Thanos descended on Earth
"I am not controlled," Thanos's voice echoed in the Temple. "I am still Destiny."
Ebony Maw's lips were pressed tightly together, and his cold eyes swept back and forth between Thanos and Russell.
His mental perception was still operating at full capacity, trying to detect any trace of alteration in Thanos's revealed consciousness and emotions.
Or any emotional fluctuation that doesn't belong to Thanos himself.
He couldn't find anything.
Thanos's emotions were as clear as a mirror reflecting his self-awareness.
"Your Majesty," Ebony Maw's voice was hoarse, "Do you know what you're saying?"
"I know," Thanos replied calmly.
"You're going to abandon everything we've built over countless years?" Ebony Maw asked incredulously, taking a step forward.
"Your army, everything you conquered, is yours."
"My what?" Thanos interrupted him, "My loneliness? My emptiness? And those years I sat on my Throne, watching the crimson Nebula, powerless to do anything?"
Ebony Maw was stunned by Thanos's words.
"Ebony Maw, you've been with me the longest among the Black Order." Thanos's gaze remained calm and unwavering.
You should know me better than any of them, and know how I've lived these past years.
Do you know what I was thinking when I returned to Titan after conquering every Galaxy and looked at this ruin?
Ebony Maw frowned but did not answer.
"I'm wondering what I'm doing," Thanos said with a hint of regret.
"I destroyed so many civilizations, killed so many people, and what did I get in the end? Was sacrificing Gamora for the Soul Stone really worth it?"
He turned around, facing the dark red Nebula above the Temple.
"Then Russell came and gave me an answer, an answer I had spent countless years and traveled through countless Galaxy to find."
The universe doesn't need half its population destroyed; a truly balanced universe needs to be built.
He then turned back, his gaze fixed intently on Ebony Maw.
So tell me... should I reject him?
Ebony Maw opened its mouth, but no sound came out.
Having followed Thanos for many years, he knew that if this was a decision Thanos truly made, then it was destined to be unshakable.
Corvus Glaive was the first to react.
He lowered his head, looking at the Godslayer in his hand, a weapon once stained with the blood of countless people, now gleaming with an eerie light amidst the dark red Nebula glow.
Then he released his grip, Godslayer fell to the ground of the Temple with a crisp metallic sound.
"Your Majesty," Corvus Glaive raised his head, his brown eyes filled with determination, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Proxima Midnight looked at Corvus Glaive, then lowered her head to look at her own spear.
Her fingers gripped the spear tightly, then she released it, and the spear fell to the ground with a second metallic clang.
"Me too."
The Cull Obsidian remained silent.
He simply lowered his head, as if in silent mourning.
The Supergiant descended from mid-air and stood beside the others, his face pale, something moving in his eyes.
Only Ebony Maw remained still.
He stood there, looking at Thanos, looking at Russell, looking at the two abandoned weapons on the ground.
My fingers clenched and then loosened, clenched and then loosened again, my heart filled with turmoil.
"Ebony Maw," Thanos shouted.
Ebony Maw raised his head.
"You don't need to make a decision now." Thanos showed some leniency to his veteran subordinate.
"You can follow me, follow Russell, to a new place, to build a new universe."
Or you can leave, go wherever you want, and continue doing what you want, but it's best not to go against our path."
Ebony Maw was at a loss for words, his mind in turmoil.
One voice told me I had to firmly follow Thanos, while another voice advised me that Thanos was no longer the overlord he once was.
"I'll go with you." After a struggle within himself, Ebony Maw finally spoke, his voice hoarse and weary.
"But I will be watching you. I will only follow Russell if I find that you are being controlled. I cannot guarantee that I will change my mind at any time."
Thanos nodded slightly.
You can give it a try.
Ebony Maw walked over to Corvus Glaive and stood beside him. He did not bend down to pick up any weapons.
He simply stood there, looking at Russell, his cold eyes holding something akin to apprehension.
Russell looked at the weapons abandoned by the five men, and at the Black Thanos Black Order.
His expression remained casual and calm.
"Alright," he said softly, "Are you still coming or not?"
Thanos turned around, facing the crack.
"Walk."
He was the first to step into the crevice.
The Black Order followed one after another.
Corvus Glaive is second in the pack. Proxima Midnight is third, Cull Obsidian is fourth, and Supergiant is fifth.
Ebony Maw was the last to leave. He paused for a moment before the rift, glancing back at the ruins of Titan.
Then he left too.
Russell followed him in, and the spatial rift quickly closed.
The Titan Temple fell silent once more, while outside, ruins floated silently in the dark red Nebula, with countless interstellar Warship belonging to Thanos traversing through them.
Everyone, including the Warship commander, was unaware that their king, Thanos, had embarked on a completely different path.
Earth, over New York.
When Russell emerged from the spatial rift, the morning light was shining on the city illuminated by the Mutants lights.
He hovered about 100 meters above New York, looking down at the figures below who were still marching, praying, and celebrating.
Thanos followed behind him, hovering at the same height.
His figure appeared exceptionally large in the morning light, his purple skin gleaming with a dark sheen in the sunlight.
Looking down at the city that had once been on the invasion list, something stirred in its eyes, which were as deep as the starry sky.
The Black Order at the very back.
Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, their weapons no longer in their hands, but their postures still suggested they were ready for battle at any moment.
The Cull Obsidian followed silently behind, the Supergiant floating beside him, its mental perception covering the entire area, instinctively on guard against everything.
Ebony Maw stood at the farthest point, his hands behind his back, his cold eyes scanning everything below.
"I've finally come to Earth." Thanos's gaze was complex.
"Yes, you've come." Russell said, hands in his pockets. "This is the place you originally planned to conquer, to wipe out half the population."
Thanos did not refute this.
"Now you see," Russell said, pointing to the people below.
"Those who kneel in worship, those who pray, and those who carve their names on the walls—they are not just a simple number in your plan."
"Oh, so you're Thanos!!"
Among the crowd below, Magneto, having received the message, was the first to fly into the sky and step forward.