Lucien looked at Thanos, who stood above the crushed form of Black Bolt. Blood pooled beneath his broken body as he struggled to remain conscious.

Lucien activated his status viewing ability, and the information appeared in his vision immediately.

Thanos's strength was 420, his agility was 120, and all the other stats were less than two hundred.

'I can take him down,' Lucien thought, analyzing the numbers.

Thanos was incredibly strong, but his speed was manageable. The key would be avoiding direct confrontation and using superior agility.

Thanos turned his attention away from Black Bolt, his cold eyes fixing on the newcomer. "Hmm, you are the one who killed Corvus?"

Lucien glanced at Black Bolt, noting the slight rise and fall of his chest. Still alive. Good. He looked back at Thanos with casual indifference. "Why? Want revenge?"

A smile spread across Thanos's face, and it wasn't a pleasant expression. "If he died, it just means he was useless. But he was still my servant. It is only appropriate that I take your head for his."

"What's the point in delaying then?" Lucien replied.

They rushed toward each other simultaneously. Thanos leaped forward with both fists raised, intending to crush his opponent in a single devastating blow. But at the last second, Lucien vanished from in front of him.

Thanos's fists slammed into the palace floor with tremendous force, creating a massive crater and sending cracks racing across the entire chamber. Dust and debris filled the air as the ancient structure groaned under the impact.

Lucien reappeared behind Thanos, having used his speed to circle around. He drove his fist toward the base of Thanos's neck, putting a good amount of strength behind the strike.

The punch connected solidly, but Thanos didn't even flinch. It was like hitting a mountain.

Thanos spun around faster than his stats suggested he should be able to, his massive hand swinging toward Lucien's head. Lucien barely managed to duck under the attack, feeling the wind from the missed punch ruffle his hair.

"You are only alive because you are fast," Thanos said, his voice carrying amusement rather than frustration.

They began exchanging blows in earnest. Lucien used his speed advantage to dart in and out of range, landing hits where he could while avoiding Thanos's devastating counters. But even his best strikes seemed to barely register on the Mad Titan.

Thanos's eyes suddenly glowed red, and twin laser beams shot toward Lucien's chest. Acting on instinct, Lucien crossed his arms in front of himself and channeled mana into his body, creating a protective barrier.

The lasers struck the mana shield and dispersed harmlessly. Lucien stared at his arms in surprise—he hadn't even felt the heat from the attack.

An idea began forming in his mind. If mana could protect him from energy attacks, what else could it do?

He focused on channeling mana throughout his entire body, feeling the energy flow into his muscles and bones.

[New Skill Created: Mana Fortification Lvl 1] : Increases Strength and Agility by 30%

Consumes 500 Mana per minute

Lucien felt the change immediately. His muscles felt denser, his reflexes sharper. Based on his current mana reserves, he had just over two minutes before the skill would drain him completely.

He activated Dash as well, stacking the speed bonuses. The combination made him feel like he was moving through water while everything else was stuck in honey.

"Come on again," he said, drawing the Knight Killer from his inventory.

This time when they clashed, the fight was different. Lucien's boosted strength allowed his strikes to actually impact Thanos, and his increased speed made him nearly impossible to hit cleanly.

The Knight Killer found its mark repeatedly, opening cuts across Thanos's arms and torso. The Mad Titan's blood—surprisingly red despite his purple skin—began to flow from multiple wounds.

But Thanos was adapting to the new pace of combat. His experience showed as he began predicting Lucien's movements, cutting off angles of attack and forcing longer exchanges.

During one such exchange, Lucien's blade met Thanos's forearm and shattered completely. The alien metal of the Knight Killer, designed to pierce armor, couldn't withstand the the durability of the Mad Titan's skin any longer

Before Lucien could react to losing his weapon, Thanos's hand clamped down on his face like a vise. The grip was so tight that Lucien could feel his skull beginning to crack under the pressure.

"Fast, but not fast enough," Thanos said.

He lifted Lucien off the ground and slammed him into the palace floor with bone-crushing force. The impact created another crater, and Lucien felt his ribs ache from the blow. But Thanos wasn't finished.

Again and again, he slammed Lucien into the ground, each impact driving him deeper into the broken stone. The Inhuman royal palace floor couldn't withstand the repeated abuse and began to crumble beneath them.

On the fifth slam, Thanos changed his approach. Instead of driving Lucien down, he hurled him horizontally with tremendous force.

Lucien crashed through the palace wall like it was made of paper, his body continuing its flight across the city center until he impacted with a cluster of buildings. The structures collapsed around him as he finally came to rest in a crater of his own making.

He pushed himself up slowly, spitting out blood mixed with saliva. His Mana Fortification was still active, but he could feel it draining his reserves rapidly. Maybe ninety seconds left.

Thanos appeared at the edge of the crater, having leaped from the palace to follow up on his attack. He was descending toward Lucien with both fists raised, intending to finish the fight with a single devastating blow.

Lucien rolled aside at the last second, and Thanos impacted where he had been lying. The force of the Mad Titan's landing sent shockwaves through the ground and created an even larger crater.

They faced each other across the destroyed city center, both breathing hard from the intense combat. Thanos looked pleased despite his wounds—this was the kind of fight he lived for.

"Why avoid it?" Thanos asked, gesturing toward the destruction around them. "Let's end this now."

Lucien wiped blood from his mouth and looked directly at the Mad Titan. His body ached from the beating he'd taken, but his mind was clear.

Lucien had learned something important during their exchange. Thanos fought like a brawler—powerful and skilled, but predictable.

He knew from Natasha how smart of a combatant Thanos is, but right now, he did not have any pawns. He relied on his overwhelming physical advantages to carry him through battles.

That could be exploited.

"Time to end this," Lucien agreed, reaching into his inventory.

But instead of drawing another weapon, he did something unexpected. His remaining shadow army materialized around the crater—dozen of knights, mages, and other shadow soldiers, all appearing simultaneously.

Thanos looked around at the sudden army with mild interest rather than concern. "Minions? How disappointing. I thought you had more honor than that."

"Honor doesn't win fights," Lucien replied. "And I'm not trying to prove anything to you."

The shadows didn't attack immediately. Instead, they spread out in a wide circle around the crater, taking strategic positions. Lucien could see confusion in Thanos's expression—this wasn't the assault he'd been expecting.

"What are you waiting for?" Thanos asked, his voice carrying genuine curiosity.

Lucien smiled, and for the first time since the fight began, it reached his eyes. "For you to realize you've already lost."

That's when Thanos noticed that something was wrong. The shadow mages weren't just surrounding him—they were carving symbols into the ground around the crater, working with inhuman speed and coordination.

"A summoning circle?" Thanos asked, though his tone suggested he already knew that wasn't quite right.

"Close," Lucien said, drawing his remaining daggers. "But not for summoning."

The symbols began to glow with dark energy, and Thanos felt something he hadn't experienced in centuries—uncertainty. Whatever the human was planning, it was beyond his experience with Earth's usual tactics.

"Binding," Lucien said simply.

The circle activated, and Thanos discovered that moving had suddenly become much more difficult. It wasn't that he was physically restrained—it was more like the air itself had become thick as syrup, resisting every motion.

"Interesting," Thanos admitted, fighting against the binding effect. "But ultimately useless."

He began to force his way through the magical restraint, his strength gradually overcoming the shadow mage's magic. But it was taking time and effort—resources that Lucien intended to exploit.

"Sukuna," Lucien called out.

The King of Curses materialized from Lucien's shadow, his four-armed form radiating menace as he assessed the trapped Mad Titan. Unlike the other shadows, Sukuna's presence seemed to actually give Thanos pause.

.....

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