Within the shroud of Soren's Dark Sky, the accusers' soldiers were helpless.
The black magic seeped into their bodies, by force, by pleasant invitation.
It slithered through their pores like smoke with purpose. Skin turned ashen. Eyes glazed over. Muscles locked up.
And worst of all, their life force began to drain.
With every second that passed, the darkness devoured a sliver of their vitality.
Those touched by it could feel it, like frost creeping through their veins, suffocating the fire in their hearts. The deeper the corruption, the closer they came to death.
And when their bodies turned completely black, there was no return.
Some of the soldiers were hardy. Warriors from brutal races scattered across the galaxy. Veterans of blood-soaked campaigns under Ronan's flag. But even the toughest among them couldn't withstand the curse Soren had unleashed.
One by one, they screamed.
Then fell.
Some clawed at their faces, others dropped to their knees, choking on their final breaths. By the time the black tide receded, an entire district was a silent graveyard.
Twisted corpses littered the streets, over a hundred men, some still twitching, most already still. The faint groans of those barely clinging to life echoed through the silence.
Their skin was pitch-black, their strength spent. It was only a matter of time.
The few survivors who had been outside the spell's range stared in horror. They had seen death before. They had delivered it themselves countless times.
But never like this.
Not even in the worst battles had they seen so many comrades wiped out in under a minute, and by a single man.
Even Ronan looked shaken, as he surveyed the carnage, the rage in his eyes barely masked the deep shock.
"Who… are you?" He growled, his voice low but quaking with fury.
Soren finally spoke.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried…
"Who I am doesn't matter."
He looked directly at Ronan, unblinking, untouched by the massacre around him.
"What matters is this, I spared you."
"But if you and your accusers take one more step into the Realm of Knowhere, I won't be so merciful next time."
Gasps rippled through the remaining soldiers.
Ronan's eyes went bloodshot. The cosmic orb. The black magic. The massacre.
And now… a warning? From this stranger?
His hands trembled with fury as his fingers tightened around the haft of his warhammer.
"You dare… threaten me?"
The ground beneath him cracked as he took a step forward. The warhammer buzzed with energy, runes lighting up along its shaft.
"You, who hides behind tricks and shadow curses, think you can command Ronan the Accuser?"
He slammed the hammer once into the ground. A wave of kinetic energy rippled outward, dust and stone flying as his power surged.
"Ignorant ant! You've just written your own death sentence!"
Each step he took made the air thrum, his presence building like a storm about to break.
Soren stood calmly, watching.
Unmoved.
"You've stood above the weak for so long, you've forgotten what it means to face someone stronger." Soren raised a hand lazily, and a glimmer of violet energy flickered at his fingertips.
"Try me."
Ronan's rage boiled over.
With a roar that echoed across the ruined block, he raised the warhammer high, ready to bring it down with the force of a collapsing star.
BOOM!
The heavens seemed to shake.
At last, Ronan stopped holding back.
The energy he had been gathering surged to its absolute peak, coiling around him like a living storm. He raised his Kree warhammer high above his head, the ancient weapon gleaming with a blinding blue-white light.
The radiance expanded, piercing the shadows, flooding the entire Realm in brilliance. For a moment, it looked like a second sun had risen.
Even those watching from afar, the Guardians of the Galaxy, were stunned.
Gamora's eyes widened. "That's… That's enough to destroy a small moon."
"If that hits Soren… he's dead." Quill clenched his fists.
Unable to watch, Peter Quill surged forward, sprinting toward Soren's position.
"SOREN!!"
But just as he took off, a firm hand gripped his arm.
The Collector.
"No. Watch." His voice was quiet, but there was a knowing weight to it.
"You'll want to see what happens next."
Back on the battlefield, the very earth cracked under the pressure of Ronan's power. Spiderweb fractures split the stone beneath his feet as energy pulsed out in shockwaves.
Even air molecules seemed to tremble.
Ronan's voice, thunderous and righteous, echoed through the realm.
"JUDGMENT!"
The warhammer fell.
A beam of concentrated annihilation roared out from the head of the hammer, cutting through space like divine punishment itself.
The light was so intense, it left trails in the air, and the sheer pressure of it split nearby buildings in two.
Soren, at the epicenter of the target zone, didn't move.
Ronan's eyes narrowed. "Why... why isn't he dodging?"
He had seen Soren's earlier attacks, quick, efficient, impossible to predict. This man was no fool.
He wasn't dodging because he didn't need to.
The beam of destruction bore down on Soren like the wrath of a vengeful god. And then, just ten meters from impact~
Soren raised a single hand.
Calm as though brushing dust from a table.
A complex, arcane circle blazed to life around him. Its golden edges shimmered with incomprehensible runes, spinning clockwise with measured, elegant precision.
"Time still."
The moment the words left his mouth, the magic circle flashed like a supernova.
And the world… froze.
The beam of destruction, roaring through the air, halted, mid-flight.
Suspended in space like a painting. Motionless. Silent.
The crackling energy that had screamed across the battlefield now hovered inches from Soren, frozen as if trapped in ice.
Ronan's expression collapsed into disbelief.
"Impossible."
The Guardians stood still, mouths agape.
Drax blinked. "...Did he just stop time?"
Rocket whispered, "Nope. Nope, I'm out. This guy's a monster."
Quill was frozen mid-breath, his jaw slack. "What... what even is he?"
Soren tilted his head slightly, examining the suspended beam as if critiquing a piece of art.
"An impressive attack." He mused aloud, to no one in particular. "Powerful. But ultimately…"
He looked up, locking eyes with Ronan across the battlefield.
"…Wasted."