The unparalleled magnetic force started spinning madly, and in almost an instant it reached the point of tearing space apart, those few shadows were torn into shreds before they could even steady themselves.
"No!! Magneto!!"
Under the protection of Hela, the Lord of the Netherworld, Beast shouted at Magneto in the sky: "You've messed everything up! Stop it now!!"
But Magneto seemed to have fallen deep into anger. Kitty, anxious on the spot, didn't dare to step forward. She pulled Beast and asked: "What's going on? What's up with Erik all of a sudden…"
Beast threw his arm out and exclaimed: "Can't you see?! The X-Men are here! "
"So what…" Kitty began.
"They were Professor X's students!"
Beast stomped his foot in exasperation, gritting his teeth and said, "Riley's information mentioned, in that universe, there are demonized superheroes, but with so many superheroes, why did it have to be the X-Men? It's like stepping on Magneto's tail!"
Shadow Cat Kitty seemed a bit baffled. She couldn't understand the logic here: The X-Men are students of Professor X, then why was it stepping on Magneto's tail?
Beast was shaking his head, sighing, and stomping on the ground. However, Hela suddenly frowned, she stared at the monster X-Men being torn apart by the magnetic storm in mid-air and said: "They're not dead."
Beast calmed down as well, he looked at the scene in mid-air and said: "Riley indeed mentioned that in that universe these monster superheroes are immortal, so is it the same in this universe?"
Hela became slightly serious, she looked at Beast and said: "You guys have gotten yourselves into some tough work…"
She saw a trace of worry on Beast's face, but when Beast spoke, he said, "It's best if they're dead, otherwise Magneto will keep them dying."
"Dying?" Shadow Cat repeated Beast's words, somewhat uncomprehending the grammar. She didn't know if Beast had misspoken on purpose or if he had a point.
"No, not dying, dy-ing constantly. You won't understand how persistent Erik is when it comes to destroying possible evidence that could upset Professor X."
The three of them looked up at the sight in mid-air. Out from the M'Kraan Crystal came some of the Monster X-Men, in addition to Phoenix, Wolverine, and Cyclops, there were also younger members like Rakshasa Woman, Blink, Iceman, and Pyro, all armed to the teeth.
But their mutant abilities didn't have a chance to be used, the endless magnetic storm kept stirring the space here, tearing everything into pieces, death, revival, torn into pieces, death, revival, torn into pieces…
Magneto was like an ever-running magnetic engine, or like a meat grinding trap in a tower defense game installed at the enemy's doorstep. Every living thing that came out from the portal was shredded by the terrifying magnetic storm.
With the arrival of the netherworld sunset, Kitty, who was having dinner in the office, glanced at her watch, then looked out the window again at Magneto, who was still floating at the portal's entrance, and the Monster X-Men, who kept dying and reviving. She deeply sighed.
"It's been six hours, a full six hours!"
Shadow Cat Kitty muttered, as Beast set his food tray across from her and said, "Did you notice? They seem to be crawling back into the portal."
"Yeah, only they have to die about a hundred times to move 10 centimeters." Shadow Cat Kitty's tone was very numb.
"I think even if he lets them go now, they probably wouldn't think about invading anymore and would just scamper back through the portal." Hela leaned against the door and said, "But I do have reservations about the idea of playing with enemy corpses."
"Can't they just be corpses quietly?" Beast complained. "Why poke at Magneto? Don't they know he's a maniac?"
Beast pushed the food around on his plate with a fork and said, "Professor X mentioned that the mental evaluation Shiller did for Magneto is quite pessimistic. He suffers from obsessive-compulsive neurosis, the kind of condition that would make him crouch on the floor for seven or eight hours just to check if the carpet is straight, or repeatedly check the locks hundreds of times between the house and the car park.
"So he's had an episode?" Hela's tone perked up with interest.
"I guess you could say that, but he often has these episodes, especially when it comes to things related to Professor X. As soon as he knows that Professor X will be on a case he's working on, he'll clean everything, even cracks in the ground that have been stained with blood, down to three meters deep."
Hela's fingers paused slightly, then she said, "Sounds like the kind of teenager who would obsessively clean his bedroom the day before his girlfriend comes over."
"Perfect analogy." Beast replied.
"Oh, my God, my God! They're crawling back." Shadow Cat Kitty suddenly shrieked, saying in an exaggeratedly sad tone as if she was singing, "They're crawling back at last, I can finally go outside, thank God!"
With that, she abandoned her uneaten meal, darted out the door like a house on fire, and went to check the surveillance readings.
Magneto landed on the ground as if nothing had happened, casually dusting off his gloves. Only when he passed by the window where Beast was eating, he lightly tapped the window and asked, "Is Charles coming?"
"No." Beast replied.
"Don't let him come." Magneto said.
Beast slammed his fork down onto his plate, staring at Magneto's retreating figure, grinding his teeth as he uttered, "Damn peacock!"
He threw his other hand's knife onto the plate. Angrily, he strolled to the office upstairs to call Professor X. Statements made by Magneto clearly implied threats that if Charles doesn't show up, he would kill as many as would come the next time, thwarting anyone's chance to execute their plan.
