Marvel: What If Thanos Adopted A Saiyan?-Chapter 159 - 160: What Can You Do With Just One Arm Left?

"Sin?"

"A mangy mutt beaten half to death by my father dares to talk about sin?"

Hela sneered, but the scornful words that followed darkened Ego’s expression.

The beating he took from Thanos and Odin, tag-teamed by two cosmic titans, was something Ego would never forget. His body had been shattered so thoroughly that he swore to bury the shame forever. Yet now, Hela had casually unearthed that humiliating memory.

"How do you know about that?"

A murderous glint surged in Ego’s eyes.

"Doesn’t matter. As long as I kill you, it’s all the same."

"You first. Then that damn monkey. And after that, Thanos and Odin."

"One by one, I’ll make them all pay!" With venom dripping from every syllable, Ego’s figure vanished in a flash, reappearing instantly before Hela.

"Too bad for you, I think you’re about to die again right here."

With her hair styled in a wild battle-ready braid, Hela instinctively crossed her arms to block the blow, retreating rapidly as she twisted the knife with her words.

"You?"

"Or the monkey?"

"Or maybe the Grandmaster, whom I already stabbed to death?"

An energy blast smashed the platform beneath Hela’s feet, sending stone and debris flying in every direction.

"Hey! For the record, I’m not dead!"

The Grandmaster, who had been playing dead in the control room, suddenly sprang to life, grabbed a megaphone, and shouted with perfect clarity to make his survival known.

"What?!"

Distracted by the shout, Ego left an opening, and suddenly, two dark blades shimmered into being at his waist!

In a blur of blade light, his white robe with silver trim was torn to ribbons.

"You bastard!"

"Agh! I’m dead again!"

Seeing his shout get Ego slashed, the Grandmaster yanked the dagger from his chest, theatrically plunged it back in, and threw himself dramatically to the floor, legs twitching in exaggerated convulsions.

"......"

Ego twitched at the corner of his eye.

"Your power seems... a lot weaker now."

"What is it, still licking your wounds from that beating my father gave you?"

Hela twisted her twin blades, each glowing with freshly forged power. Sparks flew as they clashed against each other.

"Die—Wha?!"

Just as she lunged in to finish Ego off while he was weakened, a surge of dread crawled up her spine. Tendrils erupted from beneath her feet, binding her tight!

"My powers aren’t fully recovered, true. But even like this, I’m far beyond some brat like you."

Ego calmly withdrew the blades from his waist, silver photon-blood spraying into the air, and his wounds sealed up instantly.

"Once I kill you... maybe that’ll break Odin’s heart a little."

Silver light gleamed in his eyes as he grinned cruelly. Slowly lifting into the air, he drew back his right leg, brimming with energy, and launched a brutal kick toward the immobilized Hela.

"Die, Hela Odinsdottir!"

BOOM!!!

Lightning flashed across Ego’s twisted face, and for a second, Hela thought she saw the shimmering outline of a planet behind him.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!!

CRASH!!!

A figure bathed in golden aura dropped from the sky, intercepting Ego’s devastating kick mid-air with a blow of his own!

The collision of their empowered legs sent shockwaves rippling outward, shaking the very foundations of Sakaar.

"Lothar!" freёnovelkiss-com

"What?!"

Ego, knocked backward by the golden figure’s kick, stabilized himself mid-air and stared in disbelief at the glowing warrior now standing protectively before Hela.

"You’ve been adapting to your new strength this long, and still got tangled up by Ego? Embarrassing."

Hela’s expression shifted from joy to stunned silence.

"You... knew?"

"Obviously."

Without turning around, Lothar took flight toward Ego.

With Woz watching over things, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed the energy barrier forming around Sakaar.

"His Highness Lothar figured it out ages ago," Woz chimed in cheerfully, bouncing into view with a small cup of Sakaarian oil in his paws.

"He just didn’t blow your cover because he needed more time to fully attune to his new strength."

Hela said nothing.

She’d deliberately concealed the situation from Lothar because she feared his inexperience with his enhanced power might lead to disaster if he rushed into a fight with Ego. That’s why she’d spent the past few days subtly holding him back in sparring sessions.

She thought only she and the Grandmaster were in on it.

But now it turned out, Lothar knew all along?

So what was this?

A double bluff?

Who exactly was manipulating whom here?

"That’s kind of sweet, actually."

Woz swung his little legs as he sipped from his oil cup, smiling blissfully. "Other than Lord Thanos, you’re the first person who’s ever cared about His Highness Lothar."

"Cared? Me?"

"Are you kidding me?!"

With Ego’s hold broken, Hela easily tore free. Hands on her hips, she glared down at the cat-sized robot.

Then, under Woz’s blank stare, she crouched and began aggressively squishing his round metal cheeks.

"If I didn’t need his power to get revenge on Ego, why the hell would I care?!"

"You’re giving him way too much credit!"

"Huh?!"

"Ow—OW OW OW! Okay! I get it! I get it!" Woz mumbled through distorted cheeks, spilling the rest of his oil.

"Tch!"

Hela let go and folded her arms, looking up at the glowing figure under Sakaar’s dark sky.

"This is impossible..."

"Why is your power so damn strong?!"

Battered and bruised, Ego reeled from another punch to the face. He looked at Lothar, calm, not even breaking a sweat, and couldn’t believe it.

It hadn’t been that long ago that this "monkey" was utterly helpless against him back on Gafa.

Sure, Ego hadn’t fully regained his strength yet, but still, this kind of leap shouldn’t be possible!

"My father once told me..."

Lothar’s cold eyes reflected Ego’s image. He raised his right arm, palm open, as seething energy gathered in his hand.

"I evolve... faster than light."

BOOM!!!

A column of raw, refined power blasted from Lothar’s palm.

Even though Ego had raised his guard to its absolute limit, the beam tore through him, ripping off his right arm entirely.

"Oh? Lost your right arm, huh?"

"Good reflexes. But no matter. You’ve still got two legs left."

Lothar tilted his head, a cold smirk twisting his lips, chilling Ego to the bone.

Then—BOOM!

A barrage of golden energy blasts exploded outward, forming a radiant web of destruction. With a flick of Lothar’s finger, the net closed in on Ego like a meteor storm.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The overwhelming, indiscriminate firepower tore through Ego’s defenses and rained down across every inch of Sakaar!

Mountains crumbled. Rivers surged in reverse.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Ego was blasted into a violently reversed current, his lone remaining arm barely keeping him from being swept away.

SPLASH.

Lothar landed lightly, volcanic eruptions igniting behind him.

"Now," he said, striding through the flood toward Ego’s broken body.

He placed his foot squarely on Ego’s left arm—the only limb he had left.

Leaning in close, his eyes reflected Ego’s battered face, expression colder than death.

"Tell me... what can you still do, with just one arm left?"

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