The relentless duel escalated into a brutal blur of motion.
Ernst was a master of lethal tactics.
He weaved seamlessly through Thanos's heavy guard, exploiting every microscopic opening.
His precise, concentrated strikes rained down on the Mad Titan.
He targeted the chest, the waist, the thick neck, and the skull.
Thanos boasted armor forged to withstand starship weaponry.
Yet, under Ernst's relentless kinetic barrage, the golden plating buckled and dented.
Thanos fought back fiercely, ignoring the searing pain of his bruised organs.
But Ernst's terrifying agility frustrated the Titan's every counterattack.
Thanos roared, his patience snapping.
His massive fist glowed with a sudden, localized surge of destructive energy.
The kinetic shockwave caught Ernst slightly off guard, disrupting his fluid footwork for a fraction of a second.
It was all the opening Thanos needed.
By the time Ernst recovered his center of gravity, Thanos's fist swung like a falling cauldron.
It slammed directly into Ernst's chest.
Ernst plummeted from the sky like a dying meteor.
He smashed violently into the rocky ground, carving a deep trench through the crust.
A bitter, bloody smile twisted Ernst's lips as he caught his breath.
The physical disparity in their size and weight was undeniable.
Ernst had landed dozens of surgical blows, yet Thanos's single, colossal strike had caused significantly more damage.
It was a brutal reality.
Skill and precision could only mitigate overwhelming physical mass for so long.
Despite the agony coursing through his ribs, Ernst refused to yield an inch.
He propelled himself from the smoking crater like a fired artillery shell.
He drove his fist squarely toward Thanos's face.
The Mad Titan, still reeling slightly from the previous barrage, raised his heavy forearm to block the strike.
But Ernst executed a burst of impossible speed.
He ducked completely under the massive arm.
With a sickening crack, Ernst delivered a devastating headbutt directly to Thanos's jaw.
The kinetic impact sent violent tremors through the bedrock.
Thanos staggered, forced backward several heavy steps.
He shook his large head, momentarily dazed by the cerebral shock.
His vision cleared just in time to see Ernst charging again.
Thanos lashed out, sweeping his massive hand to crush the smaller warrior.
Ernst, ever the opportunist, easily sidestepped the clumsy blow.
The intensity of the melee continued to escalate.
Both warriors bore the ugly brunt of the battle.
Their armor was shattered, and their bodies were scarred and bleeding.
Yet, neither showed a single hint of surrender.
Time, however, was slowly beginning to favor the human.
Ernst's tactics were entirely focused on leveraging the Titan's own massive strength against him.
This clinical approach conserved vast reserves of Ernst's stamina.
While Thanos boasted immense, god-like resilience, the sustained, high-intensity exertion was steadily draining his core.
The tide was shifting.
Ernst savored the calculated prospect of slowly wearing the Titan down to exhaustion.
Then, a sudden, heart-pounding shift in the atmosphere jolted his instincts.
As he launched another heavy punch at Thanos's shoulder, a searing, unnatural heat erupted across his back.
His reinforced coat was instantly scorched.
A primal, screaming sense of mortal danger surged through his nervous system.
Without a microsecond of hesitation, Ernst flipped backward.
He violently twisted his torso in mid-air to evade the unseen threat.
Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted two jagged, crimson beams streaking directly toward him.
Recognition dawned instantly on his face.
For the first time in the battle, his expression contorted in genuine alarm.
At his current trajectory, dodging these specific beams was physically impossible.
They did not travel in straight lines; they tracked their target flawlessly.
He abandoned all attempts at evasion.
He thrust his hands forward, channeling his unique, chaotic rule energy into his palms in a desperate bid to block the attack.
His tactical hunch was correct.
The crimson beams zigzagged relentlessly, refusing to miss.
They slammed violently into the chaotic energy shield hovering over his hands.
A deafening explosion ripped through the thin atmosphere.
The sheer kinetic force sent Ernst hurtling backward through the air.
