There was essentially no difference between the Frozen Thousand Miles magic circle and the subsidiary skill of the Flood Dragon Trident.
The only distinction was that the Frozen Sky Burial Flower had a shorter activation time than the Frozen Thousand Miles Magic Circle, and its freezing effect was faster and more intense.
Facing Ronan, who was already as good as dead, Blaine didn't even bother to take out the Dragon Trident and painstakingly trigger the 0.1% subsidiary skill.
Just as everyone on the ground was cheering for Blaine's achievement, he moved again. The bow and arrow in his hand vanished without warning, replaced by a trident just over a foot in length.
"Crush it!"
Gripping the halberd with both hands, Blaine swung it downward toward the sky.
The incomparably vast energy of the Flood Dragon Trident tore through the air with a shrill howl and slammed directly into Ronan's battleship fortress—no longer just a giant block of ice.
In this strike, Blaine used his full strength. He was certain that even if Dormammu faced this attack, he would have to evade it, let alone a mere alien warship.
Bang!
A deafening explosion rang out. The violent shockwaves made those on the ground stagger, and some buildings looked as though they were about to shatter. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought that Xandar itself had exploded.
It was easy to imagine what would happen to the battleship fortress that had borne the full force of Blaine's attack.
A crack appeared on the surface of the massive warship that loomed over Xandar's atmosphere like a dark cloud. The fracture rapidly spread across the entire hull, and in moments, the fortress was riddled with fissures like porcelain on the verge of shattering.
The next instant, a crisp cracking sound echoed out. The iceberg-like battleship exploded completely.
For a moment, it was as if a hailstorm the size of houses rained down over Xandar City, which had been shrouded beneath the battleship fortress.
"A mantis trying to stop a chariot, hmph. You overestimated yourself."
Gazing at the shattered remains, Blaine seemed to be speaking to the already-dead Ronan.
"It's time to end this,"
"I hope you don't learn from him,"
"Those who violate bounty rules never meet a good end."
Blaine turned his head and spoke calmly. Though he appeared to be talking to himself, it was clear these words were meant for the female president of Xandar.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the Trident was withdrawn into the Hunter Space. Blaine then flashed back down to the ground. As for the hailstorm in the sky—that was no longer part of his bounty mission.
Still, looking at the massive chunks of hail—no, more accurately, icebergs—continuously falling from the sky, it was clear that if Xandar hadn't prepared defenses in advance, this alone would have caused another disaster.
But so what? For Blaine, the mission was already complete. Although he could use Hunter Space to collect all of it, there was no need.
Blaine had never been one for unnecessary actions. This could also be considered a small punishment for the female president's earlier distrust of him.
Just as Blaine was about to land, he suddenly noticed that the soul pendant on his chest had begun to glow with a white light. Recalling that Ronan hadn't been instantly headshotted by the spiritual seed earlier, Blaine seemed to understand.
Since leaving Earth, Blaine had wandered through space for countless days. His mental power had been in a constant state of release, and whenever he passed through planetary belts, he still needed to maintain his Hawkeye perspective to probe stellar cores.
Especially since Morag, his spirit had remained under prolonged tension—either on alert or actively probing.
It could be said that Blaine's mental power had been heavily consumed, and when he used the soul-tracking technique earlier, he had already been close to his limit.
Thanks only to the dual support of meditation and the soul pendant, Blaine avoided the physical weakness and mental collapse that usually followed excessive mental exertion. He hadn't even noticed any discomfort himself.
If Ronan hadn't failed to die instantly just now, Blaine might not have realized it at all.
"It seems my mental strength still needs improvement,"
"But lasting this long isn't bad either."
Indeed. Teleportation, soul tracking, magic circles, Hawkeye, mind reading—Blaine used them daily. In the past, such usage would have forced him to lie down for two or three days just to recover.
Boom boom boom boom…
A tremor from the ground drew Blaine's attention.
A massive block of ice the size of a house had fallen. Blaine shrugged, pretended to be innocent, and muttered to himself that he hadn't seen anything. He then continued walking toward the female president's command hall. With his mental strength nearly exhausted, he simply walked—his speed was more than sufficient.
…
Bang…
Boom…
As the first fragment of the warship struck the ground, the next moments were like an intensive artillery bombardment. Casualties appeared almost immediately.
Even so, Blaine paid it no mind. As he strode forward, a sudden, unsettling force surged from behind him.
The energy pierced into Blaine's back like acupuncture needles. What kind of energy could make him uncomfortable—enough to trigger his danger perception and make him feel genuinely threatened?
Blaine turned sharply. The sight before him made even his eyes widen in shock.
A mass of purple brilliance behind him dyed the entire sky violet.
"Fuck, Quill really has guts."
"That guy really thinks he can handle it, doesn't he?"
"Hey, I didn't expect that. I respect it."
Blaine had thought that with Ronan dead, the plot would have changed and everything afterward would have ended here.
He never expected that Quill would still take out the Power Stone and hold it in his hand, following the original course of events.
If Blaine wasn't mistaken, Quill intended to use the Power Stone's energy to resolve the disaster. Quill had seen the Power Stone's power on the Collector's planet—it was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to endure it. But if they could endure it, they would undoubtedly unleash godlike power.
Seeing Quill's agonized expression in the distance, Blaine knew he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. Once he failed, the result would be an explosion and death—and another catastrophe for Xandar.
Under Blaine's focused gaze, Quill's body was already showing faint signs of distortion. His skin, mouth, and eyes all emitted the purple glow of the Power Stone. His mouth was stretched open, yet he couldn't make a single sound, the pain utterly unbearable.
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