The mutant monsters reappearing at the base looked confused. At this point, Monster Iron Man approached, revealing a mocking smile, "So you came crawling back from that godforsaken place you found? Hahahaha!"
But the mutants just stood there, not uttering a word or making any move. Even the typically hot-tempered Wolverine behaved the same, as if they had completely lost consciousness.
It was then that the members of the League of Murderers noticed something was amiss. They quickly signaled each other, approaching the mutants. Glancing into their eyes, Captain America's pupils suddenly narrowed, "The Lord's call is fading in their hearts, their spirits have completely collapsed! Quickly, get Ma · Will, something's happened!"
No need for them to call — Ma · Will had already arrived. His typically calm smile was now replaced by an anxious face, "I am getting a strong whiff of the scent of death. The Great Star Lord guides us, we must set foot on this place!"
Ma · Will cut through the crowd, rushing towards the mutants. He was about to interrogate them but noticed something was off about the X-Men. He raised an angry brow, showering them with insults, "You damned fools, what are you doing? Are you trying to betray the Great Lord?!"
"Speak up! Where does that overpowering aura of death come from? We need new sacrifices!!!"
The facial expression of Ma · Will twisted in greed but the process of dying and reviving repeated thousands of times turned into an excruciating torture unbearable for human spirits. It led to a state of complete annihilation — devoid of a self. These mutants were now incapable of responding.
Ma · Will yelled in a high pitched tone nearing a screech, "They went straight into the realm of death! The embodiment of death stood before them, yet they did nothing for the glory of the Great Lord! They are utterly disgraceful!! Throw them into the star and let them sober up!!!"
After yelling, he turned around anxiously, then stared intently at the members of the League of Murderers, ordering, "Get ready! Launch a full-scale attack on this cosmos!"
While others prepared to scatter, the monstrous Iron Man hesitated, "...what about the cosmic fault?"
Ma · Will inhaled deeply, seemingly regaining some sanity, "You continue your research. Whenever we can make a breakthrough, we will go there."
Saying that, he left in a swirl of his cloak. Monster Iron Man's face turned stern — any scientist would be upset if their work was abruptly interrupted at 99% completion, particularly if their place was taken by a group of lucky nitwits.
Yet, Monster Iron Man confidently held his head high, turning to say, "I'm going to continue debugging the Iron Armor. I will show these mutants who the real God of Machinery is!"
"Professor, not to complain, but you've royally botched this," Doctor Strange's voice, laced with complaints, came from the other end of the phone, "I know mutants are chaotic, but Magneto is a seasoned fighter. Why can't he tell friend from foe?"
"We're truly sorry, Supreme Magician, this was completely unexpected. Who could have foreseen that it'd be Professor Charles's students who turned up? You know how it's been between them over the years..."
Cajoling hysterically, Beast cursed Magneto thousands of times in his mind. Doctor Strange sighed, "His violent behavior will only make the other side think it's a trap. They wouldn't possibly let the bulk of their troops charge in carelessly — that'd be suicide. No one could be that senseless..."
"Oh!! Oh, my God!!! What is that!!!"
"Hello? Hello? Doctor! Doctor, are you there?!"
"Emergency Alert Level 1! Large-scale invasion! Large-scale invasion! Insufficient energy in the base's protective shield! 23%...16%..."
Doctor Strange swiftly hung up the call. He rushed to the corridor and, standing in the atrium on the second floor, yelled towards the ground floor, "All units take heed, this is not a drill! All units take heed, this is not a drill! The Nine Major Kingdoms are under heavy enemy attack. Everyone, take your positions!"
The bustling first-floor office instantly fell silent. Like fish, the crowd intersected with one another and took their places, as if rehearsed numerous times before.
The dialing sound from the office workers wearing shirts resonated like warning sirens, soft yet authoritative voices overlapping with each other.
"Hello, this is the Sanctuary of the Nine Realms. The member gift we notified you about earlier is now ready for distribution. Please visit the designated place and stay calm and quiet with your ticket."
"Hello, this is the Sanctuary of the Nine Realms. Due to an enemy invasion of the Nine Major Kingdoms, we will be announcing a closure tomorrow morning."
"Hello, this is the Sanctuary of the Nine Realms..."
Doctor Strange hurried down the stairs. His cloak looped around mid-air, landing around his neck. The suspension ring started glowing and in the next second, he stepped into the hall of Kamar-Taj.
A magic resonance formed by dozens of grand mages almost created an unnatural phenomenon. The Swordman carried his longsword, arms imbued with a glowing aura. The Star Master manipulated his robe, his eyes gleaming. The Nature Master held his long wand, causing vines to emerge from the earth.
As Doctor Strange quickly walked through the main hall, all the mages bowed in greeting. Once he stood at the forefront to look at the people, the command of the Supreme Magician resonated throughout the magic realm on Earth —
"The unprecedented war of the Nine Major Kingdoms from a thousand years ago has reignited. All who control energy on Earth must not leave the Magical Defense Network. All communication channels with the Demon God must be severed. Use of secret language, curses, and all long-distance projection spells must be halted until the war alert is lifted!"
Doctor Strange lifted his head, determinedly uttering his final words.
"Once a sword is drawn, blood has to be shed. The magic realm will be the first and the last line of defense for humanity. There is no room for retreat — the first one to kneel, dies!"