Marvel: AS A PRINCE IN ASGARD

But Ragna never took Nick Fury seriously, not when compared to the vastness of the cosmos.

Mere S.H.I.E.L.D.—too small, too insignificant.

Ragna halted Valina's speech and focused intently. Carol Danvers had already revealed the key.

The state vector, the orbital coordinates—everything he needed to locate his prize.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ragna piloted his spacecraft past Earth's atmosphere, breaking free of its gravitational pull as he set his course for Dr. Laura's secret research facility.

In the boundless vacuum of space, he gazed at the void ahead and smirked.

"The Kree's cloaking technology really is impressive," he murmured.

"If I, as the so-called Sun God, had only begun to tap into the true potential of photonic energy, I doubt I could have detected this ship at all."

Hidden within the blackness, aboard the Kree Empire's Accuser-Class cruiser, a small faction of elderly and weakened Skrulls clung to life. Their war-ravaged race had been scattered across the universe, and now, this cruiser was their fragile sanctuary.

Ragna's ship—a gift from the Grandmaster—was as extravagant as one would expect from Sakaar's eccentric ruler. Reinforced, gaudy, and built with a flair for spectacle, it suited its former owner perfectly.

The Skrulls, watching anxiously from their monitors, hoped this was nothing more than a passing traveler, someone who would overlook them.

But they knew better.

The Skrulls had too many enemies in the universe to rely on luck.

With a casual wave of his hand, Ragna unleashed a concentrated burst of solar energy, disrupting the ship's optical camouflage. The Accuser-Class warship, once hidden in plain sight, shimmered and became fully visible.

A piercing alarm shrieked through the ship.

Panic spread among the Skrulls as their fragile refuge was exposed.

Ragna let out a low chuckle, pushed his ship forward, and slipped into the Kree cruiser's docking bay.

"Looks like Dr. Laura wasn't foolish enough to hand over full control of this ship to the Skrulls," he noted.

Oddly, the warship's turrets didn't fire.

"The highest-level clearance must still require approval from the Supreme Intelligence," Valina muttered, her lingering hostility toward Carol Danvers flaring up despite the woman's absence.

The Skrulls, paralyzed by fear and uncertainty, didn't rally to fight. They weren't warriors—just survivors, unarmed and weary.

Instead, they scattered into the ship's corridors, intending to rely on their shapeshifting abilities to ambush the intruder.

Ragna, however, was no ordinary enemy.

His divine senses spread across the ship, detecting every heartbeat, every breath. He could have dragged them out of their hiding places and incinerated them one by one.

But he didn't.

There was no point in wasting time on the weak.

His focus remained on a singular objective: the power core—the Tesseract.

Compared to an Infinity Stone, the Skrulls were less than an afterthought.

Deep within the ship's energy bay, the Tesseract pulsed with an ethereal blue glow, saturating the room with its near-limitless cosmic energy.

This was why the Skrulls had survived here. The Stone sustained them.

Ragna extended his hand. Without hesitation, he grasped the cube.

The Tesseract was merely a casing, a vessel designed to hold the unfathomable power of the Space Stone. Unlike lesser beings, he didn't need protective measures—his power was vast enough to wield it without fear.

"It's magnificent."

He turned the cube in his hand, feeling the weight of its cosmic significance.

He could tap into its potential now.

He had no doubt that, with his strength, he could command the Space Stone's power immediately.

But now was not the time.

They were still aboard an unstable warship. If the energy released was too volatile, the cruiser could be torn apart.

The Grandmaster's ship, Valina herself—both would be caught in the blast.

And Ragna had no interest in unnecessary complications.

The Tesseract was in his possession. His goal was achieved. Everything had fallen into place.

A triumphant grin spread across his face.

It was time to leave, to return to his ship, to select a planet worthy of conquest, and then—

To hunt down Thanos.

But before he could take a step—

"Whoever you are, you are trespassing on a Kree warship. The artifact you hold belongs to the Kree Empire. Surrender it, and I will consider letting you leave with your life."

The voice rang with authority.

Yon-Rogg, Commander of the Kree Accusers, stood at the head of a battalion of Kree warriors, blocking the only exit.

Ragna tossed the Tesseract lightly in his hand, catching it with an air of amusement.

"Well, well. I didn't expect you to show up first, avoiding Carol's wrath."

His smirk widened.

"But let's be clear—since the Tesseract is in my hands, what makes you think you can take it away?"

"Apologies, Yon-Rogg, but the name of the Kree Empire means nothing to me."

The Kree Empire was indeed formidable, one of the three great interstellar superpowers.

Their technology was highly advanced, their warriors elite, their empire expansive.

But to Ragna—who stood on the precipice of godhood, on the verge of mastering an Infinity Stone—

The Kree were nothing.

Even the Supreme Intelligence, their all-knowing artificial ruler, was irrelevant in his eyes.

The Kree Empire had once warred with the Nova Corps, and despite their might, they had never managed to annihilate Xandar.

And Xandar—one of the most fortified planets in the universe—

Had crumbled like dust beneath Thanos.

Ragna tilted his head, contemplating.

The Mad Titan, the true overlord of the cosmos…

That was the standard he sought to surpass.

And right now—

Ragna knew that he was already on the path to godhood.