He smashed through a jagged boulder, carving a deep, dusty ravine into the earth before his body skidded to a painful halt.
But the assault was far from over.
The crimson beams, seemingly possessing a malicious sentience intent on his complete destruction, did not fade.
They continued their relentless pursuit, pressing heavily against his shield.
The red light began slowly eating away at his chaotic power.
Genuine shock coursed through Ernst's hyper-evolved mind.
He had never encountered an energy signature that could successfully overpower his fused, messy rules of chaos.
Further delay would mathematically guarantee his complete molecular disintegration.
Ernst let out a defiant roar.
He channeled every ounce of his remaining stamina directly into his palms.
The chaotic energy erupted outward, colliding with the scarlet light in a blinding, violent burst of raw power.
The explosive force of the impact successfully pushed the beams back, finally severing their lock.
However, the resulting detonation also sent Ernst flying once more.
His battered body tumbled through the dirt, struggling to regain physical control.
Heaving himself to his feet, Ernst wiped blood from his chin and glared skyward.
A colossal, heavily armored figure stood towering above the battlefield.
The newcomer was nearly three meters tall.
A swirling, crackling vortex of spatial energy hovered behind him.
It was a Boom Tube, a gateway between distant spaces.
"Just a friendly welcome, it seems," a deep, rumbling voice echoed across the wasteland.
The newcomer was Darkseid, the terrifying ruler of Apokolips.
He hovered effortlessly in the dusty air, clad in heavy blue and gold armor.
His exposed skin resembled jagged, black volcanic rock.
His piercing scarlet eyes glowed ominously beneath his hairless, stone-like skull.
Those eyes were the origin of the beams that had just attacked Ernst.
The Omega Effect.
It was a legendary, cosmic force renowned for its ability to erase a victim entirely from existence.
Ernst instantly theorized the mechanics behind it.
The Omega Beams harnessed the combined, high-level rules of time, space, and causality to ensure they never missed.
However, Ernst noted a critical flaw.
The fact that Ernst had survived the initial impact suggested Darkseid had not yet fully mastered the true, erasing potential of the Omega force.
"Darkseid?" Thanos bellowed.
The Mad Titan's face contorted with unyielding rage upon recognizing the armored giant.
"What brings you here?"
Darkseid remained completely unfazed by Thanos's open hostility.
Their mutual, bitter distrust was a well-established cosmic fact.
Only their perfectly matched strength prevented them from erupting into immediate, galaxy-shattering violence.
"Mere curiosity," Darkseid rumbled, clasping his heavy hands behind his back.
"I heard whispers of your little brawl. I wished to witness the caliber of your opponent."
Darkseid shifted his glowing red gaze downward.
"Ernst. You possess impressive, anomalous power. It was tempting to engage in a proper greeting of my own."
Darkseid offered a cold, mocking smirk.
"However, your reception appears less than enthusiastic. Perhaps I should depart and allow you to resume your altercation."
He cast a pointed, condescending glance at Thanos.
The sting of betrayal hit Thanos instantly.
"It has barely been two hours since our fleet engaged this enemy," Thanos growled, his golden armor shifting as he clenched his fists.
"You procured such timely intelligence. There is only one explanation."
Realization twisted Thanos's face into a vicious snarl.
"You bribed my underlings. You fostered a traitor within the Black Order!"
Darkseid dismissed the accusation with a nonchalant, heavy wave of his hand.
"Do not be so dramatic, Titan. We all take what is needed."
"Blame yourself, Thanos. You rely too heavily on the Mind Stone."
Darkseid sneered.
"You subjugate countless races to do your bidding, proclaiming yourself the universe's ultimate authority."
"But the Stone is not omnipotent. Its control can be fractured."
"I merely nudged a few fragile minds free of your leash, allowing them to send word to Apokolips."
Murderous intent blazed hot in Thanos's eyes.
"Excellent. Very well," Thanos spat.
"You flaunt your treachery so openly. Perhaps we should settle our long-standing score today."
Thanos raised his fists.
"The victor remains here to claim the spoils."
