Thanos's expression was extremely grim.
It was not just because his plan had failed.
It was also because he had been humiliated.
Karl had simply stood there and watched him do all this.
He looked like a clown.
Beside him, Dormammu's face grew even darker.
"Dormammu, did you see that?"
"Hurry up and attack with me. Kill this bastard."
Thanos spoke coldly.
He activated the power of the Infinity Stones and charged straight at Karl without another word.
When fighting Karl, every second, every moment, he had to keep drawing on the power of the Infinity Stones.
Only then could he contend with him.
Every punch and every kick carried purple energy.
For a time, the entire area seemed to turn into a sea of violet. Huge craters were left across the ground, each one radiating purple energy.
Faced with Thanos's fierce assault, Karl countered with calm pushes and palm strikes.
Each time, he redirected Thanos's strength away.
He seemed like a falling leaf, drifting with the wind.
It looked as though he was fighting Thanos, but in truth, he was keeping constant watch on Dormammu.
Compared with Thanos, Dormammu was the greater threat.
Even if Thanos held two Infinity Stones, that was still true.
But Dormammu seemed to know that.
He showed no intention of attacking at all.
He simply stood there, dark fluctuations rolling off his body, obscure and unreadable, as though he might strike at any moment.
That kind of looming threat was even more effective than actually attacking.
It kept Karl from making any reckless moves.
As expected of an old monster who survived from ancient times. He really is cunning beyond belief, Karl thought to himself.
Still, Karl was not easy to deal with either.
He waved a hand.
The surrounding space twisted.
Between himself and Dormammu, it was as though a layer of frosted glass had appeared, making everything blurry and indistinct.
Then Karl reached out with one hand.
The Rift-Cleaving Blade appeared in his grasp.
Without hesitation, he slashed at Thanos.
The powerful blade carried ripples of spatial energy along its edge.
Even though Thanos blocked the strike with the Infinity Gauntlet, the spatial ripples thrown off by the blade still sliced a wound across his face.
If he had not reacted fast enough to dodge, it would not have been just a cut.
Thanos's expression changed.
Alarm surged through him.
His entire body retreated at astonishing speed, avoiding Karl's follow-up attacks.
"Dormammu, what are you waiting for?!"
Thanos could not help shouting.
Dormammu's expression also shifted.
This brat had pushed his control over space to the extreme.
In an instant, he had actually set up three more layers of spatial barriers on top of everything else.
What a monster.
He absolutely could not be allowed to remain alive.
A cold gleam flashed through Dormammu's eyes.
Dark power surged.
Within the darkness, several black tentacles seemed to extend outward.
They stabbed straight toward Karl's spatial barriers.
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
The spatial barriers Karl had created were pierced through in an instant by those black tentacles.
Without hesitation, Karl waved his hand.
The shattered fragments of space turned into razor-sharp blades and shot toward Dormammu.
Dormammu's face changed abruptly.
Those tentacles formed from dark power closed together in front of him, instantly forming a shield.
Thanos sneered through gritted teeth, his expression tightening as well.
The hand wearing the Infinity Gauntlet swung toward Karl.
A blinding stream of Infinity energy shot straight at him.
Even the void seemed to tremble.
Thanos clenched his teeth tightly.
Clearly, using this kind of move was not easy even for him.
He was an Eternal with a body even stronger than Hulk's.
That alone showed just how much strain the Infinity Stones were putting on him at this moment.
Things had already gone far beyond his expectations.
"Trying to control power you can't truly wield—"
"Do you know what that leads to in battle?"
Karl smiled.
Casting with one hand, he summoned a golden ring in front of him.
The purple energy beam fired by Thanos through the Infinity Stones was swallowed directly into the golden portal.
The next moment, that portal appeared behind Thanos.
The terrifying purple energy struck him squarely in the back.
Bang!
Thanos flew out like a tennis ball that had been smashed away.
The energy in his hand instantly dissipated.
At that moment, Dormammu had already blocked Karl's previous attack.
Dozens of tentacles thick with dark energy stabbed toward Karl.
For a moment, black tentacles were attacking from every direction.
Karl remained completely unruffled.
With a gesture beside him, a golden shield appeared at once.
His body was immediately protected by that golden barrier.
At the same time, he raised the Rift-Cleaving Blade and thrust forward.
In just a few swift moves, all the black tentacles were severed.
And that was not all.
The Rift-Cleaving Blade in Karl's hand suddenly extended.
A sharp burst of spatial power erupted.
This time, even Dormammu had not expected Karl to have such a move.
His chest was pierced straight through.
If Dormammu had not merely been an avatar made of pure energy, he would have died on the spot.
Karl was just about to split Dormammu apart with the blade—
when Thanos lunged at him again.
Thanos wrapped his arms around Karl, trying to suppress him by force.
Karl might have been a sorcerer.
But when had Kamar-Taj's sorcerers ever feared hand-to-hand combat?
He drove an elbow backward with one arm.
The blow smashed directly into Thanos's face.
For a moment, even with Thanos's physical toughness, his head rang violently.
Karl pressed the advantage without mercy.
His knee shot upward.
The strike landed low and vicious.
Even a tyrant like Thanos, after being hit by such a dirty move, felt his whole body seize up in agony.
In that instant, all the strength in his body seemed to vanish.
The arms gripping Karl loosened at once.
Karl seized one of Thanos's arms and executed a clean shoulder throw.
Thanos was slammed hard into the ground.
Without the slightest hesitation, Karl grabbed Thanos's hand and tried to rip the Infinity Gauntlet off.
Right then, everything went black before his eyes.
The surrounding environment sank into endless darkness.
Karl sensed a sharp killing force rushing toward him.
Without another word, the Sacred Sword of the Vishanti appeared in his hand.
Platinum-white radiance burst forth, instantly driving away the darkness.
Dormammu, who had charged in, was struck by the blinding light and temporarily lost the use of his eyes.
He could only rely on instinct to control his attack.
But how could that possibly be enough against Karl?
Karl slammed an elbow strike into his chest, sending him flying.
For a moment, two top-tier powerhouses were being suppressed by Karl alone.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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