The New York battlefield, atop the ruins.
Thanos felt as though he had fallen into an absurd nightmare.
He had campaigned across the Universe for a thousand years, slaughtered countless civilizations, and contended with the most powerful energies.
But he had never seen such a bizarre siege.
That blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, whose beauty seemed beyond mortal, merely gave him a gentle smile.
An indescribable sense of peace was forcibly injected into his mind.
This caused his burning fighting spirit to subside for a brief moment.
He even had an absurd thought: let it end like this, let everything be over.
"Psychological Suggestion?"
He was looking at Thanos with a gaze full of pity.
Thanos spun around abruptly, throwing a punch toward a child who had suddenly appeared.
The child wore classical robes and held a fast-melting ice cream cone, an innocent smile on his face.
That gaze seemed to say: your fate is already sealed.
However, Thanos's punch, imbued with the divine power of the Power Stone, passed through the target in a bizarre displacement; the child finished his ice cream and then vanished.
"Interference of Fate?"
Thanos roared, using his iron will to forcibly break free from the influence.
But at that moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly became slick and wet, causing a slight disharmony in the sense of balance he took such pride in.
A tall man appeared, his entire being surrounded by the aura of storms and sea waves.
Tall and mighty, he opened his mouth and began to sing. Truthfully, in all his time in the Universe, it was the first time Thanos had heard such a terrible sound. As the singing rang out, the air became humid, and thunderclouds began to form in the sky.
Lightning struck toward the battlefield; its power wasn't great, but it was highly insulting.
These attacks weren't lethal, nor could they truly harm him.
But the omnipresent sense of eeriness made him feel like a giant entangled in a spiderweb, possessing immense strength but with nowhere to vent it.
What made his heart palpitate even more was what was behind him.
Without him noticing when, a headless girl carrying her own head walked silently out of a reflection in a piece of broken glass.
The four blonde-haired, red-eyed heads in her hands were staring fixedly at him with malevolent gazes.
It was a curse from the depths of the soul, eroding his vitality silently.
He could even feel his movements becoming slightly sluggish.
A wave of horror surged in Thanos's heart.
One bizarre existence after another; their abilities completely exceeded his understanding of the laws of the Universe.
Just what kind of Monsters were these?
"Enough!"
Thanos was finally thoroughly enraged.
He gave up on trying to understand these bizarre abilities and stopped looking for flaws in these phantoms.
He chose the most primitive and domineering way to end this farce.
"Get... AWAY!"
Accompanied by a roar that shook the heavens, Thanos clenched his left fist.
The purple Power Stone erupted with a light capable of destroying stars!
Terrifying energy centered on him, forming a constantly expanding purple sphere of light that swept in all directions!
No technique, no numerical values.
Only pure, absolute, and irrational destruction!
Under the wash of this power, all attacks on the level of rules appeared pale and weak.
Justice Audrey's figure, along with her smile, dissipated together in the purple light.
Hanged Man Alger's storm was torn apart and turned into nothingness.
The messenger Reinette's curse, which was enough to kill a demigod, was also forcibly erased before absolute power.
One Historical Projection after another twisted, faded, and finally turned into specks of light, returning to the dust of history.
Boom—!
After the energy storm, a giant crater over a hundred meters in diameter appeared at the center of the battlefield.
Thanos was panting heavily, half-kneeling in the center of the deep pit.
His iconic Uru metal armor had completely disintegrated in the energy blast just now, with fragments scattered all over the ground.
His exposed purple skin was also covered in tiny wounds.
Clearly, this outburst had cost him an immense amount of energy.
But in the end, he had used brute force to break through this drama from another World.
...
Meanwhile, on the ground battlefield.
The tragic intensity of the battle far exceeded everyone's imagination.
"Hulk... SMASH!"
The green giant was knocked over time and again by Black Dwarf's giant hammer, only to roar and climb back up every time.
But the wounds on his body were increasing.
He was angry, but he found that the opponent's strength and weapon countered him significantly; every impact made him feel as if his bones were about to shatter.
On the other side, Tony Stark was also being suppressed by Ebony Maw's telekinesis.
Countless steel bars and concrete wrapped around his iron man armor like giant pythons, squeezing it layer by layer.
Alarms blared frantically inside the helmet.
"Jarvis, energy output! Blast all this damn scrap metal off me!"
"Sir, energy overload is at 180%, outer armor damage is at 73%, we can't hold on much longer!"
In the streets further away, the situation was equally grim.
Natasha and Clint were leading S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, desperately covering the last group of civilians retreating toward the underground shelters.
The shockwaves from explosions kept knocking them off their feet, but they got up again and again.
They used bullets and arrows to buy every precious second for the panicked people behind them.
Falcon Sam Wilson was in the air, using his mechanical wings to fire miniature missiles, harassing the Chitauri soldiers descending from the sky.
Suddenly, a massive Leviathan warship adjusted its cannon port.
Eerie blue energy began to gather, locking onto a subway entrance below that was crowded with women and children.
There, a Mother was tightly clutching her terrified, crying child, looking at the sky in despair.
"No!"
Sam's eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
He didn't hesitate for a second.
"I can see them! I can make it!"
Folding his wings, he dove down with the resolution of a broken-winged falcon.
He spread his metal wings made of Vibranium, shielding the space between the cannon and the crowd, and shoved the Mother aside.
The scorching beam instantly engulfed him.
"Sam!!!"
"Don't let Sam's sacrifice be in vain. Quick, get them out of here!"
In the distance, Steve was smashing a Chitauri soldier away with his shield as he let out a sorrowful roar.
The defensive line was on the verge of collapse.
At this desperate moment, from the edge of the sky, a low and powerful engine roar suddenly echoed.
Dozens of sleek black fighter jets pierced through the smoke-filled clouds and appeared over New York.
The hatches opened, and countless female Warriors clad in silver armor and wielding Vibranium spears descended from the sky.
The leader, wearing a Black Panther suit that covered his entire body, landed silently on the roof of a building.
He removed his mask, revealing T'Challa's resolute face.
He looked down at the devastated battlefield, at the mortals struggling to survive, and at the invaders who were unafraid of death.
Then, he raised his arm.
"YIBAMBE!!!"
A loud war cry rang out across the entire battlefield.
"YIBAMBE!!!"
The Warriors of Wakanda responded in unison, their voices shaking the clouds.
The steel torrent they formed instantly charged into the chaotic battlefield.
With overwhelming momentum, they began to efficiently clear out Thanos's minions.
The tide of battle turned instantly!
...
The ruins at the center of the battlefield.
Thanos slowly stood up.
He sensed the defeat of his army but didn't care in the slightest.
His gaze was fixed intently on the unharmed man not far away.
The Historical Projections had dissipated, and all the Spectators now had their own opponents.
This stage finally had only the two of them left.
"A nice trick, mortal."
Thanos's voice was raspy and full of rage.
"Now, the warm-up is over."
Lin Huai stood at the other end of the ruins, meeting his gaze calmly.
"Yes, it's time to end this."