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Chapter: God Quarry

Thanos' pupils contracted as he turned to look, his face registering disbelief. "Eros?"

Standing behind him was a red-haired man in white attire. This man was none other than his younger brother, Starfox Eros.

"You're still alive?" Thanos exclaimed.

Eros smiled wryly. "Compared to you, it's a miracle that I am. Last I recall, you broke Odin's seal."

Thanos looked perplexed. "You were trapped on Titan, a planet completely depleted. Why..."

"Yes, it's drained but not entirely barren," Eros interjected, continuing slowly, "After the wars decimated most of our kin, the remaining resources sustained us."

Thanos clenched his fists. "And you?"

"You were once one of us," Eros pointed out, "until you betrayed us."

"In war and conquest, we pledged to be the last survivors. This was an unspoken agreement... Yet you devised that absurd plan to randomly exterminate a portion of our people."

"Such a beautiful plan, so fair," Eros mocked. "You, the saint proposing it. But alas, even those fated to perish defied you."

He added, "No one should betray their family ,brother."

"Perhaps," Thanos approached Eros, his voice low, "But is it right to betray our people, our comrades?"

Eros instinctively stepped back, sensing something. "You seem weakened now?"

Thanos fell silent, unable to conceal his frailty, almost unsteady on his feet.

"Aren't you dying?" Eros chuckled. "So you've returned to your roots?"

"But Titan rejects you," he continued, indifferent. "You'd do well to find a new resting place."

"I am a Titan. Why shouldn't I rest here?" Thanos' fists tightened.

"Have you seen the bones at your feet?" Eros pointed out a pile of bones by Thanos' feet, mostly obscured by mud. "Guess how they spurned you in their lives?"

Thanos bowed his head in silence.

"Haha, relax, I jest," Eros grinned. "If you wish to die here, no one will stop you."

"It's been long since you've known happiness, hasn't it? Let me help you. Try this."

With a twitch of his lips, Eros gestured towards Thanos, unleashing an unseen surge of energy.

Infuriated, Thanos seized Eros by the throat. "Shameless!"

Eros possesses unique powers among the Eternals, capable of inducing ecstasy, making him a revered figure in the realm of divine sports—a stark contrast to Thanos' stern and traditional demeanor, now steeped in melancholy, seeking solace in his roots.

"Cough!" Gasping for air, Eros struggled against Thanos' grip.

Despite his rage, Thanos refrained from harming Eros; his strength waning.

He knew his end was near—the disease was devouring him.

Shoving Eros aside, Thanos wordlessly returned to his ship, restarted its systems, and staggered away from his birthplace, Titan.

Days passed.

Thanos wandered the cosmos aimlessly in his dilapidated vessel.

He lay in the pilot's seat, so feeble he could barely move, his once-purple skin now shriveled like a dehydrated potato.

Once a universal conqueror, now adrift and bereft of a suitable tomb.

Death approached...

Thanos sighed, adjusting the ship's course toward a nearby black hole.

He closed his eyes.

The ship, unsteady, hurtled towards the event horizon, accelerating, disappearing into its dark maw...

Time blurred.

Thanos hesitantly opened his eyes, expecting oblivion, yet found the ship stationary in a vast chasm—a space capable of cradling a small planet.

Embedded in the chasm's walls were myriad stone statues.

Some statues were colossal, god-like; others mere mortals. Warriors brandishing massive swords, angels with wings, demons with horns...

Each statue exuded ancient, enduring vitality, as if frozen in eternal dreams.

"This is..." Thanos frowned, stepping out of his ship.

"Welcome to the God Quarry," echoed three faint voices.

Following the sound, Thanos beheld three elderly women in black robes, suspended in a triangular formation—a sentinel trio.

"Infinity's Witches!" Recognizing them, Thanos uttered in awe.

These seemingly ordinary women wielded mysterious and immense power, rivaling even the cosmic entities known as the Five Gods.

The Five Gods—besides the Planet Devourer—were abstract entities, embodiments of universal laws.

Thanos never imagined encountering the Infinity's Witches, rumored to exist only in legends, upon entering the black hole.

The Witches spoke solemnly, "You've seen the stone statues here. They are gods who've passed over countless eons. Perhaps you'll be the next statue."

"Alternatively," they continued, "you can unearth the gods' legacies from this quarry, be reborn, and ascend to true godhood... provided you pass the Immortal Wall's trial."

Thanos pondered silently. "Why?"

"There's no 'why,'" the Infinity's Witches intoned calmly. "We merely fulfill our duty; the creation of rules is beyond our concern."

Glancing at the god statues adorning the Immortal Wall once more, Thanos hesitated briefly before decisively scaling the stone surface.

With a surge of divine power, Thanos transformed into a stone statue, joining the ranks of those in perpetual slumber, awaiting an uncertain awakening...

"Will he awaken before eternity's end?"

"I think so."

"I doubt it."

The Witches' conversation seemed almost like echoes of a single voice, three faces speaking as one...

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