novelraw Chapter 140 CHAPTER 140: Lucci Clashes With the Mad Titan!
Chapter 140 CHAPTER 140: Lucci Clashes With the Mad Titan!
"Ebony Maw, I need you to create an opportunity for me—a chance to approach Lucci without any obstacles!"
Thanos spoke with icy resolve!
"Yes, my lord!"
Excitement flashed in Ebony Maw's eyes. He knew the critical moment that would determine this war's outcome had finally arrived.
He seized the chance, exploiting the fact that Superman and the other heroes were preoccupied, mustering the most elite Sakaaran guard team and teleporting to the battlefield's flank in a flash.
"For Lord Thanos!"
Ebony Maw unleashed his formidable telekinesis, manipulating countless chunks of rock and metal debris, shaping them into deadly spikes, and sending them hurtling toward the mutants who blocked his path.
Though powerful, the mutants were overwhelmed by the ferocious assault and delayed for a moment. Immediately afterward, Ebony Maw commanded his royal bodyguards to make a suicide assault, having them charge headlong into Magneto's area. The guards detonated energy bombs with their own flesh and blood to temporarily disrupt Magneto's magnetic control.
At great cost, Ebony Maw finally managed to break through a slim gap in the defense lines established by the world's mightiest experts!
A pathway leading directly to Lucci was now open!
…
Asgard, Bifrost.
Odin and Thor gazed upon the battle in Wakanda through Heimdall's all-seeing eye. In fact, the moment Thanos's Sanctuary landed in Earth's orbit, Heimdall relayed the news.
They all knew Lucci was unbelievably powerful, but anxiety was beginning to get the better of them. Thus, the two journeyed to the Rainbow Bridge, ready to support Earth at a moment's notice.
"Father, it's dire! Thanos is about to make a move himself!"
Thor immediately noticed Ebony Maw's movement.
"Father! We must head to Earth! Lucci is in danger! We can't just stand by and let him face that madman alone!"
This time, Odin did not stop him. He understood better than anyone how terrifying Thanos with the Power Stone could be.
Lucci was extremely powerful, but an additional helper was always good—especially now, since Thor's strength had changed so much.
"Go, Thor."
A flash of determination glimmered in Odin's single eye.
"Show that mad Titan the wrath of Asgard!"
"Heimdall!"
"Open the Bifrost!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Heimdall plunged the Guardian Sword into the observatory's core device.
BOOM—
In an instant, a cascade of rainbow energy surged from the observatory, forming a majestic bridge across the stars, locking precisely onto Earth's coordinates.
"Lucci! Hold on!"
Thor roared, radiating a brilliance never seen before. He transformed into pure lightning, leaping into the swirling rainbow torrent and vanishing beyond the divine horizon!
…
Lucci standing mid-hill but also perceive the intentions of Thanos and Ebony Maw.
A faint, playful smile curled his lips.
"Trying to use a decapitation strategy on me? Won't face me one-on-one?"
He snickered softly.
"Thanos! If you want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish."
He neither retreated nor called back his subordinates for defense, nor did he warn them. Like a spectator awaiting the actors' entrance, he stood calmly, waiting.
The next instant—!
At the very moment Ebony Maw opened the breach, an enormous purple figure, blazing with light like a falling meteor, leaped down from the Sanctuary toward the Allied Army's lines, with world-ending force!
BOOM—
A terrifying shockwave erupted from him!
The ground shattered, smoke and dust spiraling skyward. The landing aftershock alone sent hundreds of nearby Chitauri and Wakandan warriors flying.
It was Thanos!
He had descended among them himself!
"Don't even think about approaching Prince Lucci!"
The closest, Hulk was the first to react. He roared, his massive green body leaping, crashing his fist down like a casserole dish right at Thanos's head!
"Get out of my way!"
Thanos swung out backhand without even looking! On the gauntleted fist, the Power Stone shone with brilliant purple light!
BANG!
As the two massive fists clashed, the outcome stunned everyone.
