As Cloud's figure transformed into a golden streak and vanished into the spatial rift he'd forcibly torn open, all of Gotham City seemed to awaken from an apocalyptic nightmare.
The sky returned to its usual overcast, drizzling state.
That terrifying pressure capable of making an entire planet tremble dissipated like smoke.
As if everything just now had been an illusion.
But Harley Quinn knew it wasn't.
She sat collapsed on the wet ground, gasping heavily, her heart—always full of madness and chaos—still pounding wildly.
She looked up at the spatial scar in the sky that hadn't fully closed, and those blue eyes no longer held their usual mischief and playfulness. Instead, they were filled with a mix of fear, worry, and excitement that even she couldn't explain.
"Thanos..."
She murmured the name.
"You dared make my new puddin' angry?"
"You're done for."
...
Meanwhile, Marvel Universe.
Wakanda battlefield.
A golden streak of light, like a Genesis sword tearing through darkness, burst from the void without warning!
It appeared instantly above the corpse-strewn battlefield!
The golden light faded, revealing Cloud's figure.
His face no longer held any trace of laziness or irreverence.
His spiritual sense swept the entire battlefield in 0.001 seconds.
He saw Natasha—who had been protecting Wanda when Corvus Glaive's atom-splitting blade pierced her from behind through the abdomen—now lying in a pool of blood among the ruins, barely clinging to life!
He saw Steve and Bucky—who had fought to their last moment to hold back the Outrider army—now engulfed by countless enemies, drenched in blood!
He saw Banner—his Hulkbuster completely destroyed—being pinned to the ground by Cull Obsidian's massive chain flail, unable to move!
He saw Tony—energy depleted, having fallen from the sky—his armor being frantically torn apart by a pack of Outriders!
And he saw the purple sweet potato slowly descending from Sanctuary II, the Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand flickering with four colors of light, so glaringly bright.
"Very good..."
Two words slowly left Cloud's mouth.
The voice was ice-cold, without a trace of emotion.
But the temperature across all of Wakanda seemed to plummet to absolute zero in that instant!
Thanos had been slowly walking toward Vision, preparing to pluck the Mind Stone from his head, when he suddenly stopped.
He whipped around!
Those eyes—always filled with confident "destiny favors me" indifference—shrank to pinpoints the moment they saw Cloud!
"It's... it's you!"
His voice carried shock!
He recognized him!
This was the man who had recently invaded his consciousness through the Mind Scepter, torn off a small fragment of his soul, and reviewed all his plans inside out—that terrifying existence!
Why was he here?!
"You recognize me?"
A cruel smile curved at the corner of Cloud's mouth.
"Even better."
"Saves me from having to introduce myself again."
He didn't waste any words.
He didn't make some grandiose speech before attacking like movie villains always did.
He raised his hand and made a light gripping motion toward the endless army of Outriders and those four arrogant members of the Black Order.
"Spatial Law: Annihilation."
Hummm—!
A bizarre spatial fluctuation that twisted the very soul!
The next second.
Before the eyes of all surviving Avengers—filled with ultimate shock and disbelief—
Every living being on the battlefield belonging to "Thanos's side"—those tens of thousands of Outriders, those four Black Order generals who had pushed them to the brink—their bodies were simultaneously erased from this world!
Their very existence was completely deleted from this space!
The entire battlefield was instantly emptied.
Only the wounded heroes lying on the ground remained, along with the purple sweet potato still hovering in mid-air, looking completely dumbfounded.
"This... this is... the power of the Space Stone?!"
Thanos looked at his army that had been cleared in an instant, sensing that pure, ultimate power that transcended his understanding of "spatial" laws. Terror appeared on that purple face!
No! That's not right!
The Space Stone was still on Earth!
One was in Vision's head!
The other was still in that one-eyed man's possession!
He didn't have the Space Stone at all!
He could actually use spatial laws more domineering and unreasonable than the Space Stone, relying solely on his own power?!
What kind of monster was this?!
After clearing all the "minions" from the field, Cloud didn't even glance at Thanos.
His figure appeared beside Natasha.
The wound in Natasha's abdomen was still bleeding continuously. Her face was pale as paper.
But after seeing him appear, a relieved smile emerged in those beautiful eyes.
Cloud's heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand!
"Fool..."
He crouched down, his trembling hand gently caressing Natasha's cold cheek.
Without any unnecessary words, he transformed the purest source divine power of life and creation from his [Orochi Soul] into a golden stream of warmth, slowly infusing it into Natasha's body.
Before the joyful gazes of Wanda and Steve, who had rushed over—
That fatal, horrific wound in Natasha's abdomen began healing at visible speed, scabbing, falling away...
Until it was smooth and flawless, without even a trace of scarring.
The color rapidly returned to her pale face.
Cloud looked at her. His face remained cold, but his voice was gentle beyond words: "I just beat up the King of Hell and snatched you back."
Hearing this very "Cloud-style" improper sweet talk, Natasha laughed.
As she laughed, tears began to flow.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
After experiencing brief shock and terror, Thanos quickly recovered the composure befitting a supreme overlord.