Magneto’s Power

With a bang, Astra pushed open the doors and hurried into Magneto’s laboratory with the others, shouting, "Erik, Human Torch and Azazel are trying to rebel. Also, Pietro has been captured by them."

"What? Pietro was captured by them?"

Hearing the latter half, Magneto abruptly raised his head and said coldly, "Some people really don’t know their place."

"Erik, don’t underestimate them. Azazel brought many mutants from the other branches."

Astra hurriedly said, "They outnumber us several times over."

Toad cursed indignantly, "Those bastards would’ve been captured by humans and used as lab specimens long ago if it weren’t for Erik."

"The former Magneto was indeed worthy of respect, but the current Magneto is nothing more than a coward hiding in his shell."

Accompanied by that arrogant voice, Human Torch entered the laboratory with Azazel and the other mutants. He then said to Magneto, "Magneto, you’re old. Give me your position, and I’ll make the Brotherhood flourish."

"You?"

Magneto was utterly disdainful. He turned his gaze to Quicksilver and, seeing that he was unharmed aside from being somewhat weak, could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Old man, I told you long ago—trash is trash wherever it goes."

Quicksilver said weakly, "Scum like Human Torch should’ve been killed outright long ago."

"I didn’t expect him to be such scum either."

Magneto shook his head. Looking at the mutants, he said, "Leave now, and I’ll pretend none of this happened. Don’t force me to kill my own people."

The mutants were somewhat fearful. Magneto’s reputation had been earned through battle, and everyone knew exactly how powerful he was.

Seeing this, Human Torch snorted coldly. "Magneto, you can’t kill anyone. I, Human Torch John, challenge you today. If I lose, I’ll take my people and leave the Brotherhood. But if you lose, you must hand the Brotherhood over to me intact."

Magneto said disdainfully, "You want to inherit my position? Human Torch, are you worthy?"

"Of course I am."

Human Torch John shouted, and his entire body transformed into Black Flames. Everyone instinctively took a step back. These Black Flames were not only incredibly hot, but also carried an aura of death and ill omen.

"This aura?"

Magneto froze for a moment, then rose to his feet and asked, "Have you begun worshipping the Doomsday Master?"

"That’s right. I am the Doomsday Master’s third envoy, Jealousy."

Human Torch spread his arms and laughed loudly. "Not only have I begun worshipping the Doomsday Master, everyone behind me worships the Doomsday Master as well."

"My God is eternal!"

Other than Azazel, Domino, and Quicksilver, everyone else shouted fervently. Their fear of Magneto rapidly vanished. No matter how strong Magneto was, could he truly be stronger than their god? Magneto’s expression darkened completely as he shouted, "Do you know that the Doomsday Master wants to destroy the world? When that happens, not only will ordinary humans die, mutants will die as well."

"Mutants will not only survive, but transcend into the real world, so long as they are willing to worship the Doomsday Master."

Human Torch impatiently said, "Magneto, stop talking nonsense. Do you dare fight me?"

"Magneto, accept the challenge!"

The mutants behind Human Torch shouted in unison. Astra angrily said, "You pieces of trash think you can stage a coup? Dream on. We’ll definitely stop you."

"That’s right, we’ll definitely stop you."

Toad, Sabretooth, and the other mutants still loyal to Magneto shouted one after another. Human Torch and the others were Evil Believers. The Mutant Brotherhood absolutely could not fall into their hands, or the Brotherhood would become history.

"Just you?"

Human Torch smiled disdainfully. The mutants behind him all stepped forward and displayed their abilities.

The mutant who had poisoned Quicksilver earlier transformed both hands into two venomous pythons, a terrifying sight to behold.

Another mutant’s arm turned golden, and with one punch, he blasted a huge hole through the nearby wall.

Yet another mutant sprouted countless spikes across his body. Then, those spikes shot out densely like a rain of arrows, instantly riddling the nearby wall with holes.

The sight left Astra and the others stunned. Astra asked in disbelief, "How is this possible? Your abilities have actually grown stronger?"

"This is a gift from God. So long as you’re willing to worship the Doomsday Master, you can become as powerful as us."

Human Torch shouted, "The Doomsday Master is the future of us mutants. Under His leadership, we will definitely wipe out humanity and transcend this world."

The mutants shouted excitedly, "Wipe out humanity! Transcend this world!"

Astra and the others looked grim to the extreme. The gap between the two sides was simply too great. Now, they could only rely on Magneto to turn everything around, just as he had done before.

