowing deeply, she said in a solemn voice, "Sorcerer Supreme from Kamar-Taj, Lord Godslayer, every citizen of Xandar will remember your kindness forever.
You arrived like a meteor tearing through the darkness in our most desperate hour, and with unmatched power you shattered Ronan's evil scheme.
Please allow us to express our gratitude."
With that, she waved a hand, and several Nova Corps soldiers stepped forward carrying a long, beautifully crafted case.
When the case was opened, a uniquely designed staff lay inside. Its body had been forged from rare cosmic alloy and set with brilliant gems, while the energy core at its head gave off a soft and mysterious glow.
"This is one of Xandar's most precious treasures, the Stellar Scepter.
It contains Xandar's ancient power. It can control the power of the stars and amplify the wielder's energy.
We hope you will accept it as our humble expression of gratitude."
Harry looked at the staff in his hand with interest. Stellar power was also one of the sources from which sorcerers drew magic. Although he himself did not use stellar magic, which was far weaker than chaos magic, he could tell from its fluctuations that the Stellar Scepter was still a top-tier magical artifact.
So he accepted the Stellar Scepter, placed it into his Pocket dimension, and thanked her politely.
"Thank you. I really like this gift."
After spending a while longer sightseeing on Xandar, Harry said goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy and returned to Earth.
He spent a few intimate days with Gwen and Wanda, then returned once more to his floating city.
Now he had an important experiment to conduct.
He wanted to find out whether, by combining the power of chaos at its source with the force of a wormhole, he could send his true body into other worlds.
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