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*****
A bizarre blue-violet mist shrouded the entire city of Kent, so dense it seemed almost tangible.
This mist was pervasive; holding one's breath or hiding inside a room was futile. It drilled into people's bodies, surged into their minds, dragged them into a dreamscape, and seized control of their actions.
Winnie, the Horseman of Pestilence, had been preparing for this for a long time.
She had planted "Dream Seeds" in every customer who had entered her shop. Over a long period, these seeds had absorbed enough nutrients to finally blossom into today's Dream Plague.
Yes, this was a plague, and that was exactly why she was named the Horseman of Pestilence.
She watched the events unfolding before her with intoxication. Seeing the people whose eyes had turned blue-violet under her control, she revealed a satisfied smile.
very few people could resist her ability, especially at this concentration. As long as they were affected even slightly, a moment of dazed distraction was all it took to drag them into the dream. And those who were pulled in only served to strengthen this massive, collective nightmare.
To pull everyone out, one would either have to defeat her—the controller of the dream, currently protected by Apocalypse—or directly shatter this dreamscape woven by millions of minds.
But who could possibly achieve that?
"Finally... finally, I can do something for My Lord," Winnie said, her voice trembling slightly.
Every day, for the sake of this plan, she had catered to people's various dreams, even fulfilling fantasies that disgusted her to her core.
But it was all worth it...
She looked at Apocalypse beside her, her eyes filled with worship and reverence.
Apocalypse smiled faintly and asked Erik, "What do you intend to do? Kill these people?"
Erik stared coldly at Apocalypse. Beneath them, the sea of sand began to vibrate. When he looked down, the coldness in his eyes seemed to freeze the very air.
One by one, even those with strong wills who could temporarily resist the Dream Plague were eventually dragged in by the constantly strengthening nightmare. The dreamscape formed by so many people had transformed into a dream monster that devoured humans relentlessly.
Now, aside from Apocalypse (protected by his force field) and Charles and Emma (temporarily safe under Jean's protection), everyone else had been pulled into the dream.
Is the energy force field the only thing that can block this energy?
Erik understood the situation. His expression changed drastically as he saw pair after pair of vacant, blue-violet eyes turning toward Jean and the others. Some of the controlled victims were already glowing with the light of their activated abilities.
At the same time, Charles and Emma looked grim as they felt their psychic powers being expelled from the enemies' minds by a unified force.
"Do we force our way in?" Emma asked coldly.
"No, that will cause permanent damage to their brains," Charles rejected the proposal without a second thought.
Jean said anxiously, "Then should I try?"
"No!" Charles pursed his lips. "You will be affected, too."
"But there has to be a solution." Jean prepared to use her full power and cooperate with her second personality.
Just then, Apocalypse's voice rang out.
"Heh, it looks like you are incapable of solving this. So, submit to me. Become my subordinates, and together we will create a new world."
Erik and the other three remained silent, but their gazes grew colder.
Seeing this, Apocalypse said indifferently, "What a pity. I really did appreciate you all."
As his words fell, various attacks launched toward Charles and the others. Erik roared and charged toward Apocalypse.
Simultaneously, not far from the trio, a pair of eyes turned crimson.
Suddenly, Jor-El quietly appeared in front of Charles and the others. With a thought, a shield formed of starlight enveloped them, blocking the incoming attacks one by one.
"Don't worry, Nick Fury's counterattack is coming," Jor-El said calmly, revealing a smile.
"Fury? Is he alright? Wasn't he controlled?"
"He was controlled, but the countermeasures he prepared in advance are about to take effect."
As soon as the words left his mouth, massive amounts of white mist began to erupt from every corner of the city.
"This is... Purification Mist?" Charles exclaimed, watching the scene.
"Yes," Jor-El smiled. "Nick Fury was afraid a situation like this might occur. So, after he arrived on the Kent Star settlement and gained authority, he quietly installed these Purification Mists throughout Kent City. In the event of mass mind control or large-scale warfare, this mist would come in handy."
Sure enough, as the Purification Mist appeared rapidly and spread across the entire city, those who inhaled it immediately lost their abilities and reverted to ordinary humans. Even more unexpectedly, the Purification Mist began to purge the blue-violet energy.
