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"The weak have no rights or choices. Their only fate is to be relentlessly crushed by the strong!"
- Giyu Tomioka, (Demon Slayer)
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<(Omniscient POV)>
"No, shit. That crazy xenophobic Kree idiot activated the temporal displacement core at full power. It's going to explode. I need to escape, all of us need to escape... NOW." Gamora suddenly yelled, looking quite distraught as she eyed the glowing silver light of the Cosmic rod.
"Temporal what?" Susan asked, as she too looked at the glowing weapon with a curious look on her face.
"It is the most perilous power of the Universal weapon and the reason why even the mightiest armies hesitate to confront a Kree Accuser. It contains a temporal core designed to shield its bearer from temporal assaults by generating a displacement bubble. However, in a desperate move, this core can be overcharged to trigger an explosion, obliterating everything in a vast temporal blast. In a word, it's the deadliest 'time bomb' ever devised. The blast is likely to annihilate a substantial part of this planet," Gamora disclosed, as she readied her hoverbike to flee as far as possible.
But before she could even start, the Universal weapon exploded in a silver light. There was no countdown, no warning, only an explosion that threatened to erase them all from time.
But before the explosion could expand killing everyone around the scene with the power of accelerated time, Atem simply "caught" the explosion with his hands and held it like a small glowing ball of silver-blue light. His body remained unchanged as he held on to the "ball". However, his eyes had already changed from his normal ones to his red-colored Rinnegan, signifying that he was using one of his ocular abilities to do what he was doing.
After a couple of seconds of blatantly staring at the small "ball" within his palms, he tossed it inside his mouth and simply swallowed with a straight face... or at least he tried to do so.
"Eh, it tastes like three days old porridge with mold on it." Atem couldn't help but comment. "I wonder how Momonshiki or Strange swallowed all those different energy attacks and mystical beings with a straight face." He murmured to himself, not at all enjoying the lingering bad taste on his tongue.
'Wait, is energy even supposed to have taste?' He wondered in his mind.
While Atem was wondering about all these useless thoughts, most of the people watching him were more than just surprised. However, the one who was shocked the most was probably Ronan. Being the one standing the closest to Atem and the temporal explosion, he was actually the only one who was affected by the blast even though his contact with the energy only lasted for a split second before Atem contained it. And the results did not look pretty.
Ronan looked like he had aged centuries in just a single second. All his hard-earned muscles were gone, his blue skin hanging like loose fabric and even his armor had completely vaporized. He was unable to even stand still as his bones felt like they were made of jelly. Time seemed to have taken a hefty toll on Ronan.
But still, Ronan didn't seem to be concerned with his own state much. Instead, he was looking at Atem with wide eyes that seemed to be unable to believe what had just happened. "H-How did you s-survive that?" He spoke slowly, his voice seemed to be breaking due to his old age.
"I am immortal and unageing, thereby immune to the effects of time," The young god answered with a powerless shrug.
Certainly, he didn't mention the fact that there was a chance he could become stronger over time, as is common among Asgardians and other deities. However, it would also likely require a degree of training to push his boundaries and truly enhance his strength.
