Following Thanos' command, the warships that had temporarily stopped firing immediately resumed their bombardment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A continuous chain of explosions shook the earth.
The ground below was overturned repeatedly under the relentless artillery fire. Entire sections of land were blasted apart and flipped upside down. At this point, nobody would need to plow the soil next year. Crops could probably be planted directly into the craters.
Originally, Thanos had intended to simply remain aboard the ship and bombard the Avengers into oblivion from the sky.
Simple.
Efficient.
Safe.
Unfortunately, things were never that easy.
A streak of multicolored light suddenly shot across the distant sky at incredible speed.
Thanos immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Heh. I knew it wouldn't end this simply."
The next second, he grabbed the Tyrant Slaughtering Blade with one hand and vanished from the ship in a flash.
Far away, Captain Marvel finally spotted him emerging.
A faint smile appeared on her face instantly.
Who was she?
Captain Marvel.
The protector of countless civilizations across the galaxy.
In her mind, defeating Thanos was nothing more than another routine battle.
The next moment, she accelerated directly toward him.
At the same time, cosmic energy erupted throughout her body as powerful photon blasts fired continuously from both hands.
Facing the incoming attacks, Thanos immediately shifted sideways and dodged cleanly.
Then he swung the Tyrant Blade downward.
At his current level, he could absolutely withstand Captain Marvel's attacks head-on if he wanted to.
But why would he?
Trading damage unnecessarily was stupid.
The moment Captain Marvel saw the massive blade descending toward her, her pupils contracted sharply.
She instantly ducked downward to evade.
But a cold glint flashed through Thanos' eyes.
His swing abruptly changed direction midway.
The blade suddenly slashed downward at an unnatural angle.
Whoosh!
Captain Marvel's expression froze.
Her body split cleanly in half from the waist.
The upper and lower portions separated instantly before falling from the sky.
The universe's famous cosmic guardian died before she could even properly react.
Thanos let out a cold laugh.
But his expression changed almost immediately afterward.
He abruptly turned his head backward.
The energy blast Captain Marvel had fired earlier had missed him completely… and instead struck his own ship directly.
Worse yet, it had somehow hit the engine section precisely.
The small warship was now spiraling downward while trailing flames and smoke.
For a moment, even Thanos felt speechless.
Fortunately, he still carried a quantum teleportation belt on his waist. Otherwise, getting back home afterward would've become troublesome.
As the orbital bombardment finally stopped, several battered figures slowly crawled out from beneath the underground ruins below.
The Avengers.
Thanos glanced downward calmly before flying toward the ground.
Originally, he had considered simply unleashing enough power to destroy the entire planet and end everything immediately.
But after thinking it through, he abandoned the idea.
Given the behavior of those mysterious hidden entities manipulating events, there was a decent chance they would somehow use the planet's destruction to interfere with the Infinity Stones directly.
Besides, the existence of a Celestial embryo inside Earth complicated things further.
Destroying the planet probably wouldn't be easy anyway.
Didn't Captain Marvel's own attack just accidentally destroy his spaceship?
The level of coincidence happening lately had become absurd.
Soon, Thanos landed on the devastated battlefield below.
The surrounding land had been transformed into a wasteland filled with burning craters and shattered ruins.
After looking around briefly, he casually found a large rock and sat down.
Then he stabbed the Tyrant Blade into the ground beside him before placing his helmet atop the weapon's handle.
Afterward, he released his mental energy and began searching for the Infinity Stones.
However, after sensing carefully for quite a while, he found nothing.
It was as though the Infinity Gauntlet had either become completely drained of energy or was somehow hidden by unknown forces.
Several minutes later, three figures finally emerged from the ruins.
Thor.
Tony Stark.
Steve Rogers.
The Avengers' so-called Big Three.
The moment Thor saw Thanos sitting there calmly waiting for them, disbelief immediately appeared on his face.
"How did he get here?"
Tony's expression turned serious as he answered in a deep voice.
"When you try to fool time… time fools you back."
In reality, Tony had absolutely no idea what was happening anymore.
But saying mysterious things made him sound smarter.
Steve originally wanted to ask about the Infinity Stones, but Thanos had already lost patience.
He stood up slowly, put his helmet back on, and grabbed the Tyrant Blade.
Then he swung downward instantly.
Boom!
A massive black energy slash carrying terrifying destructive force tore toward the three Avengers.
Tony's expression immediately changed.
"Damn it! The Thanos from the past wouldn't use attacks like this!"
The moment he finished speaking, Thor erupted with sky-blue lightning. Mjolnir and Stormbreaker flew into his hands as he shot upward into the air.
"Yeah," Thor growled, "this version's definitely different."
Tony immediately boosted into the sky as well to avoid the attack.
Only Steve remained grounded.
Unable to fly, Captain America could only brace himself while gripping his vibranium shield tightly.
The next second, the slash arrived.
Boom!
Steve was blasted away instantly alongside his shield.
Watching this scene, Thanos couldn't help sighing internally.
Vibranium truly deserved its reputation.
Even after taking a direct hit from him, the shield still hadn't shattered completely.
Before he could continue thinking, Tony had already launched a barrage of laser attacks.
Thor simultaneously redirected lightning into Iron Man's armor, massively increasing the attack power.
Thanos looked at the combined assault almost curiously.
Then he vanished.
At his current speed, ordinary mortals simply couldn't track his movements.
Even if Tony's armor enhanced his physical capabilities dramatically, he was still fundamentally human.
The next instant, Thanos appeared directly above Iron Man.
The Tyrant Blade slashed downward.
Fortunately, Thor reacted quickly enough.
Mjolnir flew upward instantly to intercept.
Clang!
The hammer split in half immediately.
Mjolnir shattered once again under the Tyrant Blade.
Only then did Tony finally react in time and retreat frantically backward.
When Thor saw the broken remains of Mjolnir falling through the air, pain and anger exploded across his face.
"No! My Mjolnir!"
Just as Thor prepared to charge forward recklessly, Steve suddenly rushed over while holding his nearly destroyed shield.
"Don't be impulsive!" Steve shouted. "He's too strong!"
Tony also landed beside them, still shaken.
"I almost died."
Thanos calmly watched the three regrouping heroes in the distance.
Instead of attacking immediately, he spoke coldly.
"You people who refuse to accept destiny… isn't surviving enough?"
Steve stepped forward first.
His face remained determined despite the overwhelming difference in strength.
"I admit you're powerful," he said firmly. "But destiny belongs to us."
Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker as lightning surged around his body.
"This time," he growled, "I'm cutting your head off."
Tony's armor unfolded additional energy cannons while he stared at Thanos seriously.
"You really think wiping out half of all life would make the other half happy?"
Thanos shook his head calmly.
"Who said I still intend to erase half of life?"
His eyes turned icy.
"I'm going to rule all of you now."
The moment he finished speaking, he swung the Tyrant Blade again.
Boom!
An even larger black slash exploded outward while Thanos himself charged forward directly behind it.
Thor and Tony immediately took flight again to evade.
Once more, Steve was left behind alone.
Captain America glanced briefly at his nearly destroyed shield, then at the gigantic incoming energy blade.
Without hesitation, he rolled sideways desperately.
Fortunately, within Earth's atmosphere, the attack speed was slower due to air resistance.
But before Steve could recover fully, Thanos himself arrived directly in front of him at supersonic speed.
Then the Tyrant Blade descended.
Clang!
In a single strike, Steve Rogers and his shield were cut apart together.
Blood and brain matter exploded outward instantly.
The scene was horrifyingly brutal.
"No!"
Thor and Tony roared simultaneously as they charged toward Thanos.
.....
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