A Strange Battle (Part Two)

The Black Queen was only immune to energy attacks to a certain extent, but Alex could absorb energy and use it for himself. As the Flame Beast drew near, Alex showed no panic at all. Instead, he looked rather pleased with himself as he voluntarily dove into the Flame Beast’s mouth, wearing an expression of pure enjoyment.

An immense amount of fiery energy poured into Alex’s body like a whale swallowing water. The surging energy rapidly fused into every cell in his body, replenishing them with vitality and life. Alex’s condition steadily improved, and his physical abilities advanced by leaps and bounds.

Watching the Flame Beast she had summoned get completely stolen away by Alex, the Black Queen’s expression darkened. Her face turned cold as she said in a low voice, "If you like absorbing so much, then I’ll let you have your fill all at once!" The moment she finished speaking, two Flame Beasts even larger than the previous one appeared out of thin air and pounced at Alex, giving him no chance to think or counterattack.

The raging flames gradually scorched Alex’s clothes black and yellow. He simply stopped bothering to protect them and directly shaped a set of clothes from energy around himself.

Absorb. Alex frantically devoured the Flame Beasts summoned by the Black Queen like a bottomless pit.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Alex had absorbed more than half of the two Flame Beasts into his body, while the rest was fed into the Flame Spirit under his control. The Flame Spirit was humanoid and roughly the size of an ordinary human, complete with eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and limbs. It looked like a god of fire stepped straight out of myth. Under Alex’s deliberate control, the Flame Spirit no longer grew larger, but its flame quality continued to improve.

From its original orange-yellow to golden yellow, and now milky white, its blazing heat seemed capable of burning through even the sky.

Alex had thought the Black Queen would back down after realizing the difficulty, but he had clearly underestimated her persistence.

With a cold snort, the Black Queen summoned two more Flame Beasts. She also "awakened" two buildings, apparently intending to strike with both physical and energy attacks.

After absorbing such a vast amount of energy, Alex felt better than ever and paid no attention at all to the Black Queen’s all-out assault.

Just as Alex had expected, the two Flame Beasts were once again absorbed by him. As for the two "awakened" buildings, they were reduced to ashes by two bursts of flame from the Flame Spirit under Alex’s control.

"I refuse to believe you can keep absorbing forever!" As if acting out of spite, the Black Queen refused to admit defeat. She continued desperately summoning Flame Beasts, determined not to stop until Alex burst from all the energy.

Alex was brimming with confidence. No amount of energy scared him in the slightest. Even if his own body could not withstand it, he still had the Flame Spirit! Alex had never expected the Flame Spirit he had created on a whim to be so powerful, and he could not help considering preserving it permanently. On one hand, it could serve as an assistant; on the other, it could function as an energy storage unit. After all, the Flame Spirit itself was an energy body, so there was no need to worry about it exploding from absorbing too much energy.

And so, amid the absurd standoff of the Black Queen continuously summoning Flame Beasts and Alex continuously absorbing them, more than an hour passed without anyone noticing. Even the AIM soldiers on the ground were beginning to grow impatient.

At last, the Black Queen stopped. She panted heavily, drenched in sweat as she stared at Alex across from her, her face slightly pale.

Alex was not feeling much better either. The energy absorbed by his body had already reached complete saturation. The overflowing energy made him feel as though he might float away at any moment like an overinflated balloon.

Not only that, but the Flame Spirit had grown a full size larger. At over two meters tall, it resembled a small giant. Alex had wanted to maintain the Flame Spirit’s size, but as more and more energy was poured into it, control became increasingly difficult. Left with no choice, Alex could only loosen his control over its size, allowing it to absorb the energy of several more Flame Beasts.

Alex glanced at the Black Queen, who was too weak to speak, and smiled smugly. He then activated Teleportation and left Poseidonia with the Flame Spirit. Once he returned to the Floating Temple and thought back on it, Alex realized just how strange and ridiculous his battle with the Black Queen had been.

"How did it go?" Emma had been waiting for Alex in the Floating Temple. When she saw him return, she hurriedly stood up and asked impatiently, though her eyes involuntarily shifted toward the Flame Spirit beside him.

After Alex’s meticulous shaping, the Flame Spirit looked almost exactly like a real person in both appearance and form. Its especially dazzling sky-blue body looked like an enormous sapphire, so it was no wonder it had caught Emma’s attention.

Noticing Emma’s gaze, Alex chuckled and explained the Flame Spirit’s origins. Then his expression immediately darkened. "The situation is very bad. It’s not just the Brotherhood of Mutants—the Hellfire Club has gotten involved too!"

"Those scum!" None of the mutants in the Floating Temple had the slightest favorable impression of the Hellfire Club. This was especially true for the X-Men on the front lines. At times, they wished they could slice the Hellfire Club, which had driven mutants into their current desperate situation, into a thousand pieces.

Only then did Alex notice that quite a few people were standing within the vast Floating Temple. Though he did not know any of them, they all looked familiar. They were likely the upper ranks of X-Mansion, including several leaders of the X-Men.

His gaze swept around the room before finally returning to Emma. Thinking of the experimental grounds in Poseidonia, Alex’s expression suddenly twisted into a snarl.

Back in Poseidonia, Alex had wanted several times to destroy that place completely, but in the end, he had not been able to bring himself to do it.

"What else is there?" Emma keenly noticed the change in Alex. Her expression grew tense as well. Anything that could make Alex look like that was certainly not good news.

Alex snapped back to his senses at her words. His expression turned grim, and after hesitating for a long while, he told them what he had seen and heard at the experimental grounds.

"We absolutely cannot let them continue!" Emma abruptly rose to her feet, her expression agitated, with a faint hint of fear beneath it.

Alex did not notice the change in Emma’s expression. Lowering his head, he said, "The Hellfire Club has a Black Queen. Her ability is extremely unusual." He then raised his head again and turned toward the X-Men members, his expression solemn. "I fought her for half the day, and neither of us could do anything to the other."

The statement sent waves through the crowd. Everyone knew that Alex was unquestionably the strongest person in X-Mansion. With six abilities at his disposal, no one had ever been his match. Hearing him say this so suddenly, everyone felt a chill rise in their hearts. Was that Black Queen really that powerful?

Seeing what everyone was thinking, Emma spoke to comfort them, afraid of burdening them further. "Strength is never absolute. Perhaps there’s an ability that happens to counter hers." As she spoke, she glanced at Alex, signaling for him to say something too.

Alex froze briefly before immediately coming back to himself. He added a few words of reassurance, finally calming everyone down.