Thud, thud!
As the mist neutralized the dream energy that had dragged everyone into the nightmare, the people who inhaled it collapsed to the ground one by one.
They weren't harmed; they were merely sleeping.
This sudden turn of events brought smiles to Erik and the others faces. They had originally decided to call for reinforcements, but now...
"Nick Fury, that cunning old fox!" Emma couldn't help but praise him.
Meanwhile, the expressions on Apocalypse and Winnie's faces turned incredibly ugly.
"That's impossible!" Winnie shrieked in a low voice.
Apocalypse looked at his subordinates lying all over the ground, then at his Horseman who had lost her ability and fainted. He spoke coldly: "A bunch of trash."
"What?" Winnie thought she had misheard and looked at Apocalypse in disbelief.
In the next instant, she was thrown out of Apocalypse's protective force field, falling from mid-air.
Splat!
Like a pile of mud, Winnie turned into a corpse.
Apocalypse didn't even bother to spare her a glance.
Trash was trash.
She had prepared for so long, yet her efforts were neutralized so simply by the enemy. What use did he have for them?
"As expected, one can only rely on oneself..."
Murmuring to himself, Apocalypse's eyes turned pure white. The entire desert beneath his feet began to dance. Carrying terrifying power, the sand flew toward Erik and the others like millions of bullets.
Blocking out the sky and sun, the world became a domain of flying yellow sand.
Just then, a gleam of light flashed through the sand storm.
In the next instant, a figure quietly appeared inside the shield protected by Jor-El and Jean.
It was Apocalypse!
The four inside the shield were startled.
Apocalypse slapped one hand toward Emma and grabbed at Charles with the other.
Emma was shocked and immediately shifted into her diamond form.
Bang!
With a crisp sound, Emma was swatted away, crashing into Jean's shield.
"Charles!" Jean screamed, her invisible telekinesis wrapping around toward Apocalypse.
But... it was too late!
Apocalypse had grabbed Charles.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, a sense of joy welling up in his heart. Charles was a crucial piece of the puzzle for the power he envisioned.
With Charles's ability combined with his own amplification powers, he could wipe out humanity instantly or dominate every person on Earth. He would become a true God!
An energy field appeared, and a blue-violet light representing Apocalypse's spatial ability began to flash. He intended to take Charles away, complete the essence transfer, and acquire Charles's powers.
Watching the two about to vanish, Jean let out a piercing scream. Terrifying power surged from her body, and Erik rushed toward them desperately.
But it still seemed too late.
Just at that critical moment, a golden door quietly appeared inside Apocalypse's protective bubble. Immediately after, a foot descended in a violent posture, landing squarely on Apocalypse's face and kicking him flying.
BOOM!
He smashed through Jean's telekinetic shield and slammed hard into Jor-El's starlight barrier.
Jor-El's eyes flickered, and the starlight shield vanished along with his figure. There was no need for him to stay here anymore, because Mike had arrived. However, the people of the city still needed his protection.
Apocalypse's face was grim. His face, which had been shattered by the kick, healed rapidly as he once again used his energy force field to protect himself.
"Dad!"
Charles looked at Mike walking out of the portal and shouted in surprise and joy. He scratched his head sheepishly. "We made you worry."
"You all did well."
Mike nodded to Charles and to Erik, who had landed from the sky, praising them.
In the next instant, Mike vanished from his spot and reappeared abruptly beside Apocalypse. He grabbed the villain, who was attempting to teleport away again, and kicked him flying once more, interrupting the teleportation.
Boom, boom!
Apocalypse was sent flying like a bowling ball, skipping across the ground for over a hundred meters.
But before he could stand up, Mike appeared above his head, stomping down on him like a fired arrow.
BOOM!
The sea of sand beneath Apocalypse seemed to explode, sending terrifying waves of sand splashing in all directions as Mike stomped Apocalypse deep into the ground.
Suddenly, the sand sea boiled as if it were alive.
"Arghhh!"
Accompanied by a roar of extreme rage, a sand vortex appeared where the two had fallen.
Boom!
A river of sand erupted, blasting Mike into the air.
In the next second, Apocalypse rose into the sky, carrying the entire sea of sand with him. Under his control, the sand constantly shifted forms, looking as if it wanted to swallow and chew Mike to pieces.
