Luring the tiger away from the mountain—that had been Thanos' plan all along.
Of the remaining members of the Black Order, Corvus Glaive was struggling to hold his ground on the southern coastline. Ebony Maw had already fallen, and Proxima Midnight had yet to appear on the battlefield. She was biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment—a moment when Thor would leave the Sanctum unguarded.
This phase of the plan was the most critical. It required nothing less than Thanos himself to execute.
But convincing Thor to abandon his position was no simple feat. After all, Thor had learned his lesson. He had already seen Asgard stolen from under his nose and witnessed the Sanctuary II plundered. There was no way he would leave the Sanctum's crystal unguarded again.
Yet, faced with mounting defeats on the battlefield and chaos threatening from all directions, Thor had no choice but to step forward.
Thanos understood one thing: Thor's relentless hatred for him was unmatched. Even before the Mad Titan had attacked Asgard, Thor had harbored a burning desire to see him fall. That hatred was the only bait strong enough to pull the god of thunder away from his post.
With Thor distracted, the task of infiltrating the Sanctum and dismantling its defenses fell to Proxima Midnight.
For Thanos, his presence on the battlefield was a game-changer. If Thor refused to engage, the tide of the battle could shift irrevocably in Thanos' favor.
"You're moving slower than I expected," Thor taunted, his voice laced with mockery. "You're not the Destroyer you once were, Thanos. Maybe it's time for you to retire."
Thanos narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
The Mad Titan remained silent, but his tightened grip on the Overlord Skyblade betrayed his irritation.
"Why hide? If you're a man, come and fight me!" Thor bellowed, his voice echoing across the battlefield.
Thor was relishing this moment. In all his countless battles, he had never felt as satisfied as he did now. For the first time, he was dominating Thanos in a head-to-head confrontation. Though Thanos was stronger and more skilled in combat, Thor was no mere warrior. He was a master of both magic and might, and his control over lightning allowed him to harass Thanos relentlessly.
Moreover, Thor's enhanced durability allowed him to trade injuries with Thanos without hesitation. And Thanos' left arm, still weakened from previous battles, proved to be a significant liability. While the injury might not hinder him in ordinary circumstances, in a life-or-death duel, it was a fatal flaw.
From the outset, it was clear Thanos stood no chance.
Their weapons clashed with a deafening boom. Sparks flew as Stormbreaker and the Overlord Skyblade met in a flurry of strikes and counterstrikes.
Thanos, seeking an opening, delivered a powerful slash to Thor's battle axe. Before Thor could react, Thanos unleashed a rapid sequence of strikes—an old combat technique, honed over countless battles.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Thor gritted his teeth as the successive impacts sent tremors through his arms. Stormbreaker wavered in his grasp, allowing Thanos' blade to dart toward his neck. At the last moment, Thor twisted his body, avoiding a fatal blow by mere inches.
Thanos moved to retrieve his weapon, but Thor seized the blade with his bare hand, ignoring the sharp pain as it bit into his palm. The sword was too powerful to hold for long, but the maneuver forced Thanos to hesitate for a crucial moment. In that instant, Thor swung Stormbreaker in a deadly arc.
Crack!
The axe brushed Thanos' waist, sending a jolt of electricity through his body. The Mad Titan stumbled back, clutching his side as blood seeped through his fingers.
Thor raised his injured hand, smirking despite the blood dripping from his palm. "That's it? All that effort just to draw a drop of blood?"
Thanos' expression darkened, a mixture of pain and fury etched across his face.
Nearby, Tony Stark, who had been keeping a close eye on the duel, grinned beneath his helmet and gave a discreet thumbs-up. "Nice work, Thor," he muttered.
Thanos knew the truth of an old saying: It's better to break one finger than to bruise ten. Yet, against Thor's overwhelming physical strength and resilience, even breaking a single finger was an impossible task. Every strike he landed barely left a scratch, while Thor's attacks were devastating, each one capable of delivering a killing blow.
Thanos had managed to graze Thor several times, his blade leaving shallow marks on the Asgardian's skin. But for a warrior like Thor, these injuries were inconsequential. The hope of wearing him down through attrition was nothing more than a dream.
Meanwhile, the wound on Thanos' waist continued to bleed, sapping his strength with every passing moment. And Thor, ever the provocateur, refused to let up on his taunts.
The sky brightened suddenly as flames erupted across the battlefield. A series of explosions rippled through the air, accompanied by the sound of metal rending and shattering. The Sindon, one of Thanos' largest battleships, was engulfed in flames. With no way to retaliate, the massive vessel had been reduced to little more than a hollow shell. Now, it was utterly destroyed under the Avengers' relentless assault.
Thanos' gaze flicked toward the burning wreckage, his eyes betraying a flicker of nostalgia. But when he turned back to Thor, his expression hardened into a cruel smile.
"Do you really think you've won?" he asked, his voice dripping with menace.
Thor didn't reply, but his grip on Stormbreaker tightened.
Thanos' smile widened. "After all this time, did you really think I wasn't prepared? Some things... should be just about finished."
His words sent a chill through the battlefield. He glanced in the direction of the Sanctum.
The expressions of Tony and the other Avengers shifted instantly, their faces filled with dread.