The thunderous roar of Lock Tech's firepower echoed across the battlefield.
For a brief moment, the entire war seemed to freeze.
Even the fearless monsters instinctively hesitated.
It was the instinctive fear of death.
No living creature could truly escape it.
But only a second later, some unseen force drove them forward once more.
Howling madly, they charged toward Wakanda again.
Nolan's expression darkened.
As expected.
Those monsters were being controlled.
He refused to believe they were completely incapable of fear.
Someone was suppressing that instinct with a special power.
Still, that no longer mattered.
Whoever controlled them was irrelevant.
Their enemy was never the monster horde.
Their enemy was Thanos' entire army.
The monster swarm that had overwhelmed the Avengers in the original timeline now looked almost laughable.
Here, they were nothing more than expendable cannon fodder.
The real battle would only begin after these creatures were wiped out.
From the very beginning, Nolan had never intended to let a single monster reach Wakanda's true defensive line.
He would annihilate them from a distance.
Only then would humanity confront Thanos' elite forces.
The massive robotic army surged forward.
Countless monsters were slaughtered before they could even reach the mechanical front line.
Even so, there were simply too many of them.
Although they possessed no advanced technology, the fact that Thanos had chosen them proved they weren't weak.
Their bodies alone could shrug off ordinary bullets.
Fortunately, every weapon Nolan had prepared for this war far surpassed conventional firearms.
Some weapons lost a bit of effectiveness against the monsters' resilient bodies.
But overwhelming firepower still forced the horde backward.
That, however, was only the beginning.
The next moment, the Slaughter Units entered the battlefield.
They were surprisingly small.
None stood taller than Nolan himself.
Even including their full body length, they measured only around 1.5 meters.
Yet each one carried an elite combat AI designed solely for killing.
Their frames were forged from Lock Tech's highest-grade alloy.
Exceptionally durable.
Exceptionally lethal.
Against mindless beasts, they were the perfect predators.
The instant they crashed into the monster horde, they unleashed a merciless slaughter.
Watching the scene unfold, Thanos' expression grew grim.
He hadn't expected Nolan to possess such a terrifying robotic force.
While Lock Tech's mechanical army advanced, humanity's forces didn't remain idle.
Relentless suppressive fire poured into the monster ranks.
Tony Stark watched the battlefield before speaking to Stephen Strange beside him.
"I'm really glad Nolan is one of us."
"If he had been born on any other planet..."
"No."
"If our enemy had been Nolan instead of Thanos..."
"I don't think Earth would have had even the slightest chance."
"We're unbelievably lucky."
Stephen Strange silently agreed.
Even as the Sorcerer Supreme, he found Nolan's mechanical army terrifying.
Through the Time Stone and the countless records preserved by the Sorcerer Supreme, he knew of countless terrifying civilizations, weapons, and military forces.
Yet he had never imagined Earth could produce someone like Nolan.
Not only was Nolan himself extraordinarily powerful...
His mechanical army was equally monstrous.
Tony was right.
If Nolan had stood on the opposite side...
Even Strange doubted he could find that single path to victory hidden among countless futures.
Thanos was powerful.
But compared to Nolan...
The difference wasn't just strength.
It was intellect.
No one on Earth dared claim they were smarter than Nolan.
A genius of that caliber, combined with overwhelming personal strength...
Made for the most dangerous enemy imaginable.
"There."
"It's time for us to move."
Strange finally spoke.
He looked toward the enemy.
Several powerful members of Thanos' army were charging forward.
Each moved with astonishing speed.
Every movement radiated frightening power.
Among them was Proxima Midnight, whom he had already seen in the future.
But standing beside her was another warrior.
Someone Strange had never seen before.
"That's strange..."
He frowned.
This shouldn't have happened.
He had witnessed the future.
Yet events were no longer unfolding the way he had seen them.
Had the future already changed?
But how could the opening stage of the war diverge so dramatically?
Nolan alone had already introduced countless unexpected variables.
When Strange first arrived in Wakanda, he had been shocked.
The Nolan and Lock Tech mechanical army before him differed slightly from the future shown by the Time Stone.
The differences were small.
But even tiny changes meant the future itself had shifted.
What a troublesome situation...
Strange sighed helplessly.
One unexpected event after another had pushed history onto a path he could no longer predict.
And now...
There was nothing he could do except pray.
Pray they would win this war.
At the very least...
That they wouldn't lose so completely.
As long as there was still a chance...
He could search once more for a future where Thanos could finally be defeated.
Without another word, he raised his voice.
"Everyone!"
"Let's move!"
Even as he gave the order...
Strange himself remained where he stood.
Unlike everyone else, he wasn't here solely to fight.
He also had to preserve enough strength to defend the Dimensional Rift.
If war erupted there while he was exhausted...
The consequences would be catastrophic.
If either battlefield fell...
Earth itself would disappear.
For now, all he could do was trust Nolan and the Avengers.
Hopefully...
They could win this battle without requiring his full strength.