"What the Doomsday Master gave you is nothing but poison."

Magneto snorted coldly. Looking at Azazel, he asked, "Azazel, are you betraying me too?"

"You can’t give me what I want. Human Torch can."

Azazel said bluntly, "Once he fulfills my wish, I’ll worship the Doomsday Master with him and destroy this world."

"It seems I can finally vent Mystique’s anger."

A cold killing intent flashed through Magneto’s eyes. He then turned to Human Torch and said, "You want a final battle with me? Fine. Though I certainly won’t lose, let me make one thing clear first: even if I lose, I won’t hand the Mutant Brotherhood over to you.

"I founded the Mutant Brotherhood so that all mutants could help one another as brothers. I will never let you ruin the Brotherhood."

"That’s right, Human Torch. We’ll never surrender to a despicable bastard like you."

Astra shouted. Human Torch grew somewhat enraged and cursed loudly, "Astra, I’ll burn you to ashes, just like Magneto."

"If you have the ability, go ahead and try. Enough nonsense. We’ll have our final battle outside. My laboratory is far more valuable than your life."

Magneto said. Human Torch did not refuse. He said, "Fine. I’ll let you see the sun one last time."

With that, Human Torch transformed into a streak of black fire and flew outside—during this time, he had been constantly developing his abilities, and flight was one of them.

"He can fly?"

Magneto’s eyes flickered. Then, the two sides clearly separated and headed outside. On the way, Magneto quietly instructed Toad, "Find a way to rescue Quicksilver. Once Human Torch loses, he’ll definitely use Quicksilver to threaten me."

"I understand."

Toad nodded. He was not worried in the slightest that Magneto would lose. How could a mere Human Torch possibly be Magneto’s opponent? The mutant apex—did they think that was a joke? Azazel glanced at Magneto and Toad, then walked over to Quicksilver and personally kept watch over him. He did not know whether Human Torch could defeat Magneto, but he knew that with Quicksilver in hand, he could never lose.

Soon, everyone arrived at an open area outside. Magneto walked to stand opposite Human Torch and made a gentlemanly gesture. "Come."

"Die!"

Human Torch did not waste words. Spreading his hands, he blasted two enormous Black Flames fiercely toward Magneto.

Magneto raised both hands, and two heavy iron doors flew over to block Human Torch’s Pitch-Black Flame. Yet to everyone’s shock, the iron doors began melting rapidly the moment they touched the flames.

"The temperature of these flames is this high? No, aside from the heat, they seem to possess corrosive properties."

Magneto’s gaze sharpened. He clenched his left hand, and countless metal objects around them flew out, shooting densely toward Human Torch.

Human Torch John shouted, and the flames around his body rapidly swelled. The moment any metal object touched the black fire around him, it immediately melted into molten iron and fell to the ground.

"You’re old, Magneto. This is my era now."

Human Torch laughed as he wildly fired flames at Magneto. The iron doors were quickly burned through, and the blazing inferno savagely blasted toward Magneto.

Magneto abruptly flew into the sky. Then, ten metal cones flew from his body and, under his control, shot toward Human Torch at supersonic speed. Sonic booms erupted one after another around them.

Magneto could even lift the Statue of Liberty, which showed just how terrifying his magnetic power was. Propelled by such force, the cones were impossible for Human Torch to block. Ten wounds instantly pierced his body, and then the cones whooshed into the ground and vanished.

These cones had been specially made by Magneto. Their melting point far exceeded that of ordinary metals, and even Human Torch could not burn them away in an instant.

Quicksilver laughed happily. "Old man, nice one! Human Torch, I told you long ago that you’re no match for the old man."

"You think this can kill me?"

Human Torch smiled disdainfully. Flames blazed across his body, and beneath their enveloping glow, his wounds rapidly healed.

In the blink of an eye, Human Torch had fully recovered. As Magneto recalled the ten cones, he cursed unhappily, "The regeneration of you Evil Believers is truly disgusting."

Whether it was the senator at the beginning or Firebird afterward, they all possessed astonishing regenerative abilities. Human Torch was no exception.

"Magneto, you can’t kill me because I have an immortal body!"

Human Torch laughed loudly. He repeatedly waved his hands, continuously firing fireballs at Magneto in the sky. Magneto either dodged or controlled steel to block them, appearing completely at ease.

"An immortal body? Haven’t plenty of immortal bodies died these past few months?"

