DOTM: Chapter 500/501

Chapter 500: It’s Better to Be More Decisive

Ethan lightly tapped one of the Arcane Springs in front of him, and this staff flew toward the massive energy form of Ego like a missile.

In the blink of an eye, the Arcane Spring hit the massive energy form of Ego, triggering a massive arcane explosion.

Arcane energy is a stable energy with extremely strong malleability, and it also possesses astonishing power, especially when it erupts in a large-scale burst, capable of tearing a planet apart.

Although the Arcane Springs Ethan created stored a large amount of arcane energy, it was not enough to blast a planet into pieces.

But what he was dealing with now was not the entire planet. All he needed to do was blast the energy forms of Ego in front of him until they were disoriented. So he did not even bother to check the state of Ego opposite him after this attack. He directly released the remaining few Arcane Springs, targeting all the high-density energy reactions he could sense.

Any energy aggregations around Ethan could not escape his arcane bombardment.

Although the continuous explosions did not damage Ego's core, the controlled energy was subjected to powerful energy impacts and vibrations, making Ego, the controller, feel unwell.

What made him feel even worse was that Ethan's continuous bombardment not only scattered the energy he had just mobilized and gathered but also spread a large amount of energy he could not control, arcane energy, within his body.

Under normal circumstances, suddenly receiving so much energy would only make Ego happy. He had a nearly endless lifespan and not much to do in his long life. He could slowly enjoy this energy that suddenly appeared within reach.

But now he was locked in a life-or-death struggle with Ethan, and the sudden appearance of so much energy he could not control was simply creating trouble for him.

This energy severely interfered with his control and mobilization of his power. If he accidentally mixed these strange energies while condensing energy tendrils, it could even weaken his control over the energy tendrils.

Ego's control over the energy tendrils was now affected, and the pressure faced by Yondu and the others was significantly reduced. Rocket Raccoon had even left the fighter jet, flying in the air using the jetpack on his back, and occasionally throwing something onto the ground.

Ethan had slowed down his rate of firing the Arcane Springs, with only the last two remaining in front of him. Taking advantage of Ego being disoriented by the explosions, he glanced at the situation with Rocket Raccoon.

This little guy with the appearance of a raccoon, possessing super intelligence and practical skills, was throwing powerful bombs he had made himself.

Perhaps seeing that Ethan's continuous bombardment had caused enough trouble for Ego, this guy could not help but want to show off his talent, combining a bunch of ordinary parts into powerful weapons.

Although the bombs Rocket Raccoon made did not have the interference effect of arcane energy, the vibrations and destruction caused by the explosions were real. This was inside Ego's body. Even if this destruction could not truly harm him, it would make him feel uncomfortable, especially when positions so close to the core were hit by the blast.

So after Rocket Raccoon joined in, Ego no longer had the mind to pay attention to Star-Lord. Just dealing with Ethan was already occupying most of his energy.

Moreover, Ethan would not let him have the energy to focus elsewhere. After all the Arcane Springs were used up and he had no suitable explosives on hand, Ethan chose to create on the spot.

The Space Stone provided him with nearly endless energy, all possessing stable spatial properties. But just like when a stable spatial barrier is destroyed and a terrifying spatial storm can appear, energy stability does not mean low power. In fact, some stable energies can become incredibly violent, possessing more astonishing destructive power than many chaotic and murky energies.

Arcane energy was like this, and spatial energy was the same.

Vast spatial energy was extracted and shattered by Ethan, becoming violent. Ethan then created a layer of spatial separation outside, imprisoning the violent spatial energy within it, continuously injecting more spatial energy, and simultaneously compressing it.

The spatial energy, originally tinged with blue-white, was eventually compressed by Ethan into a basketball-sized ball of light. Aside from the blue-white light unique to the Space Stone, this energy ball was also mixed with patches of dark shadows that moved randomly and chaotically, looking like black fabric scraps tumbling in turbulent water.

But it was precisely these unremarkable black patches that emitted an astonishing aura, as if they could erase everything from this world.

Feeling that the ball of energy in his hand was gradually becoming a little uncontrollable, Ethan immediately pushed out this seemingly unassuming blue sphere of light.

