"No, no, no. I am the Emperor of this universe."
Frieza's voice, crisp yet tinged with malice, echoed across the battlefield.
Before Richard Rider's brain could even process the magnitude of that statement.
Whoosh—!
It was as if a frame of reality had been snipped away.
The white demon, who had been a hundred meters away just a moment ago, appeared without warning right in front of Richard's nose.
The distance between them was less than ten centimeters.
Richard could even see his own terrified face reflected in the scarlet pupils beneath Frieza's purple skull cap.
"Wha..."
Richard's heart contracted violently—the instinctive tremor of prey facing its natural predator.
As a legend of the Nova Corps and a super soldier wielding the Nova Force, his reaction speed was by no means slow.
The golden energy within him boiled instantly. He subconsciously raised his fist, intending to throw a punch capable of shattering a meteorite.
However.
Too slow.
The moment his fist clenched.
A bone-chilling cold, like liquid nitrogen, instantly froze his soul.
It felt like a rabbit having the breath of a prehistoric T-Rex blown directly into its face.
Can't move...
I can't move at all!
Richard discovered in horror that his body had betrayed his will in this moment, stiffening like a stone.
"A Centurion of the Nova Corps?"
Frieza tilted his head slightly, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel yet elegant arc—the smile of the Grim Reaper before swinging his scythe.
"I see fear in your eyes."
"Why? Didn't your Nova Prime tell you?"
Frieza extended a finger and tapped lightly on Richard's hard golden helmet.
"In this universe, there are some existences you aren't even qualified to look up to."
"What... what Galactic Emperor..."
Richard forced out his last breath, his voice raspy and trembling, trying to uphold the final dignity of the Nova Corps.
"In the Nova Empire's archives... there has never... never been anyone like you!"
"Oh my, my. What an ignorant country bumpkin."
Frieza shook his head helplessly, the red light in his eyes suddenly intensifying.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know now."
"Because..."
Frieza's finger curled slightly, a blinding purple point of light condensing at the tip.
"You'll remember it soon enough, etched in your bones."
"Go remember it in hell!"
Before his voice faded.
"Goodbye, glowing bug."
Snap!
Frieza flicked his finger lightly.
Like flicking away a speck of dust.
BOOM————!
A violent mix of telekinetic force and destructive energy instantly exploded inside Richard's body.
No scream.
No struggle.
Even the indestructible black-gold armor couldn't save the strongest warrior of the Nova Corps.
In the face of that absolute power, his body was like a red balloon filled with water, bursting instantly!
SPLAT!
A sky full of blood mist mixed with fragments of golden armor bloomed into a tragic firework in the air.
One hit, instant kill!
The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
The Nova soldiers who had been charging watched the cloud of blood mist slowly drift down from the sky, their weapons dropping to the ground with a clatter.
Even Richard Rider... was dead?
He didn't even last a second?
"Tsk."
Frieza hovered within the blood mist, using his Ki to shield himself from the filthy liquid with a look of disgust.
He glanced down at the members of the "Ginyu Force" who were still dazed.
Apocalypse was frozen in his giant form, looking dumbfounded.
Magneto had forgotten to throw the iron ball in his hands.
"Truly..."
Frieza sighed, looking utterly disappointed in them.
"I knew it. Relying on you useless lot is just too inefficient."
"It takes you half a day to fight a few bugs, and this Emperor still has to step in personally to wipe your asses."
Frieza complained internally.
Why were the people in this Marvel Universe so fragile?
Back in the day, Frieza's henchmen like Zarbon and Dodoria could at least wipe out galaxy-level civilizations, right?
Look at his own subordinates.
Fighting over Earth was a struggle for them.
Even that so-called cosmic overlord, Thanos the Purple Potato... every time he went out, he brought those "Black Order" guys who were basically combat power 5 trash.
Didn't he always have to swing his double-bladed sword himself?
If Star-Lord hadn't been an idiot and punched him, that Purple Potato would have been stripped of his gauntlet and killed on Titan!
"It seems, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
Frieza shook his head, his scarlet eyes sweeping over the city below.
"Apocalypse! Take your men and get lost!"
Frieza's cold voice drifted down.
"Don't get in my way here. If you get splattered with blood, you'll just have to wash your clothes later."
Hearing the Master's command, Apocalypse shuddered, snapping out of his shock.
"Yes! My King!"
Although he didn't know what the King was going to do, his innate survival instinct told him that if he didn't run, he would die very badly!
"Retreat! Retreat immediately! Hide behind the King!"
Apocalypse instantly deactivated his giant form, disregarding formation entirely.
He signaled Magneto, Loki, and the others, and like startled rabbits, they frantically scrambled to the high-altitude area behind Frieza.
Once the nuisances had scurried away.
Frieza turned around to face the prosperous, sci-fi, and despair-filled capital of Xandar below.
He slowly spread his arms, leaning back slightly to form a "dai" (大) shape.
His white body radiated a holy yet terrifying glow under the starlight.
"Ants of Xandar."
Frieza's voice wasn't loud, but it drilled clearly into everyone's mind like a demonic whisper.
"Since you still don't know what a Galactic Emperor is."
"Since you still attempt to resist me with those laughable water guns."
"Then today..."
Frieza slowly raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at the sky.
"I will be merciful and teach you a vivid lesson."
"The subject is called—Destruction!"
HUM——————!
At the tip of Frieza's finger, a dark red energy ball, initially only the size of a ping-pong ball, suddenly began to expand madly!
Although Frieza deliberately controlled the power (after all, he needed the planet for real estate development).
The terrifying energy fluctuations still caused the entire atmosphere of Xandar to burn!
"Is... is that a god?"
On the ground, Nova Prime slumped in her chair watching the screen, her eyes losing focus.
"Catch!"
Looking at the beautiful city below, Frieza's lips curled into a grin of extreme pleasure.
"This is a greeting gift from this Emperor!"
"Go!"
Frieza flicked his finger.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE—!!!
Carrying pressure enough to destroy heaven and earth, the energy ball slowly descended several kilometers away.
The moment it touched the ground.
There was no sound.
Because light and heat had already swallowed everything.
A massive mushroom cloud, large enough to cover an entire continent.
Rose abruptly several kilometers away!
Wherever the shockwave passed, skyscrapers disintegrated like sand sculptures, and countless lives were vaporized in an instant.
The distant city, along with the Nova Corps stationed there.
In an instant.
Was completely wiped flat!
"Ohohohoho..."
Watching the rolling magma and sea of fire in the distance, Frieza laughed with abandon and arrogance.
"What beautiful fireworks!"
"Now, does anyone still dare say they don't know this Emperor's name?"