Seeing Nolan Lock appear again, Thanos' expression became much darker.
He never expected Nolan Lock to return to this battlefield so quickly.
Damn it!
Thanos originally thought the battle Nolan had gone to participate in would not be something that could be resolved easily.
But clearly...
Nolan Lock's strength had exceeded the expectations of those enemies.
It may have even exceeded the imagination of everyone on Earth.
However, no matter what happened, he now had no choice but to face this troublesome opponent.
Fortunately...
Thanos still had absolute confidence in himself.
With the Power Stone in his possession, combined with the other two Infinity Stones, his current strength had already reached the peak of this universe.
No one should have been capable of standing against him.
Once he eliminated Nolan Lock...
Once he obtained the two Infinity Stones in Nolan's possession...
This broken universe would eventually return to the path he had chosen.
Thinking of this...
Thanos walked toward Nolan without hesitation.
And Nolan also walked toward him.
However, when Nolan reached the Avengers...
He still asked:
"How are your conditions?"
"Can you continue fighting?"
"Of course."
"Always ready."
Thor barely raised Stormbreaker in his hand.
He would never admit that he had already lost his ability to fight.
He was the King of Asgard.
How could he acknowledge such a ridiculous fact?
Carol Danvers was even more direct.
She stood up immediately, using her actions to answer Nolan.
Nolan let out a soft laugh.
He did not comment on Carol's stubbornness.
"If you can still move, then prepare yourselves."
"Thanos is not an easy opponent."
"There may come a time when I still need your help."
Hearing Nolan's words...
Everyone nodded with serious expressions.
Then Nolan continued walking toward Thanos.
The two stood facing each other.
At this moment...
Their eyes collided.
Intense sparks seemed to flash between them.
But those sparks contained no friendliness.
Only cold killing intent.
Today...
One of them would die.
One of them would lose everything.
And the other...
Would defeat their opponent and obtain everything.
Nolan took a deep breath.
Around them...
Countless machines were still desperately fighting against Thanos' army.
The strength of Thanos' forces had far exceeded his expectations.
Even though Nolan had prepared countless mechanical weapons for this war...
They still could not determine the outcome.
So now...
He could only rely on himself.
He needed to defeat Thanos personally.
This was the only way he could secure victory.
Of course...
Nolan understood how terrifying Thanos was.
Thanos was not an opponent that could be easily defeated.
But at this moment...
He had no other choice.
Nolan pulled out the Flame Sword in his hand.
Then he suddenly roared.
The next moment...
He charged toward Thanos.
Seeing Nolan rush forward...
Thanos also moved.
He raised the Tyrant's Blade high into the air.
Terrifying energy wrapped around the weapon.
Then...
The two collided violently.
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave erupted.
Thanos' face carried a sinister smile.
In his eyes...
Nolan absolutely could not withstand this attack.
But the result disappointed him.
At the moment their weapons collided...
Thanos felt an enormous force burst out from Nolan's body.
That power traveled through the Flame Sword and directly into the Tyrant's Blade.
Under that overwhelming strength...
Thanos could not even maintain his grip.
The Tyrant's Blade was forced aside.
His body was pulled off balance.
"Impossible!"
For the first time...
A shocked expression appeared on Thanos' face.
Throughout his life...
He had encountered countless powerful opponents.
But never had anyone defeated him through pure strength.
Yet now...
Nolan Lock's physical power was not inferior to his own.
Of course...
Part of the reason might have been because Thanos had already experienced multiple battles.
But he also knew Nolan was not in perfect condition either.
Nolan had just finished fighting another battle.
This proved one thing.
The gap between their physical strength had become almost nonexistent.
Even if Nolan could not completely suppress him...
He could at least fight him evenly.
This meant the outcome of this battle had changed.
But Nolan did not care what Thanos was thinking.
At this moment...
He had only one goal.
Suppress Thanos completely.
The Flame Sword in his hand continued striking down.
Even though Thanos constantly blocked with the Tyrant's Blade...
Facing Nolan's overwhelming strength and the Dark Dimension energy of his third-generation Super Soldier body...
Thanos gradually began falling into a disadvantage.
Seeing this...
Thanos' expression became ugly.
But the Avengers' faces showed excitement.
They knew it.
As long as Nolan returned...
This war would eventually end with their victory.
Only Stephen Strange remained serious.
Because he understood something.
Although Thanos seemed to have already used his full strength...
That was not the truth.
He still had not truly unleashed the power of the Infinity Stones.
Not even the Power Stone alone.
When Thanos previously used the Power Stone...
Even Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, had been forced back by that terrifying force.
Now Nolan had the advantage.
But what would happen if Thanos used the Infinity Stones?
At this moment...
Thanos possessed not only the Power Stone.
He also had the Soul Stone.
And the Space Stone.
The power of those two stones was equally terrifying.
Finally...
Thanos decided.
He could no longer hold back.
He understood his current situation.
He could not continue waiting.
Originally...
He wanted to preserve his strength.
After gathering all six Infinity Stones...
He would immediately activate their power and reshape the universe with a single snap.
But now...
His priority was defeating Nolan Lock.
If he could not even defeat Nolan...
Then obtaining all six Infinity Stones would be impossible.
And to defeat Nolan...
He had to use the power of the Infinity Stones.
