Lucas naturally recognized the woman before him.
She was Thena, the Eternal known as their strongest close-combat warrior—their female god of war.
Her strength did not lie in raw power, but in her mastery of melee combat techniques and her near-perfect proficiency with all forms of close-range weapons, far beyond the level of ordinary masters.
Especially terrifying were the energy weapons she manifested—their sharpness approached the microscopic particle level.
Without proper defenses, even the toughest flesh would be sliced apart like tofu.
Even Lucas would never choose to tank such attacks head-on.
Among the Eternals, aside from Gilgamesh, who could form energy armor around his body, no one dared to take her blades directly.
Roar!
Lucas let out a furious bellow.
An overwhelming aura erupted from his body as invisible flames of ki burst forth violently.
The immense shockwave shattered the golden rings binding him, breaking them apart one by one.
At that moment, the long-dormant battle instinct within him was fully ignited.
Energy condensed in his raised hand, and in an instant, a massive cleaver formed within his grasp.
When Thena closed the distance, their weapons collided violently.
The clash of energy blades rang out like steel striking steel.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Lucas roared like a wild beast, abandoning all refined techniques.
Instead, he unleashed raw, brutal chopping strikes—fast, direct, and overwhelmingly aggressive.
Against an opponent with inferior physical attributes, this was the most effective strategy.
As expected, the sheer difference in strength and speed forced Thena into continuous retreat, barely able to keep up.
Had this been the comic-book version of the Eternals, Lucas might have shown more caution.
But the cinematic Eternals were ultimately just enhanced beings with special abilities, not truly overwhelming entities.
Compared to high-tier cosmic threats, their weaknesses were glaring.
Aside from Thena's weapons, the only Eternal who truly concerned Lucas was Sersi, whose matter-transmutation ability was genuinely dangerous.
Realizing she could not remain on the defensive, Thena knew that being overwhelmed was only a matter of time.
She retreated two steps.
Her spear and shield instantly transformed into twin leaf-shaped blades.
Her footwork accelerated, and she launched a rapid dual-blade assault.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Like a tireless machine, Thena's blades struck from every angle at blinding speed, leaving behind multiple afterimages.
Lucas blocked fiercely, his eyes calmly studying her movements.
Compared to Thena—the true weapon master—his own weapon skills were lacking.
From birth, his focus had been meditation and physical conditioning; he had never trained under a genuine weapons master.
So now, he chose to learn by force.
All he needed was memory.
Every movement, every pattern—he would imprint them all.
From the Eternals' perspective, it seemed Thena was suppressing Lucas.
They failed to realize his true intent.
Only Gilgamesh, another close-combat specialist, sensed that something was wrong.
Clang!
Lucas suddenly struck with full force, knocking Thena's blades aside.
In the next instant, his footwork shifted, and he pressed in close.
The cleaver in his hand moved with a style never seen before.
He had already absorbed Thena's techniques and movement patterns, merging them with his own instincts.
In his eyes, her next move was completely transparent.
With superior physical strength and explosive energy, Lucas struck without mercy.
The situation instantly reversed.
Thena was forced back once more—this time in far greater danger.
Whoosh!
Seeing the woman he loved in peril, Gilgamesh surged forward, cosmic energy condensing around his right arm as he threw a heavy punch at Lucas.
At the same time, the Eternals launched a coordinated assault.
Two golden energy beams fired toward Lucas.
Illusions of Thena multiplied around him, each one indistinguishable from the real thing.
Makkari rushed in at extreme speed.
From a distance, Kingo began charging a massive golden energy blast.
Phastos spun glowing rings around his arms, two energy cannons rapidly forming.
Meanwhile, Druig's eyes turned white as he attempted another mental attack—even partial interference would help.
Pfft!
The next second, Druig spat out a mouthful of pale saliva, his mind reeling.
"How is this possible?" he muttered in disbelief.
Moments earlier, he had tried to infiltrate Lucas's mind like an assassin.
Instead, it felt as though he had charged head-first into a Tyrannosaurus and been crushed underfoot.
Lucas now stood unmoving, his eyes gleaming beneath the blazing ki aura—like a god of war.
He twisted his waist and hurled his cleaver toward Thena.
The blade broke the sound barrier instantly.
Using his perception of ki, Lucas locked onto the real Thena without hesitation.
The Eternals were similar to androids—synthetic beings.
If they were all fully mechanical, this illusion might have worked.
But Thena's projections were pure energy constructs, unlike her semi-mechanical real body.
That difference gave Lucas the opening he needed.
Thena's expression changed in shock as her twin blades instantly morphed into a massive shield.
She bent her knees and braced for full defense.
Clang!
The cleaver slammed into the shield, the overwhelming force sending Thena flying backward.
Lucas immediately pivoted, his superior dynamic vision and neural reflexes allowing him to strike before movement appeared.
His punch smashed into empty air—
—and then Makkari's horrified face materialized.
Boom!
His ki-charged fist struck her abdomen, launching her away violently.
Lucas clenched his fist, ki surging as he drove a straight punch forward.
The next instant, his fist collided with Gilgamesh's once again.
But this time, it was on a completely different level.
Gilgamesh let out a muffled grunt as his massive body was dragged across the ground, carving two deep trenches over seven or eight meters.
Lucas turned and opened his mouth.
Light flared.
The fully charged energy blast erupted.
A brilliant ki cannon screamed through the air, colliding directly with a golden energy beam.
Without a sound, the ki blast devoured it entirely and surged toward Ikaris at even greater speed.
"You really think I'm easy to bully?!"
Lucas twisted and raised both hands, unleashing multiple shockwaves from his palms.
In an instant, Sprite screamed as her small body was blasted skyward.
Seeing the one he loved struck down, Kingo abandoned his charged attack and sprinted forward, sliding across the ground to catch the unconscious Sprite in his arms.
On the other side, Phastos was blasted away before he could even release his attack.
The illusions vanished.
The battlefield returned to reality.
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T/N:
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