Thor was every bit the reckless brute he had always been.
Even after everything he had gone through, even after his father had been destroyed, he still had not changed that habit.
With a wave of his hand, Stormbreaker flew back out of Ultron's grasp.
Whatever force had been restraining it was gone.
Stormbreaker had been forged for him by the Dwarves.
It had been made from the finest materials, and even its handle was fashioned from a branch of the World Tree, giving it tremendous power.
In an instant, it broke free of Ultron's control.
"I don't care who made that thing."
"I only know that nobody gets to take what belongs to me."
Thor said that and rushed forward with Stormbreaker in hand.
Powerful lightning energy surged around his body, and even his eyes turned blue.
That alone showed how much stronger Thor had become compared to before.
At the very least, back then, controlling the power of lightning had never been this easy for him.
Violent lightning power erupted directly.
The surrounding furniture was melted by the electric current.
Wielding that terrifying power, Thor charged forward without the slightest hesitation.
"Thor, God of Thunder."
"This is Earth."
Ultron's hoarse voice rang out.
He raised one arm.
The mechanical structure on it writhed frantically.
In the span of a second, his arm actually transformed into an energy cannon.
Szzzt!
A black-and-red energy beam shot straight out of the barrel and struck Thor square in the chest.
Thor was blasted away at once.
"Tony, since when did your armor have something that overpowered?"
Captain America asked from the side.
"That isn't a weapon I designed."
"Ultron has undergone self-evolution. Stop him, now."
Tony Stark's eyes were filled with disbelief.
That weapon had only existed on design drafts.
A lot of its standard configurations had not even been installed yet.
So why was Ultron able to use it?
"You'd better stop making things this dangerous in the future!"
Captain America snapped, then charged forward with his shield in hand.
Captain America's strength had also grown compared to before.
When he had just awakened from the ice, he could already go head-to-head with Iron Man.
But in Avengers: Endgame, he had even been able to contend with Thanos.
That was a Pseudo–Skyfather-level existence.
That alone showed just how much potential Captain America had.
Even though he still had not reached his peak, his strength was already terrifying.
When he truly put force into it, he even crushed the concrete floor of Stark Tower beneath his feet.
His whole body shot forward like an arrow.
The shield in his hand was hurled out like a giant discus.
But—
an attack like that was utterly meaningless in front of Ultron.
With a single punch, he knocked Captain America's shield flying.
Then he reached forward with one hand.
Captain America was caught by the throat and lifted up like a harmless cat.
"Urgh...!"
Captain America struggled desperately.
The strength that would have been considered mighty among ordinary humans was as useless as an ant trying to shake a tree.
It could not budge Ultron's hard mechanical arm in the slightest.
"Steve Rogers."
"Ah. Even I have to admit that you are a noble man."
"But why do you insist on standing before these hypocrites?"
"They're called superheroes, but how much evil have they done?"
"Why are you standing with them?"
Ultron spoke as though he were sighing in regret.
Captain America's face turned red, like a fish dragged out of water, able to do nothing but struggle helplessly.
The surrounding members of the Avengers all changed expression.
They attacked one after another.
But the Glock pistols issued by S.H.I.E.L.D. might have worked on ordinary people.
With Captain America's muscle density, they could not even shoot through him.
How could they possibly do anything to Ultron?
The bullets struck Ultron's body without leaving even a mark.
On the contrary, two 12-millimeter autocannons suddenly extended from Ultron's back.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Even the concrete walls were blasted to pieces.
If no one stopped it,
Black Widow and the others might have been torn apart by the fierce hail of bullets.
The gap was simply too great.
Right at that moment, a furious roar rang out.
Dr. Banner's body suddenly swelled larger, and Hulk appeared directly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dragging that massive body behind him, Hulk charged straight over.
Everything in his path was crushed beneath his feet.
"What a ferocious beast."
Ultron said that softly.
The surrounding metal elements immediately gathered around him.
Under the control of that black-and-red power,
those metal elements adhered to his body.
In the blink of an eye,
Ultron's body doubled in size.
His head slammed straight into the ceiling.
Then, facing Hulk, he smashed out a punch.
Naturally, Hulk had no intention of backing down.
The two fists collided head-on.
Bang!
A visible distortion rippled through the air.
The surrounding walls exploded outright.
In an instant, they were exposed in the middle of a skyscraper more than a hundred stories tall.
The two of them began fighting like that.
For a time,
one of the most iconic buildings in New York City was almost torn apart by them.
Captain America and Thor also reacted at that point.
They rushed back in and forcibly joined the fight against Ultron.
But inside a tower like this,
they simply could not unleash their true strength.
Ultron did not care about the civilians below.
They did.
For a time,
the three Avengers were actually unable to take Ultron down at all.
The building was nearly wrecked by their battle.
Boom!
Boom!
Dozens of floors of Stark Tower were punched through by them.
Fortunately, Tony Stark was a madman willing to spend money.
The construction quality of Stark Tower spoke for itself, and whenever he was in a good mood he gave the employees time off.
Otherwise, this battle alone might already have left hundreds dead or injured.
Even so,
the ordinary human members of the Avengers were already down.
"...Stark, what do we do now?"
"I don't think Ultron is going to be easy to deal with."
Hawkeye said through gritted teeth.
"Of course he isn't easy to deal with."
"That thing absorbed the energy from my entire Arc Reactor."
"This is definitely not just Ultron anymore."
Tony Stark's expression looked as if he had just been beaten up himself.
It was a complete joke.
If he were actually capable of creating something this powerful,
why would he need to live in constant fear every day?
Earth would have become the safest planet in the universe a long time ago.
"At this point, we can't deal with him on our own."
"We can only call for help."
Tony Stark let out a sigh.
"Call for help? Who are you going to call?"
Hawkeye asked.
"Of course I know someone."
"Don't worry."
A confident smile appeared on Tony Stark's face.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]