Chaotic Battlefield

"Arbiters!!"

Chen Tian's voice exploded like thunder, instantly cutting through the clamor of the battlefield.

"Attack!"

At that command, the entire sky seemed to awaken like a slumbering beast.

Countless sparks of fire suddenly lit up, like the last stars before dawn.

Civilians pursued by the Chitauri fled through the streets, looking desperately toward the sky—then, in the next second, countless silver-white rescue robots descended from the clouds like angels. They deployed mechanical shields, erecting silver walls around the fleeing crowds and instantly crushing the pursuing Chitauri soldiers.

"Please remain calm. Rescue has arrived." The mechanical voice came through clearly amid the gunfire.

An elderly man with an injured leg collapsed amid the ruins, watching as a Chitauri soldier raised his weapon—then suddenly, a Medical Pod landed precisely beside him. Its mechanical arms swiftly deployed a shield while firing several laser beams that eliminated every enemy.

"An open fracture of the leg has been detected. Treatment is underway." The Medical Pod's AI spoke gently. "This may hurt a little. Please endure it."

The old man nodded tremblingly as nanomechanical arms injected him with painkillers and secured his wound. As the Medical Pod closed around him, he heard one final sentence: "You are safe now."

The next second, the Medical Pod shot into the sky, carrying him and the other wounded toward a distant safe zone.

On the ground, more rescue robots were constructing temporary defensive lines. They used energy shields to protect civilians while precisely eliminating nearby threats with their firepower. Children were gently lifted by mechanical arms, the injured were swiftly evacuated, and every Medical Pod that took off carved a trail of hope through the morning light.

Madara Uchiha's figure suddenly appeared amid the flames, his Mangekyō Sharingan flickering with an eerie crimson glow through the smoke. He formed a seal with one hand and called out in a low voice, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

In an instant, more than a hundred Madara clones surged forth like a tide, each assuming a different combat stance. They spread out in groups of three, charging into the enemy formation like a well-trained army.

The clones at the front formed seals at the same time, spitting blazing fireballs from their mouths. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Dozens of fireballs exploded amid the enemy ranks, burning Chitauri soldiers into charcoal.

Several clones flicked their wrists, firing Tony's custom alloy shuriken from their sleeves. The dark weapons, gleaming with a faint blue light, automatically split apart midair and precisely embedded themselves in each enemy's forehead or heart.

The clones in the rear charged directly into the enemy ranks. Some wielded Stark Industries' custom alloy kunai, special ninja tools that released EMP shocks upon touching enemy armor. Others relied purely on taijutsu, their fists and kicks slicing through the air with piercing force, every strike denting and warping metal armor.

"Boring tricks." The real Madara stood on high ground, watching coldly as he raised his hand to form a seal. "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" A towering sea of flames instantly swallowed the enemy forces across half a city block.

2B moved through the combat zone like a white phantom. Her primary mission was not killing enemies, but protecting civilians trapped in the fighting.

"Please come with me!" She scooped up an elderly man trapped beneath rubble, her katana drawing a perfect arc as it deflected every incoming energy shot. Three Chitauri soldiers lunged at her from the side, but without even looking back, she tossed an EMP grenade that instantly left them limp on the ground.

"Master, twelve civilians have been escorted to the safe zone." As she reported, she used her body to shield the children behind her from flying metal fragments.

A thunderous roar erupted from a transport aircraft in the sky. Hulk leaped down from a height of a thousand meters, crashing onto the head of a Leviathan like a green comet.

"Hulk—smash!" He swung fists the size of basins, every heavy blow leaving shocking dents in the beast's metal shell.

The Leviathan let out a pained shriek, wildly twisting its hundred-meter mechanical body.

It opened its cavernous jaws, trying to bite the green monster into pieces. Hulk merely grinned savagely, grabbing the creature's metal lower jaw. His arm muscles bulged as he forcibly slammed those jaws shut.

"Little bug!" Hulk roared, grabbing an exposed bone spike from the beast and riding its back like he was taming a wild horse.

The beast rolled frantically, smashing down several skyscrapers, but it could not shake off the green demon. Hulk hammered fist after fist into the joints of its spine, sending metal fragments flying everywhere.

