Karl dodged Ultron's attack and returned fire.
While evading the bullet midair, Ultron suddenly rushed in and threw a punch toward Karl.
Karl's cloak instantly wrapped around Ultron's fist.
At that moment, two enormous arms formed from magic appeared beside Karl.
They were made entirely of solid rock—massive and fortress-like in strength.
BOOM!
One of the stone arms slammed into Ultron.
The impact felt to Ultron as if he had been struck by a high-speed train.
His internal components rattled violently.
The tremendous force blasted him backward.
He crashed straight into a train, leaving a massive dent in the carriage.
---
At the same time, Thor flew in and landed on top of the truck.
"Thor! Draw the two robots inside the cargo compartment away!" Natasha shouted.
Her motorcycle accelerated again, already reaching the rear of the truck.
"Leave it to me!"
Thor jumped through the hole in the roof.
He smashed one robot apart with a single strike of Mjolnir, then grabbed the other and flew upward with it.
"It's yours now!" Karl shouted toward Natasha.
He then leapt forward to confront Ultron again.
Ultron had just regained his footing, but Karl gave him no time to recover.
Karl drew the Ultimate Divine Weapon and slashed down at him.
Ultron raised his arm to block.
He relied on the strength of his super-alloy body, completely ignoring the blade.
After all, the sword looked like nothing more than a crystal blade, far less durable than metal.
He didn't take the attack seriously.
Slash—
The blade came down.
Ultron's arm was severed instantly.
Black oil sprayed into the air like blood.
For the first time, a human-like expression of shock appeared on Ultron's face.
He immediately fired a repulsor blast at Karl while red beams shot from his eyes.
Karl swung the sword again.
A wall of ice-blue frost formed instantly.
The blast and lasers struck the wall, shattering it—but the attack was successfully blocked.
---
Meanwhile, Natasha stood on her motorcycle and leapt onto the truck.
Inside the cargo compartment, there were no robots left—only the Regeneration Cradle.
Just then—
Three robots sped in from behind.
But instead of attacking Natasha, they flew beneath the truck's cargo container.
They lifted it.
With a burst of thruster power, the entire truck container rose into the air.
Natasha lost her balance and fell to the floor, nearly tumbling out.
Luckily, she grabbed the straps securing the cradle and pulled herself back up.
---
Above them, Clint's Quinjet followed closely.
"Target is airborne," Clint reported. "I can take the shot."
"Hold it, Barton!" Natasha said quickly. "I'm still inside the container. Get ready—I'll throw the target to you."
She pulled out a dagger and cut one of the securing straps.
"How exactly do you expect me to catch it?" Clint asked.
"That's your problem," Natasha replied.
---
Ultron sensed what was happening through his network connection with the robots.
"Damn it!"
He immediately attempted to fly toward the container.
"Going somewhere?" Karl stepped in front of him, sword raised, blocking the path.
"Get out of my way!"
Ultron threw a punch.
But losing one arm had disrupted his balance.
And Karl had been waiting for that flaw.
"Rage Fist!"
Countless stone fists appeared behind Karl, forming a storm of attacks.
They rained down on Ultron like a relentless barrage.
Ultron tried to raise his arm to defend himself—
But a strange force within the attack locked his body in place.
He couldn't move.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fists struck repeatedly.
Ultron's alloy armor shattered like glass under the assault.
Black oil sprayed out like a fountain.
His consciousness began to blur, the lights in his eyes flickering erratically.
Finally—
BOOM!
The last punch landed.
Ultron's body exploded into fragments.
Not a single intact component remained.
---
High in the air, Natasha had finally freed the cradle.
"Barton! Get ready!"
Clint opened the Quinjet's cargo door and turned the aircraft so the opening faced the container.
Natasha jumped, pushing the Regeneration Cradle toward the aircraft.
But suddenly—
A robot intercepted them midair.
"Damn it!"
Clint immediately turned the jet and aimed the machine guns.
But he couldn't fire.
Natasha was still in the robot's grip.
One burst from the Quinjet's heavy guns would tear her apart.
The robot grabbed the cradle with one hand and Natasha with the other, preparing to escape.
Just then—
Karl and Thor arrived.
"I'll deal with the robot," Karl said. "You catch Natasha."
Without hesitation, Karl swung his sword.
A green wind blade shot forward, slicing off the robot's arm holding Natasha.
Natasha fell.
Thor reacted instantly, catching her and flying toward the nearby Quinjet.
---
Karl slashed again.
Another wind blade flew toward the robot.
But the machine suddenly dodged.
The blade struck the Regeneration Cradle instead.
BOOM!
The cradle shattered in the explosion.
The body inside was torn apart.
Fortunately, the Mind Stone did not detonate.
It fell along with the head of the unfinished body.
Karl accelerated instantly and grabbed the head in midair.
The yellow gem embedded in its forehead still glowed.
Karl knew that Infinity Stones were unstable when exposed—just like the Power Stone before.
Cold mist appeared in his palm.
A sphere of solid ice formed, sealing the Mind Stone inside.
The head disintegrated into icy fragments within the frost.
To be absolutely safe, Karl stored the stone directly into his system inventory.
Inside that space, it couldn't explode no matter how unstable it became.
---
Meanwhile, Thor was flying Natasha back to the Quinjet.
But suddenly—
A robot slammed into them.
Thor loosened his grip for a split second.
Natasha was snatched away.
The robot caught her and immediately rocketed upward, fleeing at full speed.
"NO!"
Thor roared and spun Mjolnir, chasing after it.
Clint also turned the Quinjet and pursued the escaping robot.
---
Karl hovered in the air, looking down at the burning wreckage of the destroyed cradle.
Because of him, the body inside had been destroyed as well.
Which meant—
Vision would never exist.
Karl didn't feel the slightest regret.
After all, in his previous life's story, Vision had been Wanda's partner.
Now Wanda belonged to him.
As for a rival like Vision—
The farther away he stayed from existence,
the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~