One second before the Space Stone could settle into the gauntlet, a vicious gleam flashed in "Ebony Maw's" eyes. His twig-thin fingers whipped out a gleaming knife and drove it straight toward Thanos's throat.
"Ah!" Thanos had roamed the universe for years, surviving countless battles to the death, yet he had never expected Ebony Maw, who had always acted so devotedly before him, to strike at this crucial moment.
Bang!
Thanos was, after all, a peerless conqueror tempered by countless battles, and his reflexes were extraordinary.
In the split second as the deadly knife stabbed toward him, his thick right arm lashed out with a vicious punch.
Fueled by boundless fury and shock, that single punch sent Ebony Maw flying.
Ebony Maw's body traced a pathetic arc through the air like a kite with its string cut, then slammed into the ground. The all-important Space Stone was knocked off course as well, grazing the gauntlet before falling onto the rubble-strewn ground.
Although Thanos had instinctively counterattacked the instant he saw Ebony Maw's assassination attempt, the knife's tip had still pierced the skin of his neck like a venomous snake's fang.
Thanos wiped the stinging skin with his hand, leaving streaks of crimson on his fingers.
Before Thanos could make his next move, the others who had seen Ebony Maw act reacted at the same time.
The mountainlike Cull Obsidian raised his enormous hammer, powerful enough to shatter stars, high in both hands and brought it crashing down on Thanos. Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive attacked him at the same moment, one from each side.
Raging fury swept across Thanos's face, fierce enough to set this lifeless universe ablaze.
He knew that the reality-defying power of the Infinity Stones could awaken greed in anyone and make them lose themselves, so betrayal