Only then could he face the Dimension Lords afterward.
Of course...
If this battlefield began to collapse...
He would have no choice but to join the fight.
Because if they lost here...
The Dimensional Rift would no longer matter.
Tony Stark.
Steve Rogers.
Bruce Banner.
Wanda Maximoff.
Pietro Maximoff.
Scott Lang.
The Avengers charged into battle.
They had to intercept Thanos' elite troops.
If those warriors broke through to the central formation...
The entire battlefield would descend into chaos.
The Guardians of the Galaxy also sprang into action.
T'Challa watched them leave but remained where he stood.
As both an Avenger and the King of Wakanda...
His responsibilities as king took priority.
He couldn't abandon his nation's army.
In the distance...
Thanos calmly observed the battlefield.
Then he began walking forward.
The war had begun.
It was finally time for him to enter the fight.
Yet instead of charging immediately...
He fixed his gaze on Nolan.
"Nolan Lock."
"You've surprised me."
"I never imagined you were born on Earth."
"My forces searched for information about you for a very long time."
"We found nothing."
"I assumed you came from some distant corner of the universe beyond my reach."
"But it turns out..."
"You've been here all along."
"That explains many things."
"I was always cautious about Earth."
"There were powerful beings here that even I found troublesome."
"But those people are gone."
"So tell me."
"Do you really think you can stop me?"
"I'll give you one chance."
"Hand over every Infinity Stone in your possession."
"If you do..."
"I may consider ending this war."
Nolan smiled.
"End the war?"
"Really?"
"And afterward?"
"You'll snap your fingers and wipe out half the universe?"
He looked at Thanos with open mockery.
Thanos paused.
He hadn't expected Nolan to know his true objective.
Still, he answered calmly.
"You're mistaken."
"My goal isn't to destroy the universe."
"It's to save it."
"There are too many lives in existence."
"The universe has already exceeded its limits."
"The only solution..."
"Is to reduce the population."
"Once balance is restored..."
"The universe will flourish again."
"I'm sure you also wish to see such a future."
Nolan shook his head.
"Sorry."
"I have absolutely no interest in helping a lunatic carry out mass murder."
In Nolan's eyes...
Thanos truly was insane.
His reasoning sounded logical.
But the conclusion was absurd.
Without hesitation, Nolan continued.
"Do you honestly think your plan solves anything?"
"Even if you erase half the population..."
"It won't take long before life multiplies back to the exact same level."
"And after that..."
"It'll continue growing."
"All you've done is delay the inevitable."
"Your solution changes absolutely nothing."
Then Nolan smiled.
"If you're really serious about reducing the universe's burden..."
"I have a better suggestion."
"Kill ninety-nine percent of all life."
"Leave only one percent alive."
"At least then..."
"It'll take a little longer before things return to where they are now."
Though it sounded like advice...
The sarcasm on Nolan's face was impossible to hide.
Thanos' expression darkened.
"You think I never considered that?"
He wasn't a fool.
Of course he had thought about it.
But he wanted to give the universe a chance.
A chance to begin again.
After eliminating half of all life...
He intended to leave behind enough knowledge for future civilizations to understand what had happened.
The universe would learn.
It would change.
And if, one day, life once again reached this point...
Another Thanos would inevitably rise.
He had never doubted that.
To him...
That was absolute truth.
He had explored every other solution.
None achieved the result he sought.
Watching the stubborn Titan, Nolan simply shook his head.
There was no point arguing.
Thanos would never change his mind.
He had sacrificed too much to abandon his conviction now.
Nolan had no desire to understand him.
In Nolan's eyes...
The growth of life was inevitable.
No artificial intervention could truly solve it.
At best...
It was merely treating poison with more poison.
Perhaps it wasn't entirely meaningless.
But the price was far too great.
And no one wished to become that sacrifice.
Nolan certainly didn't.
The problem wasn't Thanos himself.
The problem was his ideology.
He stood against the natural will of the universe.
And because of that...
He was destined to fail.
Nolan smiled faintly.
"You may believe in your own ideals."
"But unfortunately..."
"You stand against the will of the universe."
The instant those words left his mouth...
A massive portal opened.
Thousands of Asgardian soldiers marched through.
Behind them came countless Masters of the Mystic Arts from Kamar-Taj.
Thor stepped forward, Stormbreaker resting in his hand.
His eyes locked firmly onto Thanos.
"Looks like we made it in time."
But Thor wasn't the end of the reinforcements.
Moments later...
The sky darkened.
Huge starships descended toward Wakanda.
Their shadows covered the battlefield.
As the landing ramps lowered...
Yondu strode out with countless allies behind him.
"Haha!"
"I brought reinforcements!"
He laughed loudly.
"Damn you, Thanos."
"It's time we settled this once and for all!"
His jaw tightened.
The last time they had fought...
His side had been utterly defeated.
But this time...
Things were different.
This time...
He wasn't fighting alone.
Seeing Yondu arrive, Peter Quill broke into a wide grin.
"I knew you'd make it!"
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