The entire fleet descended toward the ground. The moment the ships touched down, every hatch burst open.
The skies were no longer their domain. If they wanted victory, they would have to fight on land.
Ebony Maw stood at the forefront, his staff raised as he pointed ahead.
Countless alien warriors poured out of the ships like a tidal wave.
Seeing this, Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers drew in sharp breaths.
Whether it was Tony and the others who had been fighting in the air or Steve Rogers and those who had been unable to participate in the aerial battle, everyone gathered together.
"Ready, everyone?" Steve asked.
The team tightened their grips on their weapons.
Ant-Man shouted loudly.
"Absolutely! Let's show these damn aliens what we're made of!"
Without another word, they charged straight toward Thanos' advancing army.
Only a handful of heroes stood against the endless horde.
Reinforcements were still on the way, so they had no choice but to hold the line.
"Honestly, this is when I really wish Nolan Locke would show up."
Before the charge, Clint Barton suddenly muttered.
Natasha, standing beside him, replied:
"We can't reach him right now. Let's hope the White House can make contact soon."
Meanwhile, Nolan Locke had already arrived in the Himalayas.
He walked alone across the endless snowfields. In the distance stood one of Earth's most mysterious places: Kamar-Taj.
While the entire planet was being shaken by the invasion, Nolan remained completely unaware.
The reason he had come here was simple.
He was hiding from Hela.
Recently, she had tracked him down more than once.
Although she had never attacked him, her constant appearances were becoming a serious headache.
Kamar-Taj, however, was protected by the magical formations left behind by the Ancient One.
Those barriers concealed the area from virtually all forms of mystical detection.
Hela was incredibly powerful, but even she would have trouble piercing the Ancient One's magic.
For Nolan, this was one of the few truly peaceful places left on Earth.
As he continued walking, a glowing portal suddenly appeared.
Stephen Strange stepped out.
"You're here again?"
Strange sighed helplessly.
Lately, Nolan's visits had become noticeably more frequent.
They were friends now, but Nolan's status and power still made Strange feel uneasy whenever he appeared.
Nolan shrugged and smiled.
"I have every right to be here. What, are you planning to throw me out?"
Strange shook his head.
"Of course not. But I didn't come here for small talk."
Nolan's expression grew more serious.
As far as he was concerned, only two major crises could warrant Strange seeking him out.
Either Hela was causing trouble on Earth...
Or Thanos had arrived.
Yet Strange's expression wasn't grim enough for either scenario.
As the new Sorcerer Supreme, he had inherited the Ancient One's magical formations and possessed a deep understanding of Earth's current state.
He knew Hela was somewhere on the planet, even if he couldn't pinpoint her exact location.
To him, Hela was a ticking time bomb.
No one knew when it would explode.
And no one wanted to be the one who triggered it.
The consequences would be catastrophic.
"What happened?" Nolan asked.
Strange immediately explained.
"Earth is under attack again. The invaders are servants of Thanos. Since you've traveled throughout the cosmos, I assume you know who Thanos is."
Though phrased as a question, Strange sounded completely certain.
"Thanos' servants?"
Nolan looked surprised.
He hadn't expected Thanos to send subordinates instead of coming personally.
Still, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
At the very least, it would weaken Thanos' forces.
Looking at Strange, he asked:
"Aren't you going to join the fight?"
Strange met his gaze calmly.
"Not yet. The Sorcerer Supreme's order exists to guard the mystical realms. If we mobilize recklessly, powerful beings from other dimensions may seize the opportunity to invade Earth again."
"It may only be a possibility, but it's not a gamble I can take."
The Time Stone rested in his possession.
Through it, he had witnessed countless possible futures.
Some ended in victory.
Others ended in defeat.
For Strange, however, those visions weren't merely observations.
Every rewind meant personally reliving the same period of time.
He had endured countless wars.
Countless deaths.
After experiencing them again and again, such things no longer affected him emotionally.
That was one of the hidden prices of wielding the Time Stone.
It was not a stone that showed the future.
It could reverse time, but it could not erase the memories of what its user had lived through.
The cost was brutal.
Watching Strange's increasingly tranquil expression, Nolan shook his head inwardly.
No matter what happened, he would never use something that terrifying.
On the surface, rewinding time sounded wonderful.
A chance to correct every mistake.
A chance to save everyone.
But the suffering required to achieve that was beyond ordinary comprehension.
For the first time, Nolan truly understood why the Ancient One had often seemed detached from normal human emotions.
After using the Time Stone countless times, remaining emotionally normal would have been the strange thing.
After explaining why he wouldn't join the battle, Strange turned to Nolan.
"What about you? Are you going to fight?"
"You already know the answer, don't you?" Nolan replied.
Then he stretched lazily.
"Come on. Let's head back."
He had no intention of letting the war unfold unchecked.
But he also wasn't planning to enter the battlefield yet.
The conflicts ahead would only grow harsher.
If Earth couldn't handle a skirmish like this on its own, then when the real war arrived, the planet might be destroyed in an instant.
Nolan had noticed something troubling.
Because of his existence, humanity no longer feared extraterrestrial threats the way it once had.
The Chitauri invasion had caused significant damage, but his mechanical armies had crushed the invasion so quickly that people never fully understood the danger.
Loki and Thor had once shocked humanity as gods from another world.
