"Lothar…"
Blood flowed freely. The fallen figure lay motionless, and Hela stood in solemn silence.
At the beginning of this battle, she had genuinely believed in Lothar.
From their first encounter on the Bloody Plains to their reunion in Svartalfheim, the speed at which this man's power grew was downright monstrous.
He had become strong enough to annihilate Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Realms, with a single blow. Yet now, he had fallen before Ego, a being who called himself a god.
If that were true, then Ego's strength must be enough to destroy Svartalfheim too.
Hela fell into silence, remembering the crushing pressure she had felt earlier from Ego.
Was this man on par with her father, Odin?
Her fists clenched tightly, then slowly loosened, powerless.
If Ego had truly reached that level of power, then Lothar's defeat was inevitable.
Outside of those legendary entities spoken of in cosmic myths, Odin's might was considered the absolute apex achievable by mortals within this universe. And even now, with time on his side, his strength was still steadily rising.
One day, he might stand among those mythic figures. That was the advantage of the Asgardian bloodline—
Power that grew proportionally with age.
No matter how fast Lothar improved, he could not yet surpass Odin, the one who once sought to unify the Nine Realms. Naturally, that meant he couldn't best Ego, whose current strength stood shoulder to shoulder with Odin's.
"This battle… you lost it from the very beginning."
"Because you turned your back on Ego, someone far stronger, and instead chose a weaker one. A Saiyan."
Rodus hoisted up Jennifer from the ground and threw her beside the bloodied Lothar like she were a rag doll. Then he casually walked to Ego's side, standing with him shoulder to shoulder, his eyes full of mockery.
Had Jennifer pulled Ego into the battle from the beginning, the outcome might've been entirely different.
"A pity. Your foolish love ended up dooming you."
Her decision to abandon Ego had given Rodus the opening he needed.
Twisted as it sounded, it was simply the truth.
"Tch…"
Supporting himself with one hand, Lothar barely managed to roll over. Slumped against a crumbling stone wall, he panted heavily as the ring on his wrist continued to frantically transmit data.
"Son of Thanos. I've done my research on you. In Svartalfheim, one of the Nine Realms, you call yourself a Saiyan. You refer to that golden-haired form as something that transcends Saiyanhood… a Super Saiyan."
"But from what I see now, you're painfully weak."
As Rodus dusted off his shoulder armor, his voice was slow and deliberate, each word echoing the disdain he'd inherited from the Frost Giant King, Laufey of Jotunheim. Lothar lowered his eyes in silence.
"But don't worry, you won't die."
"After all, you're Thanos' son."
As one of the dominant powers of the Centauri Galaxy, Thanos' influence wasn't something Rodus was eager to provoke.
Letting Lothar live and sending him back to Centauri, even after being challenged directly, was the greatest leniency Rodus could afford.
Lothar said nothing. His eyes, however, were locked squarely onto Ego, flickering with emotion.
"What? Still not convinced?"
Ego raised a brow and waved a hand, undoing the bindings on Hela and drawing her effortlessly to his side.
"I told you from the start, you don't belong to this universe. Its rules do not acknowledge your existence."
"If you were able to unleash the full extent of your power, then yes, at this moment, I wouldn't be your match. But unfortunately… you can't."
"You completely can't."
"I don't know what kind of beings you Saiyans, or rather, you Super Saiyans, are…"
"You possess incredible combat potential… yet such a tragically short lifespan."
Ego, a being that had existed since the dawn of the universe, had seen straight through Lothar's true biological cycle with ease.
"Honestly, just reaching that golden-haired state of yours was already far beyond my expectations."
"You've been fighting under the universe's rejection this whole time. As an intruder, the very fabric of this reality suppresses you."
"So long as you remain here, your power will always be limited."
"It's an unsolvable paradox."
"Which means as long as you stay here, you will never, ever surpass me."
Ego crouched down, gently cupping Lothar's face in his hand, his words sharp enough to pierce the soul.
"Unless you destroy this universe."
"Trigger a cosmic reset, a Big Bang that rewrites the fundamental rules of existence."
"Only then will the new universe, rebuilt with new laws, finally recognize your kind."
"Only then can you unleash your true power."
"Power capable of casually annihilating stars."
With that, Ego's smirk deepened into a sneer.
"What do you say, Lothar? Want to destroy the universe?"
"Oh, wait, I forgot. Someone who's not even recognized by the universe itself… will never be able to reach that level."
"And one more thing: Judging by your power levels here, you may very well be the most disgraceful Super Saiyan in your entire species' history."
"Super… Saiyan."
The mocking smile and scornful eyes made Lothar's face grow even darker.
This universe… rejects me?
"No, Lothar. There is one other way."
The voice was aged and weathered, resonating from above. Descending from the sky, the great sage Gubo, who had been maintaining the energy barrier to protect the capital from mass casualties, finally landed between Lothar and his two disciples.
"Master!"
"Old fossil, you finally decided to show yourself?"
Jennifer and Rodus, the master's two disciples, greeted him with completely different tones, casting a shadow of sorrow across Gubo's eyes.
"Become a god, Lothar."
He closed his eyes for a moment, sorting through his emotions. When he opened them again, his words made Lothar raise his head in disbelief.
"Become a god of the Saiyans. Claim a rightful place for your people in this universe."
"Break the old laws. Force this universe to accept the Saiyan race."
"Then… it will all be possible."
"Naïve."
Ego couldn't help but laugh at Gubo's proposal.
A being rejected by the universe… wanting to become a god who rewrites its laws?
"It's not a joke, Lothar. Believe me."
"I've told you before, you have the potential to become a god."
"Godhood isn't some unattainable myth. Gods are simply another manifestation of life itself."
"They are born. They die."
"And you, you can choose to birth a new set of laws within this universe for your people."
"Become the Super Saiyan God!"
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