Thanos looked down at Cull Obsidian's body.
The corner of his eye twitched.
Cull Obsidian's death enraged him, but it did not rob him of reason. Instead, it sharpened his thoughts.
That last strike had been highly unusual.
The Power Stone represented the purest, most powerful destructive force in the universe. No power outside the Infinity Stones could possibly suppress it.
If nothing was wrong with the Power Stone, then only one thing could be at fault.
The gauntlet.
The Infinity Gauntlet forged by the king of the dwarves.
Eitri, that cunning craftsman, had clearly built a safeguard into the gauntlet.
And that axe had clearly been Eitri's work too. He had given it a special property that countered the Infinity Gauntlet's energy channels.
The axe did not counter the Infinity Stones. It countered the gauntlet itself!
"Hahahaha!"
Raucous laughter interrupted Thanos's thoughts.
"Is that all you've got, Thanos?" Thor pointed his axe at Thanos, brimming with confidence. "The Infinity Stones aren't so impressive after all!"
"Try this again!"
Thor repeated his move, gathering the power of thunder.
He twisted his waist and hurled the thunder-charged axe with all his might.
"Let's see how many more people you have to die for you!"
Thanos's gaze sharpened as the deadly weapon hurtled toward him again.
To test his theory, he swiftly gripped the Power Stone on his gauntlet with his right hand.
With a click, he pulled it from its socket.
Thanos held the Power Stone directly in his palm, using his powerful body as a vessel to forcibly channel its raging primal energy.
As the axe flew toward him, he threw a punch!
A purple Shockwave erupted from his fist.
Free of the gauntlet's constraints, the Power Stone unleashed its true power to the maximum extent his body could bear.