Finally, with a deafening cry of "Hulk—strongest!", he grabbed the creature's head armor with both hands and tore it completely off through sheer brute force. The out-of-control beast crashed to the ground, plowing a trench hundreds of meters long before finally slamming into a half-collapsed building.

Hulk stood atop the beast's corpse and let out a victorious roar toward the heavens.

Trident Building, Eastern Safe Zone.

Chen Tian's battlefield-shaking roar came through Steve Rogers' earpiece—

"Arbiters!! Attack!!"

He froze for a moment, then the corners of his lips lifted, and he could not help laughing.

"That guy... really doesn't hold back at all." He shook his head and turned to face the exhausted but steadfast S.H.I.E.L.D. agents behind him.

"Did you all hear that?" He raised his Vibranium shield. "Our reinforcements are here—now it's our turn to strike back!"

The agents' weary eyes reignited with fighting spirit, but reality remained brutal.

On the other side of the corridor, Hydra soldiers had already set up bulletproof shields. The sustained fire of M249 machine guns sealed off the hallway completely. Bullets crisscrossed wildly through the command center, ricochets throwing blinding sparks from the metal walls. The walls were riddled with bullet holes, and the air reeked of acrid gunpowder.

"Suppressive fire!" the Hydra squad leader howled. The machine gunners immediately adjusted their aim, bullets pouring down like torrential rain.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were forced to press themselves tightly against cover as chunks of concrete continually crumbled down over their heads.

Coulson tried to return fire, but the moment half his body emerged, a bullet streaked past his head and burst into sparks against the electronic equipment behind him. "Damn it!" He ducked back, quickly replacing his empty magazine. "Their firepower is too heavy!"

"Chen Tian! The Trident Building needs support! Hydra's firepower is too strong—we're pinned down!"

Chen Tian's voice did not come through the communicator. Instead, another familiar voice answered, carrying a teasing tone.

"Relax, Captain. I'll be right there."

—It was Barton.

Steve had just been about to reply when an entire row of bulletproof glass windows behind him suddenly exploded! Gale-force winds and shards of glass swept inside. The Hydra soldiers instinctively raised their guns, only to see several silver-white figures streak in through the windows—

Arbiter Rescue Robots!

They deployed mechanical shields, precisely blocking every bullet fired toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. At the same time, their mechanical arms flipped over, pulse cannons instantly locking onto the enemies. A series of precise shots directly pierced the armor of the front-row Hydra soldiers!

"Target locked. Eliminating threat." The mechanical voices were cold and efficient.

Immediately afterward, a dark figure flipped through the shattered window—

"Hey, Captain, I'm not late, am I?"

Barton landed steadily, firing an arrow backward through a Hydra sniper attempting an ambush. The miniature explosive on the arrow detonated inside the enemy's helmet, flames illuminating his slightly mischievous smile.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, smashing the last charging enemy to the ground with his shield before calling out loudly:

"All agents, stay with the Arbitrators and Barton—we're taking back command!"

Before his words had even faded, Barton had already nocked an arrow, its tip gleaming with EMP-blue light.

"Time to scrap Hydra's toys."

The arrow flew, and an electromagnetic pulse exploded in the center of the enemy formation. Every energy weapon instantly malfunctioned. At the same time, the Arbiter robots advanced as one, their mechanical shields linked together like a moving wall, crushing forward as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents followed close behind with full firepower!

The Washington battlefield had been divided into several orderly combat zones, with different heroes playing pivotal roles in each area.

On the ground battlefield, Madara Uchiha moved like a ghost through the smoke and flames. His Shadow Clone army had turned three city blocks into a spectacle of Fire Release—"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" Dozens of clones formed seals simultaneously, sending fireballs raining down like meteors upon the Chitauri ground forces.

2B was carrying out an entirely different mission in a neighboring block. Her silver-white figure moved swiftly through the ruins, her katana precisely cutting down every enemy threatening civilians. "The evacuation route has been cleared!" she said as she lifted a collapsed concrete slab and rescued a family of three trapped beneath it.

The aerial battlefield was completely controlled by Tony Stark. His Mark-Eclipse armor deployed six blue-glowing mechanical wings as he gracefully weaved through the Leviathan swarm.

