Defeat

Throughout history, war had never been merely a contest of numbers. Examples of the few defeating the many were everywhere.

Now, Alex faced precisely such a predicament. Apocalypse’s army was far more formidable than imagined. Though they lacked the strength of the Four Apostles like Pestilence, they were only slightly weaker, no less capable than many X-Men. As a result, X-Mansion held no advantage. Its vast numbers had instead become a burden; with every strike, at least a dozen people fell.

As time passed, Apocalypse’s army continued to dwindle, but X-Mansion’s forces were shrinking even faster. At this rate, in another hour, scarcely anyone would still be standing!

"Medusa, when will Black Bolt get here?!" Alex looked up at the sky, then turned toward Medusa, her red hair flying dozens of meters away. His expression was somewhat savage, but his hands did not slow in the slightest. With every syllable, people continued to fall around him.

Medusa’s burgundy hair moved like venomous snakes, piercing and constricting. Her killing speed was not much slower than Alex’s. However, her Psionic Power was nowhere near as powerful as Alex’s, and controlling so much hair at once left her only enough time to squeeze out a reply after a while. "I don’t know!"

After a brief pause, Medusa also looked up at the sky, a trace of confusion appearing on her face. "He should have been here long ago!"

"Could something have happened?" Crystal followed closely behind Alex, attacking now and then, her face full of worry. But from the direction of her gaze, it was obvious she was not worried about her brother-in-law.

Alex wanted to go to Attilan and take a look, but Apocalypse had him tied down, and he simply could not leave. Though some of the restrictions on Alex had been removed and his abilities had strengthened, killing Apocalypse was still difficult. At most, he could maintain a stalemate.

"What, you have reinforcements too?" Seeing Alex’s anxious expression, Apocalypse chuckled. With a hint of smugness, he drawled, "So do I, and quite a few at that!"

Alex froze at those words. After staring blankly for a moment, he suddenly understood and blurted out, "The Brotherhood of Mutants or the Hellfire Club?" Apocalypse’s target was mutants, and among Earth’s most powerful mutant organizations, aside from X-Mansion, only the Hellfire Club and the Brotherhood of Mutants remained.

"Both!" Apocalypse chuckled, holding up two fingers, his face brimming with arrogant pride.

Alex was stunned. This was completely beyond his expectations.

Apocalypse’s voice was not quiet, and it instantly spread across the battlefield. Every mutant from X-Mansion heard it, and a wave of despair swept through them all.

"Alex, we have to retreat!" Emma’s expression turned exceptionally grave. After knocking back an enemy with one punch, she hurriedly contacted Alex through telepathy, her anxious voice carrying a trace of panic.

The news Apocalypse had suddenly revealed was truly shocking. No one could understand why things had turned out this way.

Alex could not understand it either. Just a few hours ago, the Hellfire Club and the Brotherhood of Mutants had both been perfectly normal. How had they become Apocalypse’s subordinates in the blink of an eye?

But now was not the time to think about that. Alex steadied himself and gave an almost imperceptible nod. "You retreat," he told Emma. "I’ll cover the rear!"

Before Emma could reply, Alex immediately transformed into a Black Hole. Under his control, its powerful gravity firmly trapped all of Apocalypse’s forces, and some who were too close were swallowed directly by the Black Hole.

Caught off guard, Apocalypse was trapped as well. Though Alex did not pull him into the Black Hole, he could not break free of its restraints anytime soon. To counteract its gravitational pull, Apocalypse had no choice but to devote tremendous concentration to struggling free.

Ordinarily, a Black Hole’s gravity did not discriminate, but under Alex’s control, it had no effect whatsoever on the people from X-Mansion. Still, they could not take the opportunity to attack, because any attack would be swallowed by Alex in an instant.

Emma was decisive. Seeing the situation, she wasted no words and waved her hand, beginning to lead everyone away. Though the X-Men were unwilling, they could only leave with bitterness in their hearts. Crystal wanted to stay behind, but Medusa forcibly took her away.

Within the Black Hole’s field, Apocalypse could only watch as Emma led tens of thousands of mutants away. Fury surged in his heart, yet he could do nothing. The Black Hole Alex had become was truly terrifying; its gravitational force was no weaker than that of a real Black Hole.

Once he saw that Emma and the others had completely vanished, Alex let out a long breath. He held on for several more minutes before he had no choice but to end his Black Hole transformation and return to normal. But Alex looked terrible now. His face was pale as paper, and beads of sweat the size of peas covered his forehead.

In just ten minutes, Alex’s vast Psionic Power had neared depletion. Of course, simply becoming a Black Hole would not have exhausted him so badly. The key was that Alex had spent Psionic Power controlling the Black Hole to restrain only Apocalypse and his forces.

Ten minutes was neither long nor short. The moment he felt the restraints around him vanish, Apocalypse immediately used telepathy in the direction Emma had disappeared. Yet even after a long search, he could not find a trace of them. Nearly a hundred thousand people had simply vanished into thin air!

"Alex, you’re quite something!" Giving up the search, Apocalypse turned to Alex, his eyes gleaming viciously. "They escaped, but you’re still here!"

Alex shrugged and said with a relaxed expression, "Then let’s see whether you can catch me."

With too much Psionic Power depleted, Alex’s combat strength had plummeted. Teleportation could have allowed him to escape, but Apocalypse had prepared for it. The surroundings had been sealed off, greatly restricting Teleportation as well. Still, Alex was not worried, because he had a trump card. It could not harm Apocalypse, but it was more than enough to protect himself.

Apocalypse snorted. Without needing any orders, the surviving members of Apocalypse’s army all turned their firepower toward Alex and unleashed everything at him.

In an instant, violent energy engulfed Alex. Countless explosions and thunderous booms rang out, and no one could see what was happening inside.

A moment later, as the energy gradually settled, Apocalypse discovered to his fury that Alex had vanished as well!

"What happened?!" Apocalypse checked the seals around him while searching inch by inch, trying to find the vanished Alex. But to his disbelief, Alex had truly disappeared. There was not even the slightest trace of his presence nearby.

War searched for a while as well. Unable to find any sign of Alex, he could not help but speculate, "He should be dead!" Under such violent energy, an ordinary person would have long since been blasted to pieces.

Apocalypse remained suspicious, but he truly could not find Alex. He began to vaguely believe it.