The Infinity Stones on Thanos' gauntlet suddenly began glowing.
At the same time...
Thanos punched toward Nolan.
"Now..."
"Let us begin the real battle."
Hearing those words...
Nolan's expression became serious.
Although he also possessed two Infinity Stones...
One of them being the Reality Stone...
His understanding of their power was still limited.
Even if he could use them...
They might not provide much advantage in his current condition.
More importantly...
Using the power of Infinity Stones placed enormous pressure on the body.
Thanos had the Infinity Gauntlet, which could reduce the damage caused by that energy.
Stephen Strange's Eye of Agamotto had a similar effect.
And the Ancient One's teachings had allowed the Masters of the Mystic Arts to deeply understand how to use that artifact.
That was why they could safely use an Infinity Stone.
But for Nolan...
Using the power of both Infinity Stones was not simple.
In reality...
Nolan was already extremely exhausted.
He had just hidden it perfectly.
But that did not change the problem he faced.
The Flame Sword continued attacking Thanos.
Their battle...
Reached an even higher level of intensity.
At first...
Nolan completely suppressed Thanos.
But after Thanos activated the Power Stone...
He finally gained the strength to fight Nolan evenly.
Fortunately...
Because Thanos was already exhausted...
Nolan did not fall behind.
Looking into Thanos' eyes...
Nolan noticed it.
Thanos was already reaching his limit.
Clearly...
Carol Danvers and the others had not fought in vain.
Their efforts had pushed Thanos into a desperate state.
In other words...
Nolan already had a certain level of confidence that victory belonged to him.
Now...
All he needed was to completely defeat Thanos.
And end this war.
Thanos was furious.
He believed that after using the Power Stone...
He should have been able to suppress Nolan.
He even expected to find an opportunity to kill him.
But he never imagined...
Even after activating the Power Stone...
Nolan still fought him evenly with that damn sword.
Carol Danvers saw this situation.
Without hesitation...
She charged forward.
The two were locked in a stalemate.
What they needed now...
Was something powerful enough to break that balance.
And Carol was not the only one.
After seeing Nolan hold Thanos back...
The others immediately joined the attack.
They wanted to become the final push that would break Thanos.
As long as they defeated Thanos...
The remaining army of Thanos would naturally collapse.
Earth would win this war.
Thanos gritted his teeth.
He could already see the possibility of his defeat.
But he refused to accept it.
This was his best opportunity.
If he missed this chance...
He did not know whether he would ever return to Earth again to obtain the Infinity Stones.
Nolan's growth was simply too fast.
Earth's growth was also too fast.
The last time he fought Tony Stark and the other so-called superheroes...
He had not felt any pressure.
He could easily overwhelm them.
But this time...
Although he could still suppress them...
He could clearly feel that every one of those heroes had improved.
And most importantly...
Nolan was terrifying.
The last time they met...
Without using outside assistance...
Nolan had already been able to fight him evenly.
But that was not only because of Nolan himself.
It was also because of his mechanical army.
When Thanos used the Power Stone...
Nolan could only retreat.
But now...
The situation had completely reversed.
Without the Power Stone...
Thanos was completely suppressed.
Even after using the Power Stone...
Their battle only ended in a draw.
If he missed this chance...
Who knew how powerful Nolan would become next time?
And Earth would definitely prepare even more thoroughly.
So...
For his dream...
Thanos decided to gamble everything.
Even if he died here...
He would not allow anyone to stop his destiny.
The next moment...
The second Infinity Stone began shining.
The energy of another Infinity Stone was activated.
This time...
Thanos used the power of the Space Stone.
The Soul Stone was mysterious.
And he still could not fully control its abilities.
Using it in this battle would also be extremely difficult.
But the Space Stone was different.
Its power was enormous.
It could open dimensional gateways.
It could provide him with unmatched mobility.
With this power...
Thanos believed he could finally kill Nolan Lock.
The moment the Space Stone activated...
Thanos disappeared.
Then...
He appeared behind Nolan.
A cruel smile appeared on his face.
He succeeded.
This strike would definitely kill Nolan Lock!
Although he respected Nolan as a powerful opponent...
His goal would never be stopped.
However...
Just as Thanos raised the Tyrant's Blade and prepared to cut down...
Nolan suddenly turned his head.
He looked directly at Thanos.
Then...
The Flame Sword swung backward.
Clang!
The Tyrant's Blade and the Flame Sword collided again.
Two terrifying energies exploded outward.
Within several kilometers...
Everything was thrown away by the shockwave.
Even Carol Danvers could barely remain standing inside the energy storm.
She stared at Nolan in shock.
Previously...
She had fought Nolan once.
Although she lost...
Nolan was nowhere near as powerful as he was now.
Was it because of that weapon?
Carol looked at the Flame Sword in Nolan's hand.
No.
It was not that simple.
Perhaps the sword's energy was indeed powerful.
But Nolan himself...
His aura was far more dangerous than before.
If she fought Nolan again now...
Their previous intense battle would probably not last long.
Their original strength gap had not been large.
But in such a short time...
Nolan's strength had reached this terrifying level.
However...
This was not the time to think about that.
Carol suddenly looked toward Thanos.
This was the perfect opportunity.
Right now...
Thanos had no ability to resist.
...
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