"JARVIS, lock onto the seventh spinal joint!" At his command, the mechanical wings unfolded, and six high-energy laser cannons fired simultaneously, completely melting through a Leviathan's mechanical spine.

The beast gave a pained shriek and crashed toward an uninhabited zone preplanned by the Washington Garrison. Tony flicked his right hand, extending a blazing laser sword from his wrist and slicing an approaching Chitauri aircraft in half.

Hulk became the battlefield's wild card. At times, the green giant rampaged across the ground, flipping Hydra armored vehicles over like toys. At other times, he leaped high into the air, grabbed a Chitauri aircraft, and smashed it viciously into another.

"Hulk strongest!" His roar echoed across the battlefield, each leap leaving cracked scars across the ground.

Behind the battlefield, the silver-white rescue robots had already established a complete evacuation system with the Washington Garrison.

They formed moving defensive lines, using mechanical shields to open routes for civilians toward the Lincoln Memorial safe zone.

The Medical Pods continuously took off and landed, transporting the wounded to field hospitals established by the garrison.

"Please board in an orderly manner. The elderly and children have priority." Even amid the artillery fire, the mechanical voice remained warm. As one Medical Pod landed and its hatch opened, the AI inside was comforting a little girl. "Your mother is waiting for you in the safe zone, brave little girl."

Although the entire battlefield was fierce, it displayed astonishing coordination. Madara Uchiha's Fire Release cleared the main streets, 2B ensured the safety of civilian evacuation routes, Tony's laser weapons controlled the skies, and Hulk was ready to reinforce every weak point at any time.

Behind them, more and more civilians were safely transferred into the garrison-controlled zone. The silver figures of the rescue robots gleamed with hope in the hazy morning light.

"Mr. Chen, the battlefield situation is under control." JARVIS's voice sounded in Chen Tian's ear. "Civilian evacuation progress is at 98%."

Chen Tian stood atop a tall building. From time to time, he used Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue to draw ground-based Chitauri soldiers together and compress them into a ball of flesh. At other times, he used Cursed Technique Reversal: Red to knock airborne craft away like bouncing balls.

"Mm. JARVIS, locate Loki and Thor. Are they still on top of the Trident Building?"

"Sir, satellite scans indicate that only the unconscious Alexander Pierce is on the rooftop of the Trident Building."

Chen Tian frowned. Thor and Loki had clearly been on the rooftop just moments ago. Where could they have gone?

Before he could finish thinking, thunder rumbled through the sky, and Thor descended from above, landing beside him.

Chen Tian turned, his brow lifting slightly. Thor stumbled beside him. The once majestic God of Thunder was now in a miserable state—his golden hair was soaked in blood, blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, a green-glowing dagger was embedded in his abdomen, and the silver armor on his left arm had been completely shattered, exposing a mangled, bloody arm.

"What happened?" Chen Tian grabbed the unsteady Thor.

"Damn Loki, he has help!" Thor wiped the blood from his mouth and pulled out the dagger, throwing it to the ground.

Chen Tian's expression turned strange. Help? What kind of help could beat Thor into this state?

"Hey, Chen Tian, do you know what I'm seeing?" Tony's voice came through. "I see some black-skinned freak beating the hell out of our green baby."

Chen Tian hurriedly tapped his wristwatch several times, projecting a virtual image.

A pitch-black, massively muscled beast was fighting Hulk to a standstill. Neither cared about fighting techniques; they relied purely on brute force, one punching the other in the face, the other driving a headbutt into his forehead.

"Cull Obsidian? Why would Thanos send Cull Obsidian out already?"

Chen Tian's pupils suddenly contracted as a terrifying thought exploded in his mind—this was not a simple Chitauri invasion. Thanos's Black Order had intervened ahead of schedule!

"JARVIS!" he shouted sharply. "Scan the entire combat zone immediately. Find—"

Before he could finish, the ground suddenly shook violently. Accompanied by deafening rumbling, three pitch-black stone pillars burst from the earth. Each was thirty meters tall, their surfaces covered in strange runes. The pillars formed a triangle around the battlefield, their tips flashing with ominous dark-red light.

