Divine power was interesting enough, Gwen thought—but not nearly as important as shopping with Lorien.
After all, her strength was already terrifying. And she only fought crime within cities.
Yes, just crime within cities.
On a cosmic scale, that was like running a Level 5–10 dungeon at best.
And Gwen's power? Beyond super-tier—downright monstrous.
This wasn't dungeon crawling. This was daily cleanup.
At her current level, Earth's so-called "disasters" were nothing more than small fry.
Lorien raised his hand.
"Let's find a normal city. We'll stroll through the streets of Egypt."
He was about to snap his fingers when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Moon God Khonshu giving a slight bow.
Lorien nodded with a soft grunt and then snapped his fingers.
"Snap~"
In the next instant, the three of them vanished, reappearing on the streets of a tourist city in Egypt.
And of course, it had to be a tourist city. Outside of those, Egypt's other cities were, to put it kindly, painfully underdeveloped.
Lorien glanced around at the local architecture.
"Let's go. Let's see what Egypt's markets have to offer."
Hearing the voices so casually beside him, Khonshu became even more convinced—these weren't ordinary travelers. They were beings of overwhelming power.
It seemed likely they had only destroyed the Crocodile Goddess in passing, as if taking care of a nuisance along the way.
After all, that woman hadn't even reacted after killing the goddess.
Once she returned to the man's side, she never mentioned the Crocodile Goddess again.
To them, she had probably never mattered.
They had simply seen Khonshu locked in battle, and since the woman bore a grudge—apparently the Crocodile Goddess's emissary had caused chaos in her city—she cut the goddess down without hesitation.
Hmm...
...
The Moon God Khonshu brooded for a while, then muttered softly.
"Serves her right."
...
Meanwhile, in the vastness of space.
Only a short while ago, the Solar System had seen the Thanos Legion utterly crushed.
But now, the Nova Empire within the Xandarian system was facing complete annihilation.
On the outskirts of Xandar, countless bio-warships and insectoid swarms poured toward it.
Their bodies were a sickly gray-black green, their limbs twisted and grotesque. Even their monstrous heads and gaping maws radiated nothing but cruelty.
Now, they were sweeping into the Nova Empire like a living plague.
Having already been devastated once by Thanos's forces, the Nova Corps was left with only half its fighting strength. They had no hope of resisting such an overwhelming invasion.
From above, Nova Prime looked out over the battlefield. The insect tide stretched endlessly into the distance, with no end in sight.
The swarm roared as it charged toward the empire.
The Nova Corps fought back desperately.
But against this ocean of enemies, their resistance was meaningless.
Soon, the swarm would drown them completely.
"No!!!"
A soldier's scream rang out through the comm channel.
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me! Don't—ahhh!!!"
"Fight! Detonate your Nova Force before you die!"
"Captain, there are too many! Endless! We need other empires to send reinforcements!"
"It's too late! Too many! Nothing but bugs—bugs everywhere!!!"
The comms filled with screams.
The Nova Corps—one of the strongest armies in the universe—was utterly powerless before this swarm.
Even their ship weapons couldn't kill the bugs instantly. Only a fraction were destroyed on impact.
The ones with hardened exoskeletons took multiple strikes to bring down.
But how many soldiers did the Nova Corps have? And how many bugs stood against them?
One soldier against a hundred?
No—perhaps one soldier against a thousand.
And even that was a conservative estimate.
On their scanners, the enemies appeared as an endless cluster of red dots, packed so tightly they blurred together.
How many were there?
A million? Ten million? A hundred million?
Any number was possible.
On a battlefield with odds so hopelessly skewed, the Nova Corps commander knew the truth.
The fall of the Nova Empire...was only a matter of time.
From this day forward, the universe would no longer have a Nova Empire.
"Huff..."
He let out a long breath. After struggling with the decision, Nova Prime finally gave the order.
"Notify every citizen of the Nova Empire to evacuate Xandar immediately."
"This time, our goal is simple: escape."
"Spread the word about the swarm!"
"This message must get out!"
"The universe is facing a catastrophe! If the empires don't unite, the Nova Empire may be the first to fall—but it won't be the last!"
The order was sent. After releasing the comm button, Nova Prime sighed heavily.
