"Who's there?"
A faint gust of wind suddenly stirred inside the silent dam base. The unexpected voice made every hair on Stryker's body stand on end.
He did not hesitate for even a second. He threw himself into a roll and away from where he had been standing. In the next instant, a pistol was already in his hand, aimed straight at the source of the voice.
"Mr. Stryker, there's really no need to embarrass yourself by pulling out something like that."
Stryker felt a powerful force seize the gun in his hand. In the blink of an eye, it had completely slipped from his control and flown straight into the newcomer's hand.
"A finely made little toy."
Magneto waved a hand, and a steel bar slowly floated out from the side and bound Stryker in place.
"Magneto?"
Held fast, Stryker stared at the man in front of him in utter shock.
In that brief span of time, everyone in the enormous command room had already been effortlessly dealt with by Magneto alone. Stryker himself had been the last one.
A man in a suit, his skin entirely blood red, stood quietly behind Magneto.
At the same time, Professor X and his wheelchair were gently set down nearby by Magneto as well.
"That child's power has truly exceeded my imagination."
Magneto watched the footage of Fenris mowing through the army on repeat, his face full of amazement. "I had originally planned to have Riptide step in and give him a hand. I never expected him to actually hold Charles's school on his own."
Even Azazel, that old hand who had fought Fenris before, could not help nodding in open approval at the invincible display shown in the recording.
"You brought Professor X here too?"
On the other side, seeing the arrangement Magneto had made and thinking of the half-finished Cerebro he had built, Stryker's pupils contracted. A powerful sense of dread suddenly surged through him.
"Just as you suspect, Colonel Stryker."
Magneto smiled warmly at him. "Thank you for the marvelous inspiration you provided. With a few minor revisions from me, your plan has now become a great undertaking that can benefit mutantkind."
"Are you insane?" Stryker's face turned deathly pale. "How many mutants are there compared to the whole human race? How can you even think of wiping out all humanity?"
"And what would be wrong with that?"
"Don't forget, in the end, we are all the same kind of people."
Magneto gave a cold snort, then tilted his head without changing expression. Azazel's figure vanished on the spot.
When he reappeared, a woman with fair skin and striking beauty was suddenly standing inside the command room.
"Emma, I need you to go into this bastard's mind and take a look. Our plan is still missing one key step."
"Erik, compared to the Black King back then, your madness surpasses his."
The White Queen, Emma, looked at the calm-faced Magneto with a complicated expression. She had never expected Erik to truly go through with such a terrifying plan.
"As long as Charles's brain can bear it, what would I have to fear?"
"Do it. But don't kill him. There's a child who's very eager to see him."
Hearing Erik say that, Emma let out a sigh. She gave Stryker a pitying look, then gently laid her hand on him.
"Take a deep breath..."
...
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Outside the sprawling castle-like school had once been a forest carefully maintained by Professor X. But after a night of brutal fighting, it had already been reduced to utter devastation.
A massive fissure had nearly split the entire forest in two, while blackened burn scars covered the surrounding ground.
The heavy stench of blood and diesel hung in the woods. Combined with the severed limbs and scattered metal wreckage everywhere, the place looked, at first glance, like a vision of hell on earth.
"Ugh—"
Bobby had several thick layers of masks over his face, but the moment he stumbled out of the woods, his complexion deathly green, he bent over and started vomiting uncontrollably.
John was not doing much better.
The two of them had been forced to use their powers at full strength to put out the forest fire, which had already drained them badly. On top of that, every step they took had to be careful, because they never knew what they might accidentally step on. By now, the psychological defenses of both young men were nearly at the breaking point.
"This is really hard on the kids..."
Seeing the students in the distance looking so miserable, Scott could not help feeling bad for them.
Even he felt a subtle discomfort looking at what Fenris had done. How much worse would it be for these kids?
"The world isn't as nice everywhere as it is inside the school. I think Fenris making them clean up the woods is completely fine."
Logan exhaled a long stream of smoke and glanced sidelong at the expressionless Fenris.
That sunny, handsome young man looked like one thing on the surface, but when he actually made a move, he was the complete opposite.
One man wiping out an entire army...
Logan clenched his fist, extending and retracting his claws over and over. The pain of flesh tearing open again and again made him fully realize that Fenris was no longer the same Fenris he had first met - the one who could barely handle Canada's rough weather and roads.
Because now, he had learned how to draw circles.
"Ororo and Jean just brought back the mutant who attacked the President. Let's go. This is a good chance to have Jean find out where the Professor was taken."
Fenris slipped on the Sling Ring and waved his hand. A dimensional portal leading straight to the office opened at once.
"So that's what it's like after learning magic. Must be nice."
Logan casually flicked away the cigar in his hand. Clearly unable to stand how smooth Fenris looked right now, he muttered sourly under his breath.
Fenris glanced back over his shoulder and rolled his eyes in disdain. "What is magic? Is it sharper than my claws?"
"..."
A tiny twitch ran through the corner of Logan's eye.
...
Inside the office.
Aside from Jean Grey and Ororo, the first thing Fenris noticed was a newcomer with blue skin, pointed ears, and a long pointed tail.
Intricate patterns covered his entire body, but his expression was timid, almost shy. When he saw Fenris and the other two stepping in through the dimensional portal, he instinctively put on a nervous, ingratiating smile.
"My name is Kurt Wagner. My ability is teleportation. You can call me Nightcrawler."
"Nice to meet you."
Fenris gave him a friendly smile, then turned to Jean Grey.
"Kurt was the mutant who attacked the President. But he isn't bad by nature. At the time, he was being controlled by Jason, Stryker's son, the Master of Illusions."
Jean briefly explained what she had learned. "Just as Fenris said, all of this was part of Stryker's scheme. Everything he's done has been for the sake of killing all mutants."
"So as long as the Professor doesn't get taken, then we're fine, right? What exactly are we worried about?"
Ororo suddenly let out a breath of relief. "Besides, the school is still perfectly protected under the Professor's watch."
The words had barely left her mouth when she looked around the room, suddenly froze, and blurted out in surprise:
"Where's the Professor?"
(End of Chapter)
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