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Charles and Emma's psychic powers were silently reshaping the entire battlefield, suppressing enemies and guiding their allies with invisible hands.
Apocalypse watched everything unfolding before him. He watched as his forces were suppressed at a terrifying speed, yet there was not a trace of panic on his face. He merely observed the battlefield, scrutinizing the performance of the X-Men and evaluating his own subordinates, silently grading them in his mind.
"Walter!"
Suddenly, Apocalypse gave a low shout and pointed a finger directly toward Charles's position.
"Roar!"
Walter, who had been wreaking havoc across the battlefield as the Horseman of War, let out a guttural bellow. He lowered his head and charged straight toward Charles.
Rumble!
He moved like a colossal human tank, smashing aside everything that stood in his path, crashing toward his target with unstoppable momentum.
Seeing this, Bobby, the Iceman, threw himself into Walter's path. Raising both hands, he unleashed two streams of freezing energy directly at the charging giant.
The road froze instantly, the temperature dropping sharply. A layer of frost coated Walter's body, thickening rapidly by the second. Yet, the rampaging Walter did not stop.
The layer of ice encasing him cracked and shattered continuously. His speed dipped only momentarily before he continued his violent charge toward his target.
"Ahhh!"
Bobby roared, pouring out a torrent of frost energy that seemed to freeze the very air itself. Icicles began to form on Walter's body, trailing behind him as he ran. Finally, turned into a moving ice sculpture, Walter's footsteps faltered and paused.
Seeing this, Bobby let out a breath of relief.
Crack!
A crisp, snapping sound echoed. The frozen Walter shattered his icy prison. Amidst the flying shards of ice and frost, he began to move again.
His target remained Charles! Unless he smashed into his target, he would not stop. In his eyes, Bobby had become nothing more than a stumbling block to be crushed.
Bobby's pupils contracted. Just as Walter was about to slam into him, a layer of ice spread rapidly beneath his feet. He slid aside instantly, placing his hands on the ground. Massive ice spikes, taller than a man, erupted from the earth, stabbing toward Walter from various bone-chilling angles.
But...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every ice spike that struck Walter was smashed into powder. His momentum remained unbroken.
Suddenly, a scorching pillar of fire engulfed Walter.
But... it had no effect whatsoever!
Roaring, Walter broke through the column of fire and crashed toward John, the Pyro.
John looked at Walter with unwillingness and frustration as the fire pillar vanished. In the next second, however, he hurled a massive fireball at the giant.
Boom!
Walter tore through the fireball. Sparks and embers clung to him like a flame demon, and he continued his charge without losing any speed. In fact, having built up momentum over the distance, his aura had become even more terrifying.
Just as John was about to be crushed, Kitty Pryde, the Shadowcat, phased her head up from the ground beside him and placed a hand on his leg.
In the next instant, the ferocious beast that was Walter passed right through John's body, as if the boy had turned into a phantom.
Walter paid no mind to this; he simply continued his charge toward Charles, who was now not far away.
"Stop him! Do not let him disturb the Professor!"
Following Bobby's shout, a towering metallic figure charged at Walter.
It was Peter, Colossus!
He remained silent, but without a shred of hesitation, he braced his metal body directly in Walter's path.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion of sound rang out as a violent shockwave swept outward from the point of impact.
The charging Walter paused for a split second, while the ground beneath Colossus shattered inch by inch. In the next instant, Walter resumed his charge, pushing Colossus backward as he ran.
Screech—!
The road tore apart, leaving two deep gouges where Colossus's feet dragged. The point where his metal body met Walter's flesh even began to dent.
"Ahhh!"
Peter roared, digging his legs viciously into the earth until he was buried up to his thighs.
But... he had stopped him.
The charging Walter had finally been brought to a halt.
Walter looked down at the metal man half-buried in the soil, a flicker of surprise in his mind. In the next second, he bent down, grabbed Colossus by the head, and hurled him like a weapon directly at Charles.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Erik, who had been guarding against Apocalypse, finally made his move.
He raised a hand toward Walter. An invisible force caught the flying Colossus and set him gently aside. Then, with a beckoning motion, a massive amount of metal flew through the air, surrounding Walter.
Seeing the metal debris floating around him, Walter was startled. Just as he prepared to charge out, Erik clenched his fist. The metal snapped together at high speed, trapping Walter inside and forming a massive, solid iron sphere.
