The God King's First Move!

Link did not move.

He sat on the King of Wakanda's obsidian throne, his posture languid and arrogant, as though the bloody war below, capable of destroying a civilization, was merely a lackluster gladiatorial show staged for his amusement.

Before him hovered an enormous holographic projection formed from energy. The entire Wakandan battlefield, from the broad deployment of troops to every individual explosion, unfolded before his eyes with absolute clarity.

He was not a warrior, at least not now. He was this war's sole chess player and spectator.

His calm gaze swept across the battlefield.

He saw Captain America use his battered shield to rescue several young Wakandan soldiers from the Outriders' claws again and again, even as fresh wounds accumulated on his own body.

Heh. The tedious self-sacrifice of mortals. Link scoffed inwardly but did not interfere. Such courage was the best glue for binding people together, and he needed the heroes to maintain their high morale.

He saw Iron Man and War Machine establish an airborne web of firepower, using high-tech weapons to suppress the forces on the ground. But the energy weapons of Thanos's fleet were equally precise and lethal, leaving them struggling to keep up.

Even technology at its limits looks so feeble before overwhelming numbers. Link shook his head. In his eyes, these weapons were nothing more than finely crafted toys.

His gaze finally settled on the two strongest "pieces."

In one corner of the battlefield, Hulk and Cull Obsidian were locked in a brutal, primal contest of strength. Every heavy punch Hulk threw could have demolished a building, yet Cull Obsidian's armor, forged from some unknown metal, and his powerful body withstood the blows head-on. Cull Obsidian's counterattacks were just as crushing. Each swing of the massive axe in his hands forced Hulk back,