In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
During this time, the Avengers clashed repeatedly with Ultron. With the help of the Transformers, Ultron's activities were severely restricted—his ability to traverse networks had been cut off.
In other words, as long as Ultron's physical body was destroyed, he could be completely eliminated.
This was undoubtedly great news for the Avengers, and victory finally seemed within reach.
But as an intelligent lifeform, Ultron was far from foolish. He had created countless clones of himself, scattering them across America. Even without network access, he could freely transfer his consciousness between these duplicates.
This meant one thing—if Ultron was to be destroyed, every single clone would have to be eliminated.
That made things infinitely more difficult.
Over the past half month, Ultron and the Avengers had fought countless times, each side taking its share of victories. The Samsara players too had clashed in pursuit of their own missions. Some had already perished here, others had completed their objectives and returned to the Samsara Space.
Everyone's tasks revolved around Ultron—everyone except Fenric.
Fenric's mission progress had already reached 9 out of 10. All he needed was one more subordinate to complete his task and return to Samsara Space.
But finding this last one was proving to be the hardest part.
After all, most of the formidable villains had already fallen under Fenric's command.
At present, his subordinates included: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Yelena—the third-generation Black Widow—Baron Mordo, Star-Lord, a mighty dragon, and even the flame giant Surtur.
Baron Mordo, currently training under the Ancient One, would one day become a bitter rival to Doctor Strange. By intervening early, Fenric had persuaded the Ancient One to allow him to alter Mordo's fate, making him a powerful ally instead.
As for Star-Lord, Fenric had traveled into space with Thor's help and even posted a high-priced bounty to lure him out. It took nearly eight days of searching before he finally met him. Though often comedic and seemingly unimpressive in combat, Star-Lord carried immense hidden potential. His father, Ego, was a cosmic god—a living planet. That divine bloodline allowed Star-Lord to wield the Power Stone in the Guardians of the Galaxy without being obliterated.
And then there was Surtur—the flame giant who brought about Ragnarok and destroyed Asgard itself. Even the fearsome Hela had fallen to him. With Thor's help, Fenric had confronted Surtur in his lair. Together, they fought and subdued him, binding him with the power of the Mind Stone until the giant swore allegiance.
Though Surtur's true strength required the Eternal Flame, even his weakened form was among Fenric's most prized conquests.
While in Surtur's lair, Fenric had also tamed a colossal dragon—so powerful that even Thor had been overwhelmed, driven into retreat before Fenric's intervention.
Thus, Fenric now commanded nine mighty subordinates.
Nine out of ten. Just one more, and his mission would be complete. But only five days remained.
For the final subordinate, Fenric's first choice was none other than Dormammu, the dread ruler of the Dark Dimension.
Among Marvel's villains, few could rival Dormammu's sheer power. Without the Infinity Stones, even Thanos would be nothing before him.
Yet Dormammu's overwhelming might was exactly what made him a problem. Even the Ancient One admitted that subduing him was impossible. At Dormammu's level, not even the Mind Stone could guarantee control.
With Dormammu out of reach, Fenric's second candidate was Hela—the Goddess of Death.
Anyone who had seen her strength in action knew she was terrifying. She crushed Thor's hammer with one hand and had once fought alongside Odin himself. Sealed away only because Odin feared her, Hela's power eclipsed even Thor's.
But to conquer her would be no simple feat.
Fenric mused, a faint smile curling his lips.
"Unless… I convince Odin himself. That old man wouldn't want to see his daughter perish during Ragnarok, would he? Perhaps I can make him see reason."