The ball of light did not seem to fly very fast, but strangely, it flew in front of the re-formed Ego in an instant. The spatial energy storm that suddenly erupted directly engulfed a little less than half of the giant Ego.

When this energy storm erupted, it was not like the previous arcane energy that erupted and spread in all directions. Instead, after suddenly expanding into a massive sphere, it released an astonishing suction force, sucking all matter within a certain range into the chaotic energy storm to be torn apart and annihilated.

Ego, whose energy body had been swallowed by a little less than half, could not escape this suction force. More than half of his body was sucked into this spatial energy storm and completely destroyed.

What was even more terrifying was that this attack not only destroyed one of Ego's energy avatars but also injured Ego's own mental core.

"This is an unexpected bonus."

"What unexpected bonus?"

Just as Ethan was using arcane energy for bombardment, Star-Lord found Ego's true form and decisively crushed the amulet Ethan had given him.

Receiving Star-Lord's message, Ethan split off some of his attention and sent a mirror clone to Star-Lord's side.

If it was just sending a mirror clone over, he would not need the amulet for positioning at all. After all, Star-Lord had not gone far, and Ethan could easily pinpoint his location.

The amulet's true purpose was actually to allow Ethan to easily locate and open a temporary energy channel for long-distance spellcasting.

He wanted Star-Lord to seize ownership of the planet's energy. It was difficult for Star-Lord to learn such a complex thing in a short time, so he could only choose a simple method, using Star-Lord's control over this energy to transfer it.

The actual operation did not need Star-Lord to do it. It would be handled by Ethan.

To put it simply, Star-Lord served as a key, because without this key, it would be impossible to do this.

The initial plan was to directly kill Ego's mental body, preserving his body and his property, which would make the takeover more convenient.

Unexpectedly, Ego decisively self-destructed to escape the maze and return to his true form, which is why this method was chosen.

It is just that there were a lot of unexpected events today, and this time it was an unexpected event that benefited Ethan.

If Ego's mind could be severely injured, or if Ego's soul could be directly destroyed, then the plan would need to be adjusted once again.

"Now there is a chance to eliminate Ego and, at the same time, allow you to perfectly inherit all of Ego's legacy. It is just that you might have to take some risk, so I want to be sure about your thoughts?"

This plan still required Star-Lord. If he was not willing to take the risk, then Ethan would not force him but would choose a simpler and more brutal method, directly destroying Ego's core.

As for the vast energy Ego had collected over the years, it would definitely collapse and slowly dissipate after his death. Star-Lord would certainly not have the chance to take over this energy, but it would not have much impact on Ethan.

Such a vast amount of energy would not dissipate overnight. He could stay here and gather as much energy as possible. As for whether this energy would ultimately be converted into his own magic power or used to create some magic items, that would be a matter for the future.

Star-Lord did not lack courage and could make the right decisions at critical moments. Although he did not care about any legacy, having the chance to personally avenge his mother, he was very willing to choose to act himself.

"Then it is easy."

Ethan's plan was complex in that it involved some complicated spells, but it was also simple in that there was not much difficulty in carrying it out.

Treating this planet as a special kind of material and crafting it into a personal item for someone.

Given the current situation, both Ego and Star-Lord were qualified to become the master of this special item. Under normal circumstances, the two would compete for ownership of this item on the mental level. Because Ethan had separately stripped away the entire planet, excluding Ego's brain-like core part, and the energy Ego had collected, turning them into separate items, Ego's power would be greatly weakened.

But even so, Ego's mental power, having existed for who knows how many years, was not something Star-Lord could contend with. In a normal mental battle between the two, Star-Lord would be instantly defeated or even annihilated by Ego.

Mental destruction meant the person was completely dead, even if their body was not harmed. Ethan would still propose such a suggestion because he discovered he could provide assistance to Star-Lord from the outside.

That is to say, as long as Star-Lord could hold on, Ethan, who was continuously weakening Ego's mental power from the outside, would be able to help Star-Lord defeat Ego and thus gain ownership of the entire planet and even that vast energy.

By that time, whether Ego, with only a fragile mental core remaining, lived or died would simply be a matter of Star-Lord's thought.

"This plan sounds terrible."

"Or how about we just blow this thing up?" Rocket Raccoon, who had also come here at some point, took out a bomb again, ready to stick it directly onto the massive brain in front of them.

