"That's... an Infinity Stone!"
Zarathos sounded uncertain. Even if he had failed to notice earlier, Loki had now defied his expectations time and again. It was impossible not to notice.
The Infinity Stones were supreme cosmic treasures coveted by countless powers across the universe, yet one had appeared in the hands of a weak god.
Greed instantly flared in Zarathos's eyes. He wanted nothing more than to claim the Infinity Stone for himself right then and there.
"Little insect, I'll give you one more chance to atone. Hand over the Infinity Stone obediently."
"Otherwise, you'll die today."
Zarathos threatened him, but Loki remained unmoved, staring at him with the same icy expression.
Seeing this, the smile slowly vanished from Zarathos's face. "Fine. Let's see how long you can hold out."
"The Infinity Stones may be powerful, but they aren't invincible. Overuse brings side effects, too. I hope you can bear them."
With a cold snort, Zarathos stopped wasting words and launched a frenzied assault.
His fiery whip lashed repeatedly at Loki's position. Every strike missed, but he refused to stop, looking for all the world like a loser raging helplessly.
But only Loki knew how dire his situation really was.
He had used the Space Stone to hide inside folded space, but he couldn't move. To sustain the Space Stone's power, he also had to keep feeding his own power into it. Otherwise, he would fall out of that other space and back into reality.
Zarathos's frenzied attacks would be waiting for him there.
Having seen through this, Zarathos attacked relentlessly, both to seal off Loki's escape routes and deny him any breathing room, and to drain his power so he couldn't flee.
Once Loki returned to reality, he could immediately use the Space Stone to escape. Then, even though