The impact sent Corvus Glaive flying backward across the mansion grounds. The force from Lucien's daggers meeting his spear was far more than the alien warrior had expected, and he rolled several times before coming to a stop against a stone pillar.

Corvus looked up, dazed and struggling to focus his vision. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead.

He'd been in countless battles across the galaxy, had faced opponents who stood against Thanos, but this human had just sent him flying with what seemed like minimal effort.

Before he could fully process what had happened, Lucien's hand closed around his face. The grip was like iron, fingers digging into his skull with enough pressure to crack bone.

"What—" Corvus started to say, but Lucien slammed him into the ground with tremendous force, creating a web-like pattern of cracks in the stone beneath him. The impact drove the air from his lungs and sent pain shooting through his entire body.

"You're only so-so," Lucien said, standing over the fallen Black Order member. "I don't have high hopes for your master either."

Corvus's eyes blazed with fury at the insult to Thanos.

Mad Titan was his adoptive father, a being who had once wiped out half the universe, a conqueror who had brought entire civilizations to their knees. For this human to dare mock him was beyond humiliating.

"You dare—!" Corvus snarled, trying to push himself up from the cracked stone.

A boot to the face cut off his protest, sending his head snapping back against the ground with enough force to crack the stone further. Stars exploded across his vision, and he tasted blood in his mouth.

Lucien drew both his daggers, the blades gleaming in the light from the ongoing battle. Without ceremony, he drove them through Corvus's hands, pinning him to the ground.

The alien warrior's scream echoed across the battlefield as the steel went completely through his palms and into the stone beneath.

"Stay there quietly," Lucien said. "I need some information from you after I deal with these creatures of yours."

Corvus writhed against the daggers holding him down, but every movement only drove the blades deeper into his hands. He was effectively trapped, reduced from a feared member of Thanos's elite guard to a pinned insect.

Lucien turned away from the Black Order member and surveyed the battlefield.

Hundreds of Outriders were still swarming across the mansion grounds, their four arms and chittering sounds creating a nightmarish symphony.

Lucien began cutting through the Outriders, his speed allowing him to dance between their attacks while his daggers found their marks. The creatures were as tough as a D rank monster, which to him felt like they were made of paper.

Black ichor sprayed as he worked, painting the mansion grounds with alien blood. Each Outrider that fell seemed to be replaced by two more, emerging from the shadows like an endless tide.

But even at his current pace, it would take considerable time to clear them all. There were simply too many of them.

"This will take too long," he muttered, pausing between kills to assess the situation. The other defenders were holding their positions, but they couldn't keep this up indefinitely. "I guess it's time to use it."

He took a deep breath and began channeling mana into his daggers. The process felt natural now, like flexing a muscle he'd always had but never known how to use. Dark energy flowed through the blades, making them glow with purple light.

The air around the weapons began to shimmer and crack. Lucien crossed his daggers and released the energy in an X-pattern slash.

The dark energy cut through the air like a physical blade, traveling faster than the eye could follow. Roughly ten Outriders in its path were bisected instantly, their bodies falling in perfect halves as black ichor pooled on the ground.

"Not bad," Lucien said, examining the results. The technique had worked exactly as he'd practiced, but the power output could be improved.

He began charging more mana into his weapons, feeling the energy build to a much higher level. The daggers now glowed so brightly that looking at them directly was painful, and the air around them warped and twisted like heat mirages.

This time, when he released the X-slash, the energy wave was massive, easily ten times larger than his first attempt. It carved through the Outrider ranks like a scythe through wheat, and nearly a hundred of the creatures fell in a single devastating attack.

"Damn, it worked a bit too perfectly," Lucien observed, watching the carnage he'd just unleashed. The technique was powerful, but it consumed a significant amount of mana.

He looked at the remaining creatures and shook his head. There were still hundreds of them, and while the energy attacks were impressive, they weren't the most efficient use of his abilities.

"It's good, but I can do better with my own speed."

What followed was a display of combat that left several heroes speechless. Lucien abandoned his ranged attacks and instead relied on pure physical power, pushing his speed and strength to their absolute limits.

To the defenders watching from various positions around the mansion, it looked like Outriders were simply falling apart in rapid succession as a blur moved between them.

Arms, heads, and torsos separated from bodies in sprays of black blood, but the figure causing the destruction was moving too fast to be clearly seen.

Spider-Man, who was standing guard near the mansion's main entrance, had to rely on his reflexes just to track Lucien's movement. Even then, he could only catch glimpses—a flash of motion here, an explosion of alien blood there.

"Jesus," Spider-Man breathed, his jaw dropping behind his mask. "Remind me to never be on his bad side. Like, ever."