Seeing that neither of them seemed to agree with his method, Ethan also abandoned this seemingly somewhat troublesome plan.

"Then let's just blow it up, quick and clean."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 501: The Benefits of Picking Up for Free

Ethan realized he had been mistaken about one thing.

Star-Lord did not care about any inheritance. He just wanted to kill Ego.

Fighting to the death in the spiritual world with Ego sounded good, but choosing a more reliable method that could actually kill the guy was better.

This did not affect Ethan much. How Ego died did not really matter to Ethan, and this choice was even more beneficial to him.

If Star-Lord inherited Ego's legacy, Ethan could gain some benefits by teaching him, but it would definitely not compare to directly blowing Ego up and then personally collecting the collapsing and dissipating energy.

Watching Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord discuss how to blow up this brain, Ethan watched for a few moments before directly pointing his finger and opening a hole in the energy layer.

Ego's brain was surrounded by an energy layer, protecting it inside and making it impossible to attack directly.

In the original plot, the bomb Rocket Raccoon made directly destroyed the entire planetary core, which was incredibly powerful, so it was a timed bomb, giving everyone time to escape.

If the little tree person Groot had pressed the wrong button and chosen to explode immediately, all the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy would have been blown up along with Ego.

The current situation was different from the original plot. Rocket Raccoon had brought many bombs, but none with such great power. He could temporarily make a powerful one, but he did not carry the materials needed for a timing device with him.

He was worried that a less powerful bomb would not truly injure the brain protected by the energy layer, so he did not know how to solve this problem now.

Just then, Ethan opened a hole in the energy layer in front of him and gestured to him. Go ahead.

Rocket Raccoon pouted, and although he was a raccoon, the expression, So what if you can use magic?, was very clear and direct.

While grumbling inwardly, Rocket Raccoon's hands were not slow. He quickly combined several bombs, made a short-delay fuse, and then lifted his hand and threw it in through the hole.

Ego was strong, and the energy he possessed was also vast.

In a head-on battle, killing Ego was very difficult, especially since his life form gave him extremely tenacious vitality.

Yet Ego was also very fragile. His weakness was too obvious. As long as his brain was found, a slightly powerful bomb could kill him. Of course, figuring out how to break through the energy layer protecting the brain was also a difficult problem.

However, for people like Ethan, these were not difficult problems at all.

Mantis, who had suddenly switched sides to Star-Lord, told everyone where Ego's core was, and Ethan had the ability to hold back Ego's outer defenses and break through the final barrier.

Even when Ego realized what was about to happen and wanted to stop it with all his might, he could not. When Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord decided to blow Ego up directly, Ethan knew the guy would start going crazy, so he went crazy one step ahead of Ego.

Under the full power output of the Space Stone, the violent spatial energy even pushed the arcane energy Ethan had previously scattered to the outermost edge of this space.

The vast spatial energy severely interfered with Ego's energy manipulation, and Ethan had no intention of holding back. While continuously releasing spatial energy, he was also constantly stimulating this energy, and moments later, a terrifying energy storm filled the area.

When the energy storm raged, no one could use energy normally, including Ethan, who could not cast spells casually in this environment. Once the violent spatial energy storm formed, Ethan himself could not stop it. Even if he stopped using the Space Stone to output energy, the storm formed by the current energy would not suddenly dissipate. It could only wait for the energy to calm down on its own.

What he had to do was rely on the Space Stone's characteristics to gain stronger resistance to the storm formed by spatial energy, and tough it out physically... well, not quite. Although casting spells was difficult, Ethan still had ways to protect himself from the storm's damage.

Furthermore, this energy storm would not truly harm Ego. It would only render Ego's energy unable to be mobilized.

Ego's true body was just something like a brain. If he could not use energy, then he could only watch Rocket Raccoon throw the bomb next to him, and after an explosion, Ego would become a thing of the past.

One bomb, while outside the battle was earth-shattering like the end of the world, the one that truly delivered the final blow was just such an ordinary bomb.

Ethan personally witnessed, the scene seen by the mirror clone was transmitted to the main body in real time, how Ego was killed by a bomb.

Regarding this situation, he only felt that having such an obvious weakness was indeed a fatal flaw. This further strengthened his belief in his all-round development method of improvement.

