As the massive Future Anti-Celestial Armor collapsed, the battle entered its next phase. The moment the titan fell, its mobility was restricted; Magneto twisted countless cars into shackles, pinning the giant's limbs to the ground, while Strange immediately cast a spell to transmute the ordinary vehicles into reinforced exotic metals.
"I can't hold it for long..."
Feeling the titan's full-force resistance, a layer of fine sweat broke out on Magneto's forehead. "Whatever your plan is, Avengers, you'd better act fast."
"Hank? Has Ultron cracked their base system yet?"
"Not yet, Ultron is still learning and evolving! The previous versions of Ultron were purged by Kang. Re-learning everything now is taking a considerable amount of time..."
Pym sighed helplessly after checking Ultron's code data. In the sky, a group of energy-output heroes, including Storm and Human Torch, all attempted to use their attacks to breach the Anti-Celestial Armor's specialized protective field, but all failed.
Peter intended to step forward and try using his reality-tearing ability, but Strange floated in front of him. "Stop, Spider-Man. You cannot use your power here. The struggle between Korvac and Kang is already pulling at our reality; any slight movement could cause the entire reality to collapse."
"Then what do we do? Do we have any way to handle this thing?"
Peter spread his hands and looked around. He saw Ghost Rider using his chains to throttle a Kang variant, burning him to death with the Penance Stare. Peter then looked back at Strange. Strange hesitated for a moment before realizing what Peter was planning. "You don't mean to say..."
"Yeah. In a way, a suit of armor counts as a 'vehicle,' right?"
As Peter spoke, he swung on a web to Johnny's side. After helping him take out a few enemies, he began to communicate with him. "I thought of a great way to deal with that thing, Johnny. Feeling like a new ride?"
"A new ride? I don't think any new ride can take that thing down."
"That is your new ride."
Johnny froze for a second, looked at the giant titan not far away—which had already broken one arm free and was preparing to fight back—and couldn't help but let out an "Oh."
It actually seemed possible. If he could get inside the thing, could he start it up?
"Fine, provided I can get in. Can anyone get me inside?"
"Shadowcat? Magik? Nightcrawler? Has anyone tried getting inside that thing?"
"We've already tried; teleportation and blinking can't get through." Illyana gave her answer over the comms channel while watching Nightcrawler and Cloak try repeatedly. "Kitty can't do it either. She says there's energy blocking her path."
This power likely didn't originate from the armor itself, but from the Celestial seedling remains within the frame. Peter wasn't sure how to proceed. Suddenly, thunder and lightning erupted in the sky as Thor brought Mjolnir down with all his might in a flash of sparks and bolts.
The next moment, the invincible Thor—along with his hammer—was sent flying backward, vanishing from everyone's sight like a shooting star.
"I think we just lost a god. Whoever flies the fastest, go fish him out."
Tony spoke over the comms, asking helplessly, "Alright, guys, does anyone have the ability to break this turtle shell? Everyone, try something. Physical attacks are useless; what about magic?"
"I'm not sure, Stark, but from a defensive standpoint, the Celestial seems to be running some kind of automated defense mechanism. That's why Spider-Man and Agent Venom succeeded earlier—it doesn't react to non-hostile actions."
"If that's the case, why can't Shadowcat get in?"
"Because Kitty is actively trying to phase through..."
After hearing this, Peter thought of a solution. "Everyone, slow down your attacks! Let the enemy move!"
"What?"
"We have to gamble. Let the enemy actively merge with Kitty instead of the other way around—let it move!"
The towering giant began to move. Amidst the slowed attacks, it broke its upper body free and sat up. At that moment, Cap immediately ordered a full-scale offensive to resume. Hulk leaped in front of the giant, unleashing massive power with punch after punch, bracing against the force field to forcibly slam the giant back down.
Shadowcat, Kitty Pryde, chose to stand beneath the falling titan, waiting for it to collapse onto her. She took a deep breath; if Peter's theory failed, she'd end up dropped into the sewers.
The Anti-Celestial Armor crashed heavily into the ground. A moment of silence followed as everyone was momentarily unsure of the result, but the giant indeed paused for a second or two without moving.
Then, it began to struggle again.
No, wait—perhaps it didn't fail!
Peter's precognition had already seen the scene of the giant's hand passing through a building. He looked at Johnny, only to find that the Rider was already prepared. Johnny expertly drove the Hell Cycle, speeding up the wall of a skyscraper before crashing into the body of the Anti-Celestial Armor amidst excited cheers.
The next moment, hellfire erupted. The massive Anti-Celestial Armor turned into a burning Spirit of Vengeance titan. It threw a heavy punch toward its own chest—the location of its power source—and then another. Everyone immediately unleashed their full range of abilities, striking the Anti-Celestial Armor with everything they had while Johnny kept it hard-crowd-controlled.
At that exact moment, Ultron completed the initial system breach. The giant's movements began to lag, and everyone combined their attacks in one final push. Meanwhile, Peter didn't forget to shout a warning: "Don't get too close, everyone! Even if the Cosmic Cube doesn't work on you anymore, Kang still has the Time Stone! If you get too close, you'll be frozen in time."
It was best for those immune to time manipulation, like Strange or Ghost Rider, to confront Kang. Now, aside from infinite power, Kang had nothing left to be feared; any reality-warping he attempted would be neutralized by Korvac.
However, a scene occurred that caught everyone by surprise. The moment the giant tried to climb back up, a violent explosion erupted at its chest power source.
By the time Peter realized what was happening, he saw a figure emerging from the wreckage of the massive Celestial armor, dragging Kang with him. He held the Cosmic Cube high, as if making a proclamation. Then, Peter heard Reed Richards' roar.
"Put the Cosmic Cube down! Victor!"