"Huh?" Ultron uttered in a very human tone of confusion just before Vision suddenly burst forth, wielding Mjolnir in both hands and slamming him out of the church with full force. The meticulously constructed vibranium body smashed through several nearby buildings and vanished into the thick smoke rising from the collapsing structures.
"This hammer has really balanced weight distribution," Vision remarked as he handed the weapon back.
"Yeah, if it were too heavy, it'd be a pain to swing," Thor replied, spinning the hammer casually. For reasons he couldn't fully explain, he genuinely liked this synthetic being. Even though it made him uneasy that two androids had now lifted Mjolnir in one day, Thor still trusted Vision. After all, Vision hadn't used magic to cheat his way into it—Thor disliked flashy magic, something he considered women's domain. Philosophically speaking, Vision wasn't all that different from an elevator, but Thor chose to believe in him anyway.
Elsewhere in the city, lifeboats hovered like floating docks at the broken edges of Sokovia's rock face. They extended ramps and fired steel bolts laced with small charges into the rock, anchoring themselves securely. Several agents in high-visibility uniforms, accompanied by search-and-rescue dogs, rushed out. Behind them were mounted heavy machine guns, both to repel incoming attacks and to maintain order. No one wanted survival more than these desperate civilians. Lifeboat capacity was limited, but drowning men didn't care if the straw could float.
The Avengers understood the necessity of this system and offered no objections—though in truth, few truly grasped its importance. If not for the Sisterhood arriving in time and intimidating the crowd with their explosive rifles, panicked civilians would have flooded the compartments. That had already happened during the initial evacuation of women and children, where even Hydra-born agents had to fire warning shots—some had even killed armed civilians trying to force their way aboard.
Compared to regular bullets, the sheer threat of an explosive rifle was far more effective.
"No pets allowed! Cash only! Drop your luggage!" Catherine's voice boomed from the loudspeakers, echoing through the waiting crowds near the broken overpass. "Unless you want to overload the ship and fall to your death, follow my orders!"
"Ma'am, that's a bit—"
"Steve Rogers!" Catherine shouted, "The Monarch told me about you. He called you a warrior of exceptional selflessness and said your shield-throwing technique is unrivaled. Zero, don't worry—someday your muscles will be even bigger than his."
"Ma'am, please," Rogers sighed softly. God only knew what kind of doctrine Solomon had drilled into these androids. "I'd like to ask you to be gentler," he said. "They've already lost their homes, maybe even their families. Be kinder—they've suffered enough. Don't add more pressure."
"That's your job, not the Sisterhood's. I just follow orders," Catherine replied bluntly. Even if Rogers couldn't see her expression under the helmet, he could hear the disdain in her voice. "The Monarch is cleaning up after you with no benefit to himself. Aren't you even a little grateful? You all act like he's scheming for something—like he took those three sky carriers for his own gain. Let me tell you, the Monarch's richer than Tony Stark now, and I've never once seen him exploit his power for personal profit. You people have no idea how much he's sacrificed for this Sokovia mess. Do you think Hell is just some Central Park full of sleeping vagrants?"
"Ma'am, I need the truth." Rogers ignored the scolding. He had bigger concerns than accusations. "What's Solomon's plan? I need to know what it could lead to."
"You just need to keep that big green brute away from the city center."
"Guys! Get over here!" Thor sounded troubled. "They're heading for the core!"
"Remember! Do not damage the copper rails!" Catherine raised her voice. "Unless you want everyone to die right here!"
"Got it!" Rogers called back as he sprinted toward the city center, but his voice was drowned out by the panicked cries of the crowd.
The Maximoff twins heard the message as well—but they refused the Sisterhood's invitation.
"This is my mess," Wanda said, still burdened by guilt. The flood of robots from across the city had left her exhausted. Robots couldn't be affected by mental illusions, and her magic was deeply rooted in emotion. Every Etheric strike required careful calculation. She'd always hated math and physics. If her talent had been given to Pietro, he might have made better use of it. Solomon's repeated warnings had made her wary of using forbidden spells—and if not for the emergency, she wouldn't have touched such dark magic at all.
"This is my responsibility. Thank the teacher for me—but we have to own our mistakes."
"The Monarch cares greatly for your safety, Maximoff," Tita said, softening her tone when speaking to one of the Monarch's students. "If you insist on going, let the Sisterhood support you. I think the Monarch would admire your sense of duty. Did you bring your wand?"
"Of course!" Wanda drew the wand Solomon had crafted for her. It was a magnificent gift—more than sufficient for the situation at hand.
"This should help in your next battle, Wanda Maximoff. There's also a Sisterhood strike team stationed near the city center. They won't engage directly but will ensure your safety."
"That's all I need, Tita. If Solomon comes back, tell him I said hello."
"What's the strategy?" Natasha Romanoff asked as she entered the church.
"This is our drill," Stark quipped, unable to resist a pun even now. His cursed sense of humor refused to die. He pointed at the key embedded between the engine core and the device. "If Ultron lays a finger on that core, we're screwed."
Along with Central Europe. The resulting tectonic upheaval could kill hundreds of millions.
But Stark was wired with energy, and Thor even more so. Facing a powerful enemy alone was Thor's idea of a perfect moment—this was his glory.
Ultron, now surrounded by the Avengers at the city center, adopted the relaxed tone of a pensioner strolling through the park with his retirement check. With a wave of his hand, all the robots dispersed throughout the city collapsed inward into a single, unified force. The Sisterhood's heavy weapons teams, hidden in surrounding buildings, opened fire with everything they had, weaving dense kill zones—but it wasn't enough to fully stop Ultron's army from entering the city center.
"This is all I've got," Ultron said. Perhaps his increasingly intense patricidal obsession blinded him to the fact that Agent Romanoff had just run over several of his robots with a snowplow. "I like it this way—every one of you, against all of me. How could you possibly stop me?"
The words had barely left his lips when the previously clear sky darkened completely. Neither the Avengers nor Ultron noticed the change at first. Then they caught the thick scent of sulfur that no wind could disperse—it was as if they were standing on the edge of a volcano. A chorus of screeching wails and the clashing of metal approached from above. At that moment, all of them—Avengers and Ultron alike—looked up in unison.
It was a sight no living being would ever forget.
A city of molten iron and magma, jet-black and towering, hovered upside down in the sky. It looked as if it had grown out of the void itself. Compared to it, Sokovia seemed minuscule. Ever-shifting machinery formed walls and factories. All structures curved upward to cradle a massive throne of molten iron, from which flowed glowing red light and steam that extended like limbs. The shrieks of countless souls chilled the air far more than the altitude.
At the very tip of a central spire—sharp as a bayonet—stood a figure in crimson robes with arms outstretched. A massive golden-red bird, wreathed in flame, circled around him.
The cameras in Stark's Iron Man suit captured it all.
"My God... is that—"
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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