"And also..."
Cloud's voice sounded again.
This time, it carried a spine-chilling calm.
"My hot dog."
The moment those words fell, he moved.
He took one slow step, then another, ascending into the air as if climbing an invisible staircase to heaven.
One step. Two steps. Three steps...
His figure escaped gravity's pull, rising higher and higher until he hovered directly above the entire battlefield, face to face with those massive Leviathans.
His unique, impossible entrance instantly captured the attention of everyone on the battlefield!
On the ground, Steve Rogers raised his head, watching that figure walk through the air like a god. His hand holding the shield trembled.
"...It's him."
In the sky, inside Tony Stark's armor, JARVIS was reporting in a voice bordering on breakdown:
[Warning! Warning! Detecting unknown, unanalyzable energy source increasing exponentially! Energy level has exceeded maximum measurable threshold!]
"My God..." Tony murmured, watching that familiar yet foreign figure.
Thor also stopped swinging his hammer.
He looked at Cloud, and those eyes belonging to a deity filled with shock and disbelief.
He could feel it—the "divine might" emanating from this being was more ancient, more overwhelming than even his father, Odin the All-Father!
Hulk stopped roaring too. In that chaotic, rage-filled brain, for the first time, an emotion called "awe" was born.
Looking at that small figure in the sky, he instinctively sensed an absolute suppression from a higher tier of existence!
On the Helicarrier, Nick Fury watched the figure ascending on his screen via satellite feed. His coffee cup slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
Everyone around the world who had managed to glimpse this war through various means held their breath in this moment.
They didn't know who this person was.
They only knew a "god" had descended.
And Cloud had now risen to directly above Manhattan.
He looked down at the city being devoured by flames beneath his feet.
He looked up at the sky being consumed by darkness above.
His face showed no expression.
But in his eyes, golden flames ignited!
"I had intended to live among you as an ordinary tourist."
His voice no longer traveled through air, but transformed into a grand "Dao Voice" that resonated directly within every soul!
"But what I received was distance and suspicion."
"I had intended to watch a play as a mere observer."
"But you disturbed my leisure, and even destroyed my last hot dog!"
His voice turned cold!
"So I'm done pretending!"
"Cards on the table!"
"I am a GOD!"
BOOOOM—!
As his final word fell!
A sacred, majestic golden radiance—as if from the moment of the universe's birth—exploded from within him!
The golden light shot skyward, tearing apart all clouds and smoke!
The golden light bathed the earth, immersing the entire city in holy brilliance!
Under everyone's gaze, Cloud's body began to undergo an incredible transformation!
His black hair turned brilliant silver in the golden light!
His eyes blazed with golden divine fire like the core of a sun!
Behind him, a massive golden serpent phantom—composed of pure energy and law—slowly materialized!
That phantom was so majestic, so ancient!
Its mere existence caused Earth's magnetic field to fluctuate! Caused space itself to warp!
[System Notice: Law Analysis at 10%! Partial Sovereign permissions unlocked!]
[KOF World Final Form—Orochi Soul—RELEASED!]
In this moment, Cloud was no longer the lazy, retired Sovereign. No longer the mysterious tourist who loved hot dogs!
He was the embodiment of Earth's will!
He was the god who judged all things!
He was the Serpent of ending and rebirth—Orochi!
"Now..."
Cloud slowly raised his hand.
His voice echoed across heaven and earth like final judgment.
"For my innocent hot dog... repent!"
...
The moment Cloud entered "Orochi Form," the entire world seemed to hit mute.
The wind stopped. The gunfire vanished. People's screams cut off mid-breath.
Whether the Avengers struggling on the ground or the Chitauri rampaging in the sky, every thinking being simultaneously froze.
They raised their heads, gazing at the sky.
Gazing at that figure wrapped in golden light, like a deity descended.
It was a trembling from life's deepest instinct—one no language could describe!
Insignificant!
Before that figure, whether Thor who styled himself a god, Tony in his cutting-edge armor, or Hulk with his limitless strength—all felt as insignificant as specks of dust.
This wasn't a gap in power. This was absolute dimensional suppression at the level of existence itself!
As if they were merely two-dimensional drawings on paper, while that being was the three-dimensional creator holding the brush.
The towering golden serpent phantom behind him simply existed there. Those eyes, like stars being born and dying, merely glanced casually—and every god-tier being present felt their soul being mercilessly dissected and pierced!
...
Asgard. The Golden Palace.
Odin, the All-Father, who had been anxiously watching Earth's battle through Heimdall's Eye, suddenly shot up from his throne!
His single eye widened more than ever before, his face filled with unprecedented shock!
"What is... that?!" he breathed. "That power... older than Yggdrasil... purer than the Aether... that is... that is the power of Existence itself!"
...
Deep space. Sanctuary II.
Thanos, who had been calmly observing from his throne, remotely watching through the Mind Scepter, slowly rose for the first time.
On that purple, wrinkled face appeared a solemn expression.
He gazed at that golden figure, feeling divine might that made his heart tremble even across infinite space-time, and slowly clenched his fist—the one not yet wearing the completed Infinity Gauntlet.
...
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