— Earth, Sahara Desert
Thanos walked alone through the endless desert.
Though most of the Thanos Legion had been annihilated by Kagura's fleet, the Sanctuary II still retained a portion of its elite combat units.
Yet now, Thanos faced a far greater issue—Kagura had hijacked the entire Sanctuary II's systems.
With the Power Stone in hand, ordinary attacks were meaningless against him.
However, a ship outside his control was vulnerable in ways the Stone couldn't protect against.
At this moment, Sanctuary II was essentially defenseless.
Even a ship as mighty as Sanctuary II—if caught under a full barrage of those Earth warships' antimatter cannons—would no doubt erupt into a blazing fireball, reduced to smoldering debris.
Needless sacrifice served no one.
That was what Kagura believed. And it was exactly what Thanos thought, too.
On one side, Kagura didn't want Earth's civilization plunged into disaster, nor did she wish to see innocent lives lost.
On the other, Thanos couldn't bear to see the army he had painstakingly built over decades be destroyed for nothing.
So, the two made a pact—
a duel to settle everything.
———————————————————————
The desert winds howled.
After a long walk alone under the scorching sun, Thanos finally looked up. His destination lay before him.
A towering fortress-city of steel rose from the sands, its brutalist design radiating a postmodern industrial aesthetic.
From a distance, it resembled a mighty iron castle standing tall in the desert—majestic and overwhelming.
Yes, this was the mechanical city once created by Ultron—now transformed by Kagura into the battlefield where her showdown with Thanos would unfold.
Kagura had long pondered the perfect location for their final battle.
If possible, she didn't want it to be New York.
Too many civilians. Even with the defense systems of "New New York City," there was no guarantee the populace would remain unharmed.
Nor could it be Wakanda.
Wakanda lacked the scale to endure an all-out assault from Thanos' forces, and asking them to hold the line might come off as an unjust burden.
After much deliberation, she chose Ultron's abandoned mechanical city—refurbishing it into a fortress built specifically to repel the Thanos Legion.
Being deep in the Sahara Desert, even if the battle tore the skies apart, it wouldn't harm Earth's civilization.
No innocents would be caught in the crossfire.
And now, the transformation was complete.
The name of this anti-Thanos stronghold?
"The Purple Yam Roaster."
Yes, that's what Kagura named it.
A cheeky nod to the Sahara's blazing heat—hot enough to roast purple yams right on the pavement.
So… yeah. Not exactly a tourist spot. You've been warned.
Absolutely.
That's the message.
Thanos kept moving forward, drawing closer to the fortress-city built just for him.
The massive walls that once surrounded Ultron's city had been dismantled.
Inside, the streets and structures had all been rebuilt.
Traces of Ultron's original designs were almost entirely gone, replaced by Kagura's new vision.
Beyond the city gates, a grand avenue hundreds of meters wide stretched straight into the heart of the city.
On either side stood rows of defense systems and support stations—many outfitted with gear from the YoRHa troops and Rhodes Island Industries.
Of course, since Thanos had agreed to a one-on-one duel, none of the YoRHa soldiers attacked.
Instead, they stood silently in formation, watching him approach like an honor guard escorting a king to his fate.
It was a breathtaking sight.
Thousands of YoRHa warriors lined the avenue, each clad in sleek silver-white exoskeletons known as "Support Frames."
They stood like mechanical angels with wings of steel, exuding an overwhelming sense of power and discipline.
At the end of the avenue stood a long staircase that rose into a colossal pyramid-like structure at the city center.
And at the top—
A throne.
Upon it sat a silver-haired, golden-eyed girl, legs crossed, watching the slowly approaching "Purple Yam Man" with an amused expression—like a queen awaiting an audience with a barbarian chieftain.
This grand display was no accident.
It had all been carefully orchestrated by Kagura.
When facing an opponent of Thanos' caliber, she knew one thing for certain—
She couldn't afford to lose in presence.
