"I need a recharge~~"
Tony looked toward Karl and Thor. The Destroyer Armor's energy reserves were different from those of his other suits—it could only be powered by magic. Ordinary arc reactors were useless.
Thor didn't say a word. He simply called down a bolt of lightning into Tony. Karl likewise transferred some of his magic power. Only then did the reactor in Tony's chest stop flickering.
Strange pursed his lips.
He was considering the possibility Tony had just raised. Would giving a subtle hint alter the outcome?
Looking up at Thanos and the ever-approaching alien army, Strange finally made up his mind.
He was going to gamble.
A gamble with Earth—and potentially half the life in the universe—as the stakes.
Strange turned toward Tony, his gaze unwavering. Tony met his eyes and instantly understood what Strange was about to do.
With a concealed movement, Strange used magic to trace two letters in the air.
CN.
Tony froze for a moment before immediately understanding.
Those letters were the initials of Karl's full name—Karl Norman.
Tony instantly looked toward Karl.
At that moment, Karl was staring up at the skyscraper-sized Thanos while calculating the dwindling amount of magic left in his body.
After two consecutive major battles—first Odin, then Bahamut—he had already consumed more than half of his magical reserves.
He could still summon another Eidolon.
But that would only treat the symptoms, not the cause.
As long as the five Infinity Stones remained in Thanos's possession, his power would be endless, and the alien army would continue reviving indefinitely.
"Fuck! Wasn't it supposed to be that without the Mind Stone, Thanos couldn't withstand repeated use of the Stones? Why is he getting stronger instead?!"
Karl was becoming increasingly frustrated.
Just what was Thanos made of?
His willpower was absurd.
How many times had he already activated the Stones?
Yet he was still capable of launching another assault—and had even enlarged himself to this monstrous size.
While Karl was lost in thought, the Avengers had already begun their attack.
Scott was the first to charge.
He enlarged himself and threw a punch at Thanos.
At this point, Scott no longer cared about the limitations of Pym Particles. He had used two entire canisters just to grow to the same size as Thanos.
His eyes were already spinning.
"Ohhhhhh~! This feels amazing~~! I'm gonna—ugh!"
Scott began speaking nonsense, but his movements remained surprisingly agile.
After Thanos raised a hand and blocked Scott's punch, Scott shamelessly launched a rising kick straight between Thanos's legs.
Clearly, Thanos hadn't expected such a dishonorable move.
Forced to release Scott's fist, he hurriedly dropped both hands to block the kick.
But Scott instantly changed tactics.
The raised leg came crashing down while his shoulder slammed into Thanos's chest.
A textbook Iron Mountain Lean.
BOOM!
Thanos was struck head-on.
At the same time, Scott's vibranium suit released a tremendous kinetic shockwave.
The impact blasted Thanos over a hundred meters away before he crashed into one of the barrier shields Odin had erected around the battlefield.
Under the vibranium armor's kinetic discharge, even the colossal shield trembled violently.
Scott gave him no chance to recover.
Leaping forward, he delivered a high roundhouse kick aimed directly at Thanos's head.
But suddenly, blue light flashed.
Thanos vanished.
The next instant, he reappeared behind Scott in midair.
Drawing back his fist, Thanos smashed it into Scott's helmet.
Caught completely off guard—and still off balance from the unfinished kick—Scott was sent crashing face-first into the ground.
The force was so tremendous that even through his vibranium helmet, Scott felt as if a giant bell had been struck inside his skull.
His head rang endlessly.
Already suffering from a massive overdose of Pym Particles, he had been seeing stars before.
Now, after taking another direct blow to the head, Scott genuinely felt like he was about to vomit.
He rolled over and tried to take a deep breath, but Thanos's next punch was already descending.
This time, purple energy was clearly visible around the fist.
At such close range, Scott had no hope of blocking it.
The only thing he could do was shrink and escape.
According to Pym's conservation principles, he had consumed two blue canisters to grow.
To return to normal size, he'd need two red canisters.
Already far beyond the safe dosage, Scott pushed himself even further.
The moment he shrank, he tore off his helmet and vomited violently.
Then he collapsed onto the ground, unable to move.
It felt as if every bone in his body had turned into noodles.
"Guys~~ somebody get me an orange~~~ I... I'm gonna... bleeegh—"
Before he could finish speaking, he vomited again.
His body felt completely hollowed out.
Hope immediately flew to his side.
Pulling out a device resembling a respirator, she shoved it directly into his mouth.
"Take deep breaths. It'll help you recover faster."
This was one of Hank Pym's newest inventions, specifically designed for situations like this.
It had originally been intended as a built-in component for the Ant-Man and Wasp helmets, but the integrated version wasn't ready yet.
For now, it existed only as a portable emergency respirator.
Scott inhaled deeply several times.
His bodily functions rapidly stabilized.
The dizziness and nausea began fading at a visible rate.
"I'm alive again~~~"
Lying on the ground, Scott took several deep breaths.
With Hope guarding him, he didn't need to worry about the alien army swarming nearby.
"You'd better get up soon. I can't handle this many enemies by myself."
Seeing that Scott was no longer in danger, Hope promptly kicked him.
The alien forces were gathering in greater and greater numbers.
She couldn't hold them back alone.
Scott's brief three-move combo had successfully bought Karl some time.
Suddenly, a pillar of fire erupted from the ground.
The blazing inferno shot skyward like a volcanic eruption.
Every alien within dozens of meters was instantly reduced to charred corpses.
From within the flames emerged a pair of enormous curved horns.
Fire flowed continuously between them.
Then a gigantic fiery beast stepped out of the inferno, absorbing all surrounding flames into its body.
Ifrit.
Like the Phoenix, it was a fire-element Eidolon.
But their flames were fundamentally different.
The Phoenix wielded the Flames of Rebirth.
Ifrit commanded the Flames of Destruction.
"ROAR—!!"
Ifrit threw back its head and bellowed.
The flames beneath its feet exploded outward.
In an instant, the surrounding area transformed into a scorched wasteland.
"Fall back! Karl's gone crazy again! He's back to attacking friend and foe alike!"
From the sky, Tony shouted at the top of his lungs while frantically retreating beyond Ifrit's area of effect.
At the same time, all the Avengers began withdrawing toward the battlefield's edges.
The numbers of Wakandan warriors and Kamar-Taj sorcerers had already been drastically reduced.
More than half had died at the hands of the Infinity Stone-enhanced alien hordes.
The Avengers themselves were hardly in better condition.
Tony's and Pepper's armor was blackened with scorch marks.
Rhodey's Gatling gun had long since disappeared.
A massive notch had been carved into Steve's shield.
His helmet was gone, and his face was covered in dirt and grime.
The rest of the Avengers looked much the same.
Thanks to their vibranium suits, they had avoided severe injuries.
But bruises, cuts, and countless minor wounds were unavoidable.