"The next couple… the next couple…"
One pair after another jumped.
Down in the valley, bodies piled up relentlessly, layer upon layer, until the ground itself was hidden beneath twisted limbs and broken silhouettes.
Yet the Soul Gem still refused to appear.
Thanos stood calmly at the edge of the cliff, hands behind his back, his expression unreadable. There was no impatience in his eyes—only cold certainty.
After all, there were only one hundred thousand couples here. If that wasn't enough, he could always bring another hundred thousand.
He simply refused to believe the Soul Gem wouldn't respond.
This cliff clearly possessed some kind of strange power. Anyone who fell from it was unable to fly, as if the very air rejected them.
Of course, none of the couples who jumped had the ability to fly anyway, so Thanos had no way of determining the true nature of that force.
After some time, he noticed a problem.
There were too many bodies.
So many, in fact, that anyone who jumped afterward merely landed on a grotesque cushion of corpses. No one died from the fall anymore.
Seeing this, the remaining eighty thousand-plus couples let out shaky breaths of relief.
No one wants to die if they don't have to.
If jumping no longer meant death, then jumping wasn't so terrifying anymore.
But then—
Thanos suddenly raised the Tyrant's Blade and swung it downward.
A surge of world-destroying power erupted instantly, transforming into countless invisible blades that tore through the mountain of corpses.
In the blink of an eye, flesh and bone were reduced to dust, scattering and vanishing as if they had never existed.
Then Deep Blue's emotionless voice rang out again.
"Next pair."
The remaining couples turned deathly pale.
Their momentary hope shattered completely.
Still, clinging to each other, they jumped—without hesitation. For their partner, they were willing to face death again.
Not long after, it was as if some unseen will could no longer tolerate what it was witnessing.
Dark clouds rolled in, churning violently. Lightning split the sky, thunder roaring like an accusation.
Several bolts struck Thanos directly, as though questioning him.
Why aren't you following the rules?
But to Thanos, the lightning felt like nothing more than a mild itch. He didn't move an inch.
At that moment, Red Skull's expression suddenly stiffened.
He felt it.
The Soul Gem had finally appeared.
Sure enough, an orange glow materialized in midair the very next second.
But not in front of the woman whose husband had just fallen.
Instead, it appeared before the wife of an entirely different couple.
The husband beside her instantly turned, glaring at Thanos with burning fury.
Red Skull froze.
For a brief moment, it felt as though a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind.
Then he blurted out, unable to help himself, "Is… is this really allowed?"
As the Soul Gem emerged, everyone present felt a chilling sensation—as if their very souls were being stripped bare and examined.
The next second, Thanos reached out, seized the Soul Stone, and embedded it into the Infinity Gauntlet.
Ding.
A clear, resonant sound echoed.
An overwhelming surge of power exploded from the gauntlet, flooding through Thanos's entire body.
This hadn't happened before.
But now, with three Infinity Stones combined, their resonance had grown terrifyingly obvious.
"Ah…"
Thanos let out a low groan and forcibly endured the power rushing through him.
He looked down at the gauntlet on his left hand, a faint gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.
He could feel it.
If he unleashed its power now, he might even be able to wield the force of an entire universe.
"Deep Blue," he said calmly. "We're going back. Next step… prepare to attack Blue Star."
"Yes, Master."
…
On Earth.
It was still night in Asia, and most of the world lay buried in sleep.
At Kamar-Taj, after a full day of training, the monks had long since retired to rest.
Inside the largest chamber, Doctor Strange suddenly bolted upright, his robes soaked through with cold sweat.
"Whoosh—"
He took a deep breath, then wiped his forehead with a trembling hand.
A nightmare.
One that felt far too real.
In it, aliens invaded Earth. Heroes fell one by one.
The ground was littered with corpses—Iron Man, Black Bolt, Captain America, Black Panther, Professor X… familiar faces, lifeless and broken.
Around them lay countless ordinary people, still clutching machine guns in stiffened hands.
In the entire world, only Kamar-Taj remained.
