Charles's psychic power surged into Erik's shattered consciousness.
The golden imprint left by Apocalypse struggled violently, ancient runes writhing like living things.
Charles didn't retreat. He poured in decades of accumulated power, calling his old friend's na again and again.
Erik—those who died are gone, but the living still need you!
His voice echoed through the void.
Do you rember our vow? Mutants and humans, coexisting in peace. Apocalypse brings only destruction—and you were never a destroyer.
A flicker of light appeared in Erik's hollow eyes.
Suppressed mories surged forth—Magda's smile, Nina running through the grass, long nights debating ideals with Charles over a chessboard, the countless mutants who had followed him.
"Charles…" Erik's voice was hoarse. "Can I still atone?"
"You don't need atonent, my friend," Charles said with a tired smile. "Just be yourself again."
High above—
Erik's body trembled.
The golden runes covering his eyes suddenly erupted into silver-white light.
His magnetic field—his true power—exploded outward. tal within ten kiloters began to tremble.
Apocalypse paused and turned, shock appearing on his face for the first ti.
The massive tallic sphere above the school—over fifty ters wide—began to crack.
"Impossible…" Apocalypse growled. "My mark is absolute!"
Erik roared in response.
"Absolute?" He raised his hands, silver-white light spiraling in his palms. "Who do you think you are—God?!"
The tal sphere exploded.
Tens of thousands of steel fragnts reassembled midair into over a hundred massive spears, each ten ters long, each radiating terrifying power.
"This strike… is for those who died by my hand!"
Erik's voice was filled with grief and fury.
The spears rained down toward Apocalypse.
Apocalypse raised his hand. His golden domain contracted into a cocoon of light.
The spears slamd into it with deafening force, shockwaves compressing the air into white blasts. But the deflected spears curved midair, striking again from behind.
Apocalypse frowned, forced to divide his focus.
Hang moved.
The Dark Trident beca a streak of black light, its tip wrapped in Death Law, piercing directly toward a crack in the golden cocoon. Space Law condensed at its tip, drilling through.
Slash—
The shield split open.
The trident pierced through, carving a deep wound across Apocalypse's shoulder. Golden blood sprayed out—only to be devoured into ash by Death Law.
Apocalypse roared in pain.
His face twisted with fury.
Injured.
A re anomaly—and a broken Horseman—had drawn his blood.
"You… will die!"
His eyes beca blazing golden flas as he spread his arms.
Power surged wildly. Space warped and twisted.
Molecular Manipulation. Energy Amplification. Spatial Distortion. Matter Reconstruction.
Four law-level abilities erupted simultaneously.
The golden domain expanded violently—instantly engulfing Erik.
Erik barely ford a magnetic shield before being struck.
He plumted from the sky, smashing through three trees and carving a five-ter crater into the ground, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Erik!" Charles cried out through the communicator.
Hang's expression darkened.
He hadn't copied magnetic control yet—Magneto couldn't die here.
"…Fine. I'll use this chance to fully awaken Jean's Phoenix Force. I've waited long enough—it's ti to harvest."
Hang turned toward the dical bay.
Jean Grey gritted her teeth, hands pressed against the ground, barely maintaining a golden-red barrier to protect the injured students behind her.
Veins bulged across her forehead. Her body trembled—on the verge of collapse.
But deep within her—
Hang could feel it.
That power suppressed for over a decade was raging, slamming against the cage of her consciousness, desperate to break free.
It's ti.
Hang took a deep breath. The Dark Trident dissolved into black particles, rging back into his body.
He didn't attack again.
Instead, he teleported thirty ters above the ruins of the dical bay, hands clasping together.
Ten laws gathered in his palms:
Space. Ti. Force. Life. Death. Mind. Reality. Soul. Body. Devouring.
They condensed into a fist-sized sphere, radiating a heart-stopping aura.
This wasn't for attack.
Hang tossed it into the sky.
At a height of one hundred ters, it exploded into countless multicolored threads, forming a vast net that covered the entire school.
These threads were markers, locking onto every lifeform at the level of laws themselves.
Apocalypse understood instantly. A cruel smile spread across his face.
"You wish to protect them? Pathetic compassion. I'll show you how fragile your 'protection' truly is!"
He shifted targets.
Both hands ca together—
A torrent of golden destruction surged toward the dical bay.
Where it passed, space tore apart, earth shattered, and air burned into plasma, blazing with blinding white light.
Jean's pupils shrank.
That attack could erase everything within a hundred ters instantly.
Scott. Ororo. Psylocke. Angel. The children in the shelter—
None would survive.
"No… no…" Jean's voice trembled.
She pushed the Phoenix Force desperately, trying to build a stronger defense.
But the power was chaotic—sotis gentle, sotis violent—unable to stabilize. Golden-red flas surged wildly around her.
At the critical mont—
Hang appeared before her.
He didn't defend.
Didn't block.
He simply turned, placing his hands on her shoulders, his deep gaze locking onto her terrified eyes.
"Jean. Listen to ."
His voice was soft—but cut through the chaos clearly.
"The Phoenix inside you was never your enemy. It is the universe's primal force of creation and destruction. It chose you because it believes you can wield it."
"You've always been afraid—afraid of its power, afraid of hurting those you love."
Tears filled Jean's eyes.
"I can't… I can't control it… every ti I let go, it—"
"Then don't control it."
Hang cut her off, unwavering.
"Power doesn't need control—it needs guidance. The Phoenix longs to protect, to renew. And you are its direction."
"Don't think about suppressing it. Tell it what you want to protect."
The golden destruction was already upon them. Heat whipped through Jean's hair.
Every cell in her body scread in terror.
But Hang stood firm before her—unmoving.
Jean stopped trembling.
She closed her eyes.
Her consciousness sank into a burning ntal world.
A flaming phoenix circled above, its wings stirring apocalyptic fire.
This ti—
She didn't run.
Didn't try to cage it.
She opened her arms and walked into the flas.
I want to protect them, she whispered.
Everyone. Everyone who believes in . Everyone who hasn't seen tomorrow's sun.
Phoenix… if you truly chose … then lend your power.
The phoenix tilted its head.
For the first ti, warmth appeared in its blazing eyes.
It lowered its head—
And gently pressed its burning forehead against Jean's chest.
Endless golden-red flas softened into a warm current, flowing into every cell, every thought.
Jean's eyes snapped open.
Her pupils beca pure golden fire.
Her hair rose without wind, each strand tipped with fla.
Power erupted.
A pillar of golden-red fire shot into the sky—tearing through Apocalypse's attack, devouring it entirely.
The golden torrent stopped ten ters from the dical bay—
Blocked.
Not by a wall—
But by a domain of fire.
A pure Phoenix domain.
Golden-red flas burned at its edges, while inside, warmth and protection embraced all within.
The students hiding in the ruins felt it—
A gentle, protective force.
Hang smiled.
He released Jean's shoulders and stepped back.
[SP-Level Ability Copied: Phoenix Force.]
The Phoenix Force within Jean was no longer chaotic.
It had fully rged with her will.
Its level—
Far surpassed the limits of this clone.
Apocalypse's smile froze.
He could feel it—
Within that golden-red fla lay power capable of threatening his very existence.
"This… what is this…"
For the first ti—
His voice trembled.
Jean slowly lifted her head.
Golden fire burned in her eyes, yet her voice was calm.
"This is the power of the future you speak of."
"Apocalypse—your era ended five thousand years ago."
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