Ambush

"Careful."

Steve immediately ran over and shielded Nova Prime with his shield, while Strange cast a spell, creating a massive golden shield above everyone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Light Spears crashed into the magic shield one after another and exploded. The shield shook violently, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Fortunately, the Nova Corps soldiers came to their senses at that moment. They immediately activated their small spacecraft and fired Particle Cannons in rapid succession at the two people who had appeared out of thin air in the sky.

S Tina gave a disdainful smile and waved her hand. A mass of Light Spears blasted toward those small spacecraft, each one causing a tremendous sonic boom in the air.

The small spacecraft could not withstand the Light Spears’ bombardment. They exploded in the air one after another, turning into fireballs that fell to the ground.

"Damn it."

Nova Prime flew into a rage and shouted, "Who dares act so recklessly on Xandar?"

"So what if this is Xandar? You’re nothing but ants."

S Tina was utterly dismissive. She descended from the sky with S Druig and said to Steve and Strange, "We are the strongest Eternals. Someone wishes to see the two of you. Come with us."

"The strongest Eternals?"

Steve and Strange exchanged glances. Strange asked, "Aren’t you Tina? Why have you become one of the strongest Eternals?"

"The Celestial Group was lazy. They mass-produced Eternals on an assembly line, so there are many Tinas. But there is only one strongest Tina, and that is me."

S Tina said, "You have two choices now. One, come with us obediently. Two, get beaten up and then be taken away."

"Your personality really is different from Tina’s. You’re far more arrogant and overbearing than she is."

Steve asked, "Who wants to see us?"

"You’ll know once you get there."

S Tina said, "Also, I hereby formally announce this: anyone who dares supply Earth with food will be opposing us, the strongest Eternals. When the time comes, don’t blame us for destroying your planet."

"You think the Nova Corps fears your threats? I don’t know who you are, but you must pay for what you’ve done."

Nova Prime shouted furiously. Large numbers of small spacecraft flew over and completely surrounded Tina and Druig.

"Frogs in a well. You Xandarians have no idea what the Eternals represent. Not just you—even the Three Great Empires of the universe are nothing more than ants in our eyes."

S Tina wore a contemptuous expression. She said to S Druig, "This is getting annoying. Let’s put on some fireworks."

"As you wish, my goddess."

S Druig smiled faintly and shouted, "Offer the most brilliant fireworks to our goddess."

"This is bad. Nova Prime, immediately revoke every pilot’s control over their spacecraft!"

Steve’s expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly shouted at Nova Prime. He knew very well what Druig’s ability was.

"What?"

Nova Prime had no idea what he meant. At that moment, every pilot simultaneously activated their spacecraft’s self-destruct function. Their eyes were completely vacant.

Nova Prime sensed that something was wrong and tried to order their control privileges revoked, but it was too late. Every small spacecraft in the sky exploded with a thunderous boom, offering S Tina a dazzling display of fireworks.

Behind those fireworks were the lives of hundreds of Nova Corps soldiers.

"No!"

Nova Prime roared in grief and fury. She glared at S Tina and S Druig, preparing to activate the Starport’s Annihilation Cannon. At that moment, Steve said, "Prime, this is Earth’s war. We can’t drag you into it any further."

Nova Prime looked at Steve, her face full of unwillingness. Strange sighed and said, "Nova Prime, with your strength, you can’t fight them. Please let us handle this ourselves."

"Wow, what kind Earthlings."

S Tina sneered. "Nova Prime, spread the words I just said. This time is merely a warning. Next time, we will destroy the planet directly. In fact, that would not be difficult for us."

Nova Prime nearly ground her teeth to pieces, but she still swallowed her anger. The enemy was simply too powerful. As Nova Prime, she could not risk Xandar.

After all, Xandar had never fully recovered from what Thanos had done.

Steve asked grimly, "Who exactly is behind you? Why are you stopping us from buying food?"

"You’ll naturally know who he is when you meet him."

S Tina could not be bothered to waste any more words. She condensed a spear from Cosmic Energy and suddenly appeared before Steve. She swung the spear down at him with all her strength, causing the air itself to cave in under the force. It was terrifying to the extreme.

Steve immediately raised his shield to block Tina’s spear. With a heavy bang, Steve was sent flying, skidding across the ground and leaving two deep trails behind him. His boots burst into flames from the heat, and he hurriedly kicked them off.