Iron Fist, who was positioned beside him, was equally amazed. His senses and martial arts training allowed him to appreciate the technical skill being displayed, but the sheer speed was beyond anything he'd encountered.

"Who is this guy?" Iron Fist asked, watching another cluster of Outriders fall to Lucien's invisible assault.

"Long story," Spider-Man replied, "but he's definitely on our side. Thank God."

They were standing guard over Emma Frost, who had been motionless for several minutes now. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration, and she hadn't responded to any external stimuli since the battle began.

"Let's hope Miss Emma wins this," Spider-Man said, glancing down at the telepathic mutant. "Because if she doesn't, we're all in serious trouble."

Emma was engaged in a battle that was invisible to everyone else—a telepathic duel with another member of Thanos's Black Order. On the far side of the battlefield, protected by dozens of Outriders, another figure stood as motionless as Emma herself.

The non-combative mutants had been mostly evacuated from the mansion, leaving only the fighters to deal with the invasion. Scott Summers and the other X-Men were handling the Outriders approaching from the eastern grounds, their attacks keeping the creatures at bay.

Wolverine had recovered from his impalement and was back in the fight, his claws tearing through Outrider ranks. Kurt Wagner was teleporting around the battlefield, appearing behind enemies to deliver decisive strikes before vanishing again.

But the real battle was happening on a plane that others couldn't see or understand.

On the far side of the battlefield, a tall, pale figure with an elongated head stood among her protective circle of Outriders. This was Supergiant, another member of Thanos's Black Order, and she was locked in mental combat with Emma Frost.

For long minutes, both telepaths remained perfectly still, their minds locked in combat on a plane of pure thought and will. The physical battle raged around them, but their war was being fought in the realm of consciousness itself.

Supergiant was a master of mental domination, having conquered countless minds across the galaxy. She had broken the will of kings and generals, turned heroes into servants, and shattered the psyches of those who opposed Thanos.

But Emma Frost was no ordinary telepath. She was an Omega-level mutant who had been honing her abilities for decades, had faced down some of the most powerful minds on Earth, and had the tactical cunning to match her raw power.

The mental battle was fierce, each telepath probing for weaknesses while defending their own consciousness from invasion.

Then Supergiant's lips curled upward in a small smile.

"I win," she said simply.

Emma immediately collapsed. She fell unconscious from the mental strain. Blood trickled from her nose, evidence of the damage she'd sustained in the psychic duel.

"Emma!" Spider-Man called out, catching her before she hit the ground. Her body was limp, completely drained by the effort of fighting Supergiant.

"Is she okay?" Iron Fist asked, kneeling beside them.

"She's breathing, but she's out cold," Spider-Man replied, checking her pulse. "Whatever just happened, it took everything she had."

Across the battlefield, Supergiant's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

The telepathic victory had been more difficult than expected, but she had broken through Emma Frost's defenses.

She quickly assessed the situation around her—Corvus Glaive pinned to the ground, hundreds of Outriders dead, and a single human cutting through her remaining forces like they were made of paper.

Her gaze fixed on Lucien as he continued his systematic slaughter of the Outriders.

There was something different about this one, something that made him far more dangerous than the other defenders.

"You will be a perfect puppet," Supergiant murmured, a cruel smile spreading across her alien features.

She had won the battle against Emma Frost, and now she could turn this victory into total domination of the battlefield. If she could control this powerful human's mind, turn him against his allies, the tide of battle would shift dramatically in Thanos's favor.

Supergiant focused her considerable telepathic powers on Lucien's mind, preparing to turn the tide of battle by converting their strongest opponent into an ally. She reached out with her consciousness, probing for the mental pathways she would need to establish control.

But the moment her consciousness touched his, everything went wrong.

Instead of finding the usual landscape of human thoughts and memories, Supergiant found herself standing in an endless void of absolute darkness.

There were no memories to sort through, no emotions to manipulate, no conscious thoughts to redirect. Just endless, perfect darkness that seemed to stretch in all directions.

"I've never seen anyone's consciousness like this," she said aloud, her voice echoing strangely in the empty space.

Supergiant paused in her exploration, suddenly uneasy. In all her years of telepathic combat and mental domination, she had never encountered a mind that could make her feel like prey.

She turned slowly, scanning the dark void around her.

That's when she saw them.

Two enormous purple eyes stared at her from the darkness, each one easily the size of a building.

The gaze that fixed on her carried the weight of absolute authority, as if she were an insect that had wandered into the presence of a god.

....

POWER STONE GOAL: 700 ( 1 Extra Chapter)

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