The moment Karl and his group appeared above the tribe, everyone's attention was immediately drawn toward the small native child below.
More specifically—
Toward the Phoenix Force fragment within her.
Even from a distance, Dark Phoenix could clearly sense it.
This fragment was significantly larger than any fragment they had discovered recently.
A trace of excitement appeared in her eyes.
If she successfully absorbed it, her strength would rise once again.
And the stronger she became, the more she could help Karl in the coming battles.
...
The child instinctively retreated behind the adult members of her tribe.
The strange natives stared nervously at Karl and the others with their dark eyes.
Their tentacles twitched restlessly.
They could clearly sense that the newcomers were not ordinary beings.
...
Karl had no intention of wasting time.
A wave of invisible force spread from his body.
Boom!
Every adult native was gently pushed aside.
Only the child remained where she stood.
...
The next moment, her body slowly floated into the air.
Under Karl's control, she drifted toward him.
Seeing this, the surrounding natives immediately reacted.
Black tentacles shot outward.
They desperately tried to pull the child back.
Unfortunately, doing so exposed their appendages directly to the blazing sunlight.
...
Sizzle!
The flesh rapidly burned.
Several tentacles were charred within seconds.
The natives were forced to retract them immediately.
Meanwhile, the child continued floating upward until she arrived before Karl.
...
Fear filled her eyes.
She looked at Karl, Yan, Hela, and Dark Phoenix as though facing gods.
...
Karl remained expressionless.
The Mind Stone.
The Soul Stone.
The Self Stone.
And his own vast spiritual power activated simultaneously.
Several streams of invisible energy entered the child's body.
...
The extraction process began.
...
Almost immediately, the child cried out in pain.
Scarlet energy erupted from her body.
The power transformed into destructive blasts that surged toward Karl and the others.
The Phoenix Force fragment was instinctively resisting extraction.
...
Karl simply waved his hand.
The attacks vanished before reaching him.
...
The natives below erupted into furious roars.
Some hurled stones.
Others attempted to attack with whatever they could find.
But none of it mattered.
To Karl, their actions were no different from dust attempting to challenge a storm.
...
Soon, he located the fragment.
Deep within the child's soul.
...
The next moment—
A brilliant crimson flame emerged from her body.
The Phoenix fragment appeared.
...
As though sensing its kin, the fragment immediately rushed toward Dark Phoenix.
Scarlet fire engulfed her body.
Then the fragment merged with her completely.
...
Boom!
A terrifying aura exploded outward.
Dark Phoenix's power surged dramatically.
The Phoenix Force within her became even more complete.
Her strength climbed rapidly.
Late Single-Universe level.
Peak Single-Universe level.
And then—
It finally stopped.
...
She had not yet reached the Mid Single-Universe level.
But she was now only one step away.
...
Dark Phoenix slowly opened her eyes.
The crimson flames surrounding her gradually receded.
A smile appeared on her face.
Then she leaned directly into Karl's embrace.
...
Karl wrapped an arm around her waist.
At the same time, he tossed a sphere of green healing energy toward the child.
The power of the Horse Talisman restored the damage caused during extraction.
...
The child's condition quickly stabilized.
Her body gently floated back toward her tribe.
...
Karl felt no guilt whatsoever.
Throughout his rise to power, he had destroyed civilizations, shattered star systems, and fought cosmic entities whose existence affected entire universes.
Compared to those events, removing a Phoenix fragment from a single individual barely registered in his mind.
The healing energy he provided was already far more generosity than most cosmic beings would have shown.
...
Just as the child returned to her people—
Boom!
A wave of terrifying black energy descended from the sky.
...
The attack arrived without warning.
Fortunately, everyone present possessed Single-Universe-level reactions.
Karl.
Yan.
Hela.
Dark Phoenix.
All raised their hands simultaneously.
The black energy exploded against their defenses.
...
When the dust cleared, a figure stood in the distance.
White skin.
White eyes.
A black cloak.
And in his hand—
A jet-black sword.
...
Karl narrowed his eyes.
The appearance was familiar.
Very familiar.
...
Regardless of who the newcomer was, however, one fact remained.
The attack had already been launched.
That alone was enough reason to respond.
...
Before the others could move—
Karl vanished.
...
Boom!
Golden energy erupted across the battlefield.
Karl appeared directly before the black-cloaked figure.
His fist slammed into the man's chest.
The impact launched him across the planet.
Entire mountains exploded along his trajectory.
...
However, Karl immediately noticed something.
The black sword transformed.
Like living darkness.
Like liquid shadows.
It spread across the man's body and formed a battle armor.
...
Karl instantly recognized it.
Not merely the sword.
But its origin.
...
The All-Black.
The Necrosword.
The first symbiote.
The weapon forged by the dark god Knull long before the rise of the modern symbiote species.
...
And the man wielding it—
Was none other than Gorr the God Butcher.
...
A glimmer of realization flashed through Karl's eyes.
This explained everything.
The three suns.
The barren world.
The suffering civilization.
...
This truly was Gorr's homeworld.
...
In the comics, Gorr's power largely originated from the All-Black.
The Necrosword granted him immortality.
Cosmic energy manipulation.
Construct creation.
Regeneration.
And the ability to slaughter gods across the universe.
...
By absorbing the divine essence of slain gods, the weapon continuously evolved.
The more gods Gorr killed—
The stronger he became.
...
At present, Gorr had not yet reached the heights he would achieve in the future.
His aura hovered around the Pseudo Single-Universe level.
Still dangerous.
But nowhere near Karl's current strength.
...
Had Gorr been allowed to continue his crusade for several thousand years, the situation might have been very different.
Unfortunately for him—
He had encountered Karl too early.
...
Dark tendrils spread across Gorr's body.
A pair of black wings erupted from his back.
The symbiote armor expanded.
Another Necrosword formed within his hand.
...
Boom!
The atmosphere exploded behind him.
A sonic boom cloud appeared instantly.
Gorr shot toward Karl like a black meteor.
...
The newly formed Necrosword descended.
Dark divine energy wrapped around the blade.
Countless traces of slain gods lingered within the weapon.
...
The sword fell toward Karl's head.
...
Karl remained completely calm.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't block.
...
Instead—
He clenched his fist.
And punched directly toward Gorr's chest.
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