Before the winds and sands of Vormir could fade from memory, the smoke of New York's battle came rushing at him.
A burly figure stepped out from the dust and smoke, like a mountain; his domineering aura caused the entire battlefield to freeze.
Thanos had arrived.
He paid no mind to the Avengers on the ground, who were struggling in a bitter battle against his army.
He didn't even spare a glance for his own trapped subordinates.
He simply raised his head slowly, his deep eyes piercing through layers of obstacles to lock onto the direction of the New York Sanctum.
There, he sensed four other vast powers that also belonged to the origins of the Universe.
"You played your little tricks on Vormir; are you finally willing to show yourself now?"
A calm voice rang out before him without any warning.
Thanos slowly lowered his head.
A young man in a black trench coat had stood before him at some unknown point.
On the man's left hand was a dark gold gauntlet; four stones of different colors shimmered with a dangerous light under the fires of New York.
It was indeed Lin Huai.
"The mastermind hiding behind the scenes."
"Mastermind?"
Lin Huai smiled, noncommittal about the title, and phrased it differently.
"I am more like a traveler, someone searching for their own path across endless time and space. It just so happens that your path is blocking mine."
"Path?"
Thanos let out a sneer.
"The path I walk is the only path leading to the rebirth of the Universe."
He raised his left hand, embedded with the Power Stone, and aimed his palm at a nearby block that had long since been reduced to ruins.
"I grant this Universe perfect balance. Half the lives lost in exchange for the rebirth of the other half. This is the grandest and most merciful salvation."
"Balance?"
Lin Huai shook his head as if he had heard some absurd theory, his face even carrying a hint of pity.
"Your balance is built upon destruction; it truly lacks imagination. My birth and my memories tell me that only creation is eternal beauty."
He likewise raised his gloved left hand.
The crimson light of the Reality Stone flared brilliantly.
Thanos clearly saw the scorched earth swallowed by war begin an inconceivable reversal.
Collapsed skyscrapers rose again, and shattered glass pieced itself back together. The burning flames dissipated into red light, and the hideous cracks in the ground healed rapidly.
In just a dozen breaths, that ruin returned to its appearance before the war arrived; everything that had just happened seemed like a mere illusion.
"Do you see?"
Lin Huai withdrew his hand nonchalantly.
"Creation is the most beautiful trait of intelligent life; because of creation, the World becomes more and more beautiful."
Thanos's expression darkened completely.
This was a conflict of ideologies, a direct collision of two paths, and a total negation of his lifelong conviction.
"Glib-tongued mortal!"
Thanos didn't bother with more words; the purple Power Stone on his left hand erupted with destructive light.
A purple energy beam capable of leveling mountains blasted down toward Lin Huai!
Facing this strike, Lin Huai simply raised his left hand, and the deep blue light of the Space Stone on his index finger flashed.
Less than three meters from him, the purple destructive beam slammed into an invisible wall, instantly twisting and folding as it entered a blue singularity that appeared out of thin air, vanishing without a trace.
Immediately after, above the clouds over New York, that destructive beam burst forth, blasting dozens of Thanos's own landing ships into cosmic dust.
Thanos didn't care that the strike missed.
On his right hand, the yellow Mind Stone lit up.
An invisible mental shock surged toward Lin Huai like a tsunami.
He wanted to completely destroy this mortal's will.
However, meeting his mental torrent was another equally vast but warm and inclusive orange-yellow halo.
The Soul Stone.
Lin Huai stood in place, motionless, without even a flicker of change in his gaze.
But within Thanos's mental World, he saw a scene that shook his soul.
It was no longer simple pressure or a confrontation of wills.
He saw Gamora.
He saw his most beloved daughter. Gamora stared at him with a look he had never seen before—one of resolution, hatred, and disappointment.
"You don't love me at all!"
"You just treat me as a tool for your mad plan!"
Those heart-piercing words shook Thanos's indestructible mind.
Even a momentary lapse was enough to be fatal.
Lin Huai seized this opportunity.
The Reality Stone on his left middle finger lit up again, and an invisible, reality-warping power of laws quietly activated.
Thanos only felt a chill in his chest.
He looked down to see that the chest area of his Uru metal armor was actually beginning to melt slowly.
The cold air passed through the gap, touching his tough skin.
For the first time, Thanos felt true horror.
This wasn't an energy attack, but an erasure on the level of laws that he could not comprehend!
The battle fell into a brief stalemate.
Lin Huai and Thanos—one representing change and trickery, the other representing absolute power and will.
In their application of the stones, neither could gain the upper hand over the other.
"A wonderful performance, isn't it?"
Lin Huai suddenly laughed, his smile playful.
"But to be honest, your performance has disappointed me a little."
"I thought you would be a bit stronger."
He shook his head, his tone carrying a sense of regret.
"It seems it's time for my actors to take the stage."
"Your actors?"
Thanos frowned.
Lin Huai did not answer.
He simply closed his eyes, and a power even deeper and more eerie than before emanated from within him.
Thanos suddenly felt a pang of trepidation—an indescribable warning of danger.
He whipped his head around.
Not far behind him, in the reflection of a glass curtain wall of a broken building, a headless girl in a complex black gown was silently walking out.
In her hands, she carried four blonde-haired, red-eyed heads.
Her appearance had no energy fluctuations, yet it caused the surrounding light to dim.
A cold aura originating from an ancient curse permeated the air.
The messenger, Reinette Tinekerr!
Before Thanos could even react to what this eerie creature was.
Above his head, the air turned into a water surface, with ripples spreading out.
A child dressed in modern clothing slowly descended from it, holding an ice cream that was about to melt.
He looked innocent, yet those eyes seemed to contain the entire Cosmos.
The child simply licked the ice cream.
Thanos felt his connection to this World being forcibly modified.
Immediately, a stone that should have fallen from high above took a bizarre turn and smashed heavily into his back at an angle that defied common sense.
"This... this is impossible!"
Thanos felt things spiraling out of control.
Who were these people?
They from where?
Why was their method of attack completely beyond his understanding of the laws of the Universe?
However, this was only the beginning.
Lin Huai revealed a mad and excited smile, the light of the Time Stone and Reality Stone on his hand intersecting and flashing.
In his vision, the phantom of a mottled Bronze Long Table flashed across the sky above the battlefield.
Immediately after, blurry figures began to emerge on the ruins around Thanos.
Some sat on broken rebar, while others leaned against crumbling walls.
A blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, beautiful enough to rival a classical oil painting, gave Thanos a gentle smile capable of soothing all violence.
But Thanos felt his fighting spirit uncontrollably begin to recede under her gaze.
Justice Audrey!
A tall man with a resolute gaze, surrounded by howling gales and waves.
Hanged Man Alger!
A pale-faced youth with a sinister smile, playfully tossing a ball of deep blue fire in his hand.
Magician Fors!
Judgement, Star, Moon...
Historical Projections emanating demigod auras appeared in various corners of the battlefield.
They surrounded Thanos, forming a deadly encirclement.
Their power systems and attack methods all came from another World, from that mysterious land shrouded in gray fog.
At this moment, even the mad Titan who had traversed the Universe and slaughtered countless civilizations could not help but be horrified.
"Now,"
Lin Huai's voice rang in Thanos's ear like a whisper.
"The third act."
"Welcome to my turn."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the projections from the mysterious World simultaneously launched an attack on the only Spectator in the field!