The battlefield was no longer the same as before. Every clash was now a storm that could shatter worlds, and the opponents standing here could no longer be underestimated.
Bella knew this truth better than anyone. She had fought monsters, demons, and even gods, but the figure before her—Thanos, the Mad Titan—was in a class of his own.
With an almost casual flick of her wrist, Bella hurled Thanos' great tyrant sword back toward him. The speed was so fast that the very air cracked into sonic screams. That blade, once accelerated, carried enough destructive force that even Thanos' heavy battle armor might not fully withstand it.
But this was Thanos.
He was no ordinary warlord. He was one of the greatest martial combatants in the universe, a being whose fighting instinct stood at the very pinnacle of existence.
The massive broadsword roared back toward him, but Thanos' face never faltered. With bare hands, fists clenched like steel, he seized the blade's handle mid-flight. The collision erupted with an explosive gust of air, a violent shockwave that shredded the ground beneath his boots.
Yet his towering frame did not budge an inch.
It was a terrifying display, not just of raw strength, but of perfect control over every fiber of his power.
Thanos did not hesitate. He twisted the weapon in his grasp and swung it with devastating precision, bringing the enormous blade down toward Bella's head. The very pressure of the strike sent out whipping wind currents like hurricanes.
Bella's eyes narrowed. She instantly abandoned the thought of crushing Ebony Maw and the other Black Order members who lingered nearby. Against a fighter of Thanos' caliber, even the slightest lapse in rhythm could mean a chain of relentless, crushing attacks.
And Thanos—ever cunning, ever merciless—would not hesitate to sacrifice his own followers if it gave him even a momentary edge. He would slaughter Ebony Maw with his own hands if it meant seizing victory.
Bella drew back her majestic mental power in an instant, channeling everything into her physical form. Both hands rose high.
A resonant hum filled the battlefield.
Between her palms, a long, shimmering black line appeared—power so dense it bent the air itself. The very next second, a thunderous detonation shook the heavens.
The explosion cracked the world's silence apart. Sound burst so violently that countless soldiers below clutched their ears, their eardrums nearly ruptured.
Boom!
The shockwave shook the landscape. Where Bella stood, a crater more than a hundred meters across caved into the earth. Out of the explosion, a weapon formed: the Black Oath of Victory Sword. Bella gripped the hilt with her right hand, her left hand bracing the blade closer to its tip, stabilizing its lethal edge.
The collision between Thanos' broadsword and Bella's dark blade erupted with terrifying force, the clash screaming with energy beyond mortal comprehension.
Beneath her, the ground collapsed once again, the battlefield reduced to rubble and craters.
At that moment, Bella's gray hooded jumpsuit burned away in black fire. Out of the flames, her true form emerged—a black suit of armor forged from shadow and blood. Black high boots dug into the earth, her chestplate lined with glowing crimson etchings that looked as though they had been written in blood. Spiked wrist guards framed her hands, and sleek black gloves shimmered like liquid metal.
She was transformed—no longer just a mysterious woman behind a hood. She now stood revealed as something more: a knight, a sovereign, a dark emperor incarnate.
The very air bent around her figure, as if the shadows themselves bowed in worship. It was as though all light had been consumed, leaving her as the sole illumination in the storm.
Bella's presence alone intoxicated those who watched her.
Across from her, Thanos adjusted his stance, lifting the tyrant sword high, nearly two meters of brutal steel gleaming in the stormlight. He descended with crushing force, but Bella's figure did not yield. She stood firm, matching him strike for strike.
For the first time in a very long while, Thanos' estimation of an opponent grew. In his heart, he admitted: this woman's strength was not beneath his own. In truth, her mental power perhaps even surpassed him.
He grinned. "I'm looking forward to this battle."
Bella lifted her gaze, her eyes sharp and merciless. Cold. Cunning. Dominant. The kind of gaze that stripped an enemy's soul bare.
The corners of her lips curled upward in a cruel smile. She tightened her grip on her sword's hilt.
Clang!
Sparks danced between blade and blade. Then, in a single flash, Bella swung upward. The Black Oath Sword cleaved from bottom to top with crushing power, a strike that carried hundreds of thousands of tons of force.
Thanos, caught midair, could not plant his stance to resist. But his reflexes—honed over countless wars—saved him. He snapped his weapon down in time to deflect, avoiding the blade's full devastation. Even so, the resulting airburst rocketed him upward like a cannonball into the sky.
Bella's grin widened. She loved nothing more than pressing the attack, chasing the strong and tearing them down.
Her right foot slammed into the ground. The explosion of force shattered the sound barrier, and she launched upward in pursuit, a black comet chasing Thanos into the heavens.
Far below, in the capital of Qaidar Star, Queen Qaida was the first to react. She spun toward her centurion guards.
"Activate the defense system at once! Evacuate the civilians—every soldier is to assist! Move quickly!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The centurions scrambled. They all knew: when beings of this magnitude fought, the entire city could be obliterated just from the aftermath.
Already, entire parks and districts had been flattened by stray shockwaves. If the civilians were not evacuated, casualties would be catastrophic.
Fortunately, Qaidar's technology was advanced. Anti-gravity flight platforms and levitation carriers hummed to life, their engines roaring as they swept through the city. Thousands of residents were lifted into the skies, carried away to safety.
The Queen's prestige ensured obedience. Even in panic, order prevailed. Families carried only what little they could, boarding the evacuation crafts as the golden defensive barrier rose above the capital.
None of this mattered to Bella or Thanos.
High above, tens of thousands of meters in the sky, Bella caught up with Thanos. The air was thin, the cold absolute—but such conditions meant nothing to them.
Thanos steadied himself, his body glowing with cosmic energy that allowed him to hover. He smirked at Bella's approach.
"Come on."
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, sword and blade clashed again. The explosion shattered the black clouds above, scattering them in shockwaves that everyone on the ground could see.
Lightning tore across the heavens, illuminating their two figures locked in deadly combat.
Boom. Boom. Boom!
Over and over, sword and sword collided, the sound like endless thunder rolling across the planet.
The citizens below trembled as the golden barrier around their capital flared, barely holding against the rippling shockwaves. Soldiers scrambled to direct civilians into levitation crafts. Entire squadrons of Nova-like star-soldiers escorted the helpless into the skies.
Above, in the clouds lit by lightning, two silhouettes—one massive, one sleek and dark—dueled with such ferocity that the planet itself seemed to groan beneath their battle.
The Evacuation of Qaidar's capital had begun.
And as the storm of steel and shadow raged above, it was clear: the world below could only hope the barrier would hold long enough for its people to escape.
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