"Who is he?"
"He can actually survive in space!"
"Could he be the Asgardian that the marauders spoke of?"
At Nova Headquarters, Fu Yi stared in disbelief, his mouth hanging open in shock.
Nova Prime, however, remained firm. "He is the God of Magic!"
"Why do you say that?"
"Did you not notice his attire? It's completely different from what we remember."
"Furthermore, no known predator organization has a figure like him. It's absolutely impossible for someone of his caliber to be just another marauder!"
After a brief analysis, Nova Prime issued an order:
"Deploy all Nova fighters to intercept the Dark Aster's advance. Have them ready to act at a moment's notice. Further instructions will follow."
"Understood, my lady," the adjutant replied before swiftly exiting.
Nova Prime turned her gaze back to Aaron, studying him closely.
To other civilizations, Asgard was little more than a legend. Even during her tenure, she had rarely encountered them.
But this time, she took a long, hard look at Asgard's God of Magic.
Did he truly possess the divine power spoken of in legend?
"Who is he?"
"Since when do the marauders have someone like this?"
Aboard the Dark Aster, Ronan stood before a massive floor-to-ceiling window, observing Aaron as he floated in the void.
He didn't recognize him, nor did he realize Aaron had come specifically for the Power Stone.
But one thing was clear—whoever he was, he could survive in the vacuum of space.
And that alone was shocking.
Even with the immense power granted by the Power Stone, Ronan himself could not do that.
While the stone granted him the ability to destroy stars, it did not elevate his body to a level capable of withstanding the void.
His body simply wasn't strong enough to contain the stone's full power.
"Sir, I checked the database—no matches," Star Hunter Korath reported. "He's not a predator, nor a known bounty hunter."
Ronan's adjutant added, "He doesn't exist in the Kree Empire's records either. There's no trace of him anywhere."
"Could he be a machine?" someone speculated. "No… that doesn't seem right. Whoever he is, we should proceed with caution."
Nebula cast a sideways glance but did not connect Aaron to the infamous God of Magic.
Despite Aaron's name frequently surfacing around Thanos, his true appearance remained a mystery.
Besides, why would an Asgardian come all the way out here—accompanying marauders, no less?
It made no sense.
"Careful?"
Ronan scoffed.
"My power is not what it once was. If he dares to challenge me, he will die."
"But before that, we must reach Xandar immediately. We cannot afford to engage him in open space."
Aaron could move freely in the vacuum, but Ronan's forces could not.
Their only advantage would be to fight within the Dark Aster itself.
If they were forced into an external battle, they would be at a severe disadvantage.
No one knew for certain if Aaron could single-handedly destroy the Dark Aster, but they couldn't take that risk.
Once the battleship was compromised, their chances of breaching Xandar's defenses would drop drastically.
With this in mind, Ronan commanded:
"Full speed ahead! Head straight for Xandar!"
At the same time, all available firepower was locked onto Aaron.
Hundreds of Necrocraft surged forward, both to intercept the mysterious intruder and to guard against the marauders.
Though the marauders were significantly weaker than Ronan's forces, their reputation for being unpredictable made them a concern.
Seeing the Dark Aster prepare for battle, the marauders immediately reacted.
The crew scrambled to their stations, and some launched their smaller ships to scatter their forces.
Meanwhile, the mothership's weapons began charging, preparing for a brutal engagement.
Normally, the marauders would never face such a powerful enemy head-on.
They were just one of many pirate organizations, and their strength was limited.
Even though Ronan had broken away from the Kree Empire, he was still far beyond what they could handle.
Had they followed their original plan, they wouldn't have lingered.
Instead, they would have rushed in before Ronan's forces could fully react—using a small strike team to break through weak points in the defense and eliminate key targets.
The real fight was meant for the Nova Corps, who were much stronger than the marauders.
In fact, without the Power Stone, Ronan himself was not even superior to the Nova Corps.
Otherwise, he would have been crushed by the Kree Empire long ago.
However, all of these considerations were meaningless to Aaron.
He didn't need to worry about fleets or battle formations.
When a person reaches a certain level of strength, quantity becomes irrelevant.
No matter how many ships they had, they were still insignificant.
To Aaron, even battleships were no different from ants.
At first, the marauders were concerned about Aaron entering space alone.
They had never seen someone survive the vacuum unassisted.
But Aaron shattered their understanding of reality.
"Holy shit! He's absorbing radiation energy directly from space!"
"Unbelievable! It's like he treats the vacuum as his natural environment."
"He's completely unaffected by the cold, and his body is ignoring pressure changes."
"Is this what a god is? He moves freely without oxygen!"
Rocket turned to Gamora and shrugged.
"Alright, I'm starting to believe you now."
Gamora, still watching Aaron's back, murmured, "Believe me, you will see far greater miracles. Even Thanos fears him."
Moments earlier, she had experienced something incredible.
Aaron had granted her access to magic.
She had even learned her first spell—Invisibility Magic—which allowed her to become optically hidden.
It had left Drax completely stunned.
Though Drax thought he had mastered the art of stealth, Gamora had proved him wrong immediately—leaving him humiliated.
More importantly, it confirmed Aaron's claims.
If they absorbed enough magic energy, their strength could increase.
Inspired by Gamora's success, Star-Lord Quill eagerly began his own study of the Magic Net.
Having grown up on Earth, he had always heard legends of witches and magic.
Now, magic was real—and he wasn't about to miss out.
He even tried to convince Rocket to share his secrets.
But Rocket refused to part with his Hadron Enforcer, calling it his "precious baby."
That is, until he connected to the Magic Net—and promptly disintegrated his own weapon in the process.
According to Rocket, "Only I have the right to destroy my gun."
Meanwhile, Groot also connected to the Magic Net—but gained nothing from it.
He simply stood there, watching the others practice with fascination.
Then, Gamora saw Aaron move.
He wasn't rushing.
Instead, he floated towards the Dark Aster at a steady pace.
He ignored the attacking Necrocraft.
He ignored their firepower.
He moved straight toward Ronan.
But something strange happened.
All the Necrocraft suddenly lost control as they neared Aaron.
They continued flying forward—but ceased all attacks.
Inside their cockpits, the pilots sat motionless.
Their lifeless bodies slumped over, bleeding from every orifice.
Their bones and internal organs had been completely shattered.
A marauder in a spacesuit carefully opened one of the cockpits—only to recoil in horror.
The corpse inside was horribly mangled, its body soft and boneless.
The mere sight of it made his skin crawl.
"Boss… the enemy was crushed in an instant. Their bones and organs… shattered!"
A deep silence fell over the marauders.
No one had seen anything.
Aaron hadn't even lifted a finger.
And yet—an entire fleet was dead.
Meanwhile, aboard the Dark Aster, alarms blared.
"The ship is shaking!"
"Sir! We're being pulled in!"
Ronan's face darkened.
The Dark Aster was being dragged—not toward Xandar…
But toward Aaron.
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