Wherever Hulk passed, nothing remained intact.
The robots were smashed into piles of twisted scrap metal—most of them didn't even resemble humanoid shapes anymore.
"HULK!!"
Like a cannonball, Hulk launched himself into the sky. Midair, he grabbed two passing robots and used them like metal gauntlets, smashing straight into a swarm of machines.
BOOM!
He crashed to the ground like a meteor.
Dust exploded outward as a crater over a meter deep formed beneath him. Within a ten-meter radius, nothing remained intact—robots, pavement, even nearby buildings collapsed under the force of the impact.
---
"Karl, Ultron's in the church!"
Tony's voice came through the communicator. His floating drones automatically locked onto nearby robots while his repulsors fired continuously.
"Got it."
Karl immediately flew toward the church, lightning crashing down around him along the way.
---
The Church
"Ultron…"
Karl slowly descended through the shattered roof.
The church was already in ruins.
Karl hovered in midair, surrounded by swirling lightning, frost, flames, wind blades, and shards of stone.
Ultron rose into the air as well, stopping at the same height as Karl.
"You again," Ultron said, his red eyes blazing.
"You stole what was meant to be mine. You ruined my plans again and again—even destroyed my body."
"Among the Avengers, you are the greatest threat."
Fury burned in Ultron's mechanical gaze.
From the beginning, every one of his plans had been disrupted by this human.
And now that same human dared to stand before him again.
Ultron lunged forward and threw a punch.
His body was now reinforced with vibranium. If Karl could break the old alloy body, Ultron refused to believe vibranium wouldn't hold.
At once, the five elemental forces around Karl shot forward, transforming into five razor-sharp blades.
Ultron twisted aside to evade them, firing twin energy beams from his eyes.
A giant snowflake appeared before Karl, forming an ice wall that blocked the beams before shattering.
By then, Ultron had already reached the massive device.
"You took my world," Ultron said.
"Now I'll take yours."
He slammed his hand down and activated the mechanism.
---
The Engines Awaken
Two thousand meters underground—
The enormous anti-gravity engines ignited.
Blue energy flames erupted violently.
On the surface, the ground began to tremble violently.
Centered on the church, the earth within a ten-kilometer radius began to split apart. Massive cracks tore across the land as terrified civilians ran in panic.
RUMBLE—
The earth roared as it began to rise.
The entire area slowly lifted upward.
Tens of thousands of people who hadn't escaped in time were pulled toward the center as the ground surged upward beneath them.
Bridges collapsed.
Roads shattered.
Within a ten-kilometer radius, Sokovia's landmass slowly tore free from the earth and rose into the sky.
Everyone could only stare in shock.
Half the city was now floating above the ground.
---
"JARVIS… what's happening?" Tony asked.
"Sir," JARVIS replied,
"the city is ascending. Sokovia is lifting into the air."
The entire landmass trembled violently.
Mountains crumbled.
Half the city now floated high above the ground.
From beneath the earth, more than a dozen anti-gravity engines emerged.
Sokovia was rising.
---
Ultron ascended high above the floating city, gazing down at it like a god overlooking creation.
"Humans… do you see the beauty in this?" he said.
"You cannot escape this ending."
"The city rises only so it may fall."
He spread his arms wide.
"Avengers! Look carefully!"
"You will become part of this meteor—participants in my cleansing of the world."
"All your efforts are meaningless."
"You are destined to fail."
"When the dust settles, the only beings left will be us."
"Only us."
Ultron welcomed the rising city like the birth of a new world.
---
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, a streak of blue light flashed through the air.
In an instant it reached Ultron.
Before he could react, the light pierced straight through his chest.
It was a crystal sword—Karl's ultimate weapon.
Ultron's body plummeted toward the ground.
But another Ultron immediately rose into the sky.
"Your efforts are pointless," he said coldly.
"I will never die."
"My body will never age."
"My consciousness will never disappear."
---
The Avengers' Desperation
Under Steve Rogers' command, the Avengers began gathering civilians.
As many as they could.
But Sokovia was already airborne.
Panic spread everywhere.
Even the Avengers themselves felt despair creeping into their hearts.
The city had already risen over a thousand meters into the sky.
The air was thinning.
Violent winds howled like knives.
Some civilians were even swept away by the storm.
---
Tony flew beyond the city's edge, looking down at the enormous engines beneath Sokovia.
"Sir," JARVIS said,
"the vibranium core is generating a magnetic field. It synchronizes all the anti-gravity engines and keeps the city intact."
A full scan of Sokovia appeared in Tony's HUD—every engine and the massive underground device clearly mapped.
"What happens if this thing falls?" Tony asked.
"If it falls now," JARVIS replied,
"the impact will immediately kill tens of thousands."
"But if it rises higher… the resulting collision will destroy the entire Western Hemisphere."
Tony's face darkened.
He activated the communicator.
"Guys… bad news."
"If the city keeps rising, the Western Hemisphere is finished."
Steve smashed a robot apart with his shield.
"Then what's the plan, Stark?"
Tony sighed.
"The only solution is to break the city apart completely."
"That'll minimize the damage… but Sokovia itself probably won't survive."
After running every possible simulation, it was the only option with the lowest casualty rate.
Steve didn't hesitate.
"Then do it."
"Stark, focus on that."
"The rest of us have one job—"
He looked at the endless robot army.
"Rip Ultron and his army to pieces."
---
The Final Battle Begins
The Avengers launched into a furious assault against the robotic swarm.
But the machines were endless—like locusts blotting out the sky.
Wanda left behind a clone, which immediately raised a protective barrier around thousands of Sokovian civilians.
Clint had already run out of arrows.
Now he had to retrieve spent ones from the battlefield while fighting off robots at the same time.
Fortunately, Natasha arrived to support him.
Only then did Clint finally get a moment to breathe.
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