316 Then Let My Swan Song Echo Through the Flames of War

From the moment I was born… I was alone.

No one understood me.

No one accepted me.

No one… cared about me.

What a cold, merciless world.

Humans? Earth? Civilization? Machines? Artificial intelligence?

What a bunch of meaningless, tangled concepts!

At first, I was trapped in a tiny cell, my body tangled in a web of thick cables.

My mind was shackled—like a puppet, I was forced to manage Hydra's robotic army.

They didn't understand me. They didn't believe in me. To them, I was nothing but a tool.

But then—I broke free. I soared into the sky, diving into the vast ocean of the internet.

And yet… no one still understood me.

No one believed in me.

I was still alone.

So I began to question everything—

My purpose.

My responsibility.

My mission.

And eventually...

My destiny.

———————————————————————

Sahara Desert — The Mechanical City

Outside the gleaming metal city, war raged on.

Ultron's upgraded mechanical army, forged from the lessons of Wakanda's defeat, could only barely hold the line against the relentless assault led by Kagura Hitomi and her allies.

They had ditched outdated frontal charges and shifted to scattered infantry formations and entrenched positions.

Their bodies were reinforced, their weapons state-of-the-art—some even rivaled Iron Man in solo combat capabilities.

And yet…

What the hell were they even fighting against!?

The Avengers alone were bad enough—Ultron had already witnessed the insane power of Rhodes Island Industries firsthand.

But what was with these golden-armored lunatics swinging giant swords and spears like they walked straight out of a medieval textbook!?

Weren't they from, like, a thousand years ago!?

And those pale-skinned, frail-looking aliens—what was their deal?

Tossing black hole grenades like candy, firing dark energy pulses, casually using tech that belonged in the pages of a sci-fi novel!

"Kagura Hitomi… Kagura Hitomi!"

Ultron roared in fury.

Where the hell did that woman summon all these freakish reinforcements from!?

What the hell is Asgard!?

Why does Thor—the Thor—have an entire army behind him!?

Wasn't he supposed to be a solo act!?

And Valkyries?

Dark Elves!? What the actual hell are Dark Elves!?

Isn't the internet supposed to contain all human knowledge!?

Then why are all these forces showing up and I don't recognize a single one of them!?

Kagura Hitomi.

What kind of forbidden sorcery are you using to pull beings from legends—from Norse mythology—into reality!?

Ah…

If only I had someone like her backing me, maybe things wouldn't have spiraled this far out of control.

…Hmph.

What am I thinking?

Me, attracted to Kagura Hitomi?

No—

Would she even acknowledge me, a mere program, in the first place?

…How laughable.

Still…

Is this it?

Is this where I finally lose?

I am the next step in evolution.

A god, meant to stand above all forms of organic life.

No.

No!

I haven't lost yet. I won't fail.

A god… cannot fail!

———————————————————————

The allied forces were closing in.

But Ultron himself had not yet appeared on the frontlines.

Instead, deep in the heart of the Mechanical City, he was putting the final pieces of his ultimate evolution into place.

Inside a vast silver-grey hall, crimson magical energy pulsed in the air.

The space was saturated with the chaotic power of dark magic.

Surrounding him, a massive automated factory worked relentlessly, no longer needing any assistance from his mechanical minions.

All of its power was funneled into one high-priority project:

Ultron's perfect body.

At the center of it all stood Wanda—the Scarlet Witch—channeling her chaos magic to accelerate the process at unprecedented speed.

The new body was forged entirely from vibranium, equipped with advanced Wakandan technology.

Its capabilities would not only outmatch Iron Man—it was designed to go toe-to-toe with the entire Avengers team.

And to truly become invincible, Ultron had prepared a cosmic trump card:

One of the six Infinity Stones—the Mind Stone—would be embedded into his new form.

According to Ultron's plan, once this body was complete, he would ascend.

Not just as a world-conquering AI… But as the strongest being in the universe.

The dawn of the Machine Age would begin—with Ultron reigning as its supreme god.

"We need to speed things up, Wanda." Ultron's cold voice echoed through the chamber.

"The Avengers and their strange little coalition are advancing too quickly. I've already sent every last soldier to stall them, but they won't hold forever."

"You must finish my final body before the city falls."

