Marvel With Zanpakutou

The Eternal, Ikaris, glared fiercely at the man before him.

He had thought that, under the crushing weight of his own aura, this man would soon feel fear, fall to his knees, and beg for mercy. Yet, to his surprise, the result was the exact opposite, he found the man... smiling.

In that slight upward curl at the corners of his lips, in that faint arc, Ikaris sensed nothing but contempt and mockery.

"Human... what are you laughing at?!"

Ikaris’s fury burned in his eyes, terrible golden energy coursing over his battle suit, unleashing an even greater tidal wave of pressure.

"Me? Of course, I’m laughing at your ignorance."

The man was silent for a moment, then a mocking glint appeared in his gaze.

"No matter how great a race is, there will come a day it falls. No matter how glorious a history, it will one day end. All things in this world follow their own laws. Even gods cannot escape death, so where exactly do you think your ’eternity’ comes from?"

He did not deny that eternity could truly exist.

But it certainly was not this Ikaris, who called himself an Eternal.

At least, in the fragments of his incomplete memory, any being worthy of bearing the title of "Eternal" was the kind of terrifying entity who could collapse the river of time with a single gesture, shatter countless eons with just a glance, and crush entire star systems with a casual strike.

"Don’t get too arrogant, human!"

Perhaps angered by the mockery in those eyes, veins bulged on Ikaris’s forehead as he roared,

"We are the supreme gods, a great race created in the Dawn of Creation! How could you insignificant humans possibly understand?!"

"You’re wrong about one more thing."

The man’s gaze grew deep and cold, his calm voice carrying an edge of frost.

"Humans may be cowardly, timid, full of ambition, and often walk the wrong path... but they have never been insignificant. In fact, they are the greatest race of all."

"Hmph, so you really don’t understand."

Ikaris sneered, then continued,

"If not for our Eternal race’s help, you humans would still be in the age of eating raw meat and drinking blood. You might have been wiped out entirely by the mutant races. How could you possibly have the brilliant civilization you do now?"

"Your technology, your knowledge, your civilization... everything you know comes from us Eternals!"

"Five thousand years ago, we sheltered human settlements and built glorious tribal civilizations. Four thousand years ago in Egypt, we constructed the grand pyramids, invented countless tools to aid you, and taught you the knowledge of agriculture."

"And now... do you still think humans are the greatest race?"

It was as if Ikaris had finally found an outlet for his frustration. After his outburst, his face twisted into a mocking smile.

"To attribute humanity’s greatness to gifts from the gods..."

The man nodded slightly, but his eyes glinted with cold light.

"That kind of high-and-mighty posture is truly... disgusting."

"These are facts. You can’t refute them."

Ikaris’s expression brimmed with pride, as if he truly saw humans as nothing more than his race’s creations.

"Enough. I can’t be bothered with you anymore."

The man shook his head, clearly bored.

"Arguing with a defective, low-grade construct... even if I won, what would it prove? If you don’t want to die, I suggest you leave, before I change my mind."

"Courting death!!!"

Ikaris’s rage reached its peak. His eyes suddenly blazed with two golden beams of light.

Boom!

The golden beams were fast as lightning, striking the man almost instantly.

The terrifying wave of energy tore the ice apart, ravaging the already broken land. The very air shimmered with heat, snow melting visibly under the blast, as the man’s figure was swallowed by the rising clouds of dust and steam.

"All that big talk... and this is the result?"

Ikaris sneered, already convinced of his victory.

After compressing his power to the limit and firing it through his eyes, he knew from experience that there were very few beings, or even armors, in the universe capable of withstanding his ocular beams.

But his confidence did not last long.

As the smoke and dust slowly cleared, the man was still standing there, his right hand still raised.

Blood-red circuit-like markings crawled over his skin like living things, surging with boiling, searing blood energy. In his palm, a single blackened scorch mark remained, silent proof to Ikaris that his beams had been blocked.

"This... impossible..."

Ikaris’ pupils gradually shrank, he could not comprehend what was happening before his eyes.

Even the most powerful of the Mutant Race could not block his heat rays with bare skin. Even Odin, the God King of Asgard, would never be arrogant enough to meet them head-on with nothing but his flesh, let alone block them and emerge with nothing more than a slight burn to the palm.

"Courting death."

The man’s eyes turned icy. Spiritual energy surged violently around him like a raging torrent, unleashing a terrifying pressure.

Ikaris’ pupils contracted sharply as an indescribable sense of dread welled up inside him. Not even when he stood on the brink of life and death against the Mutant Race’s leader thousands of years ago had he ever felt such crushing fear.

It was as if... he could be shattered at any moment!

The oppressive weight crashed down. With a muffled groan, Ikaris’ feet sank deep into the fractured ice beneath him.

Then the man flicked his fingers. The raging torrents of spiritual energy around them converged into a single point before erupting into countless azure light arrows, pouring toward Ikaris like a torrential downpour.

Each azure arrow screamed through the air with a shrill, piercing sound.

Though slender like long needles, each carried a killing edge that could pierce the void itself, leaving jagged black cracks in their wake.

Ikaris let out a furious roar, golden light blazing in his eyes.

BOOM!!!

A golden beam as bright as the blazing sun erupted forth like a massive flood.

Two completely different energy waves clashed, wreaking havoc across the shattered ice fields. The shockwaves surged like a raging tide, as if the entire world had been stirred into chaos.

The violent gales ripped apart the ice layer of the plain, sending tremors through the land.

From a distance, it would look like a colossal earth-dragon rolling beneath the surface, hurling thousands of tons of snow and ice outward in every direction.

The next instant, a figure burst out of the smoke.

It moved with such speed that it tore through the air with a deafening sonic boom, it was none other than Ikaris of the Eternals.

Like a kite with a cut string, he crashed into the ice, carving a trench over a hundred meters long with his body. Several fist-sized wounds on his chest spurted blood, leaving a crimson trail.

Finally skidding to a stop, Ikaris coughed up more blood, his face twisted in shock and rage.

"I was planning to let you go..."

The man’s cold voice came from within the smoke. He stepped forward slowly, his eyes glinting with a chilling light. "But since you insist on seeking death, I don’t mind killing you and then studying the structure of your kind."

Whooo!!!

In a single second, torrents of spiritual energy condensed. The clouds above rippled endlessly.

An overwhelming aura, accompanied by surging azure light, suddenly illuminated the snow-buried plain.

Ikaris looked up, his expression changing drastically.

A colossal azure mark, nearly splitting the heavens, stretched across the sky like a giant bridge spanning continents. From it hung massive azure lances, each the size of a siege spear, all aimed directly at his position like arrows drawn and ready to fire.

"I think this move was called... the Great Sage Bow?"

The man seemed mildly annoyed, a faint crease between his brows. Then he waved his hand casually. "Whatever. Thinking too much gives me a headache. Great Sage Bow it is. Now... good luck, Eternal."

In the next moment,

The bridge-like bow thundered like a million bowstrings snapping at once.

The hundred-plus colossal lances it carried tore through the sky like falling stars, descending as divine punishment to pierce the entire earth!