This time, no one could save the Nova Empire.
What worried him even more was this: if even the Nova Corps couldn't withstand the Wave, what about the legions of other civilizations?
If they received the message and still refused to unite, they would meet the same fate.
But even if they did unite... could they really stand against the swarm?
Nova Prime looked out at the tide of insects already breaching the Nova capital.
The truth was harsh—he knew they couldn't resist.
These creatures weren't just resilient. They were endless in number, and every single one carried real combat ability.
They weren't cannon fodder. They were soldiers. Endless soldiers.
Could the Skrull Empire, or even the mighty Kree Empire, withstand this?
Nova Prime's heart told him no.
Then who could?
"Wait."
A thought struck him. One civilization, perhaps...
"The Transformers!"
Yes. Against a tide of bugs, what better counter than an iron flood of machines?
Clutching that hope, Nova Prime immediately transmitted a message across the stars.
"Cosmic swarm incoming! The Nova Empire has fallen! The Transformers civilization—may be our last hope!"
Bang!
No sooner had the message been sent than a bug slammed against his ship.
He whipped his head around. A bug.
Nova Prime's face twisted in rage as he opened fire, blasting it apart.
But his barrage only destroyed a small cluster—worse, it drew even more of them.
In an instant, they came down like a tidal wave, wrapping around his ship.
"Ahhh! All of you die!!!"
Nova Prime fought with everything he had. In a desperate struggle, he managed to break free, but his ship was badly damaged.
He looked back at his homeworld.
The Nova Corps was nearly annihilated. The Brood had broken into the capital, slaughtering and destroying on a massive scale.
The Nova Empire was now like a candle in the wind. One more gust, and it would be snuffed out forever.
Rage boiled inside Nova Prime.
And then, from the distance, a craft appeared.
He squinted, spotting a figure in purple.
If it wasn't Thanos, who else could it be?
"Thanos!!!"
The Prime roared in fury.
Now it all made sense. Thanos had conspired with the swarm, unleashing them across the universe in this massacre.
It was his doing!
Nova Prime quickly sent another transmission across the cosmos.
The message was short and grim.
"Thanos has returned with a Brood!"
Thanos stood atop his ship, the Infinity Gauntlet gleaming on his hand, and spoke in a calm, cold voice.
"If you had surrendered from the beginning, only fifty percent of you would have perished."
"But you chose to resist. Now it will be one hundred."
Countless ships blasted off from Xandar, tearing through the skies into space in a desperate escape.
The more advanced vessels engaged their jump drives at once. The less equipped ones could only fire their thrusters toward the nearest star system.
But beyond Xandar's orbit, the swarm was waiting—endless Brood drifting in the void.
The moment a ship emerged, they swarmed forward to tear it apart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless ships that relied only on thrusters were destroyed. The lives inside were dragged out and devoured on the spot. Even those equipped with jump engines could still be torn apart by the swarm if they failed to jump in time after leaving the atmosphere.
But... how many people actually had fast-jump ships?
Out of a hundred civilian vessels, maybe fewer than five carried rapid, long-range jump engines. The rest needed long preparations before they could make the jump, waiting for a spacetime tunnel to fully open. As for those with only thrusters—there was no hope for them at all.
So, under the gaze of Nova Prime and Thanos, even if the Nova Empire sent out a hundred ships, only about ten would make it out alive. A survival rate of less than one in ten. Truly nine deaths for every one life. No exaggeration!
At that thought, Nova Prime drew in a deep breath and looked at Thanos.
"As long as someone carries the message out, that's enough."
On the brink of annihilation, Nova Prime no longer saw Thanos as anything special. He was already doomed. The Nova Empire was finished. What fear was left to hold on to?
Thanos regarded him.
"Against the assault of the Annihilation Wave, no empire in this universe can stand.
I will lead the Annihilation Wave to conquer the entire cosmos.
And the Nova Empire will be the first."
Nova Prime smiled.
Right in front of Thanos, he once again broadcast the name of the Annihilation Wave across the universe. Only then did he speak to him.
"You were crushed by the Transformers civilization."
Thanos' brow furrowed.
"The Annihilation Wave is endless. No empire can withstand their assault."
"You were crushed by the Transformers civilization."
Thanos' fists tightened.