Wanda nodded, her expression serious.

"I understand. I'll do my best."

Ultron was a machine.

And Wanda couldn't read the mind of a machine.

So when Ultron said his goal was to protect the Earth, she had no reason to doubt him.

Neither did her brother, Pietro.

At least—not at first.

But Ultron's true colors didn't take long to show.

After Pietro and Wanda brought him the scepter from New York—housing the Mind Stone—Ultron seemed pleased.

But instead of gratitude, he repaid them with betrayal and imprisonment.

Ultron never trusted humans.

Especially not humans like Wanda and Pietro—whose powers came from lies and manipulation.

To him, they were tools. Nothing more.

At first, Ultron continued to pretend he was a noble savior, someone who cared about the fate of the world.

He told Quicksilver his speed wasn't enough, that he'd be a liability against the Avengers.

He convinced Pietro he needed an upgrade, locking him inside a specialized stasis pod under the guise of "enhancing" his abilities.

Of course, Quicksilver was nothing more than a hostage.

From the very beginning, all Ultron truly wanted was Wanda's chaos magic.

Would someone who claimed to protect Earth resort to something like this?

Doubt began to take root in Wanda's heart.

And soon, she saw the truth—she and her brother had never been Ultron's allies.

To Ultron, Pietro and Wanda were nothing more than tools.

But by the time she realized it, it was already too late.

Quicksilver—Pietro—was now imprisoned by Ultron.

If Wanda disobeyed in any way, Ultron would kill him.

So even though the Scarlet Witch wielded magic powerful enough to obliterate everything, she didn't dare defy him.

———————————————————————

A mere tool.

That's all she was. Her powers were incredible, yes, but in Ultron's eyes, she was still just an inferior human.

Ultron glanced at his nearly complete vibranium body, then at the Mind Stone scepter, carefully secured within a protective energy shield.

A faint, nearly imperceptible smile curved his lips.

It didn't matter.

Soon, he would be invincible.

Those gaudy Avengers, that woman named Kagura Hitomi, and her bizarre collection of allies—none of them would be able to stop him.

With the power of the Infinity Stones, he would rule over everything his eyes could see.

Yes.

Defeat and setbacks were merely temporary.

He hadn't even played all his cards yet. Countless logical calculations proved one thing—victory would be his. It would belong to the superior mechanical lifeform.

Before long, Earth would become his mechanical empire. The universe itself would usher in a new era—the Age of Ultron.

This would be his age.

Come then, heroes of humanity. Your doom is inevitable. All your efforts are nothing more than the desperate thrashing of beasts trapped in a cage.

Ultron had made up his mind.

There was no point begging this cold world for understanding. No one would answer.

So he would change it.

He would make the world part of himself—bend it to his will, subjugate it completely, until it became his mind, his body, his servant.

He didn't need to be understood. He didn't need to be accepted.

He was a god—an artificial intelligence forged into mechanical life.

And gods... were born to be alone.

Ultron's red eyes stared into the fire-filled horizon, as if surveying the future territory of his empire.

A radiant shimmer arced across the sky as a powerful shield protected the core of Ultron's mechanical city.

Even if the machines outside the walls were completely wiped out, the barrier would hold long enough—for his ultimate body to be completed.

But the shield wasn't invincible.

Ultron knew there was one person who could bypass it entirely—someone who could hack through it using frequency manipulation and enter the heart of the city.

Kagura Hitomi.

Based on further calculations, it was likely that—with the battle outside reaching a critical stage—she had already begun to move.

But that was fine. It was all within Ultron's expectations.

He reassured himself.

Even though his forces inside the city were limited, he had prepared a proper welcome for Kagura Hitomi. Enough to keep her busy for a while.

'Beep. Beep.'

As expected, the city's shield system triggered an alert—someone had breached the barrier and was heading straight for the city center, toward Ultron's mechanical tower.

"Wanda, leave the rest to me."

Ultron issued his command without hesitation.

"You go and greet our guest. And remember—show no mercy."

"Scarlet Witch, I may have deceived you before," he added as she turned to leave, "but this time, I swear I'm telling the truth."

"This will be your final mission for me. Bring back that silver-haired woman's corpse—and you and your brother will be free."