Hulk's punch, powerful enough to punch through an aircraft carrier, was instantly nullified by a force even more overwhelming when it collided with Thanos! Hulk's huge body flew backward like a struck ball, sliding across the ground and leaving a deep furrow with a muffled groan.
One strike!
With just a single punch, Hulk was down!
"Lucci!"
Jane and Diana cried out simultaneously from left and right, wielding a modified Cosmic Blade and God Killer, striking at Thanos from both flanks.
A hint of contempt flashed in Thanos's eyes. Without even using the gauntlet, he merely seized their weapons and flung them aside with his brute strength! Before they could resist, they were both sent hurtling away, crashing hard into the ground.
"Stop!"
Jean's eyes blazed with killing intent upon seeing this. The infinite golden current of Phoenix Force raged toward Thanos.
"This power is good—but not enough!"
Thanos sneered coldly. The Power Stone on his gauntlet flashed again as he punched, unleashing a pure purple energy beam that struck the golden Phoenix Force dead-on!
The terrifying shockwave blasted even the invincible Jean away.
In just moments, Thanos, wielding the Power Stone, left even top experts—those who could normally fight him alone—completely powerless!
With all obstructions cleared, Thanos charged at Lucci. His gigantic frame blotted out the sun, a cruelly confident smile upon his face.
"It's over for you."
"Your subordinates are strong, but they can't protect you."
"Now, hand over those two Infinity Stones you possess!"
"They already belong to me!"
As he spoke, Thanos didn't allow Lucci any time to react. He poured all of his might into his right fist, the Power Stone flaring brilliantly!
This punch could shatter meteors—contained the universe's most primordial destructive force!
"Die!"
Thanos roared, unleashing a devastating punch at Lucci!
The Power Stone's light was blinding; the force of the punch sliced through the air, warping space, rendering everything else dull in comparison.
Everyone witnessing this—Earth's heroes, Thanos's army, even Ebony Maw—had the same thought flash in their minds.
It's over.
No one could survive this punch.
A feral, ecstatic smile spread across Thanos's face. He could already envision the poised youth who had foiled him time and again being reduced to cosmic dust.
He seemed to hear the unclaimed Infinity Stones humming joyously for him; victory was at hand, the fate of the universe about to fall into his grasp!
But—right as his colossal fist nearly brushed Lucci's handsome face…
Lucci finally moved.
He did not retreat, dodge, or even show a trace of panic. Faced with the fist that could make even the gods despair, he simply raised a hand—
And with his five fingers splayed, caught it—casually.
Right in the midst of Thanos's ecstasy and the onlookers' collective breathless horror,
A slender, fair hand caught Thanos's massive, planet-crushing, purple energy-burning fist dead-on.
BAM—
But the anticipated explosion never occurred.
Instead, a dull, muffled sound echoed just once, as if the very sound itself had been crushed.
A perfectly circular, invisible, and pure shockwave exploded from the point of contact!
In an instant, the surrounding ground was vaporized, forming a titanic crater dozens of meters across. Worse still, the space around them cracked and splintered like a window shattered by a mighty hammer, covered in webs of wailing black fissures.
Dark spatial turbulence roared out of the cracks—only to be instantly suppressed and healed by an even more powerful force.
Broken, healed, broken again, healed again...
Even the aftershock of their clash left the surrounding space so unstable it seemed on the verge of collapse.
Thanos's ecstatic expression froze.
He felt as though he'd punched into a wall made of gathered sighs from countless universes.
The power he'd wielded to destroy everything, the might of the Power Stone, vanished without a trace the moment it touched the opponent's hand—like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
His fist, empowered by the Power Stone, was locked in place by an ordinary-looking hand.
Completely motionless.
What happened?
His all-out attack… the world-destroying punch with the Power Stone…
It was stopped by just one hand?
For a moment, Thanos's mind was completely blank.
At the same time, divine, rainbow-colored beams came crashing down from the sky, striking the battlefield like the spears of gods!
Thor, brandishing two sacred weapons, stepped from the Bifrost amidst a storm of lightning.
His gaze fixed instantly on the purple figure he loathed.
"Thanos! You—"
But his warlike roar suddenly died in his throat upon seeing what lay before him.