Strange and the remaining sorcerers fought desperately, making their final stand within its walls.
Then a towering purple figure appeared.
With a casual wave of his hand, Kamar-Taj was obliterated—and Strange along with it.
The power was overwhelming. The earth trembled. The sky cracked.
This wasn't strength that belonged to any ordinary life-form.
It was divine.
Doctor Strange's heart pounded. He could no longer stay still.
He immediately removed the Time Stone from around his neck and activated its power.
A brilliant green light blossomed.
The energy of time wrapped around his body, lifting him slowly into the air.
As he peered into the future, his face grew paler by the second.
What he saw closely matched his nightmare.
Yet something troubled him deeply.
He had explored future timelines before—and this scene had never appeared.
Which meant only one thing.
The timeline had changed.
Frowning, he delved deeper, examining another possible future.
Different details.
Same ending.
The heroes united against the alien invasion… and all died.
Kamar-Taj fell once again.
Refusing to give up, Doctor Strange continued.
One future after another.
Failure after failure.
More than an hour later, his body finally gave out.
He dropped to the floor, panting heavily, his face drained of all color.
His mental strength had reached its absolute limit.
And still—
He had not found a single future where Earth survived.
Why was this happening?Was their future truly doomed?
Across more than ten thousand timelines, he hadn't found a single path to victory. Not one. Every attempt ended in failure—often spectacularly so.
One outcome, in particular, still haunted him.
Aliens descended upon Earth. They didn't fire a single shot. They didn't threaten annihilation. They simply stood there and… talked.
They shouted just a few sentences.
Humanity collapsed almost immediately.
He still remembered the first one.
"We only work five days a week."
A handful of ordinary people surrendered on the spot. No hesitation. No shame.
Then came the second sentence.
"We only work eight hours a day."
More people started defecting. Some even nodded thoughtfully, as if reconsidering their life choices.
The third sentence followed.
"We get at least thirty days of vacation every year."
At that point, the floodgates burst open. Most of the population defected outright. A few enthusiastic ones even helped tie up the resistance.
Then the fourth sentence dropped.
"We provide food and lodging. We even assign spouses."
Aside from the wealthy elite and government officials, nearly everyone betrayed the cause—ordinary civilians, blue-collar workers, and, painfully, even a few grassroots superheroes.
And finally, the killing blow.
"Free education. Free healthcare. Free elderly care. Free internet."
Even he felt tempted when he heard that one.
Damn it.This has to be an alien trick. I can't fall for this.
Shaking his head, Doctor Strange forced himself to rest briefly before activating the Time Stone again.
The futures blurred past him.
Time slipped away unnoticed.
Outside, the darkness slowly faded as dawn crept across the sky.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo—"
The crowing of a rooster rang out.
Doctor Strange abruptly dropped from midair and landed heavily on the bed.
His face was deathly pale, his hands trembling—but he smiled.
After hundreds of thousands of futures, he had finally found one.
One single path where the enemy could be defeated.
Ignoring his exhaustion, he dragged himself up, threw on his clothes, and walked out without another moment of hesitation.
…
One month later.
Thanos returned to Titan.
Nebula immediately escorted the five members of the Guardians of the Galaxy straight to the dungeon, efficiently and without ceremony.
When Thanos arrived at the Sanctuary, he saw them—the newly rebuilt Black Order—alongside Laufey and Hela.
"Welcome back, sir."
Corvus Glaive.Ebony Maw.Proxima Midnight.Black Dwarf.Supergiant.
They stood in a perfect line, kneeling on one knee.
Why call it a complete renewal?
Because Thanos could feel it.
Each of them had broken through to the planetary level, stepping into the realm of the sub–Celestial Fathers. Though newly advanced, they already far surpassed their former selves.
As for Laufey and Hela, they merely inclined their heads in greeting, making no move to kneel.
Thanos said nothing.
After all, they were once rulers—high-ranking sovereigns in their own right.
Old habits died hard, and pride even harder.
.....
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