BOOM—!
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
One after another, major cities were engulfed by nuclear explosions.
Entire metropolitan areas vanished beneath rising mushroom clouds.
Government officials who had authorized the strikes were among the first to perish—killed by their own country's nuclear weapons.
As for civilians…
Their numbers were impossible to count.
Karl stood silently in the sky.
The six Infinity Stones embedded within his Saint Cloth began to glow again.
Then Karl directed their combined energy toward the capital of the Kangaroo Kingdom.
BOOM—!
The capital city was annihilated instantly.
Government buildings.
Military command centers.
The presidential residence.
All were reduced to dust.
Every high-ranking official and the president himself died in the attack.
Moments later, the ground beneath the destroyed capital began to collapse.
The land sank deeper and deeper until the entire region turned into a massive crater lake.
But Karl had not finished yet.
The Infinity Stones flashed again.
Karl then summoned his golden cudgel.
After channeling the power of the six stones into it, he raised the weapon high.
Then—
He brought it crashing down toward the landmass of the Kangaroo Kingdom.
BANG—!
The impact shook the planet.
The entire continent fractured.
Gigantic cracks tore through the land.
Massive tectonic plates shifted violently as the ground began collapsing into the ocean.
Cities split apart.
Entire regions sank beneath the waves.
Across the collapsing continent, countless citizens screamed in terror.
Karl watched everything with cold indifference.
If you make a decision—
You must bear the consequences.
People liked to claim that civilians were innocent.
But Karl saw things differently.
They were not innocent.
They were simply weak.
And in the Marvel universe, strength determined survival.
Karl himself had long since stepped outside the rules of Earth.
If he chose to kill—
Then he killed.
If he chose to destroy a nation—
Then it was destroyed.
He did not need excuses.
Nor did he need to consider whether others believed the victims were innocent.
If they had not provoked him—
Everyone would have continued living peacefully.
The only thing to blame was the greed of their governments and their lack of power to stop what followed.
After destroying the Kangaroo Kingdom, Karl finally turned away.
He did not seek another nation to destroy.
However—
The wealthy elites who had plotted against him would not be spared.
For now, Karl decided to return to the manor.
He was not worried about its safety.
With Black Phoenix, Great Wanda, and Ganata guarding it, nothing unexpected could happen.
Meanwhile—
Back in New York.
Tony Stark collapsed onto the ground.
Before him lay the ruins of what had once been the city.
Within a ten-kilometer radius, not a single human life had survived.
New York City had been completely destroyed.
Tony could not even determine who was right or wrong anymore.
The government had chosen to attack Karl.
Karl had retaliated.
But the civilians caught in between had paid the ultimate price.
At that moment—
A figure appeared in the sky above the manor.
Karl had returned.
He still wore the Saint Cloth embedded with the six Infinity Stones.
Karl glanced toward the distant ruins of New York.
He immediately understood what had happened.
The enemy had launched a nuclear missile.
At the same time, Karl noticed Tony lying on the ground in his vibranium armor.
Karl said nothing.
He knew Tony would struggle to accept the situation.
But Karl himself did not care.
If they chose to attack him—
Then they had to be prepared for the consequences.
BOOM—!
Karl floated silently in the sky.
Energy gathered around him once more.
His gaze shifted toward Washington D.C.
Toward the White House.
A beam of multicolored energy shot from Karl's hand.
With a thunderous explosion—
The White House, symbol of the United States government, was obliterated.
The underground security bunkers beneath it were destroyed as well.
The President, along with numerous high-ranking officials, died instantly.
But Karl did not stop there.
More energy blasts followed.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
Several major U.S. military bases were destroyed one after another.
The nuclear weapons stored inside those bases were also detonated by the blasts.
Massive mushroom clouds rose across the United States.
Entire regions were consumed by radiation and fire.
Countless civilians were killed.
Many others were left severely injured or poisoned by radiation.
"Enough!!"
Tony suddenly shouted.
"Karl! Those people are innocent!"
"You've killed too many already!"
"Stop!!!"
Tony had received the latest reports from Stark Industries satellites.
The White House was gone.
The President was dead.
Military bases across the country had been destroyed.
And the nuclear weapons stored within them had detonated.
BANG—!
"Get lost."
Karl glanced briefly at Tony.
With a casual motion, he struck Tony and sent him crashing into a nearby building.
Karl ignored Tony's protests completely.
He continued destroying American military installations.
The United States possessed the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
As those weapons detonated across the country, survival in those areas became impossible.
Those who were not killed instantly would eventually die from radiation poisoning.
Only after detonating most of the nuclear weapons stockpiles did Karl finally stop.
He slowly descended toward the manor.
Bruce Banner had already returned to his human form.
Juggernaut had also come back from the battlefield.
Karl walked inside the manor and quietly looked at May, Gwen, George, Helen, and the others.
"Speak your minds."
Karl sat down on the sofa.
Yan calmly poured him a cup of tea.
Karl knew many of them would find it difficult to accept what had happened.
After all—
Most of them had once lived ordinary lives.
Accepting that someone they loved had just killed hundreds of millions of people—and nearly destroyed their country—was not easy.
"You're too cruel!"
George suddenly roared.
"You're a tyrant!!"
Helen held George back, but the dissatisfaction in her eyes was obvious.
Nearby, Black Phoenix watched the scene silently as crimson energy flickered in her gaze.
"You…"
Karl looked at George, Gwen, and Helen.
"You probably all feel the same way."
"There is no right or wrong here."
"They chose to attack me."
"So they had to accept my retaliation."
Karl's voice remained calm.
"If they had succeeded—"
"Did you ever consider what would have happened to me?"
"If you can't accept this…"
"You may leave."
"I will erase your memories of this time."
"I will also tell you something."
"I will soon leave Earth."
Karl had already expected their reaction.
George was a police officer.
Gwen possessed a powerful sense of justice.
Otherwise, she would never have fought the Abomination so soon after gaining her powers.
If they could not accept Karl's actions—
Then he would allow them to return to their ordinary lives.
Karl would not force them to understand him.
They simply lived on different levels of existence.
"Fine."
"We'll leave."
George stood up.
Gwen and Helen followed him.
Karl only nodded.
He then signaled to Black Phoenix.
She stepped forward.
Her psychic power erased their memories of everything that had happened.
At the same time, Karl retrieved the treasures he had previously given them.
Finally—
Karl activated the power of the Infinity Stones.
He altered the memories of everyone on Earth.
In the new memories, Gwen and the others were nothing more than ordinary people—
With no connection to Karl whatsoever.
...
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