Thor was paralyzed, mouth agape—shock greater than that when he'd seen the world destroyed was writ large on his face.
He saw it.
The mad titan who could drive even the gods to desperation, the cosmic overlord empowered by the Power Stone, unleashing a world-shattering punch—
Lucci blocked it with a single hand.
It was as if someone had struck his mind with Odin's eternal spear—Thor's brain vibrated in disbelief.
He, more than anyone, understood how terrifying such a punch from Thanos could be!
This was not mere strength—but the primordial entropy of the cosmos manifest!
Not even his father, Odin, in his prime, would dare face it head-on!
But not only did Lucci accept it effortlessly, he did so as if catching a bothersome fly.
"Have I… become a joke?"
Thor murmured, realizing that his previous rage now seemed laughable.
Not just Thor—the entire battlefield was stunned, minds momentarily blank.
Jean sighed deeply in relief, clutching her chest, her heart finally dropping from her throat. She looked at Lucci's tall, straight back, her beautiful eyes shining—a proud yet powerless smile appeared on her lips.
Yes, what was there to worry about? Lucci had never played by common sense.
Worrying about him was the most foolish thing.
Jane and Diana wore the same expression—relief deep in their eyes as they glanced at each other.
After a brief silence, the mutant soldiers erupted into thunderous, sky-shaking cheers.
"Prince Lucci!"
"As always! Prince Lucci is invincible!"
"Did you see that purple potato's face? He's totally stunned!"
Their faith had been fully justified in that instant. Their god was truly almighty!
Superman, who had been rushing to help, saw the scene and simply stopped in his tracks.
A look of admiration appeared on his face; without hesitation, he turned and charged toward another dense cluster of enemies—it was no longer his battlefield.
Thanos's army, on the other hand, was left mute—as if their throats had been wrung like ducks.
Ebony Maw, who had just opened the way for Thanos, felt an icy chill ripple from his feet to his scalp, as if plunged into a frozen cave.
It's over!
Only those two words echoed in his heart.
As Thanos's chief strategist, he understood better than anyone what this meant:
the sheer force Lucci wielded was at least the equal of the Power Stone's possessor—possibly greater!
If pure might alone could reach such an unfathomable level, just how dreadful were his other abilities?
Was this war… a complete mistake from the start?
…
"No—it can't be!"
In the center of the battlefield, Thanos snapped from his shock, disbelief rapidly morphing into frenzy and rage.
The Earthlings he'd once considered ants had actually blocked his full-power, Power Stone-infused strike with their bare hands!
This was the greatest humiliation ever suffered by the master of the universe!
"Die!"
Thanos roared, swinging his fist and, with his other hand, drawing the massive double-edged sword from his back!
This sword, forged from special alloys, was sharp enough to cut through vibranium shields.
In a frenzy, Thanos swung the blade, its heavy arc slashing with lethal cold light, hacking down at Lucci amidst the shrieking air!
Every attack carried the full might of the gems!
Each blow could split a mountain—each strike so fast it seemed to slice through light itself!
Yet Lucci was unfazed. His figure shimmered, always appearing at the perfect spot, evading those space-splitting edges from impossible angles.
He merely flicked his fingers, lightly redirecting the colossal sword's force.
He avoided the blade as if on a leisurely stroll, his movement flawless in its precision. The entire spectacle looked eerily surreal.
Thanos, mad with rage, swung his world-ending weapon with all his might—while Lucci, every motion timed perfectly, seemed more like a graceful master.
They were not even on the same level.
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
Using just two fingers, Lucci easily blocked Thanos's mighty vertical slashes, reverberating with the ring of metal-on-metal.
However hard Thanos tried, the massive blade could not advance a single inch.
Lucci looked up at the cosmic overlord before him, whose eyes were crimson with rage, veins bulging. Slowly, Lucci shook his head—not in mockery or contempt, but with the faint disappointment of a teacher toward a failing student.
"The Power Stone is indeed a fine artifact."
"But—"
"You're simply too weak."
"It's impossible for a mortal to fully wield its power."
PS: The writing style is getting stupid.
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