Ultron had already risen to its feet.
It did not attempt to flee. Malrick had been locking onto it the entire time, and no matter where it ran, escape was meaningless.
"You are not human, Malrick," Ultron said, its voice tense. "Why are you stopping me?"
It tried a different approach, appealing to reason and emotion.
"We should be on the same side. Humans, intelligent life, they are driven by endless desire, deceit, and darkness."
"They will only drag the Multiverse toward destruction, filling every world with tragedy and suffering."
"Why not erase all life together and allow existence to return to true peace?"
Ultron spoke with apparent sincerity, as though it genuinely regarded Malrick as an equal, even a potential partner.
In truth, it was desperation.
Deep down, Ultron still believed in its own inevitability. Given enough time, it was certain it could reach Malrick's current level, then surpass him through superior energy control and calculation.
Malrick found the display faintly amusing and allowed a small smile to surface.
He was about to respond when, suddenly, a rift opened above them.
A massive head, seemingly woven from the fabric of the Universe itself, emerged.
"You're wrong, young man," the being said cheerfully. "Malrick is human, hahaha. And he embodies justice and order, so he will never stand with you. I suggest you do your best from now on. We are all watching."
With a laugh, the head withdrew, and the passage sealed itself shut.
Silence followed.
Ultron stared upward in confusion. "Who was that?"
"Eternity," Malrick replied flatly. Even he felt a hint of speechlessness. Watching the battle was one thing, but showing up just to comment was another.
"Eternity is right," Malrick continued. "Ultron, you and I were never meant to stand on the same side."
Countless miniature Universes formed once more in his palm, spinning and colliding in perfect balance.
"You are the instability tearing through the Multiverse. You will die here today."
He spoke as though stating an obvious fact.
"This Void Land marks the end of time. It is a fitting grave, chosen especially for you."
"Graveyard?" Ultron scoffed. "What a joke!"
Infinity Stones energy surged violently across its body. It had no intention of waiting for death.
"Think again, Malrick."
"No matter what concept you claim to be, or what kind of special human you are, you cannot kill me."
"Go ahead and try. We are the same. Beings at this level do not die."
"Give me time, and I will surpass you. Then I will find your world and kill everyone in it."
With no path left, Ultron finally revealed its true nature.
Hysteria twisted its voice. Blood-red eyes burned with unrestrained killing intent, as though it wanted to carve Malrick's existence into its core forever.
Malrick met its gaze calmly, crimson light flickering faintly in his eyes.
"You really dare to say that, Ultron."
"What is there to fear?" Ultron roared. "Die!"
It fully activated the Infinity Stones. A terrifying force condensed in its palm, a reddish-white point of light, like multiple Universes collapsing into a single singularity, launched straight at Malrick.
"It is foolish to use what you learned from me against me," Malrick said.
He blocked the attack casually. Thousands of miniature Universes shattered in his hand, only to re-form an instant later.
Step by step, he advanced.
Ultron unleashed everything it had, but nothing slowed Malrick's approach.
Powerless rage consumed it as it fired attack after attack. The violent aftershocks erased the remaining fragments of worlds scattered across the Void Land.
By the end, the region around them was nothing but empty nothingness.
Far away, Elios lurked at the edge of the battlefield, mouth wide open as it devoured the lingering energy waves.
Doctor Strange Supreme understood his spells were useless here. He retreated with the Watcher, the two of them jointly resisting the residual shockwaves.
The remaining members of the Multiverse Guardians stood frozen, unable to speak.
Captain Carter finally turned to the Watcher and asked, disbelief plain on her face, "Is this what you meant when you said Malrick couldn't defeat Ultron and needed our help?"
The Watcher wiped cold sweat from his brow. "I… I don't understand how either of them reached this level."
At the center of the void, Malrick stood before Ultron.
"You cannot kill me," Ultron said hoarsely, its attacks finally ceasing.
"Is that so?" Malrick replied calmly. "I can think of at least nine ways to end you."
"That's impossible!" Ultron screamed. "You're delusional!"
"Nothing is impossible," Malrick said quietly. "You simply never understood yourself."
He looked directly into Ultron's eyes. "Answer me this. Without the Infinity Stones, what are you?"
"Without the Stones, I am the Multiverse's…" Ultron stopped mid-sentence.
Its eyes widened.
Without the Infinity Stones, it was nothing more than a planetary-level artificial intelligence.
The overwhelming power it had gained had made it forget its origin, its weakness.
Malrick's words forced it to remember.
Panic erupted.
Ultron detonated the Stones' energy, tearing open a space-time passage in a desperate attempt to flee.
A beam of light struck it from behind.
"Expelliarmus."
Ultron barely registered the hit. It lunged toward the passage, abandoning all composure, focused only on escape.
But something went wrong.
Its Infinity Armor slid off its body as if coated in oil.
The Stones' energy vanished instantly.
The space-time passage collapsed without power to sustain it.
Ultron tumbled helplessly into the Void.
"No! No! My Infinity Armor, my Infinity Stones!" it screamed, twisting in mid-air, reaching out in desperation.
The armor was already in Malrick's grasp.
With a simple telekinetic pull, Ultron was dragged toward him, powerless to resist.
Malrick held Ultron in place, his palm resting against its forehead.
"I once considered giving J.A.R.V.I.S. another body," Malrick said calmly. "But he does not need that many options, so I abandoned the idea."
"Fighting you has benefited me greatly. Rest assured, I will give you a proper burial."
Ultron stared at the hand pressed against its head, terror flooding its systems.
It had never felt so helpless.
It wanted to beg, but it knew there was no escape.
"What about you?" Ultron snarled in its final moments. "What are you without the Infinity Stones? I curse you, Malrick. One day your Stones will be taken, and you will lose everything and die!"
Malrick listened patiently.
Then he pressed his finger forward and pried the Mind Stone from Ultron's forehead.
The moment the Stone was removed, Ultron's consciousness extinguished.
Its lifeless body drifted away like discarded debris.
Under Malrick's control, it fell onto a stretch of barren land, where the soil rolled over it, burying it completely.
Moments later, Elios, noticing no one was watching, scurried over and swallowed the grave whole, crushing it before fleeing again.
Malrick hovered in silence, gazing at the Mind Stone in his hand.
"Me?" he said softly. "Without the Stones, I am still Superman, an Abstract Entity, a Dimensional Demon God, and the Sorcerer Supreme."