Five minutes passed quickly after the skill exchange was completed.
Without warning, a five-pointed star-shaped spatial gateway unfolded in front of Thanos, its edges shimmering with unstable energy. Beyond the portal, there was nothing but absolute darkness, a void so complete it seemed to devour even light itself.
He paused for a brief moment, weighing the risks.
Then, gripping the Tyrant's Blade firmly, he stepped forward and entered.
The instant he crossed the threshold, his senses were thrown into chaos. Space twisted unnaturally, and time itself seemed to fracture into something incomprehensible. Directions lost meaning, distances became irrelevant, and the very concept of progression dissolved.
He could not tell how long he remained in that state.
It might have been a second.
It might have been a year.
When his awareness stabilized and he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on the surface of a barren planet. Behind him, the five-pointed gateway still hovered silently, marking his point of arrival.
The world before him was nothing but desolation.
Ruins stretched endlessly across the horizon, broken structures half-buried beneath layers of dust and sand. There were no signs of life, no vegetation, no animals, not even the faintest trace of movement.
The sky hung heavy and dark, filled with thick clouds that refused to release even a single drop of rain. The air was completely still, devoid of wind, as if the planet itself had stopped breathing.
It was not merely a dead world.
It felt like a dead universe.
Even the distant sun above appeared weak and exhausted, its dim light struggling to illuminate the wasteland below. There was a sense of decay in everything, as though existence itself was slowly unraveling.
Thanos stood quietly, his perception extending outward.
He could feel it.
The world was crying.
It was in pain.
It was desperate.
"This is a universe on the verge of destruction…" he thought.
A cold determination settled deep within him.
This fate… must never befall his own universe.
No matter the cost, he would prevent it. For the sake of everything he had built, for the countless lives now under his rule, and even for those ordinary beings who saw him as their savior and placed their faith in him.
Turning his head, he looked toward the two figures who had arrived alongside him.
The first was a man clad in a green cloak, his body covered in metallic armor and his face hidden behind a mask. He stood at around six feet tall, and around his waist was a belt embedded with six Infinity Stones.
But unlike what Thanos was used to, these stones were dull and lifeless, completely devoid of their usual glow.
The second was far more grotesque.
A towering red creature stood nearly two meters tall, its body covered in writhing organic matter. It had sharp fangs, blank white eyes without pupils, and each of its arms was embedded with three Infinity Stones.
These stones, too, were dim and inactive.
Thanos instinctively glanced down at his own left hand.
Just as he suspected, the Infinity Stones on his gauntlet had also lost their brilliance. Their power had been suppressed, reduced to inert fragments.
So this universe… nullifies them.
Before he could think further, a cold, almost mechanical voice echoed from above.
"Are you Death's agents?"
Thanos raised his head.
Floating in the sky was a figure clad in silver-white armor, a red cape billowing behind him. His exposed skin was crimson, and in his hand he held a long spear nearly two meters in length.
Most striking of all were the Infinity Stones embedded across his body.
One gleamed brightly on his forehead—the Mind Stone—while five others were set into his chest armor. Unlike the inert stones Thanos carried, these radiated intense, blinding light, their energy surging with terrifying power.
Thanos's eyes narrowed.
These stones were different.
Stronger.
Far stronger than any Infinity Stones he had encountered before.
A realization began to take shape in his mind.
Infinity Stones… are not equal.
He recalled fragments of knowledge from his past life. In some universes, the stones were treated like meaningless trinkets, powerless outside their native reality. Yet in others, they retained their authority across dimensions, capable of destroying entire universes.
There was only one logical explanation.
Their strength varied.
If the Infinity Stones were born from the remnants of a higher entity, then it made sense that not all fragments would carry equal power. Some would inherit more, others less.
And if that was true…
Could they be combined?
His gaze sharpened as he looked at the glowing stones on Ultron's body.
If he could obtain them… fuse them with his own…
Then the power of his gauntlet would rise to an entirely new level.
At that moment, the red creature spoke first.
"So you're Ultron?" it said, its voice dripping with arrogance. "Stay where you are, kid. Just follow my lead."
Ultron's expression did not change. "Who are you?"
The creature grinned widely, its tone turning manic. "Carnage. I've already slaughtered more than half of my universe! Hahaha!"
Its laughter echoed across the dead world, filled with madness and pride.
Thanos observed silently.
So this is the kind of individual the God of Death recruits.
Villains who had already conquered their own worlds.
But could such people truly cooperate?
The answer came almost immediately.
Before Carnage could finish laughing, a beam of yellow light erupted from Ultron's forehead. The attack was instantaneous, slicing straight through Carnage's body and splitting him in two.
"You're too noisy," Ultron said coldly.
However, Carnage was far from an ordinary opponent.
In the next instant, his body reformed, the severed halves merging back together as if nothing had happened. His expression twisted with rage.
"You want to die!"
With a roar, he launched himself toward Ultron.
Ultron responded without hesitation. Raising his spear, he thrust it downward with brutal precision.
For a split second, space itself seemed to freeze.
Carnage's body halted mid-air, completely immobilized, as if something invisible had locked him in place. The spear struck him directly, driving him into the ground with overwhelming force.
The impact created a massive crater, tens of kilometers wide and several kilometers deep. The ground shattered violently, and Carnage's scream echoed from the depths.
Thanos's eyes narrowed slightly.
So that's how the Space Stone can be used.
Spatial locking.
The idea was simple, yet devastatingly effective.
It made him realize just how limited most interpretations of the Infinity Stones truly were. Their potential was far greater than anyone had imagined. If used creatively, they could achieve almost anything.
Spatial locking was just the beginning.
There could be spatial slicing, dimensional sealing, and countless other applications.
While these thoughts ran through his mind, he didn't remain idle.
Without drawing attention, a small fragment of purple flesh detached from his heel and slipped silently into the ground beneath him. It began moving away, searching for an escape route.
He was already preparing for the worst.
If Ultron required reinforcements from other universes, then whatever enemy they were facing would be even more dangerous.
At that moment, the armored figure descended from the sky and approached him.
"Thanos," the man said, his voice calm but carrying an undercurrent of excitement. "How about we work together? We split the Infinity Stones fifty-fifty."
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Ultron, clearly assessing him as a target.
Thanos studied him carefully.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The man paused briefly, then spoke as if something had just occurred to him.
"My name is Doctor Doom," he said. "Don't you have me in your universe?"
The name clicked instantly in Thanos's mind.
Doctor Doom.
A ruler. A genius. A conqueror.
A villain from the Fantastic Four.
.....
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