Chen Tian abruptly turned his head and saw a thin, tall figure floating among the three pillars. The man wore a dark-gold robe, his corpse-pale skin covered in dark patterns, while cold light flickered within his sunken eyes. His slender fingers moved elegantly, controlling some ancient energy, and the hem of his robe drifted in the air like a living thing.

"Ebony Maw..." Chen Tian ground out the name through clenched teeth. One of Thanos's most dangerous subordinates was now looking down upon the battlefield with his signature cruel smile, carrying a trace of aristocratic grace.

At the same time, violent sounds of combat came through 2B's communicator. "Master, the target's telekinetic strength exceeds projections—" The transmission suddenly cut off, replaced by a burst of piercing electromagnetic static.

Chen Tian's pupils trembled. The situation before him was collapsing at an alarming rate.

Cull Obsidian's fist-to-fist battle with Hulk kept making the ground tremble, while Ebony Maw's arrival had sent the energy readings across the entire battlefield soaring past dangerous thresholds.

He looked up at the sky—the wormhole opened by the Tesseract was still expanding, and more Chitauri fleets could vaguely be seen gathering beyond it.

"JARVIS, scan the battlefield immediately and lock onto Loki's location." Chen Tian rapidly swiped across his wristwatch as a holographic projection unfolded before him. "Prioritize tracking the energy signal of the Mind Scepter."

"Scanning now, sir." The AI's voice remained steady. "A powerful energy fluctuation has been detected. Source direction—"

Chen Tian cut him off. "Coordinates. I need them now."

"At the top of the Washington Monument. The energy reading is a complete match for the Mind Scepter," JARVIS immediately replied. "However, the target is protected by a spatial distortion field. The location may have an error margin of fifty meters."

"Good. JARVIS, inform all Arbitrators and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that Steve will take battlefield command from here." Chen Tian looked toward the Washington Monument. "Tell Tony to stop acting like a child and listen to the Captain!"

As he spoke, he turned and pressed a hand onto Thor's shoulder. "Listen. I need you to help Hulk deal with Cull Obsidian."

Thor wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth as Mjolnir began gathering electricity. "What about you?"

"I need to deal with that first." Chen Tian pointed toward the deep-blue wormhole in the sky, his gaze fixed on the Washington Monument. "Before any more surprises show up."

Thor followed his gaze. "Loki? Can you handle his magic?"

Chen Tian did not answer. He had already contacted Madara Uchiha through the communicator. "Madara, 2B has encountered Ebony Maw's mind control in the Seventh District. She needs your Sharingan support."

A cold snort came from the communicator. "Mere telekinesis dares to show off before me?" This was followed by the explosive sound of warped space—Madara directly used the Body Flicker Technique to rush toward 2B and Ebony Maw's battlefield.

After arranging everything, Chen Tian drew a deep breath and raised one hand in a sword-finger gesture. With his movement, the air around him began to distort, and even his black hair started to fade slightly.

"Whew. First time using this. Don't screw me over, 2.5-strip."

In the blink of Thor's eye, Chen Tian suddenly vanished before him. Thor froze, then scratched the back of his head.

"Isn't he a swordsman? How did he become a mage?" Thor's simple mind could not figure it out, so he simply stopped trying.

He hurled Mjolnir and shot into the sky, trailing lightning as he joined Hulk and Cull Obsidian's battle. A bolt of lightning struck precisely at a gap in the armor on Cull Obsidian's back, making the Black Order's vanguard stagger.

"Need a hand, big guy?" Thor laughed as he landed beside Hulk.

Hulk punched aside Cull Obsidian's counterattack, then turned with a savage grin. "Hulk can do it alone! But... smashing together is more fun!"

Elsewhere, Madara Uchiha appeared beside 2B like a ghost. The android girl was kneeling on one knee, her katana embedded deeply in the ground, every mechanical joint in her body emitting an overloaded hum—Ebony Maw's powerful telekinetic field was gradually twisting her mechanical structure apart.

"Ridiculous trick." Madara sneered, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning rapidly. He formed the "Release" seal with his left hand and pressed it against 2B's back, his ocular power forming a mental barrier. "It is only thought, yet you dare harm my lord's maid?"

