NOVEL NEXT Chapter 332: Thanos, Are You Seeking Death?
Although Black Dwarf possessed tremendous brute strength, being hurled from the edge of the atmosphere toward the ground below was no ordinary fall. Even for a being as durable as him, the sheer velocity and impact would be enough to pulverize most bodies into paste.
Alex knew this. Which was why, after knocking him off the ship, he didn't even bother to spare the massive brute another glance.
Of course, that was assuming normal circumstances. Black Dwarf, as one of the infamous Black Order, wasn't entirely ordinary. His raw power might not rival Ebony Maw's refined mastery, but his sheer durability and tenacity had kept him alive through countless battles.
Perhaps—just perhaps—he would find a way to survive the fall. After all, creatures like him often had methods of enduring the impossible.
But even if that unlikely scenario came to pass, Alex's lips curled faintly. He wasn't concerned in the slightest.
Because the battlefield was no longer his alone.
The X-Men were not helpless mortals. Charles's telepathy, Erik's magnetic dominion, Cyclops's devastating optic blasts, Storm's command of the skies, Vincent's writhing sea of vines, Liz's scorching infernos—together they formed a force capable of toppling mountains. Even if Black Dwarf somehow managed to crawl back from that deadly plunge, he would find himself facing a wall of mutants more than ready to bury him.
No, Alex had no reason to linger on that distraction.
---
Hum!
A tearing hum split the air like fabric being ripped apart. Ronan, witnessing Alex's ferocity firsthand, did not hesitate. His instincts screamed at him—this was not an opponent he could measure against alone. His pride railed against the thought, but survival silenced it.
Even someone of Ronan's stature had to admit the truth: only by joining forces did they stand the slightest chance.
Gripping his mighty hammer, he swung with desperate precision. An explosive wave of violet-blue energy tore through the chamber, lancing directly at Alex.
At that very moment, Alex's gaze was still on Black Dwarf's fading figure, twin beams of heat vision blazing from his eyes. The timing was perfect—or so Ronan thought.
The blast struck.
A surge of exhilaration lit Ronan's eyes. A direct hit!
Surely not even this terrifying monster could withstand the full might of the Accuser's hammer. No body of flesh and bone could endure such a catastrophic strike. Even the sturdiest starship hulls buckled under its fury.
He must fall. He must!
Boom!
The energy collided head-on with Alex… only to ripple harmlessly across the invisible aura surrounding his form.
Ronan's brief hope died in an instant.
It was not flesh that had taken his strike. It was an unseen wall, an impregnable barrier shimmering faintly in the air.
Alex's telekinesis.
The attack had accomplished nothing.
---
Boom!
Before Ronan's shock could even settle, Alex vanished. His body blurred into a sonic boom, reappearing less than a heartbeat later directly in front of the Accuser.
Ronan didn't even have time to flinch before a steel-hard hand clamped around his throat.
It was like being seized by some primordial beast, a predator from before the dawn of time. Crushing strength radiated through the grip, a suffocating pressure that told him in no uncertain terms—his life was already in Alex's hands.
Panic erupted in Ronan's chest. He struggled, muscles bulging, veins straining, but the hand on his neck was immovable. He might as well have been thrashing against a mountain.
A growl tore from his throat. Desperation flooded his mind. If he could not break free, then he would strike with everything he had!
With a final, furious roar, Ronan swung his hammer downward, pouring every ounce of his remaining strength into a single, fatal blow.
Snap.
The sound was almost anticlimactic.
Alex's free hand rose lazily, catching the hammer mid-swing. The unstoppable weapon halted as though it had been caught by a parent intercepting a child's tantrum.
---
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A sudden storm erupted behind him. Ebony Maw, his composure shattered, unleashed his full arsenal. Shards of metal twisted into countless blades, a glittering tempest of psychic steel that screamed through the air toward Alex.
They rained down like the wrath of a god.
Alex didn't even glance at them.
His barrier flared, smooth and absolute. The telekinetic shield absorbed every strike, every shrieking blade dissolving into harmless sparks against its surface.
Ronan's eyes bulged as the truth sank in.
Crack.
Alex tightened his grip. Ronan's neck snapped like dry kindling.
The mighty Accuser's body went limp, strength fleeing in an instant.
Alex released him with indifference, and the corpse hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling aside like discarded refuse.
---
"Impossible… utterly impossible!" Ebony Maw's voice trembled, his usually calm mask twisted by horror. "How can a being like this exist on C-53?"
The battle had barely begun, mere minutes at most. Yet in that span, Black Dwarf had been cast from the heavens, and Ronan—the Accuser, the hammer of the Kree Empire—had been snapped like a twig.
Both fallen. Both crushed as if they were nothing.
Ebony Maw's heart pounded erratically, sweat sliding down his temples.
Could anyone truly possess such overwhelming power? Even their revered master… even Thanos himself… had never displayed such absolute dominance!
This… this is madness.
Alex turned, his gaze falling upon Ebony Maw.
The Black Order's sorcerer felt his breath hitch. His pulse quickened painfully. A pressure long forgotten gripped him—a primal, choking tension he hadn't known since his earliest battles under Thanos's command.
Boom!
Alex moved again, reappearing beside him in the blink of an eye. Ebony Maw threw up every defense, his telekinesis straining, layers of psychic force forming barriers, counterstrikes, anything to buy even a heartbeat.
They shattered like glass.
Alex's fists came down in merciless rhythm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three thunderous impacts. Ebony Maw's chest caved inward with each one, bones snapping, organs rupturing, until there was nothing left inside but pulp.
The Black Order's cunning strategist collapsed lifeless at Alex's feet.
---
Without hesitation, Alex's eyes flared once more.
Twin beams of searing heat swept through the ship, cutting through bulkheads, fuel lines, and engines alike.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rippled outward in a chain, devouring the vessel from the inside. The hull convulsed, tearing itself apart in fire and light.
And then—
Boom!
The entire warship erupted in a spectacular blaze, fragments scattering across the sky.
Through the inferno, Alex's silhouette streaked free, vanishing in an instant into the horizon.
---
When he touched down on Krakoa, the flames of battle had not even faded from his shoulders before a booming voice greeted him.
"Alex, you're back so soon?" Thor strode forward, wide-eyed with surprise. To him, it felt as though barely half an hour had passed since Alex had left. Surely the battle with beings of such caliber would rage far longer.
But here Alex stood, calm and unruffled, as though he had simply gone for a stroll.
"Just some minor matters," Alex replied lightly, brushing the question away with a wave of his hand. His voice carried no arrogance, merely cold fact.
Thor stared for a beat longer, then threw back his head and laughed. If Alex called them minor, then so they were.
After exchanging a few hearty words and laughter, Thor clasped his arm. "Then I should return to Asgard. Give my regards to Lord Odin!"
"Of course," Alex said.
Thor departed in a beam of rainbow light.
And as silence returned, Alex's expression shifted. His gaze hardened, eyes narrowing, a blade of cold light flashing within them.
Thanos.
The name alone made his killing intent stir.
"Thanos," Alex whispered to the empty air, his voice low and lethal.
"Are you seeking death?"
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