"Welcome to Earth, Mr. Thanos," she called out, seeing him halt at the foot of the steps.
"Are you ready to face death?"
Thanos snorted.
"You're the one who needs to be ready."
"Prepare yourself. Soon, I'll tear your body apart, rip open your chest, and claim every last Infinity Stone you possess!"
"The civilization you're trying to protect… this planet you so desperately want to save… and those so-called superheroes you wish to grant happiness—"
"All of them will burn in a slaughter so glorious it will thrill me to no end. I will turn everything you cherish into a living hell of death and ruin!"
"Mm~ Scary words," Kagura replied, voice light but eyes razor-sharp.
She rose from the throne, her slender figure glowing with shimmering, rainbow-colored energy veins.
"But the real question is… can you actually do it?"
Seeing this, Thanos leaned forward, clenching the gauntlet on his right hand.
The Power Stone embedded in it blazed with purple light.
"There's only one way to find out!"
'Zing—!'
A burst of crimson brilliance surged down Kagura's arm.
The Reality Stone's power erupted outward, bathing the throne and staircase in a deep red glow, like the sky at dawn.
[Reality Rewrite]
[Simulated Armament: Divine Key – Void Archive!]
As the Reality Stone's energy gathered in her palm, a golden hexagonal cube slowly emerged from the air around her.
"Tell me, Thanos—do you bleed?"
'Whooosh—!'
In the blink of an eye, the cube dissolved into shimmering golden streams, which curled around her body and reformed into radiant rings.
"You will bleed."
Then, the simulated Divine Key activated.
Drawing from the Void Archive's ability to recreate anything, weapons and war machines began to materialize all around her.
In an instant, the skies were filled with a massive arsenal— Fighter jets, cannons, warships, tanks, swords…
All conjured by the Void Archive: a legendary Divine Key from the Honkai Impact universe, now simulated in this world using Herrscher power.
It was an illusionary army, but with real destructive force—
And since it was created by her alone, it didn't technically break the "one-on-one duel" agreement.
Of course, Thanos still held the Power Stone.
No matter how overwhelming the barrage, the best this army could do was stall him.
Because the power of the Power Stone was, quite literally, infinite.
It allowed the wielder to unleash the most devastating attacks in the cosmos…
And granted nearly indestructible defense.
Ordinary attacks could never pierce its protection.
Thanos wasn't a fool—
In fact, he was one of the few beings in the universe who truly understood the Infinity Stones.
To defeat Kagura, who now possessed five of them, he would certainly rely on the Power Stone to suppress her—likely bombarding her from range to disable her before she could close in.
He had used the same tactic before.
Against Captain Marvel, who was stronger than him, it was the Power Stone that brought her down.
But Kagura wasn't naïve either.
She not only held a weapon capable of killing Thanos—she also understood his tactics.
If she carelessly closed the distance and got into melee range, where the Infinity Stones couldn't interfere with each other, she'd lose her advantage.
After all, this was Thanos—
The one who beat the Hulk with his bare fists, who went toe-to-toe with Thor, who fought the entire Avengers team on his own.
This wasn't someone you could simply outpunch or outslash.
So, just like when she had fought Hela—
Kagura planned to use the Void Archive's simulated army to saturate the battlefield with firepower, pinning Thanos down and forcing him to constantly defend.
Relentless pressure.
No pause.
No room to counterattack.
She would make him spend every ounce of focus and energy just trying to survive.
And when the mighty Titan faltered—
when his strength began to fail—
that would be her moment.
Then she would dash in, faster than thought, and strike with the divine weapon that could sever fate itself—
The Heartless Blade, a cosmic artifact that could kill anything.
Her silver hair billowed in the wind.
Her golden eyes gleamed with tension and purpose.
Kagura bit her soft lips, her snow-white chest rising and falling as battle heat surged through her blood.
"Come, Thanos," she whispered. "Let's tear each other apart."