But after being overwhelmed by Titan-class weaponry, even their divine mystique had faded.
In many ways, people feared Locke Technologies more than gods or aliens.
The Sokovia incident had left a deep scar.
And the hidden safeguards Nolan had placed around the world ensured that no one dared underestimate his company.
Now, however, an opportunity had presented itself.
Earth needed preparation.
Earth needed mobilization.
Most importantly...
Earth needed training.
No better opportunity would ever come.
A portal opened and vanished.
Soon, the footprints the two men had left behind disappeared beneath fresh snowfall, as if neither had ever been there.
Back at Locke Technologies, Nolan immediately accessed battlefield updates through Red Queen.
"Have the military arrived yet?" he asked.
At the moment, only the Avengers were fighting.
Red Queen responded instantly.
"Military forces stationed near New York have mobilized and are en route. Estimated arrival time: fifteen minutes."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements have already reached the battlefield perimeter and will engage shortly."
"New York SWAT units have also entered the fight."
"Not enough," Nolan said.
He had faced Thanos himself.
Ebony Maw was an exceptionally powerful sorcerer.
Even Loki, often called one of the Nine Realms' greatest mages, might not be able to match him.
Furthermore, Thanos' army had survived countless wars across the cosmos.
Their combat experience was extraordinary.
Defeating such an elite force with only the Avengers and a collection of improvised troops was impossible.
"Prepare to enter combat."
"Initiate Level-A3 battle readiness."
Following Nolan's command, Red Queen immediately carried it out.
Across Locke Technologies' core facilities, massive mobilization protocols began.
High-speed transport aircraft entered standby mode.
Mechanical combat units boarded deployment carriers.
Whenever Nolan gave the order, they would be able to reach the battlefield within minutes.
On the battlefield, blood soaked the ground.
The alien army was simply too large.
And far too disciplined.
The Avengers fought desperately, but the sheer scale of the enemy made victory feel almost impossible.
Tony flew beside Natasha.
"Damn it. When are our reinforcements getting here?"
Everywhere he looked, despair filled people's faces.
Behind them, the so-called reinforcements consisted mostly of volunteers rushing in from New York City.
Some were police tactical units.
Others were ordinary civilians carrying rifles.
Against an army like this, civilians had little chance of survival.
The battle was becoming a massacre.
Natasha shot an alien soldier, wiped blood from her face, and answered:
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s forces are almost here. The military is farther away, so they'll need more time."
As she spoke, a convoy appeared on the horizon.
Before the vehicles even reached the battlefield, their roofs opened.
One after another, powered exoskeleton combat suits leapt out.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s here!"
Steve Rogers shouted excitedly.
The reinforcements weren't numerous, but their arrival provided a much-needed boost to morale.
"Damn right, they finally made it!"
Ant-Man cheered.
"It's time to hit back!"
Twisting a control on his suit, he activated the Pym Particles.
His body rapidly expanded until he towered dozens of meters above the battlefield.
At that size, he became an obvious target.
But his destructive power was equally terrifying.
Every punch and kick crushed multiple enemies.
Even armored vehicles and heavy combat platforms shattered in his grasp like toys.
Yet something unusual caught the heroes' attention.
Many alien soldiers carried equipment strangely similar to technology developed by Locke Technologies.
The Avengers weren't the only ones who noticed.
Ebony Maw frowned as well.
Those weapons looked familiar.
Very familiar.
For a brief moment, confusion crossed his face.
But he quickly dismissed it.
The universe was vast.
Similar technological designs appearing independently wasn't impossible.
After all, advanced weapons often evolved toward the same solutions.
The arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D. eased some of the pressure on the Avengers.
But it still wasn't enough.
Throughout it all, Nolan silently observed the battle.
"Let's give them a little help."
If things continued like this, countless people would die before the real training even began.
That wasn't his goal.
He spoke calmly.
"Activate nearby automated combat systems."
This was New York.
The headquarters of Locke Technologies.
For years, Nolan had transformed the city into a fortress.
Hidden weapons and emergency defense systems had been installed throughout the region.
Their purpose was simple.
If New York was ever attacked, Locke Technologies would never be caught defenseless.
And now, those preparations would finally prove their worth.
The moment Red Queen activated the automated defense network, sirens began echoing across the battlefield.
"What is that sound?"
Even Ebony Maw looked puzzled.
Tony and the others exchanged confused glances.
"Something the aliens are doing?"
"No... it sounds like some kind of signal."
Suddenly, Tony realized something.
Stark Industries had collaborated with Locke Technologies on numerous projects in the area.
Could this be one of Nolan's systems?
He didn't know what was happening.
But at that moment, anything connected to Locke Technologies felt like a lifeline.
"We might actually survive this."
A faint trace of excitement appeared on Tony's face.
Then, in the distance, the ground split open.
A hidden underground facility emerged.
Moments later, massive numbers of NS-5 intelligent combat robots poured out.
The sudden appearance of fresh forces darkened Ebony Maw's expression.
"These Earthlings are far more troublesome than I expected."
He raised his staff high.
If that was the case, then he would personally bring this battle to an end.
His objective was the destruction of Earth.
If he couldn't even conquer a single city with ease, how could he hope to eradicate an entire planet?
A colossal sphere of magical energy formed above him.
Even from afar, its presence inspired overwhelming dread.
Tony Stark's face turned grave.
"What... is that?"
...
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