With a casual wave of Erik's hand, the giant iron ball was hurled toward Apocalypse.
Apocalypse's eyes flashed. The iron sphere encasing Walter instantly disintegrated into sand, drifting down from the sky.
Thud!
Walter crashed down at Apocalypse's feet.
"Pah!"
Walter spat out a mouthful of sand, shook his head, and stood up. He glanced at Erik with a trace of fear before changing direction and charging out again. Seeing this, Bobby and the other three X-Men moved to intercept him once more.
Apocalypse looked across the field at Charles and Erik, a smile appearing on his face.
"You are all truly impressive."
Charles and Erik snorted in unison. Exchanging a glance, Charles's voice resonated in Erik's mind.
'Where is Clark? Why hasn't he arrived yet?'
'There are mutants appearing all over the world, attacking government buildings in various nations. Clark is dealing with them; he needs a little more time.'
'Apocalypse...' Charles murmured, then proposed, 'What if we send Emma to the Cerebro chamber? She could use the machine to control the enemies on Earth. That would free up Clark and the Avengers.'
From the start of the battle, Charles had been using his powers heavily. Even though he had controlled more than half the enemy forces, Apocalypse hadn't tried to hijack his mind like last time, which gave Charles the idea.
'No, that's too risky!' Erik replied quickly. 'Have you forgotten how Apocalypse controlled you through Cerebro before? If Emma gets controlled by him, we'll be in trouble. I suspect his ability to control you last time was specifically because of the machine.'
Charles fell silent. That was indeed a possibility.
'Then summon Dad?' Charles asked in a low mental whisper.
At a time like this, if Mike were to appear, the situation would change instantly.
'No!' Erik's face turned serious as he shook his head. 'We rely on Dad too much.'
'Besides, we can handle the current situation. As long as you and Emma neutralize his subordinates! Then we can deal with him together.'
This was a rare opportunity for growth.
Charles pondered for a moment, then nodded. He looked at Emma, and they exchanged a confirming nod.
In the next instant, Charles and Emma's psychic power flooded into the battlefield without reservation.
One, two...
The enemies froze in place like statues.
Seeing this scene, Apocalypse let out a faint sigh.
He truly coveted that ability.
However, if this continued, he would be forced to reveal another one of his trump cards.
"No, it is not time yet."
He looked at Erik and Jean, who were standing guard beside Charles and Emma, his eyes flickering with thought. Those two were still protecting the telepaths...
Thinking of this, Apocalypse suddenly spread his arms wide.
Sandification!
Instantly, with Apocalypse as the center, buildings, the ground, vehicles...
Everything except living people began to transform frantically, turning into fine sand that danced in the air.
Seeing this, Erik's pupils contracted. He shouted to Jean, "You protect them!"
The battlefield was chaotic, filled with strange attacks. If an enemy with teleportation abilities appeared near the telepaths while they were focused on controlling the army, it would be dangerous.
Jean nodded. Invisible telekinetic energy spread around them; the moment any anomaly appeared, a defensive shield would form instantly.
The sand multiplied rapidly. In just a short time, they found themselves standing in the middle of a desert.
Apocalypse floated in mid-air. Looking at Erik, who had also taken flight, he smiled faintly. The entire desert seemed to come alive under his control, beginning to attack the Super Power Police and the residents of the Kent Star settlement.
Witnessing this, Erik cursed angrily. He clenched his hand, and a massive volume of black granules surged up from the earth beneath them, rushing into the sky like a sea of black sand.
"Metal?"
Apocalypse narrowed his eyes, slightly surprised. He reached out toward the black sand sea, attempting to transmute it into ordinary sand, but unexpectedly, he failed.
Is it because of the magnetic force? Apocalypse whispered internally. Seeing Erik manipulating the black sand sea to crash down on him, he clenched his hand and commanded a massive wave of his own sand to intercept it.
BOOM!
The black and yellow sands collided like two ocean waves, producing a thunderous roar and scattering debris everywhere.
In the next instant, under the control of their respective masters, the sands entangled and battled like two colossal dragons.
Apocalypse smiled. While dealing with Erik, more and more sand joined the fray, with some streams even attempting to sneak attack Charles and Emma. Fortunately, Jean remained vigilant by their sides, blocking the insidious sand with her telekinetic shields.
Suddenly, the sound of several explosions rang out.