The mechanical pressure around 2B's body suddenly eased. "...Thank you."

Madara said nothing more and looked up at Ebony Maw floating in the sky. The gaunt figure was elegantly moving his fingers, causing surrounding building debris to rotate through the air at his will.

"Language is power, and words are shackles." Ebony Maw spoke in a chant-like voice, every syllable carrying mental tremors. "Submit to—"

"Too noisy." Madara directly interrupted his mind control. The patterns of his Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly shifted into the form of the Rinnegan. "Let me show you what true control of power is."

He raised one hand. The gravitational control of his Rinnegan collided fiercely with Ebony Maw's telekinesis in midair, brilliant energy sparks erupting where the two invisible forces met. The surrounding building debris first froze unnaturally beneath the dual forces, then exploded into powder.

Fierce battles raged throughout the city. Atop the Washington Monument, Loki stood with his scepter lightly spinning around his fingertips.

He narrowed his eyes, admiring the endless Chitauri army pouring from the wormhole, a pleased curve forming on his lips.

"What a marvelous sight..." he murmured, the Mind Stone at the tip of his scepter shining with an eerie glow. "Soon, all of Midgard will..."

Before he could finish, the space at his side suddenly twisted. Before he could react, a terrifying repulsive force erupted!

"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!"

Chen Tian's voice exploded through the void. Loki felt an irresistible force slam into him head-on, blasting him away like a kite with its string cut.

"What?!" Loki's eyes widened as he flew through the air, staring toward the top of the monument—the entire upper half of the monument shattered under the repulsive blast, rocks and steel bars scattering outward in slow motion.

Just as the scepter was about to fall, a figure flashed into view. Chen Tian steadily caught it with one hand, while his other hand held a sword-finger gesture, azure cursed energy flowing around his fingertips.

"Thanks." He gave Loki a smile from afar before disappearing once more amid rippling spatial distortions.

Loki's handsome face twisted into a savage expression. "Damn insect!"

His body flew backward like a cannonball under the terrifying repulsive force. He tried to adjust his posture, only to discover that the strange force had thrown all the magic in his body into chaos.

He tried to curse, but the moment he opened his mouth, howling wind rushed down his throat. His body spun through the air, smashing through the glass curtain walls of three consecutive buildings, making the God of Mischief look even more pathetic.

Finally, with a deafening boom, Loki slammed heavily into a field of ruins. The impact made the ground within fifty meters shake violently, leaving a crater roughly three meters wide in the street, wisps of smoke rising from its bottom.

"Ugh..." Loki groaned at the bottom of the crater, feeling as though every bone in his body had been scattered. He struggled to move a finger and found that he could not even cast the simplest illusion—the eastern man's technique had not only damaged his magical circuits, but was also continuously disrupting his recovery.

Fortunately, Loki possessed the powerful constitution of a Frost Giant, and he painfully climbed out of the crater.

"Damn mortal..." he cursed under his breath. As soon as he raised his head, he saw a huge green figure standing at the edge of the crater, tilting its head and staring at him curiously.

Loki's rage instantly flared. He sharply waved a hand, pointing at Hulk as he shouted furiously, "Kneel, insect! I am a god!"

Hulk blinked.

Then—he smiled.

That smile sent a chill down Loki's spine.

The next second, Hulk's massive hand shot out like lightning and grabbed Loki by the ankle.

"No—wait!" Loki had not even finished speaking before his entire body was swung into the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Like cracking a whip, Hulk slammed Loki back and forth into the ground. Every impact sent dust flying and made the earth tremble. Loki's furious roars quickly became pained grunts, until he could only let out weak groans.

At last, Hulk grew tired of playing. With a casual toss, he threw Loki back into the crater and curled his lip disdainfully. "Tch. Weak god."

After saying that, he pushed off with both legs. The ground exploded beneath him as his entire body shot toward the battlefield where Cull Obsidian and Thor were fighting like a cannonball, leaving behind only a massive green silhouette.

At the bottom of the crater, Loki lay on his back, his armor shattered, cloak in disarray, hair and face covered in dust. His lips trembled slightly as faint groans squeezed from his throat, while a single tear silently slid from the corner of his eye.