Chapter 9: Shadow King
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The battle between the mutant master of magnetism and the psychic entity has reached a critical point. The collision of such immense forces not only threatens to destroy Utopia, but to upset the balance of the entire planet. Magneto knows that the only way to stop this entity is to use all of his power... and perhaps sacrifice himself in the process.
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The storm that had been summoned by Magneto and the psychic entity's battle now spread across the ocean. Far from New York, on a remote island, another conflict was beginning to take shape. A force as old as the sea itself was awakening, watching from the depths.
Magneto, exhausted, his strength at its limit, watched as the tempest of metal and debris advanced towards the psychic entity. The creature, hovering over the wreckage of Utopia, let out a scream of fury, unleashing a psychic wave that crashed into the metal fragments. The collision created a sonic boom that reverberated across the island and beyond, shaking the oceans and activating underwater currents.
But Magneto had already calculated everything. It wasn't just about throwing metal. No, his strategy was far more complex. Across the debris, he had embedded varying magnetic fields, layers upon layers, which when compressed by psychic energy would trigger like traps. Each metal fragment exploded into bursts of magnetic energy, which scattered in all directions, surrounding the psychic entity and disorienting it.
The entity, caught in a web of energy and metal, screamed in anger, but even its powerful psychic abilities couldn't break the complexity of the magnetic field. Still, Magneto couldn't relax. He knew it was only a matter of time before the creature found a way to escape.
"This isn't enough," Magneto muttered, his face covered in sweat, aware that every second counted.
Suddenly, a cold wind began to blow from the north, bringing with it the scent of the sea. Magneto looked up at the horizon, where an unknown figure was approaching at great speed, moving among the waves of the ocean. In the distance, a shadow emerged from the water, like a gigantic sea serpent rising from the depths.
The psychic entity, sensing the new power, tried to escape, but the magnetic fields held it prisoner. Magneto, though exhausted, understood that he was not alone. This new ally, whoever it was, had the power to balance the scales.
"Who are you?" Magneto asked, his voice weak.
The sea creature looked at him indifferently.
"They call me Leviathan. And this land is mine."
Without another word, Leviathan flapped his wing, and the ocean currents obeyed. Massive waves began to engulf the psychic entity, as Magneto used his last vestiges of energy to strengthen the magnetic prison. The psychic creature screamed, struggling against the combined forces of Magneto and Leviathan, but was slowly being dragged into the abyss.
Magneto fell to his knees, his body shaking from the titanic effort. He felt his strength fading rapidly. The entity was being contained, but the cost had been too high.
However, the entity of nightmares, the Shadow King, could not be destroyed so easily. It had been born from the first dark thought, from the first nightmare to torment humanity, and had survived through the millennia, feeding on the deepest fears of all living minds. Its power grew with each nightmare, with each disturbed mind.
"What did you say your name was?" "The now freed Shadow King asked, speaking through the regenerated body of the albino mutant he had possessed. His eyes glowed with an inhuman psychic intensity.
Magneto tried to rise, forcing his worn-out body to move, but the reality of the situation hit him hard. He knew that this time, the threat was more dangerous than any he had faced before. These were not simple enemies with extraordinary abilities. This was something primal, a manifestation of pure evil.
"You should not be able to escape, entity of nightmares," the God said, gritting his teeth, forcing his power to hold back the impending collapse.
The Shadow King smirked, his voice dripping with arrogance.
"Who decided it? You? Don't make me laugh, false god."
The body he had taken granted him an unimaginable advantage, a strong vessel, capable of holding his power longer than the weak humans he had abused in the past. Leviathan, he knew. And the worst thing was that the Shadow King knew it too.
"This body is different from the previous ones," the entity continued. "It has enough strength to elude your magic and still allows me to use psychic abilities on a large scale. Now that I have full control of it, the world will be completely destroyed."
The world will fall once again under my eternal reign.
Magneto frowned, struggling not to show fear, but the truth was clear: there was no holding it back.
"You have tried for centuries to achieve a foolish goal, using human bodies even though you know they are weak. Your failure is written."
The Shadow King let out a dark laugh, his voice echoing through space like a nightmare echo.
"So you say, dragon wannabe. You should keep quiet for eternity," he said disdainfully, before launching into the attack.
The creature, in its new form, moved with superhuman agility. The air around it seemed to distort under the pressure of its psychic energy. Magneto barely had time to react before he was thrown back with overwhelming force.
At that moment, something else moved. A gigantic shadow rose from the depths, a beast-like form that had been lurking from afar, biding its time. Leviathan, the ancient being of the sea, launched itself into battle, its second jaws gaping like an abyss.
With a speed worthy of its godly power, Leviathan attempted to attack the Shadow King, but the being, possessing the mutant's body, demonstrated its absolute dominance. Time seemed to slow as the sea beast was stopped in its tracks by the Shadow King's sheer psychic willpower.
"Is this all you have?" the entity sneered as the mutant's eyes glowed with power. "Human bodies may be weak, but this... this is something else."
With a simple gesture, Leviathan was pushed back, its immense mass falling with a crash. But amidst the chaos, a distortion formed in the air. The God did not immediately realize what was happening, but when he did, it was too late.
Magneto and the entity vanished from sight, as if they had been torn from reality itself.
The Shadow King's new body moved with superhuman speed, his footsteps echoing in the air like war drums. His destination was clear: New York. The most bustling and populous city in the world would be the stage for his rise to ultimate power. There, with every disturbed mind, with every living being trapped in their nightmares, his power would be multiplied a thousandfold.
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