The raging wind howled across the battlefield.
The hurricane unleashed by Ethan Drake swept through the sky like a natural disaster, scattering the members of the Nova Corps in every direction. Their once-perfect aerial formation collapsed completely as soldiers were hurled away by the overwhelming storm.
Ethan remained hovering calmly in place.
He hadn't even used his hands.
One breath had produced a stream of fire. Another had unleashed a hurricane. With nothing more than the abilities of his lungs and voice, he had crushed the momentum of one of the galaxy's most respected military forces.
The spectacle left the citizens of Xandar stunned.
Gasps and shocked murmurs spread across the streets below.
"How is that possible…?"
"Who is that guy? That's the Nova Corps!"
"Don't celebrate yet," someone else said quickly. "The Nova Corps has more than just those soldiers."
The people of Xandar still trusted their protectors.
Despite what they had just witnessed, most of them firmly believed the Nova Corps would ultimately prevail.
"Look!"
A voice suddenly shouted.
Several citizens pointed toward the sky.
High above the battlefield, a brilliant golden light suddenly ignited. It rose through the air like a miniature sun, radiating dazzling brilliance across the clouds.
The true powerhouse of the Nova Corps had finally stepped forward.
Meanwhile, Carol Danvers' condition had begun to stabilize slightly.
The color gradually returned to her face, though her expression remained awkward as she realized Ethan was still holding her in his arms. Being carried like this left her feeling strangely self-conscious.
"Be careful," she said quickly. "That's the Centurion."
Seeing Ethan's calm expression, she assumed he might not understand the Nova Corps' structure. She quickly began explaining.
"The Nova Corps draws its power from something called the Nova Force," she said. "It's a massive energy field generated by a super-intelligent computer."
Ethan listened quietly.
"What makes it dangerous," Carol continued, "is that the energy can be distributed to every member of the Corps."
Her voice grew more serious.
"The Centurion controls the allocation. There are multiple ranks within the Corps, and the higher your rank, the more Nova Force energy you're allowed to use."
She glanced toward the glowing figure descending from above.
"Centurions are elite members. They can draw on far more cosmic energy than ordinary soldiers."
Ethan nodded slightly.
"That's… interesting."
The concept was unusual.
A centralized power source that distributed cosmic energy among an entire army explained why so many Nova Corps members could fly and fight with such coordination.
It was also easy to imagine how dangerous such a system could become if fully unleashed.
Suddenly, the golden light above intensified.
The Centurion descended like a falling star.
His body blazed with cosmic energy as he shot downward, surrounded by a massive sphere of golden radiance that resembled a meteor plunging toward the ground.
"Let me handle you myself!" he roared.
The sheer pressure of the Nova Force radiating from his body was enough to make the surrounding air vibrate.
Carol's eyes widened slightly.
"He's serious," she said urgently. "You should put me down."
Ethan remained completely unfazed.
Instead of releasing her, he simply shifted his grip.
One arm continued holding Carol against his chest while the other hung loosely at his side.
"You…"
Carol froze.
She had expected him to set her down.
Instead, he had simply switched from carrying her with both arms to holding her with one.
The new position pulled her even closer to him.
She could feel the warmth of his body and the steady rhythm of his powerful heartbeat. The unexpected closeness made her face flush slightly as she struggled to find words.
Ethan noticed her reaction but said nothing.
His attention was already fixed on the incoming Centurion.
The golden figure was rapidly closing the distance.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
A vast pressure began gathering around him.
The energy inside his body surged like a rising ocean. Just moments earlier, he had absorbed the unstable cosmic power that erupted from Carol's body.
His strength was now overflowing.
To challenge him at a moment like this was little more than self-destruction.
"Unfortunate," Ethan murmured softly.
His right hand slowly clenched into a fist.
Energy condensed around it, forming a dense aura of power.
Then he punched forward.
The movement looked simple.
Almost casual.
But the moment his fist cut through the air—
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave erupted.
The invisible force tore through space itself as it blasted toward the charging Centurion. The golden warrior had barely reached midair when Ethan's attack struck him directly.
The collision happened in an instant.
The Centurion's blazing aura shattered as the shockwave swallowed him completely. The golden flames surrounding his body were snuffed out like a candle in a storm.
His body was thrown backward violently.
Like a fragile boat caught in a raging ocean, he was completely overwhelmed by the force of the impact.
The battle ended before it had even begun.
The Centurion never even reached Ethan.
Yet the terrifying punch didn't stop there.
Cracks suddenly spread across the sky like shattered glass.
The very fabric of space trembled under the force of Ethan's strike.
The ground below fractured violently as spiderweb patterns tore through the streets. Buildings shook as if struck by a powerful earthquake.
Across a radius of several kilometers, the shockwave from that single punch spread outward.
Ruined structures collapsed.
Dust and debris filled the air.
Citizens fled in panic as the aftershocks continued ripping through the city.
"This punch…"
Farther away, the remaining Nova Corps members stared in horror.
Cold sweat ran down their backs.
Even the residual shockwave from the attack had torn the ground apart beneath their feet. Deep cracks stretched across the terrain like open wounds.
"No… Lord Centurion…"
Their voices trembled.
If the aftermath alone was this terrifying, they couldn't even imagine what had happened to the Centurion who had taken the attack head-on.
"Who are you?" one of them demanded.
Fear was now impossible to hide.
They stared at Ethan with a mixture of anger and dread.
Ethan looked back at them calmly.
"Just moments ago," he said slowly, "I prevented a catastrophic explosion that would have wiped out most of Xandar."
His gaze grew colder.
"And your response was to attack me."
A faint chill appeared in his clear eyes.
"Consider this a lesson."
Several Nova Corps soldiers clenched their fists.
"You…"
None of them had expected the situation to become so humiliating.
The truth was now painfully obvious.
When the massive energy surge had been detected earlier, the entire planet had believed Xandar was on the verge of destruction.
Yet the energy had disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.
Now, after witnessing Ethan's strength, the realization slowly spread through the Nova Corps.
The man in front of them had contained that catastrophe.
And instead of gratitude, they had attacked him.
Even some Nova Corps members felt a wave of embarrassment.
"This time is a warning," Ethan said calmly. "Next time, I won't be so patient."
His words hung heavily in the air.
No one in the Nova Corps had ever been spoken to like that.
They were used to commanding respect across the galaxy.
Yet before they could respond—
A dazzling rainbow light suddenly descended from the sky.
The Bifrost.
The multicolored bridge of energy engulfed Ethan and Carol instantly.
Within seconds, both of them vanished from the battlefield.
The Nova Corps soldiers could only stare helplessly as the light disappeared.
"Damn it…"
One of them clenched his fists.
"We just let them leave."
The once-proud Nova Corps stood silently in the devastated streets of Xandar.
For the first time in a long while, every one of them felt deeply humiliated.
....
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