38-Bet

Carol and I entered the planet's atmosphere slowly by putting the spacecraft into ghost mode, making us invisible and untraceable.

"Do we have a plan?" I asked.

Carol smiled upon hearing my question.

"A plan? No, we don't need one," she said, beginning to land the spacecraft on Earth.

"There are two military bases on this planet, just like the last one. My suggestion is to split up and quickly eliminate them. Of course, if you're not confident, you can come with me," Carol said. She had a smile on her face, clearly teasing me.

"I'm confident," I replied, heading towards the spacecraft's exit.

"Want to turn this into a bet?" I asked before stepping out the door.

"A bet? You're quite confident," she said, lost in thought.

"Alright, if I win, you owe me a favor; similarly, if you win, I owe you one," Carol proposed.

"Deal," I said, stepping out.

"Oh, I should mention, I'm going to extinguish the core of this planet. So, our business might take a few weeks," I added.

Carol didn't seem surprised by my words and lifted the spacecraft a bit.

"I already knew you were the one extinguishing the core of the planet. Actually, I'm curious how you do it," she said, with a curious expression on her face.

"If you win the bet, I'll tell you," I said with a big smile on my face.

Carol nodded and took the driver's seat of the spacecraft, swiftly heading to the other side of the planet.

"Unfortunately, you won't win the bet," I said.

As I said this, my body started to burn, my height increased, and my body underwent a significant transformation.

In the form of a fire giant, I felt the tremendous energy flowing within me. The energy inside me was like a stagnant lake before, but now it flowed like a river at an incredible speed.

"The sensation of getting stronger is addictive," I said to myself and walked towards the military base.

The Kree in the military base noticed me and attacked. Seeing the warplanes and soldiers coming towards me, I smiled.

"Let's see how much stronger I've become," I said, bringing my hand to my chest and drawing my sword.

I held the hilt of the sword with both hands and raised it above my head. After infusing some flames into the sword, I swung it down with all my might.

As I swung the sword, a twenty-meter-long, crescent-shaped flame energy emerged and rapidly advanced towards the incoming Kree.

The flame energy was so destructive that it obliterated everything in its path. As the fire energy advanced rapidly, the ground behind it split in two.

The flame energy progressed towards the military base, destroying everything in its path. When it finally hit the military base, a massive explosion occurred.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I can do all this just by swinging my sword," I said, watching the destruction I caused with a big smile.

Military base sirens blared as all soldiers and warplanes charged at me. Among them were a few warriors wielding sledgehammers.

I smiled, lifted my right foot, and struck the ground. A magma eruption formed, heading towards the location of the soldiers from my position.

When the magma eruption reached the soldiers, it incapacitated many of them. I raised my left hand into the air, clenched it into a fist, and swung downwards.

With this motion, about a hundred planes exploded, forming a ball shape and swiftly descending onto the soldiers.

Meanwhile, a purple beam was coming toward me. Upon seeing it, I used my sword as a shield. When the purple beam hit my sword, it split in half and collided with the ground behind me.

After the purple beam ended, I withdrew my sword from in front of me and looked at who was responsible. Three warriors with sledgehammers were in front of me. One stood at a distance and was the one who shot the purple beam. The other two were running towards me.

"You might have posed a challenge before," I said with a smile and pointed my left hand at them.

Their feet slowly lifted off the ground as they looked at me in astonishment. When I pulled my hand towards myself, the three flew rapidly towards me.

As they flew towards me, I held the hilt of my sword with both hands and assumed an attacking position. When the warriors approached, I swung my sword sideways.

My sword easily broke through the barriers around the warriors and effortlessly cleaved them in two.

After killing the warriors, without waiting, I plunged my sword into the ground. Orange clouds gathered in the sky and spewed flames onto the military base.

When I first initiated this attack, it covered an area just a bit larger than a factory, but now it easily enveloped a large military base.

As the flames struck the military base, no barrier could protect it. The flames rapidly expanded, destroying airborne warplanes and ground soldiers.

While the flames unleashed hell upon the military base, I could feel my physical strength rapidly increasing. If it continued, I could surpass the third limit in a short time.

When the strengthening of my muscles reached the third limit, it stopped. If I wanted to exceed the limit, I needed to engage in a fight to the death or create massive destruction, just like I was doing now.

I withdrew my sword from the ground to halt my assault because there was no one left in the military base and its surroundings.

"I guess I won the bet," I said and walked towards the center of the military base.

After confirming that no one was left in the military base, I held the hilt of the sword with both hands and thrust it into the ground.

Symbols appeared around the sword and fully formed about five minutes later.

In the air, a hundred-meter-long sword made of flames materialized and rapidly plunged into the ground. When the sword struck the ground, a massive earthquake occurred.

-

Carol had arrived at the military base five minutes ago and was currently battling the Kree. When she killed a warrior, the ground shook. Carol looked around in astonishment but couldn't figure out the cause of the tremor.

"Derek could have already cleared the military base? No, impossible," she said and continued to kill the Kree.

-

I wasted no time and inserted my sword into my chest. I moved towards the hole created by the flame sword and jumped inside.

I examined the symbols on the stone door leading to the planet's core. Like the previous planet, these symbols narrated the history of this planet.

"These Kree are truly ruthless," I remarked as I studied the symbols. As on the previous planet, a peaceful race inhabited this world before the Kree arrived, slaughtering them and establishing this military base.

I didn't dwell on it much and melted the stone door to enter. The size and heat of the planet's core mirrored the previous one.

Placing my hands on the core, I began absorbing its heat, surprised at the increased absorption rate. At this pace, I could absorb all the heat in the core in just three days.

.

.

While absorbing the planet's core, three days swiftly passed. I withdrew my hands, opened my eyes, finding myself ten centimeters taller, having surpassed another limit.

"If this continues, I'll be quite powerful before returning to Earth," I said, transforming back into human form.

Turning my body into mist, I exited through the hole. Carol waited beside it, approaching in awe as she saw the mist hovering.

She reached out to touch the mist just as it solidified into my form. Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand.

"You said it would take a few weeks," Carol said, surprised.

"It ended sooner than I anticipated," I replied.

"All right, let's get out of here," she said, taking me by the arm and flying towards where the spaceship was.

Carol's flying speed was clearly faster than mine. In just seconds, we arrived next to the spaceship. Carol let go of me, and she opened the spaceship's door.

"By the way, you owe me," she said as she entered the spaceship.

"What are you talking about? I won the bet," I said.

"It's impossible to clear the military base faster than me, Derek," Carol said, smiling.

"How do you know that?" I asked with a determined expression.

Carol turned around and looked into my eyes. After a ten-second staring contest, Carol turned her head and said:

"Well, how about a training fight? The winner can claim the victory in the bet," Carol said. I could tell from her expression that she was quite confident.

I wasn't sure if I could beat Carol without using all my powers, but I was determined to try. Moreover, I was currently at a limit, and fighting Carol could help me surpass that limit.

After a prolonged silence, Carol smiled and said, "If you're scared, just say it, Derek."

"After this fight, you'll stop making fun of me," I declared firmly.

"We'll see," said Carol, exiting the spaceship. I followed her.