"Heh." Mike chuckled and cursed, "Shameless. You're a grown man, yet you want to kidnap someone else's child? Can't you have one of your own? Or is it that after swapping bodies so many times, you've become a genderless monster?"
Apocalypse's face twitched, and a look of pure fury rose in his eyes. No one had ever dared to insult him like this.
"You must be thinking that no one has ever dared to scold you like this!"
Mike grinned. "Hey! What a coincidence! Today, not only am I going to scold you, I'm also going to..."
Boom!
Leaving behind the fading light of a materialized card, Mike instantly appeared beside Apocalypse and kicked him in the face again.
"Beat you!"
But this time, Apocalypse wasn't sent flying. He had already deployed his protective force field, blocking Mike's attack.
"Heh!"
Apocalypse smirked at Mike. Grains of yellow sand quietly adhered to Mike's body.
Mike moved, but his body was tugged by the sand, causing his speed to falter slightly. Because of this imperceptible pause, a blast of raw energy filled with destructive properties slammed into Mike.
Whoosh!
Mike plummeted toward the ground.
But in the next instant, Mike's body flashed, vanishing in mid-air and reappearing beside Apocalypse.
Another beam of destructive energy shot toward Mike. Mike dodged rapidly, but when he tried to attack Apocalypse again, another blast forced him back.
For a moment, Mike seemed to turn into a blurred shadow, constantly blinking around Apocalypse.
"Ahhh!"
Apocalypse shouted in anger. Massive amounts of destructive energy swept out from his center like a storm in all directions.
Mike crossed his arms in front of his face but was still forced back dozens of meters by the energy.
Mike looked at Apocalypse, and two beams of scorching heat vision shot out.
Boom! Boom!
Energy splashed everywhere, landing on the surrounding sand and vaporizing it instantly.
Mike stopped his heat vision. Noticing the energy force field tightly hugging Apocalypse's body, he curled his lip slightly. He expanded and contracted his bio-force field, shaking off the layer of sand clinging to him.
That thing is really tough, Mike thought. It's like a turtle shell. Unless I hit the same spot with high-frequency attacks, it's hard to break. Plus, there's the destructive energy and this sand controlled by Apocalypse...
Apocalypse was indeed somewhat difficult to deal with; worthy of being the ancestor of mutants.
But no matter how tough he was, there was only one outcome for him today: Death!
Murmuring in his heart, a card appeared at Mike's fingertips.
Name: Yamato (Enhanced +2)
Item Description: Contains powerful demonic energy. The blade is incomparably sharp; even space is as fragile as paper beneath its edge.
Remark: Slay!
The particles of light dissipated, and a katana appeared in Mike's hand.
The scabbard was black, but the hilt was woven with black and white, topped with a relief of a western dragon on the pommel.
This weapon from the Devil May Cry world was already a tool for cutting space, let alone after being enhanced.
Since he was using a sword, then...
Mike raised an eyebrow. Under Apocalypse's wary gaze, another card appeared in his palm and quickly dissolved into light particles.
Name: Roronoa Zoro (Enhanced +2)
Character Description: A man striving to become the world's greatest swordsman. A head of healthy green hair is one of his trademarks.
Remark: Uh, I should go this way, right?
An image of a sharp-eyed man with green hair flashed briefly behind Mike.
A Kryptonian's physical stats, the dimension-cutting Yamato, plus Zoro's swordsmanship...
Mike grinned.
What an interesting combination. As for the power...
We'll find out right now.
Mike looked at Apocalypse with an unkind gaze, as if looking at a sandbag.
Floating in mid-air, Mike drew Yamato and swung it lightly. A black line appeared in space, as if a piece of paper had been sliced open.
Seeing this, Apocalypse's pupils contracted.
Clink!
Accompanied by the sound of the sword returning to its sheath, Mike held Yamato horizontally in front of him and vanished from his spot.
It was as if he had passed through space itself.
When Mike reappeared behind Apocalypse, there was only the severed space, Apocalypse cut cleanly in half, and Mike's low whisper.
"One Sword Style Iaido: Lion's Song!" (Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson)
(End of Chapter)