Seeing the human army torn apart and driven into chaos by his tide of steel, Senju Haruto did not choose to keep pressing the assault.
He had no real grudge with these men.
The only reason he had acted at all was because they had brought it upon themselves.
What, was he supposed to hand over the AllSpark and bow his head in submission just because of one order from General Ross?
Obviously not.
From the very beginning, his intent was to make them understand exactly what happened to those who dared provoke him.
And in the long run, it would make his own movements far more convenient.
Especially now that he had publicly emphasized his role as a Guardian of the Sanctum, Haruto felt it was the right moment to end this scene.
With a wave of his hand—
The towering Optimus Prime vanished from sight.
Because Optimus was not a machine born from the AllSpark's influence, Haruto could willfully store him, along with Megatron, in his personal auxiliary inventory.
As for the countless mechanical lifeforms awakened by the AllSpark, they all halted at once, transforming back into cars, armored vehicles, tanks, cell phones, and other mundane machines.
The district, already paralyzed, descended into even greater chaos.
Yet every single vehicle remained turned toward Haruto's direction—like worshippers bowing in reverence.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that tonight's events had completely eclipsed Stark's brilliance.
After tonight, there would be no one in this world who didn't know Senju Haruto's name.
And for them…
That name would be a nightmare.
Since the day Haruto began growing stronger in the shinobi world, he had felt something slipping away inside him.
At first, it left him confused.
But now he understood.
He wasn't losing anything. He simply no longer needed it.
The stronger he became, the closer he drew to a state of cold detachment—seeking the path beyond emotions.
Even humanity itself no longer felt as close as it once had.
Looking down on them from above, he was struck by a strange sense of unfamiliarity.
That strangeness numbed him to life itself.
The Ten Rings gang, Ross's soldiers—
In essence, what difference did they make to him?
None at all.
After all, he was never truly of this world.
The only reason he appeared here was to check in, to gather greater power.
Whether it was the Ten Rings playing the villains or Ross playing the hero, in Haruto's eyes, it was all just a matter of perspective.
Different positions led to conflict.
If you tried to judge it in terms of good and evil, right and wrong—
That was nothing but childish thinking.
"Because I'm strong," Haruto thought to himself, "I don't need to fear S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Security Council. I can go wherever I want, do what I want, check in wherever I please."
"As long as someone tries to stand in my way, I can wipe them aside with this power."
Cold-blooded? Perhaps.
But if the roles were reversed, would S.H.I.E.L.D. treat him with kindness?
Of course not.
They would use every means possible to capture him, to control him.
The Avengers might seem like free agents, working alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. as partners.
But in truth, it was only because they were powerful enough to demand respect.
Hulk's strength was unquestionable—there were few alive who could provoke him and survive.
Thor was the thunder god of Asgard.
Stark had the backing of America's most powerful industrial empire; if he ever wished, he could probably run for president.
Captain America was a symbol, a spiritual leader.
Hawkeye and Black Widow were already S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents.
But none of that meant S.H.I.E.L.D. was some flawless, benevolent force.
Take how they dealt with the Inhumans, for example.
Their methods were brutally simple.
Those they could control, they enslaved.
Those they couldn't, they exterminated.
And once S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered an Inhuman, it wasn't just that individual under watch—their friends, family, coworkers, everyone connected to them fell under constant surveillance.
No freedom. No resistance allowed.
You either served S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep your loved ones safe, or you faced disaster.
Against people like that, you had only two options.
Either you avoided their gaze from the very start—
Or you showed them, clearly and brutally, just how small their strength truly was.
Tactics, experience—
In the face of absolute power, they were nothing but decoration.
"And I," Haruto's voice thundered through the street again, "am absolute."
Such a grand display deserved an equally magnificent finale.
He lifted his right hand.
In the sky above, a shimmering portal to the New York Sanctum opened.
The ring of firelight burned brighter than the moon, illuminating the night.
Through the portal, the Sanctum's great hall gleamed in the heavens.
Every witness drew a sharp breath, their worldview shattering once again.
If Haruto's earlier display had been the peak of technology—
This now was magic.
Or perhaps… godhood itself.
Half of New York saw the portal blazing in the sky and fell to their knees, praying.
But Haruto paid no mind to the ripples he caused.
The performance was over.
The curtain had fallen.
With a faint smile, he beckoned Kaguya to his side.
Together they rose into the air, soaring through the portal and returning to the Sanctum.
The fiery circle shrank swiftly, vanishing in seconds.
The night sky returned to calm, as if nothing had ever happened.
But of course—
Everything had already been captured on phones, already spreading across the internet like wildfire.
Inside the New York Sanctum.
Arthur, Anna, and the other followers of Haruto had all gathered, surrounding him.
They hadn't left the Sanctum, but they had been watching his every move.
Even for them—for mages who thought themselves familiar with the truth—they had never seen such power.
To give life to machines.
It was magic beyond imagination.
And Haruto hadn't just created one or two. Not ten or twenty.
Even by the most cautious estimate, the number of mechanical lifeforms awakened tonight had reached into the millions.
The most terrifying part was—
Now that the battle was over, all those beasts of steel had returned to being ordinary tools.
But everyone knew the truth.
The moment Haruto wished it, those tools would rise again as his weapons, his soldiers, his unstoppable might.
And they would crush anyone who stood in his way.
Without mercy.
This dormant beast… was the most terrifying of all.
"Still," Arthur said nervously, "you've broken certain rules."
As mages, they were not supposed to interfere in the realm of ordinary humans.
That was why, during the Battle of New York, the mages had never intervened.
But those old rules…
They no longer bound Senju Haruto.
"You all saw it," Haruto replied calmly. "In that moment, I was forced to act."
"Strictly speaking… this was self-defense."