At that moment, the world changed—heaven and earth darkened, and the sun and moon lost their light.
Huge cracks opened in the ground, and the raging seas transformed into tsunamis, sending towering waves crashing toward the land like an unstoppable force.
The last glimmer of light in the sky was completely swallowed.
It felt as though they were in the midst of the apocalypse, about to face humanity's final moments.
Despair spread across everyone's faces.
Even Steve Rogers, who had always been their spiritual leader, seemed to give up.
Had they failed?
It certainly seemed that way.
They had considered countless outcomes of failure, including death.
But when faced with this reality, no one could truly accept it.
It was as if fate itself had delivered a crushing blow.
A blow that would shatter them completely.
Tony Stark stood frozen, and in the instant of the explosion, countless memories flashed through his mind.
He thought of his reckless youth, and of the heroic journey that followed.
Two wildly different lives, completely disconnected yet still a part of him.
This was who he was.
Genius Tony Stark.
If there was any regret left in him, it was that he wouldn't be there to watch his daughter grow up.
Or see her one day walk hand-in-hand with a man.
At the thought of this, even the always-proud Tony Stark couldn't stop the tears from welling up in his eyes.
Nearby, Thor looked on with a peaceful expression, as though he had already let go of everything.
He had lost his mother, his father, and his brother.
Even Asgard, where he grew up, had been destroyed because of his sister.
His beloved had long since vanished without a trace.
Thor's life had been filled with tragedy, forcing him to grow.
But now, he finally felt exhausted.
He wanted to let go.
Faced with the unstoppable explosion, the Avengers showed a range of emotions.
There was unwillingness, acceptance, regret, and relief.
Perhaps, in this moment, they understood many things they hadn't before.
But it was too late.
The massive energy from the explosion would undoubtedly kill them all.
Whether Earth would survive, and how many might remain, was now beyond their control.
They...
They were going to die.
"Wait, wait, wait..."
"The Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes... are really about to rely on a sixteen-year-old kid to save the day?"
Just when everyone had given up hope, a familiar voice echoed in their ears.
And at that exact moment, the explosion miraculously stopped!
Not only that—the flow of time itself seemed to freeze in that second.
Ronan floated in mid-air, looking at them with exasperation.
At his chest, the Eye of Agamotto was open, glowing with green light.
"As expected, it all comes down to me in the end, huh?"
Ronan sighed. Green energy flowed around his wrists.
He raised his right hand slightly, fingers outstretched, while his left hand hovered over his chest in a specific gesture.
Just as he was about to activate the Time Stone, he seemed to think of something.
He turned and glanced at the frozen Doctor Strange, making a "peace" sign at him.
Or rather, holding up two fingers.
Then, Ronan turned back toward the still-laughing Thanos and began to rotate his right hand counterclockwise.
Tick... tick... tick...
The heroes, frozen in time, heard the distinct sound of something turning, like the gears of a clock.
In Ronan's vision, everything started to rewind, as if someone had pressed the reverse button.
The Avengers' faces gradually shifted back to expressions of shock and disbelief.
Thanos' maniacal laughter also reversed, bringing him back to his earlier determined state.
The massive explosion's energy was compressed back into its original form, and the beam of light piercing the sky returned to the Infinity Gauntlet.
The five shattered Infinity Stones reassembled, restoring themselves to their original state.
Everything... was reset!
Buzz!
A buzzing sound filled their ears as the apocalyptic scene vanished.
"Was that... all an illusion?"
Tony Stark swallowed hard, breaking the silence.
Captain Marvel, always attuned to the Infinity Stones' power, immediately turned her gaze toward Ronan.
She saw the Time Stone glowing in front of his chest.
Ronan merely shrugged.
"Sorry, I have this bad habit," he said with a smirk. "I prefer to keep my things... in my own hands."
With that, all the Avengers' confusion was cleared up.
Including Thanos'.
Now they finally understood why nothing had happened when Thanos snapped his fingers.
It wasn't that the Infinity Stones couldn't grant Thanos' wish, nor that Thanos had made some kind of mistake.
It was because, from the very beginning, one of the six Infinity Stones had been swapped out!
"It was you!"
Thanos glared at Ronan, his eyes fixed on the Infinity Gauntlet on his right hand.
The other Stones still glowed with power, but the Time Stone's slot, while still occupied, was devoid of light.
From the start, Ronan had switched the Time Stone!
"Before we came here, my teacher gave me a replica, just in case," Ronan said, feigning innocence. "After all, the Sorcerer Supreme needs to wear the Eye of Agamotto at all times, but there's got to be a display version for the tourists at Kamar-Taj."
Ronan sighed with mock exasperation.
He had known about this for a long time.
When he was younger, he had once tried to "borrow" the Eye of Agamotto to study the Time Stone.
But the Time Stone hadn't reacted at all.
Later, Ronan found out that the real Eye of Agamotto was always carried by the Ancient One.
What they had in Kamar-Taj was just a replica.
The idea that the most important artifact of the Sorcerer Supreme could just be left lying around for anyone to take? Ridiculous.
I mean, seriously—did anyone really think the Time Stone would be that easy to steal?
Really?
As for why Doctor Strange could try...
Well, that's obvious!
It was all the Ancient One's plan!
"Impossible!"
"You... you..."
Thanos stammered, too enraged to speak.
He hadn't realized the Time Stone was fake.
Even in the earlier battles, he had used the Power Stone against Captain Marvel and the Reality Stone to counter Scarlet Witch's magic.
But he had never once used the Time Stone!
This kind of failure was utterly unacceptable!
"ARGHHHH!!!"
This time, Thanos' furious roar replaced his manic laughter.
In his right hand, the Infinity Stones began to glow once more.
But in the next second, Ronan was suddenly in front of him, smiling.
The power of the Time Stone reversed Thanos' movements as he tried to destroy the Stones.
At last, Thanos truly understood the despair Scarlet Witch had felt.
WHAM!
Ronan's knee slammed into Thanos' stomach, and with a swift motion, the Rings of Ragador cut off Thanos' right hand.
"ARGH!!!"
Thanos' scream echoed across the battlefield.
But Ronan didn't stop.
The energy whip shot out, wrapping around Thanos' neck.
Crack, crack, crack.
The sound of bones breaking filled the air.
Thanos clawed at the tightening whip with his remaining hand, but it was futile.
Soon, another whip tore his left hand away, pinning him to the ground.
Ronan looked down coldly at the fallen Thanos, lips curling into a slight smile.
"Thanos, I didn't come here to negotiate."