What neither of them had expected was that Karl had become this strong.
His mastery of magic and Laws was overwhelming, and his physical strength was just as terrifying.
His grasp of the Law of Force was on par with his grasp of the Law of Space.
Not only that—
his combat skill had also reached the absolute pinnacle.
They had never even heard of methods like using an opponent's own strength against them.
Galactus and Thanos exchanged a glance.
One was an avatar of the "Five Great Gods" that had lived for billions of years.
The other was a top-tier overlord who had wiped out the entire Eternals race.
And yet now, in both combat and raw power, they were losing to an ordinary human?
What kind of joke was this?
No one would believe it if they heard it.
And yet it was happening right in front of them.
This brat's talent...
A sense of unease rose in Galactus's heart, and thoughts of retreat began to surface.
Fighting this kid to the bitter end was no longer a matter of winning or losing.
It was only one planet.
He could feed anywhere.
Why insist on devouring Earth?
As that thought rose in Galactus's mind, his eyes began to waver.
Thanos saw the look in Galactus's eyes.
As cunning as he was, how could he not understand exactly what Galactus was thinking?
But if this fool ran off, then wouldn't he be the one doomed?
No.
He could not let Galactus leave.
Even if Galactus was going to leave, he had to be smashed apart first.
"Galactus! Don't even think about running!"
"You wanted to destroy this planet's civilization. That's a blood feud of life and death."
"Do you think that if you just walk away today, this can all be forgotten?"
"Even if you're only an avatar, you still have your own will, don't you?"
"Do you really want to return to your main body?"
While blocking Karl's attacks, Thanos shouted at the top of his lungs.
Galactus's heart skipped a beat as well.
He carefully sized Karl up.
For most intelligent lifeforms, destroying a civilization inspired even deeper hatred than killing an individual.
Humans, in particular, were among the most social of all species.
Many people might usually think little of others, and might even find them annoying.
But if most humans were truly cut off from human society, it would not take long before they went mad.
Destroying a civilization created a hatred even more terrifying than killing them personally.
As Galactus, he had no shortage of enemies like that.
Some survivors had even offered their souls to demons just to gain the power to take revenge.
That revenge became the only reason they kept living.
Galactus knew very well how terrifying such people could be.
The man before him was obviously the guardian of this planet, and he was also absurdly talented.
If someone like that fixed his sights on him, he would be far more dangerous than any of the ones before.
On that one point, Thanos was not wrong.
Even if he was only an avatar, he still had the instinct to survive.
Immediately, Galactus's urge to retreat vanished, and he gritted his teeth as he continued attacking.
An ugly smile appeared at the corner of Thanos's mouth.
It was not really Galactus's fault for being slow-witted and getting played by both sides.
He was currently in an extreme low period and simply could not think clearly.
Most of his immense mental force had to be used to suppress the universe within his body.
Even if it were Einstein, if you starved him for half a week—
forget doing research, he might even get a simple arithmetic problem wrong.
Mind and body complemented each other.
Not to mention—
the universe inside Galactus was far from truly dormant.
Once he entered a weakened state, both his intelligence and strength dropped across the board, while his life force was consumed at a frenzied rate. He would not be far from death.
If someone trapped him and prevented him from absorbing life energy, he might literally starve himself to death.
The fact that he could still think like a normal person at all was already no easy feat.
And precisely because of that,
when Galactus fought Karl, he temporarily unleashed the strongest power he could muster.
The battlefield of the three kept shifting.
Cosmic distances that ordinary beings could never hope to cross were treated like child's play before them.
The aftershocks of their battle alone had already shattered several satellites the size of the Moon.
The once-empty depths of space had become filled with gigantic cosmic wreckage.
An ordinary person caught within it would be no different from an ant.
But Karl was different.
He was like a sun, radiating terrifying waves of power.
A planet fragment the size of a continent shattered outright.
A planetary core wrapped in lava exploded on the spot.
The silent universe was filled everywhere with cooling cores.
Karl still had Thanos and Galactus pinned down.
But even so, this battle was still an unstoppable natural catastrophe.
In the world of One Piece, even two Admirals who merely possessed elementalization could fight for three days and nights.
So how could a Skyfather-level powerhouse like Karl, someone who could blow up planets, possibly end a battle in such a short time?
Boom!
Boom!
The void trembled endlessly.
Karl collided with Galactus and Thanos once again.
Karl remained calm as ever.
Even his sorcerer's robe had barely changed.
Galactus and Thanos, on the other hand, were in far worse shape.
These two powerhouses with overwhelmingly strong bodies both had blood at the corners of their mouths.
Their bodies were covered in bruises, blue and purple all over.
They looked like street thugs who had just been beaten half to death.
"Huff..."
Thanos let out another long breath.
"Galactus, are you still holding back?"
"If this keeps going, both of us will be ground to death by him."
"Do you really think that if this drags on for days, you'll suddenly find a chance to turn things around?"
"Stop hiding it! Attack!"
As Thanos spoke, the Reality Stone continued to emit a faint red glow.
Galactus, however, was panting heavily, and the confusion in his eyes only deepened.
That high-intensity battle had consumed too much of his power.
He had even drawn out part of the strength he used to suppress the universe within himself.
His mind became muddled once again.
At this point, Galactus had practically turned into a fool.
Without another word, he charged straight forward.
"Die!"
Galactus roared.
His mental force surged violently.
It was as though every bit of power within a hundred million kilometers had fallen under his control.
At that moment, Galactus truly looked like a god.
Terrifying power emerged.
Even the nearby star reacted violently under the pressure of his strength.
For the first time, Karl showed a grave expression.
He raised one hand and pointed.
The space before him shifted like a kaleidoscope, and a breathtaking spatial fissure appeared.
After taking a breath,
Karl unleashed his nearly inexhaustible mental power.
"Astral Exile!"
Karl shouted as well.
All the magical power in the surrounding area fell into his hands.
A platinum-white greatsword that stretched across the heavens appeared.
Even the distant planets seemed to tremble before that sword.
Galactus attacked as well.
The two moves collided head-on.
Time froze.
All fluctuations, all Laws, all sound began to vanish.
It was as if the world itself had entered its end.
(End of Chapter)
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