"You actually blocked that?"

S Tina was somewhat surprised. She pushed off with both feet, spun through the air, and smashed her spear down at Steve again, trailing a pitch-black spatial rift behind it.

Steve did not raise his shield again. Instead, a hammer appeared out of thin air in his hand, and he hurled it at S Tina with all his strength. With a bang, S Tina was knocked flying, after which the hammer automatically returned to Steve’s hand.

That was not all. Steve raised the hammer high, and a bolt of lightning descended from the sky onto it. Then, he fired the lightning gathered on the hammer at S Tina. S Tina flipped through the air and formed a shield to block the lightning.

"Thor’s Hammer?"

"I specifically borrowed it from Loki. I used to be Earth’s most advanced technological product, but now, without Thor’s Hammer, I’m not even worth mentioning."

Steve sighed. Earth’s battles had reached ever-higher levels. An outdated old man like him had even become a unit of measurement.

"Sorry, but even with Thor’s Hammer, you’re still not worth mentioning."

S Tina scoffed, dismissed her shield, and raised her right hand. Countless spears appeared out of thin air and shot densely toward Steve.

Steve did not dodge, nor could he. He held his shield before himself, and all the spears uncontrollably veered toward it. Bang! Bang! Bang! The spears exploded against Steve’s shield one after another, forcing Steve steadily backward.

It was worth noting that although Steve was being pushed back, his shield was completely undamaged. Its sturdiness was astonishing.

"That’s impossible. Even if your shield is made of Vibranium, it shouldn’t be able to withstand so many of my spears."

S Tina was stunned. Although she was only using the power of a peak god-level being, how could a mere Captain America block her attacks? And that lousy shield—on Earth, it might indeed count as a treasure, but what was it at the level of gods?

"Nothing is impossible. My shield can block every attack."

Steve said with a smile. His improvement from his last battle against Thanos had not been minor.

S Tina thought of something and asked incredulously, "A concept? You actually comprehended a concept?"

"Is that what it’s called? I’m not really sure. Bert told me it was my passive skill. It always feels like he’s making fun of me. Oh, and besides this passive skill, I have another one. I hope you’ll like it."

Steve smiled and threw his hammer at S Tina. S Tina dodged it, formed a spear, and charged at Steve. Steve recalled Thor’s Hammer and engaged S Tina in fierce combat. The surrounding ground was torn apart again and again, as though two capital ships were bombarding each other.

"God-level powerhouses!"

Nova Prime, who had retreated to the rear, exclaimed in astonishment. These two reminded her of Thanos, who had once broken through Xandar.

On the other side, S Druig said to Strange, "Stop trying. You can’t open a portal."

Strange lowered the hands he had secretly been using to cast a spell and asked, "I don’t remember any Eternal being able to interfere with space."

"That’s because the Eternals on Earth are all trash."

S Druig gave a disdainful smile. "You are the Sorcerer Supreme, after all, so I’ll give you one chance to attack. If you fail, I’ll control you directly."

Strange’s gaze turned cold. "Has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely arrogant?"

"I’m merely stating the facts."

S Druig sneered. "You’re far inferior to the previous Sorcerer Supreme. Worse still, you don’t have the Time Stone. Dealing with you couldn’t be easier."

"Is that so? I don’t see it that way."

Strange stopped wasting words. He formed hand seals, and numerous figures emerged from his body, floating in the air. They were the Shape of Isaac.

Then, all the Stranges simultaneously cast Vishanti’s Holy Sword. Over a hundred Seven-Colored Holy Swords slashed toward S Druig from every direction, even sealing the surrounding space.

Druig can only control others. He shouldn’t be able to block this move.

Strange thought to himself. At that moment, S Druig gave a contemptuous smile and said, "Return to where you came from."

As S Druig spoke, every Seven-Colored Holy Sword turned around and flew back along its original path. Strange’s clones were cut down by the Seven-Colored Holy Swords one after another.

Strange’s expression changed. He hurriedly cast magic whips to bind the Seven-Colored Holy Swords, then dispelled their magic power and made them vanish.

Strange asked in shock, "You can actually control the Holy Swords? How is that possible?"

"There are no useless abilities in this world, only useless people. Any ability, when developed to its limit, can become unimaginably powerful."

