"Cortana, enter the battle."
A stunning figure clad in black descended from the sky, landing gracefully atop the fortress wall.
With that, a gaping hole was torn open in the encircling formation of Hydra's mechanical warriors surrounding Kagura.
The tall beauty surveyed the battlefield below.
Her silver-white hair, flowing down to her waist, fluttered wildly behind her in the icy wind.
The black combat bodysuit, tailored like a dress, perfectly hugged her graceful curves while exuding an air as sharp and frigid as a blizzard.
Her piercing blue eyes glowed faintly, carrying a hint of an artificial sheen—subtle streams of data flickered in her pupils, betraying the high-level processing power unique to true automatons.
Her face was expressionless, an icy beauty carved from marble—untouched and unmoved.
A breeze lifted strands of her silver hair across her face, framing her breathtaking features like a masterpiece given life by the wind itself.
If Kagura, adorned in her pristine "White Moon" combat gear, was like an angel dancing through the battlefield.
Then this ice-cold stunner in Rhodes Industries' latest automaton-specialized suit—"Black Moon"—was more like a reaper from the abyss, elegant yet merciless.
"My apologies, Master. I arrived a little late," Cortana said, the corner of her lips lifting in a barely noticeable smirk. "But now, it's harvest time."
"Mm! Perfect timing, Cortana." Kagura tightened her grip on her vibranium longsword.
"Let's show these clunky tin cans what a real automaton is made of!"
"As you command, Master."
Cortana raised her right hand slowly, her blue eyes flickering with light.
She was analyzing the Hydra machines surrounding them.
"Targets locked. Enemy composition analyzed."
"Tactical configuration complete."
"Commencing purge."
From her arm, quantum energy surged forth, weaving through the air like fine, white threads.
These luminous strands interlaced midair, forming a delicate, glowing lattice.
Nearby flying blades were drawn toward Cortana, clustering around her before forming translucent cubes that condensed into a solid weapon in her palm.
Matter conversion: weapon deployment complete!
Quantum threads coiled and tightened until, in an instant, a massive scythe took shape in her hands.
Its crescent blade shimmered ominously as it swept past her, a stark reminder that this beautiful entity was once nothing more than a harmless AI assistant without a physical form.
At that moment, a random thought zipped through Kagura's mind.
'Maybe I should rename her?'
'How about... Rita?'
'Then maybe Chief won't be constantly trying to beat me up...'
...Huh?
'Otto, don't come any closer—!'
——
The next instant, the two warriors moved in perfect sync—steel flashing, blades blazing like falling stars.
Even though Hydra's mechanical soldiers were formidable in both numbers and strength, under the combined assault of Kagura and Cortana, their formation quickly began to collapse.
They couldn't maintain their lines for long.
Had Kagura fought alone, limited by her core energy reserves, Hydra's numerical advantage might have overwhelmed her.
But with Cortana joining the fray, the two covered each other's blind spots, rendering the enemy's coordinated surround tactics completely useless.
Cortana's quantum-alloy scythe radiated searing heat, slicing through anything within reach.
She danced with lethal grace—each spin elegant as a waltz, each strike a whirlwind of destruction.
Elegance and brutality entwined, composing a majestic symphony of annihilation.
In practical terms, a giant scythe is hardly an ideal weapon—impractical, even laughable, in real-world combat.
In historical warfare, it made little sense.
It's the kind of weapon you'd only see in fantasy stories or isekai settings, where adorable girls wield massive scythes in battles fueled by pure belief and raw emotion.
And sometimes... they throw in a blackened, yandere twist for extra spice.
'Ahh... I'll always love Veli—'
'...Ahem!'
But massive scythes weren't purely fictional. They had real-world origins.
Back in medieval times, peasant militias would fashion crude weapons from farming tools—the scythe being one of them.
These makeshift arms were wielded with desperation rather than finesse.
Modern researchers who've studied medieval European martial arts even uncovered specific techniques for using two-handed scythes in combat.
Still, scythes were never meant for war.
Their design wasn't optimized for combat—the awkward weight, narrow attack range, and off-center balance made them inefficient and easy to counter with actual military-grade weapons.
So it makes sense that giant scythes are mostly relegated to fantasy.
And yet, those limitations only apply to normal humans with normal physical limits.
Unlike broadswords or greatswords, whose center of mass is closer to the hilt, scythes focus their weight near the blade allowing for devastating momentum when swung with enough force.
If the wielder has superhuman strength and speed, a spinning scythe can cut through enemies with terrifying efficiency—far surpassing conventional swords of similar size.
And if you coat the blade in electromagnetic energy burning at several thousand degrees...?
Well, more importantly—it just looks cool.
Can a Scottish claymore do that?!
There's no need to argue.
The battlefield, littered with broken machines and sparking metal scraps, was proof enough of the power this automaton–scythe combo wielded.
Of course, the scythe wasn't Cortana's only weapon.
Thanks to her advanced quantum matter-energy conversion system, she could switch between a near-infinite array of melee weapons and ranged firearms—adapting fluidly to any combat scenario.
'This—'
'This is what a true automaton looks like.'
'This is what it means to be a real synthetic warrior!'
'Tremble before it! Bow in awe!'
'Fall in regret, then surrender yourselves!'
The mechanical soldiers that Hydra barely cobbled together using the power of the Mind Scepter were nothing more than cheap imitations in the face of what Kagura proudly called her masterpiece.
Oh—and while we're on the subject of collateral damage in the AI and android departments… Sorry, Tony Stark.
'Oops, my bad~'
[Elapsed Time: 2 minutes and 14 seconds since Cortana entered the battle.]
All of Hydra's combat units in the courtyard within the castle walls had been utterly annihilated.
The remaining robots, realizing they were charging into a slaughter, didn't dare to continue throwing themselves into the fray.
Instead, they retreated into the underground defensive bunkers, setting up a last line of resistance to guard Baron Strucker himself.
It seemed the Baron actually had a shred of backbone left after all.
Kagura sheathed her vibranium blades with a satisfied clap of her hands.
"Phew! That would've been a pain without you, Cortana."
Cortana gave her a cool, composed smile.
"Serving you is my eternal directive, Master."
With a graceful bow, she reverted once again to her usual "motherly AI maid" persona—so calm and collected, it was hard to believe she had just been ruthlessly tearing through enemy lines like a mechanical banshee.
"Master, you should hurry and disable the energy shield. Your allies outside must be getting anxious."
"Right."
Kagura moved toward the castle's network control center.
[Basic Cyber Infiltration: ENGAGED]
I Hydra's internal network breached.
I All data—now being copied and archived.
I Accessing energy shield control system…
I Power supply: Cut.
I Energy shield: Deactivated.
The glowing barrier that had covered the Hydra stronghold vanished instantly. Baron Strucker's final line of defense had crumbled.
"Master," Cortana asked, glancing toward Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, "what about the twins? Should we eliminate them?"
Pietro aka Quicksilver was still lying unconscious on the ground.
Wanda sat slumped in a corner, making no move to resist.
She had used the last of her strength protecting her brother during the chaos of the battle, and overextending her use of Chaos Magic had left her physically drained and mentally exhausted.
At this point, she was no longer capable of fighting back.
"No," Kagura replied. "Take them with us. Let the Avengers keep them under watch for now."
"They're not truly Hydra. They were deceived and manipulated. Once we clear up the misunderstanding, I'm sure we can become allies."
"Understood, Master," Cortana acknowledged.
Now then…
Time for everyone's favorite part— Leveling the place to the ground.