This time, Ego was killed by a bomb that was not overly powerful. It merely blew up the core brain that was his equivalent of a main body, and the entire planet was not severely damaged.

However, after Ego's death, the entire planet was also shaking, although it was not very obvious yet, both Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon felt something was wrong.

"This planet was continuously absorbing energy and gathering surrounding matter condensed by Ego over countless years. With Ego's death, the energy maintaining this planet lost control, and the matter originally condensed at its core will gradually collapse."

In short, this planet was going to be finished.

Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord exchanged glances and immediately prepared to leave.

But Ethan's mirror clone called out to them.

"Going out now is not a good idea."

"What's wrong?"

"To stop Ego so you could kill him, I unleashed a powerful move. Now the outside is filled with a raging energy storm, and it will take a while to calm down."

The subtext was that if they went out now, they would die, but hiding here, they could rely on the protection of the surrounding rock layers and be safe from the energy storm's threat.

Only then did Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon understand why they could so calmly throw a bomb at Ego's brain. It was because the opponent was being held back by Ethan and had no way to stop them.

It is just... an energy storm? Wasn't that a bit exaggerated?

"You all know a bit about Ego's strength. If it was not a big scene, how could he be controlled?"

If it were not for a cheat like the Space Stone, it would not have been easy for Ethan to hold back Ego. Maybe he could still do it, but it would inevitably consume a lot of magic power and he might even get injured.

Unlike now, where at most he wasted some mental power and some Arcane Spring, his own magic power was almost undepleted.

After waiting for a while, Ethan, who was outside, saw the spatial energy gradually stabilize. Following the principle of not wasting anything, he took out a container and began collecting the energy as much as possible.

In the Marvel universe, mobilizing such a vast amount of energy was simple for him, but leaving here, it would be impossible to unleash so much energy using the Space Stone again. Even if it were possible, he would not dare to do it, as that would mean a large amount of energy suddenly breaking through this universe and flowing to other planes, and who knew what kind of beings that might attract to trouble him.

There was no such worry about mobilizing energy in this universe. This vast energy still remained in this universe. Although Ethan collected some, the amount was not enough to attract the attention of certain beings, as it was just a small part of a large amount of energy, which could be considered consumed.

He notified Star-Lord and the others to come out through the mirror clone. At the same time, Yondu and others, who were blown to the periphery by the storm when the energy storm erupted and were not significantly harmed, also rushed over.

Looking at Ego's planet, which was already showing signs of collapse, everyone directly boarded the fighter jets. They planned to return to the surface first to retrieve Star-Lord's Milano, and then leave the planet together. It would not be long before Ego's planet would cease to exist.

There were no obstacles along the way. Ego was dead, and the only intelligent life on this planet besides Ego was Mantis, who had already joined their side.

Mantis, who had nowhere else to go, had decided to follow Star-Lord. Star-Lord was happy to have one more companion, as long as it was not the blue-skinned woman who always seemed to want to fight Gamora.

"Now we can talk about your commission."

After two space fighter jets left Ego's planet, they continued to fly a distance away, stopping only after confirming they would not be affected by Ego's planet's collapse.

Star-Lord wanted to leave this area directly, but was stopped by Ethan. It was only then that Star-Lord realized that the one who got on the ship with them was Ethan's clone.

"Your main body... is not still on Ego's planet, is it?"

"Yes."

"Damn it."

"Do not worry about me. Ego's planet is not a star, there will not be any energy burst when it collapses. After Ego dies, this planet's gravity is even disappearing, and the gathered rocks and other matter will just slowly scatter into debris floating in space."

There would be no explosion and certainly no black hole. Ego's planet's death was this peaceful, not at all dramatic.

"What are you doing staying there?"

"Did you forget the inheritance I mentioned? The energy Ego collected over countless years is an unmissable treasure for a mage like me."

Since Star-Lord did not want it, Ethan would not be polite. Although this energy had Ego's mental imprint, only those with his bloodline could freely mobilize it.

But Ethan was not planning to consume all the energy. He could make some selections and perform some cleaning.

Although doing so would waste more time and cause most of the energy to completely dissipate in the process, any benefit gained for free was a profit, so why demand so much?

(To be continued.)

Yayyy we're halfway through DOTM, about 500 chapters left xD.