S Druig said, "Not only can I control the Seven-Colored Holy Swords, I can control space—and even time."

As S Druig spoke, the space behind him came alive. It stared unblinkingly at Strange like a giant. Strange’s scalp tingled. This S Druig was even stronger than he had imagined.

In fact, this was not S Druig’s strongest state. Like S Tina, he was only using the power of a peak god-level being.

"Enough. I’ve already been polite. Now, stop resisting and come with me."

S Druig dismissed the spatial giant behind him and ordered Strange. Strange’s eyes became utterly vacant. With a blank expression, he walked behind S Druig and stood there quietly like a puppet.

"Tina, I’m done. Hurry up. The longer this drags on, the more likely something unexpected will happen."

S Druig did not look at Strange again and shouted to S Tina. At that moment, a Space Blade pierced through his body from behind. He turned back in disbelief and saw Strange looking at him with a mocking smile.

"I won’t deny that I’m inferior to Ancient One, but I’m still the Sorcerer Supreme. I’m not as weak as you think."

As Strange spoke, he controlled the Space Blade to release magic power and destroy S Druig’s internal organs. S Druig shouted, "Stop him. Push him away."

At S Druig’s command, the Space Blade suddenly stopped. At the same time, space pushed Strange away from S Druig.

"Explode."

Strange cast a spell as he retreated. The Space Blade exploded. S Druig screamed as blood sprayed from his waist, and his internal organs could even vaguely be seen.

It didn’t even blow him in half? Eternals really do have tough bodies.

Strange snorted inwardly. His hands rapidly formed spell seals, and the space around them flowed like a dream, exuding an incomparably profound aura.

"Body, heal."

As S Druig repaired his body, he asked Strange in surprise, "You actually wield Time Power?"

Why had Strange not been controlled? Because he had set up Time Loop magic on himself. Once he was controlled, his body would automatically return to the moment before he was controlled. That was why he had been able to launch a surprise attack.

The Space Blade had been able to explode because Time Magic had been placed on it. Strange was the Sorcerer Supreme and had even been loaded with the Creator God CPU. He was no ordinary man.

Strange snorted. "So what if I do? What I despise most are people like you, who reveal their abilities in detail before the battle even begins. How exactly did you survive this long?"

"You’re courting death."

S Druig flew into a rage and shouted, "Kill him."

Space obeyed the command, transforming into a massive spatial giant that smashed its fist fiercely toward Strange. Strange had long been prepared. He pushed forward with both hands, and space shifted. The giant’s fist suddenly appeared above S Druig’s head and smashed down at him.

S Druig did not move, because he had no need to. The next second, the spatial giant restored itself and continued smashing toward Strange. It was a spatial giant, after all.

"That should do it."

Strange suddenly smiled. A green Time Magic formation lit up beneath his feet, and time for S Druig and the spatial giant abruptly stopped.

Immediately afterward, Strange gripped the Space Blade and charged at S Druig at top speed, intending to cut off his head.

With time stopped, no matter how terrifying S Druig’s ability was, he could no longer use it. Time was king. Time-based abilities were the strongest of all.

It was worth noting that Strange could only stop time for a few seconds, and the range was very small, only a small area around them. Still, it was enough.

When he reached S Druig, Strange did not hesitate. He raised the Space Blade and slashed at S Druig’s neck. At that moment, S Druig’s eyes flickered, and the space between him and Strange was stretched infinitely long.

"No!"

Strange roared and desperately used Space Magic to shorten the distance. Unfortunately, it was still too late. The time stop ended, and S Druig returned to normal. He shouted, "Betrayal."

Strange’s shoes suddenly betrayed him. With a bang, he fell to the ground. Then, the bricks beneath him fused with the spatial giant and formed a huge hand that pinned him down.

"I finally understand why that lord fears your Earth so much."

S Druig walked over to Strange and sighed. "Before, we only feared Blood God and Iron Man. Supporting characters like you were never worth our attention.

"Who would have thought that a mere supporting character would nearly kill me? If I were only god-level, I really would have died by your hand. Unfortunately, I am not merely god-level."

"Are you an ancient god?"

Strange asked in alarm. There were only two possibilities for someone to recover during stopped time: either they possessed Time Power, or they were an ancient god.