Magneto sneered and controlled the ten cones to rapidly crisscross through Human Torch’s body, leaving him riddled with holes like a sieve.

Although Human Torch would not die from this, he had to focus on repairing his body and could no longer attack. He could only take blow after blow passively. Astra and the others cheered loudly. A mere brat dared challenge Magneto? He was courting death.

"Human Torch truly is no match for Magneto."

Azazel and the others were not surprised at all. If Magneto were really so easy to defeat, the military would have captured him for experiments long ago.

Human Torch felt utterly humiliated. He roared, and the flames around his body swelled wildly. Moments later, he transformed into a pitch-black flame giant. The surrounding temperature soared in a straight line, warping even the air.

Then, ignoring the cones piercing back and forth through him, Human Torch swung a palm like a fiery cloud and smashed it fiercely toward Magneto.

Magneto hurriedly dodged. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand. The ground rumbled, shook, and split open. Then, a massive mech rose from underground and appeared before everyone.

The mech stood roughly ten meters tall, with a cockpit in its chest. It was clearly unfinished, without even a coat of paint, making it look exceptionally ugly.

"What is that?"

Both sides were stunned. Human Torch could not help stopping, staring warily at the mech.

"This mech is called the Anti-Iron Man Armor."

Magneto flew into the mech’s cockpit and controlled the hatch as it closed. He then said, "Do you really think I was hiding like a coward? I’ve been thinking about how to deal with Iron Man, and this is my answer. He has his suit, and I have my mech."

Quicksilver’s eyes shone. "Cool, old man—no, Dad. Can you let me control it?"

"Now you know to call me Dad?"

Magneto rolled his eyes. "You can’t control this mech, because I’m its power source. Besides, it isn’t just a lump of iron. It has many precision instruments. With your education, you wouldn’t know how to use it at all."

Quicksilver looked deeply displeased. "My education is low because someone was irresponsible and never gave me a cent for living expenses."

"You could have taught yourself, like I did."

Magneto said. His own education was not high either, but he had educated himself. His accomplishments in mechanics were no less than anyone else’s.

Magneto had also helped design the professor’s Cerebro.

"Magneto, you think dragging out some broken machine can scare me? Dream on. Watch me burn you to death."

Human Torch roared, raising both hands to spray enormous flames at the mech. The mech lifted its right hand, and the shield behind it flew into its grip, firmly blocking the flames.

Then, the mech raised its left arm. Its fist shot out at high speed with a sonic boom cloud, instantly blasting a huge hole through Human Torch’s chest. Human Torch staggered back two steps, but the gaping hole in his chest rapidly healed.

Quicksilver could not help complaining, "The fist can fly out too?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

Magneto smiled disdainfully. The flying fist transformed into a huge gear in midair. Then, the gear spun at high speed and sliced Human Torch in half from behind.

Human Torch screamed as he tried to fuse himself back together. Under Magneto’s control, the gear kept flying rapidly around, cutting Human Torch into piece after piece in a miserable state.

"John, I haven’t even brought out one-tenth of this mech’s combat power, and you’re already done."

Magneto calmly said, "With you alone, you think you’re qualified to challenge me? My only opponent has ever been Iron Man. Once I finish researching the Mutant Transformation Device, I’ll defeat Iron Man and save all mutants."

"I’m the strongest!"

Human Torch’s roar came from within the flames. Everyone shook their heads. Anyone could see that Human Torch was nowhere near Magneto’s match.

"You have no idea how high the heavens are or how thick the earth is."

Magneto could not be bothered to waste more words. He charged forward and worked with the gear to destroy Human Torch’s body. Human Torch soon could no longer endure it. He reverted to his original form and collapsed weakly onto the ground.

Human Torch could indeed heal himself, but that healing consumed his energy and stamina. Now, both had been exhausted.

"Surrender. I generally don’t kill mutants."

Magneto recalled the gear and said coldly. At the same time, Toad quietly climbed a tree not far from Quicksilver. Since everyone’s attention was focused on Magneto and Human Torch, no one noticed his movements.

Human Torch had always been arrogant. How could he possibly surrender? He roared, "Magneto, I’ll be reborn at the Doomsday Master’s side. One day, I’ll tear you to pieces."

"Stubborn to the end."

Magneto raised his fist, preparing to seriously injure Human Torch. Seeing this, Azazel hurriedly reached out to grab Quicksilver beside him—he wanted to use Quicksilver to threaten Magneto.