But before the sound even registered, black cannonballs had already struck Apocalypse. Or, to be precise, they struck his force field.
Boom! Boom!
amidst the explosions, the black shells created friction against the force field, turning into flames before vanishing.
Apocalypse looked at Erik and said indifferently, "Not bad."
The attack was indeed somewhat unexpected, but hurting him this way was impossible.
"Not bad?"
Erik gave a light snort. Magnetic bombs flew out from the launcher tubes behind him once again, flying toward Apocalypse at super speed like a curtain of rain.
Boom! Boom!
In a continuous string of explosions, the magnetic bombs collided violently with Apocalypse's force field shield, turning the area around him into a ball of fire.
Seconds later, the attack ceased. Apocalypse, his expression impassive, asked, "Is that all?"
Erik smiled faintly. "My mission is already complete."
Apocalypse paused, then suddenly felt gaze after gaze falling upon him.
Looking down, he saw that the mutants he had brought—aside from the very few possessing psychic shielding devices—had all been controlled by Charles and Emma. Now, these people were staring at him with angry eyes, ready to attack him at any moment.
Apocalypse sighed.
Truly an outstanding ability. He suspected that because they were guarding against him, the two telepaths were still holding back; otherwise, controlling these people wouldn't have taken so long.
He looked at the battlefield again. Aside from the three Horsemen still fighting, the rest of the combat had essentially ceased.
Was the war about to end?
How is that possible!?
Apocalypse smiled faintly and said to Erik, "Do you know that I have Four Horsemen?"
Erik's heart went cold. "What do you mean?"
"From the start of the battle until now, only three Horsemen have been fighting."
As he spoke, he pointed a finger downward and said slowly, "War, Famine, and Death."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I am saying that the remaining Horseman, Pestilence, is my trump card."
Apocalypse's smile widened, his voice resonating through the entire sky.
"Have you ever seen flowers bloom?"
Flowers bloom?
Before Erik or anyone else could understand the meaning, dazzling purple-red flowers suddenly began to blossom continuously throughout the city.
Each flower was dozens of meters in diameter; every bloom looked like a bewitching flower from hell.
Erik was filled with rage because, in his field of vision, the entire city was being enveloped by this sea of flowers.
"Are they beautiful?" Apocalypse chuckled. "These are flowers grown with dreams as seeds. They are planted in people's hearts, absorbing nutrients unknowingly, to help us achieve our dreams at the critical moment."
"My Lord!"
Accompanied by an excited shout, a woman walked out from among the residents of the Kent Star settlement.
She had fair skin and seductive peach-blossom eyes, but her face was covered in black patterns, giving her an incredibly wicked appearance.
It's her?
Erik frowned.
He had heard of this woman.
Winnie. She was famous in Kent City, rumored to be a seller of sweet dreams...
So, this woman was planted here by Apocalypse? She was Apocalypse's Horseman of Pestilence?
Erik stared coldly at the woman.
Winnie looked up at Erik. Her expression held a hint of apology, but it was dominated by resolve.
"I am sorry, Lord Erik. The Kent Star is wonderful, but you are truly unsuited to be the leaders here."
"If you would be willing to submit to Lord Apocalypse, we would be very happy."
Erik took a deep breath and gave his answer through action.
Clenching his hand, the black sand surged toward the Horseman of Pestilence, Winnie.
Right now, in his eyes, this woman was even more disgusting than Apocalypse!
But Apocalypse simply beckoned, and a large amount of sand gathered beneath Winnie's feet, lifting her into the air and bringing her to his side. In the next instant, Apocalypse protected Winnie with his own force field.
"Winnie, begin."
Winnie nodded. Looking down at the swaying sea of flowers, her eyes were intoxicated.
She had hidden here for a long time, working hard for this very moment.
"Bloom completely!"
Following Winnie's voice, the swaying sea of dream flowers below paused slightly. Then, one by one, the dream flowers exploded, transforming into blue-violet energy that occupied the entire city like a thick fog.
"Truly beautiful."
Watching the exploding dream flowers, Apocalypse offered praise, while Winnie trembled all over with excitement.
The blue energy was pervasive. After being invaded by this energy, the eyes of the Kent Star residents and the Super Power Police gradually turned a blue-violet color.
They were assimilated by Winnie's dream. They sank into the dream Winnie had woven, and then, like sleepwalkers, pair after pair of unfocused eyes turned to look at Erik.
(End of Chapter)