"The Annihilation Wave is stronger than you can possibly imagine."
"..."
"You were crushed by the Transformers civilization."
Thanos' face grew darker. It wasn't that he couldn't accept his past defeat—what he couldn't stand was this dying man still mocking him to his face.
Your Nova Empire has already been wiped out. What gives you the right to say this? What are you, really?
Nova Prime looked at Thanos' expression and smiled.
Then he added one more line.
"You were crushed by the Transformers civilization."
Thanos could no longer contain his fury. His voice sank into a low, heavy growl.
"You want to die now."
Hearing this, Nova Prime turned to look back at his capital. Most of the ships capable of flight had already left. Those that couldn't had nearly all been consumed by the swarm.
So... he was practically among the last few survivors of the Nova Empire.
"Sigh..."
Even then, Nova Prime let out a quiet breath. The empire's downfall had come too swiftly, leaving him no time to process it. Not even enough time for grief.
But it was over.
Turning back toward Thanos, Nova Prime shook his head and spoke his final words.
"Even if the Annihilation Wave is powerful, everyone can see they're not your legions. You're just a temporary commander."
"Which means you, Thanos, will never truly conquer this universe."
"Even if the Annihilation Wave does conquer the cosmos, no one will remember you. You'll never be a god."
"And then there's the Transformers civilization. I don't believe you could ever defeat them."
"Having all three of your armies wiped out... must feel pretty bitter."
Each line cut into Thanos like a blade. The Annihilation Wave wasn't his. He'd been beaten by the Transformers. He could never defeat them. He would never be a god.
Every word only made Thanos's gaze colder.
When Nova Prime finished, Thanos lifted the Infinity Gauntlet and asked quietly,
"Are you done?"
The meaning was clear: you can die now.
Nova Prime smiled. He lifted his hands away from the ship's control console, cast one final look at his homeworld, Xandar, then turned his head.
His left hand rose toward Thanos. He folded down his pinky, ring finger, index finger, and thumb, leaving only his middle finger raised.
Under Thanos's furious glare, Nova Prime slammed his right fist against the Nova emblem on his chest.
"Let's go down together."
The moment the words left his lips, Thanos's charge came to an abrupt halt.
An overwhelming light burst forth from within Nova Prime—more precisely, from the Nova emblem on his chest.
The dazzling radiance instantly consumed Nova Prime and surged outward, rushing toward Thanos.
Thanos's eyes narrowed sharply. He knew this power could not be stopped. Quickly, he raised the Gauntlet and swung.
The Soul Stone flared, opening a portal above his head. In the next heartbeat, Thanos vanished.
The explosion's brilliance tore through the space where he had just stood.
"Boom~~~!"
The detonation began.
With Nova Prime's self-destruction, the battlefield erupted.
Across the corpses of fallen warriors, anyone who still carried Nova Force detonated as well. Even those swallowed by the swarm exploded violently inside the creatures' bodies.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions erupted everywhere across the Nova Empire. Depending on the level of Nova Force, each blast spanned anywhere from a hundred meters to a full kilometer.
No matter what, the swarm couldn't endure such destruction. Any touched by the shockwaves of Nova Force were instantly vaporized, not even ash left behind.
"Boom Boom Boom~~~!"
When the chain of detonations finally ended, the swarm within the Nova Empire had thinned considerably. The Nova Force had obliterated tens of thousands of creatures, their sheer density ensuring they suffered maximum area-of-effect damage.
But for an endless tide, tens of thousands were replaced in an instant.
And yet... it still wasn't over.
Because one last course remained.
Beneath the capital of the Nova Empire, in an underground palace, an emergency directive was transmitted.
It came from the living supercomputer—the core treasure of the Nova Empire, the very source of the Nova Force.
At this moment, its entire form glowed with a dangerous red light.
Why?
Because, like the Soviet's Dead Hand system, the instant the living supercomputer detected the complete death of all Nova Warriors, it would execute its final command: self-destruction.
The Nova Legion was the empire's foundation. If the Legion was lost, the empire was lost. And the living supercomputer could never be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
So, in the very next instant, as endless swarms descended on Xandar, another burst of light—comparable to a supernova—flared from deep within the Nova Empire.
Art... is explosion! What a loss.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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