Marvel: What If Thanos Adopted A Saiyan?-Chapter 170 - 171: Only Magic Can Defeat Magic

Tattered and enraged, the survivors shouted with hoarse voices. The elder at the forefront had blood smeared across his beard.

"Oh? Still alive?"

"You’ve got some luck, I’ll give you that."

The massive ceremonial altar lay in ruins. Cracked stones and shattered bricks, heavy enough to crush any able-bodied Midgardian, were strewn about.

And indeed, they had.

Aside from the four elders clad in ceremonial robes, all other young and strong men present beneath the altar had perished, their life force completely extinguished.

"Who the hell are you?!"

The four elders, having witnessed Lothar effortlessly reduce the altar to rubble, exchanged uneasy glances and began slowly retreating.

That power... it was beyond anything they could possibly resist.

Their only option now was to distract him with words and pray for an opening to flee.

As long as they could get back to their village, there was still a chance, however slim, to rise again.

"Me?"

"A Saiyan."

BOOM!

Before the words had fully left his mouth, a surge of power erupted from beneath Lothar’s feet, causing the earth itself to tremble.

Caught off guard, the four elders collapsed awkwardly to the ground in a heap, limbs flailing in disarray.

"Y-you...!"

Aside from the dark god who had once shown them a so-called "miracle," this was the first time they’d seen such overwhelming might from another.

If that blast had been directed at their brittle old bodies...

They shivered in unison.

Even with the so-called blessing of the gods, their aging frames wouldn’t survive a single strike.

"Hey, old man. Tell me, can the Outer God you’re trying to summon still be brought forth?"

Lothar, clearly unimpressed by the elders, approached them with a Flerken at his side. He grabbed the most vocal of the group, the one who had spoken the most, and lifted him with ease.

"Lothar, what are you trying to do now?" Hela frowned, wary of whatever madness he had in mind.

"Answer me! Can he still be summoned?" Lothar ignored her entirely. A burst of radiant energy from his fingertip pierced through the chests of the remaining three elders in an instant.

The divine shields placed upon them by their god shattered like soft tofu under his assault.

"...He can! He can!!" the surviving elder cried, nodding frantically under the primal instinct to live.

The Flerken, having finished devouring the last of the energy spheres atop Lothar’s shoulder, leapt down with its tail whipping behind it and pounced onto the elder’s back.

It remembered clearly, it was this very geezer who had tied it to a cross! Tried to boil it as a sacrificial offering!

Worst of all... he touched it.

"Mrrrow!! MROWR!!"

Vengeance must be served. Wrongs must be righted.

The little pink paws scratched the elder’s back with gleeful aggression, while its cute round face twisted into a furious snarl.

"Enough."

Having waited long enough, Lothar casually grabbed the Flerken by the scruff of its neck. The indignant feline thrashed about, hissing adorably yet ferociously.

"Summon it."

He tossed the elder to the ground like garbage, lifted his chin, and gave a commanding order from above.

"What did you say?!"

"Lothar, are you insane?!" Hela stepped forward, placing herself between him and the elder. As the Princess of Asgard and future Queen of the Nine Realms, she directly refuted his command.

"I don’t recall needing your permission," Lothar sneered, stepping forward until he was just inches from her face.

"You?!" Hela raised her hand, only for Lothar to firmly grasp her wrist mid-swing.

"No one lays a hand on my pet. No one."

Leaning down, his height giving him the advantage, his nose brushed against her forehead.

"Meow!"

The orange cat, now lazing on Lothar’s shoulder after being removed from its "post," raised a paw in triumph and let out a cheerful chirp.

"You can’t handle an Outer God," Hela said coldly, her eyes locked on his. She didn’t flinch, even with Lothar’s breath brushing against her face.

"I admit your strength is formidable. But you’re completely ignorant when it comes to magic."

"Those transdimensional demon gods wield countless terrifying spells. Just like the one we just faced, if it weren’t for Woz reacting in time, do you really think you could’ve countered it?" frёeωebɳovel.com

"My mother once said: Only magic can defeat magic."

Her voice grew more confident as she spoke, a light gleaming in her eyes. "Face it, Lothar. You don’t know the first thing about sorcery. You’re never going to win."

Magic was her domain. Not his. Not the playground of some muscle-bound brute.

"Watch me," Lothar scoffed. "I’ll find that Outer God, and I’ll crush him right before your eyes."

He gripped her wrist tighter.

"And if you fail?" Hela raised a brow, no longer fighting him, but instead testing him.

"For me, failure isn’t an option."

With a smirk, Lothar finally released her.

"My father used to say, if I will it, the world will stand beside me."

From the sidelines, The Other and Woz exchanged baffled looks, unable to decipher the tension between Lothar and Hela. Meanwhile, the elder, tossed aside like a ragdoll, cowered under their combined aura, trembling uncontrollably.

"Your father talks too much," Hela huffed.

"So does your mother," Lothar fired back.

...

Omega Galaxy, M78 Nebula.

Somewhere in the Stars.

Draped in golden armor, Thanos descended from the sky, great blade in hand, his army behind him.

This was his way of saving a planet—of liberating its people.

Blood and screams filled the battlefield. With superior weaponry and overwhelming personal might, the forces of the Black Quadrant swiftly brought the planet’s population under control, corralling them into sectors to await final judgment.

The proud civilization of magic that once flourished here was utterly powerless before Thanos and his fleet.

"Why the hell... why?!" gasped a man at Thanos’s feet, bloodied and pierced by multiple blades. He collapsed, eyes wide with despair as he stared at his fallen comrades.

"This is salvation," Thanos replied, plunging his great blade into the ground and removing his helmet.

He gently placed a hand on the man’s head, a flicker of sorrow in his eyes.

"And those people... they’re the price salvation demands."

Ptui!

The man spat blood at his feet. "You butcher!"

"In thirty years, you’ll understand why I did this," Thanos murmured. As he blinked, the sorrow in his gaze faded, replaced with unwavering conviction.

He had never wished for this bloodshed. If given the choice, he’d rather live life as a humble farmer, growing melons and tending beans.

But one’s destiny could not ignore the tide of history.

And since no one else in this universe dared to act...

Then the burden was his alone to bear.

Half must perish... so that the rest may thrive.

"Onward. To the next world."

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