"Beast, beast!"
Lucien's face twisted with rage. The aura that once surrounded him had completely vanished. His golden-white spiky hair and eyebrows had returned to normal, and the harsh reality settled in. His abilities like Law Following Speech, One Force Breaking Ten Thousand Laws, and Time Stop had all been severely weakened, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He had made a fatal mistake.
He should never have tried to absorb Odin's flesh and soul, but there was no way he could have predicted this outcome.
Odin had been utterly ruthless. To avenge his wife, his children, and Asgard, he chose eternal damnation without hesitation just to drag Lucien down with him.
Standing on the shattered ground, Lucien felt the faint traces of energy left in his body. It was so weak that it felt no different from returning to his original powerless state.
He did not even have enough strength left to use abilities like Shrink the Ground into an Inch or Time Stop even once.
He was completely crippled.
In the vast universe, Earth was billions of miles away. With his current strength, returning there was nothing more than a delusion.
A light screen appeared before his eyes. His remaining lifespan, one hundred years, was slowly decreasing.
The useless Golden Finger showed no response at all, leaving him trapped in this desperate situation.
"You dog!"
Lucien's eyes burned red with fury. If his previous power had been like an endless ocean, then now it was nothing more than a shallow stream. The difference was absurd.
There was only one way to recover.
He had to break Odin's curse.
Every time he tried to use his power, blood-red chains would manifest around his body. The more strength he used, the tighter those chains became, crushing him with unbearable pain that reached deep into his body and soul.
Lucien had endured pain countless times before, but this was different. This pain burrowed into his consciousness itself.
He had climbed so far, only to be dragged back to the beginning in an instant. The sheer gap was enough to break most people.
His chest tightened with rage, his breathing turning heavy.
With a dark expression, Lucien sat down on a broken rock. He forced himself to calm down, entering a meditative state as he searched for a solution.
Beneath his feet, the planet's core was expanding rapidly.
It would not be long before the entire planet exploded.
Time was running out.
If he did not leave soon, he would die along with the planet.
Given his current condition, only two options remained.
The first was to use a resurrection coin. If he died and revived, there was a chance the curse might be removed. However, the possibility was extremely low. Odin had paid the price of eternal damnation, so a single resurrection would likely not be enough. It would most likely be wasted.
The second option was to use Random Crossing and escape to another world. There, he might obtain new powers, perhaps something like the Infinity Stones, that could help him break the curse.
There could be other solutions, but in his current state, he could not think that far ahead.
If the Infinity Stones had not been swallowed by that useless Golden Finger, Odin would never have survived a snap.
This was his own fault.
Everything had gone too smoothly in the worlds of One Piece and One Punch Man. He had easily obtained immense power and even acquired the Infinity Stones. That constant success had made him careless, arrogant, and bloated with confidence.
Now he had to swallow the consequences.
"Sigh…"
Lucien looked up at the starry sky.
The planet around him was trembling violently, cracks spreading everywhere as it neared total destruction.
He had not even spent half a year in this world, yet he was already being forced to leave.
Without hesitation, he activated Random Crossing.
His figure disappeared.
…
In a vast and vibrant world, the sky was clear and the air was filled with life.
A huge lake shimmered under the sunlight. The water rippled gently as fish leaped from its surface, full of vitality.
Suddenly, a small blue cat with white wings flapped frantically through the air, clutching a fat fish larger than its own body. A moment later, it lost control and plunged straight into the lake.
"Natsu, save me! I'm about to be eaten by a fish!"
The blue cat thrashed wildly in the water. Even in panic, it refused to let go of the fish's head.
"I'm coming!"
The temperature on the shore suddenly spiked.
A young man with spiky pink hair, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, sandals, and a white checkered scarf, stepped forward. Flames ignited around his fist as he threw a punch toward the struggling cat in the lake.
"Natsu, are you trying to kill Happy?!"
Standing nearby, a beautiful blonde woman stared in shock. She wore a red and white short-sleeved top with a white skirt, her bright eyes filled with disbelief.
"Lucy, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
The lake exploded with steam as the water surged violently.
When the mist cleared, the blue cat lay on the shore, completely charred, smoke rising from its body, its eyes blank and lifeless.
"Natsu, you're trying to murder me!"
The cat instantly sprang up, its entire body blackened as it pointed at the grinning young man in accusation.
"Poor Happy…"
Lucy looked at the miserable cat with sympathy.
"Well, lunch is settled."
"That's mine!"
"We're companions, are you trying to eat it all yourself?"
"I caught it!"
"Happy, I'm breaking up with you."
"Hmph, do it then!"
As the man and cat argued loudly, Lucy rubbed her forehead and stepped between them, trying to mediate.
Instead, she got dragged into the argument as well.
Soon enough, all three of them were bickering loudly.
Then suddenly, a loud roar echoed from the sky.
"Wait… did you hear that?"
Lucy paused, her expression turning serious as she looked upward.
"Hear what?" Natsu and Happy asked at the same time, still grabbing at each other.
"It sounds like something… and it's getting louder."
They listened carefully.
"It really is getting closer!"
A deafening impact followed.
The lake erupted as water shot into the air like rain, drenching the three of them completely.
"Natsu… Lucy… did you see that?"
Happy swallowed nervously, dropping the fish from his paws.
"It looked like… a person?" Natsu scratched his head, unsure.
"They fell from that high… there's no way they survived, right?"
"So… do we save them?"
"Of course!"
A few minutes later, the three stood by the shore, staring down at the unconscious figure.
All three of them had red handprints on their faces. Lucy stood with her arms crossed, blushing slightly as she tried to cover herself, her clothes soaked and clinging to her body.
On the ground lay a young man.
His long black hair was wet and messy, strands sticking to his face. His sharp eyebrows and well-defined features gave him a resolute appearance. His eyes were closed, and a scar beneath his right eye stood out against his pale skin.
Despite the flaw, it gave him a dangerous kind of charm.
The most shocking part was that he was completely naked, barely covered by a piece of cloth around his lower body.
His body was covered in scars.
Bullet wounds, blade cuts, and countless other injuries marked his skin, leaving almost no part untouched.
It was the body of someone who had endured endless battles.
He looked no older than sixteen or seventeen.
Lucy's expression softened as she looked at him.
Seeing his thin, scarred body, a strange heaviness filled her chest, and the embarrassment on her face slowly faded, replaced by quiet sympathy.