(Referring to the twin stars — Carol)
The object that had struck her continued flying away in another direction and vanished almost instantly.
"The Kree…?"
High in the sky, Captain Marvel regained consciousness mid-fall.
Her first instinct was suspicion.
"The Kree haven't retreated yet?!"
Just moments ago she had destroyed a Kree war fleet and driven away the commander behind it.
Now she had been ambushed from behind.
That timing was far too perfect to ignore.
But as Carol replayed the moment in her mind, she realized something strange.
What struck her had not been an energy attack.
There had been no radiation burst.
No photon discharge.
It had been purely physical.
Like being hit in the head by a meteor.
"…A meteorite?"
Carol brushed her blonde hair aside while tumbling through the atmosphere.
"No."
"That thing came from the ground."
"Meteorites don't fly upward."
Her body continued spinning as she rapidly plummeted toward the surface of the Earth.
"Alright… let's stop here."
Carol extended both hands downward.
Brilliant energy erupted from her palms.
Her plan was simple.
Release a powerful burst of energy toward the ground—
Use the recoil to cancel her downward momentum.
Boom!!!
But just as the energy beam was about to strike the ground—
It vanished.
Completely.
As if it had been swallowed by the air.
Carol's eyes widened.
This bizarre phenomenon caught her completely off guard.
Yes, she possessed enough raw power to destroy an entire space fleet.
But her abilities were still primarily brute force.
Compared to veteran cosmic warriors, her combat experience was still developing.
"That's bad!"
The recoil she had been counting on never arrived.
Her descent continued unabated.
At the final moment, Carol crossed her arms over her head and braced for impact.
BOOM!!!!
The previously smooth grassland was instantly torn open.
A massive trench formed as the impact carved across the ground like a plow.
Not far away—
Adrian froze.
The last piece of fried chicken slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
"…Who just stole my skill?"
"Great Wilderness Starfall?"
Then realization struck him.
"Wait."
"How did she get inside the seal?!"
Adrian immediately stood up and walked toward the end of the trench.
Although it had happened in the blink of an eye, he clearly saw something falling.
Not a meteor.
Not a satellite.
A person.
Beside him, Hela folded her arms and watched calmly.
"Is she the woman you mentioned?"
"The one capable of rivaling Odin?"
The woman slowly rising from the crater radiated an astonishing level of energy.
"Uh… no."
"She's someone else."
Adrian glanced at the system notification that had just appeared and shook his head.
"I guess you could call her… a 'nouveau riche.'"
In terms of pure destructive output, Carol Danvers was already one of Earth's most powerful beings.
Especially in her Binary form.
In fact, many records even described her as the strongest female superhero currently active on Earth.
But power alone did not determine victory.
If she truly fought the Ancient One, whose mastery of mystical knowledge and dimensional techniques was nearly limitless—
The result would be impossible to predict.
As for the system mission…
[Captain Marvel Mission: Defeat Carol Danvers in her Binary Form]
Adrian looked at it for a moment.
Then silently ignored it.
"…Yeah, let's forget about that."
Meanwhile—
Carol finally climbed out of the trench.
Her blonde hair flowed behind her as she carefully observed the two figures before her.
"Are you Kree?"
Her voice was calm but cautious.
To be knocked out of the sky from ten thousand meters by something moving with comet-level force—
And still remain conscious and combat-ready—
There was currently only one person on Earth capable of that.
Carol Danvers herself.
"What?"
Adrian blinked in confusion.
How exactly had she reached the conclusion that he was a Kree?
Carol did not wait for an answer.
She simply raised her hand.
A photon blast shot forward.
Boom!
Adrian raised his Celestial Shield, effortlessly blocking the attack.
Then he glanced sideways at Hela, who was clearly enjoying the show.
"…Isn't it a little rude to attack someone the moment you meet them?"
"Or is this just how women greet each other?"
"Fight first."
"Ask questions later."
Carol studied the shield with surprise.
Her energy blast had been completely blocked.
"I just wanted to see the color of your blood."
She leapt out of the trench and landed directly in front of Adrian and Hela.
The color of blood was the simplest way to identify Kree infiltrators.
Blue meant Kree.
Red meant human.
Should she fight the man in front of her?
Carol's gaze briefly shifted toward Hela.
Her fists slowly clenched.
"No need to check."
"I'm a native Earthling."
Adrian casually planted his spear into the ground, tossed his shield aside, and sat down.
"Why are you so nervous?"
"We didn't attack you."
"Actually, you're the one who trespassed into our territory."
Of course—
Adrian had absolutely no idea that he was the one who had knocked Carol out of the sky.
And Carol had no idea the mysterious projectile had been thrown by the person now sitting calmly in front of her.
"You're right."
Carol nodded.
Then she sat down beside Adrian without hesitation.
She pointed toward the star-like power still glowing faintly around his body.
"But I didn't know humans could do that."
For a long time, Carol had believed she was the only human who had accidentally gained cosmic powers.
But now—
She had suddenly encountered another.
Or maybe two.
"I don't believe humans can casually fire energy blasts at people either."
Adrian rolled his eyes.
Captain Marvel had the nerve to say that?
She herself was basically the biggest cheat in the room.
"That's fair."
Carol shrugged.
Then she glanced toward Hela, who had been silently observing everything.
"So…"
"Who exactly are you people?"
"And where exactly is this place?"