"On the contrary," Darkseid rumbled.
A sly, calculating glint appeared in his scarlet eyes.
"Cooperation, not conflict, is my proposition."
Darkseid gestured toward the battered human standing below them.
"Why not eliminate this pesky Ernst together?"
He swiveled his massive head toward Ernst, a malicious, rocky grin spreading across his face.
Thanos scoffed loudly.
He and Darkseid had clashed often enough to know each other's treacherous nature intimately.
"Do you honestly think I am naive?" Thanos demanded.
"Collaborating with you. You would betray me the instant my back was turned."
"Besides, my grudge against this Earthling is minimal. Why fight a grueling battle to the death when he is not my primary objective?"
"True," Darkseid conceded smoothly.
"But remember his origin, Thanos. He is an Earthling."
Darkseid pointed a massive finger at Ernst.
"Earth is an unavoidable obstacle in your quest to collect the Infinity Stones."
"You already know the exact location of the Time and Space Stones. Sooner or later, your armada will launch an assault on his homeworld."
"Facing an opponent of this formidable caliber on his own turf will be far from ideal."
Darkseid let the tactical reality sink in.
"How confident are you in securing the Stones with him standing in your way?"
Thanos hesitated.
The logic was flawlessly cruel.
Collecting the Infinity Stones was his ultimate goal.
Using their power to cull half the universe's life to achieve his twisted vision of salvation was an obsession he would sacrifice everything for.
Ernst's fierce defiance today had made his geopolitical stance perfectly clear. He was a permanent enemy.
This brutal fight had revealed Ernst's terrifying strength, leaving Thanos privately doubting his ability to prevail in a future rematch.
Furthermore, Earth held other powerful beings.
Odin's Asgardian forces offered another heavy layer of magical protection over the realm.
With his current fleet strength, Thanos's statistical chances of conquering Earth were dangerously slim.
Yet, eliminating Ernst right here, right now, would significantly cripple Earth's primary defenses.
It was an incredibly tempting prospect in his relentless pursuit of the Stones.
The tactical decision weighed heavily on Thanos's broad shoulders.
Darkseid observed him patiently.
He was entirely confident the Mad Titan would eventually cave to the logic.
After all, Darkseid understood Thanos's motivations better than most.
While Thanos reveled in slaughter, his ultimate goal was a twisted, misguided form of saving the universe.
Darkseid, on the other hand, craved only total, subjugating dominion.
He operated entirely in the shadows, meticulously monitoring the universe's shifting power players.
Like Ernst, anyone who posed a legitimate threat was immediately marked for elimination.
They were potential pawns to be recruited, but if they resisted, they were destroyed.
Ernst's survival and defiance today solidified Darkseid's resolve.
Such an independent, chaotic force could not be tolerated in his vision of universal rule.
Meanwhile, Ernst stood silently in the dirt.
He listened closely to their exchange, his cold gaze flickering rapidly between the two towering gods.
The odds of surviving a combined assault from both Thanos and Darkseid were catastrophically low.
With a helpless, heavy sigh, Ernst reached into his damaged coat.
He retrieved the ornate, silver mirror.
"A shame," Ernst muttered under his breath.
"I was hoping to hold onto this specific trump card for emergencies. But it seems that is no longer a viable option."
He tossed the mirror gently into the air.
It rose rapidly, glowing with dense spatial magic.
The glass expanded, transforming into a massive, two-meter-wide circular portal.
The surface of the mirror rippled like disturbed water.
A perfect, physical image of Ernst stepped entirely out of the reflective surface.
Both Thanos and Darkseid recoiled in genuine surprise.
This unexpected, magical maneuver hinted at a terrifying hidden power.
Had the human truly been holding back his full capabilities all this time?
Their glowing eyes darted to the identical figure emerging from the glass.
A mixture of deep curiosity and sudden trepidation swirled within the two cosmic warlords.
What unnatural power did this strange apparition possess?
And why, against two gods, was it considered Ernst's ultimate trump card?