A dazzling red light suddenly flared in Richard's eyes.
Heat Vision activated, and two scorching energy rays shot out like arrows from a bowstring.
"Ah ah ah!"
Thanos roared, swinging his right fist, and a yellow energy beam whizzed out, surging forward.
In the air.
The red and yellow energies collided.
In an instant, it was as if a Sun had appeared; the blinding light made everyone instinctively close their eyes.
At the point of collision, energy spread out wildly like a surging tsunami, instantly igniting the surrounding air, forming rings of distorted Heat Wave, and the sand and rocks on the ground were swept into the sky by the powerful airflow.
"Everyone, retreat."
The two factions around them all ran backward.
"Richard!!!"
Thanos clenched his continuously melting right fist, releasing all the power contained within the Infinity Stones.
Boom—
A loud bang came from the center of the battlefield.
A powerful energy shockwave spread out.
Under this terrifying energy impact, the Black Order and the Demon King's army, who had not yet managed to retreat, were all sent flying.
From a distance, a giant mushroom cloud appeared.
"Cough, cough, cough, I'm not dead yet?"
Natasha struggled to open her eyes amidst the dust, and what met her gaze was a massive, mountain-like figure.
"Hulk?"
"Wrong, it's Abomination."
The figure slowly turned around, revealing a hideous and terrifying face, with a chilling smile on its parted lips, making Natasha tremble all over.
The Demon King's side suffered little damage; most of the harm was blocked by Black Phoenix, and the rest simply found cover, or used nearby tanks, armored vehicles, Hulk, and demons as shields if no cover was available.
The Black Order was not so lucky; the Black Obsidian Five Generals were all injured, and the Chitauri infantry, giant apes, and Leviathan were completely wiped out.
On the warship.
Venom, protecting the warship with a biological force field, said speechlessly,
"This guy told us not to damage this warship, but he almost smashed it to pieces himself."
"After all, darling rarely has this much fun."
Pamela smiled slightly, without the slightest worry for Richard.
"Red Robin, come here, it's so cool."
"Harley, don't press buttons randomly, or you'll get spanked again."
"Got it."
— — —
Future Tony looked at the huge, dust-filled crater before him, its edges already melted, his eyes filled with shock and worry.
Tony landed beside him, reaching out to pat his shoulder, and joked,
"Although your lawn is gone, look at it another way, you could consider building a lake and even fish here later."
Future Tony frowned, seeing that he still had the mind to joke.
"Aren't you worried the Demon King will lose?"
"Lose? Don't joke around, if he loses a single hair, I'll eat your nanotech armor."
Tony waved his hand, saying with full confidence.
After all, Richard's greatest strength was his almost invincible physical durability.
The others no longer paid attention to the deep pit, continuing to throw themselves into the battle to eradicate the Black Order.
Below, a biting cold wind suddenly swept up, quickly dispersing the pervasive dust.
The edges of the lava rapidly hardened under the effect of the cold wind.
"See, I told you it wasn't..."
Tony's words stopped abruptly, as he looked in shock at the figure below.
Future Tony tried hard to suppress the upward curve of his lips.
His nanotech armor disengaged, turning into a stream of particles and returning to the reactor in his chest.
He took off the reactor and slapped it into Tony's hand,
"Eat slowly, you can choose to season it with #42 concrete, hahahaha."
With that, Future Tony finally couldn't control himself and burst out laughing.
The war was over.
Tony looked at the nanotech reactor in his hand, then at Richard below.
Serves you right for your loose tongue.
Richard created a piece of clothing and put it on, then helplessly rubbed his smooth bald spot, deciding simply to shave off all his hair.
This was not Thanos's "masterpiece," but rather his own Heat Vision refracting during the explosion and accidentally hitting his forehead.
Although he wasn't injured, his hair was gone.
"Indeed, a handsome face can pull off any hairstyle."
Richard looked at his face in the mirror and nodded contentedly.
He walked to Thanos, who was leaning against the stone wall, and felt a little melancholic seeing his miserable state.
The arm that held the gem was reduced to bare bone, but the Mind Stone was still tightly clutched.
The Mind Stone's formerly brilliant glow was somewhat dim.
His golden armor had turned into fragments, scattered everywhere, and his body was charred black, like charcoal; every rise and fall of his chest caused it to crack.
Thanos heard the sound and slowly raised his head, his eye sockets now just two empty holes.
"Qi...nuo, I...lost..."
His voice was dry and trembling, each word spoken with all his might.
"Yes, although I thought it impossible, I still wanted to try, Thanos, surrender to me.
I can save you, and even give you greater power, more advanced knowledge and technology, or even take you to other parallel Universes where you can choose to plunder their resources and achieve your great work in a different way."
Richard said.
Thanos was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke, letting out a dry laugh.
"Haha...to...be recognized...by you...is...my...honor, but...Thanos's...great work is already complete!"
As he spoke the last sentence, Thanos's voice was full of vigor, but his breath grew weaker and weaker.
"Alright, I've always had a question for you, Thanos, was killing half of all life for Death, or for your own desire?"
Richard rubbed his head and sighed, asking.
"What do you mean, 'for Death'?"
Thanos retorted.
"I know of another Thanos, who massacred Titan, waged a Universe war, collected the Infinity Stones, and killed all life.
What he did was no different from what you did, but his purpose in doing so was to express his love and loyalty to the Goddess of Death, to show his ability to bring her vast amounts of life."
Richard told him everything he knew about that other Thanos.
Thanos listened quietly, his chest beginning to heave violently, and his relatively intact left hand fumbled to pry the Mind Stone, which was stuck in the bone Seam, out.
The Mind Stone's power began to flow throughout his body, though it further accelerated his Death.
But his originally dying body regained its ability to move.
Bang!
He slammed a fist against the stone wall behind him, supporting his body to stand up.
"Richard! Please grant me one request."
"Speak."
"If you meet the Thanos you spoke of, kill him, he is not worthy of being called Thanos!"
Thanos's expression was somewhat terrifying; though he couldn't see Richard, he still looked at him with his empty eye sockets.
"Making a deal with me, the Demon King, requires a price."
Thanos's expression was somewhat dim; he was the loser, everything belonged to Richard, even his body was broken and he had nothing decent to offer.
"However, as a friend, I accept your deal, this time it's free for you."
Richard said.
"Friend? This is the first time I've had a friend."
Thanos remarked with emotion.
From a young age, he was an anomaly; after growing up and massacring Titan, everyone around him, whether enemies, daughters, or subordinates, felt only fear towards him.
Yet, he never expected that in his final moments, he would actually have a friend.
"Friend, I hope we never meet again..."
The Mind Stone in Thanos's hand slipped, and Richard caught it.
"Never meet again."
-------------------------------
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