Chapter 539: Chapter 539: The X-Men Enter the Fight

Professor X’s idea was good in theory, but unfortunately, most of the people on the battlefield weren’t X-Men personally trained by him.

The moment he brushed against Superman’s mind, he immediately withdrew. The lesson from last time had been far too painful. He had wanted to connect with the minds of the mages and witches as well—

But they instinctively shut him out.

After all, anyone personally summoned by the Sorcerer Supreme was no ordinary figure. They weren’t people whose minds could casually be linked to, and they certainly had no interest in letting others peer into their thoughts.

Professor X could have forced his way in if he wanted to, but that would amount to infighting among allies on a mental level. Realizing their resistance, he stopped instead of pressing the issue.

That bit of self-awareness spared him from being cursed out by half the magical community.

After all, they had just spent tremendous effort reinforcing the prison trapping Void, only for Cyclops to shatter it with a single blast. If Xavier had dared invade their minds after that, getting yelled at would have been the mildest consequence.

To be fair, though, even if Cyclops hadn’t fired first, the magical prison probably wouldn’t have held Void for long. To him, it was as fragile as an eggshell.

Cyclops knew that too. His thought process had simply been: strike hard at the instant Void was restrained.

What he hadn’t expected was that his attack would amount to little more than a scratch—leaving him to take all the blame for ruining the trap.

---

Blocked outside Jean Grey’s shield, Void didn’t remain locked in a stalemate against the host of the Phoenix Force. They separated almost immediately upon contact.

Superman didn’t ease off just because the X-Men had arrived. If anything, he attacked even more aggressively, refusing to give Void any breathing room.

Because he noticed something important:

The X-Men hadn’t come in full force, and aside from Professor X, every single one of them was injured. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Combined with what Scarlet Witch had said earlier—that the X-Men had already suffered a defeat—it wasn’t hard to understand why so many were absent.

Then again, against Sentry or Void, the weak had no place on the battlefield.

Since Superman moved, Quicksilver naturally didn’t stay idle either.

Though he had mastered the ability to run on air, he was still inexperienced with it. He lacked the freedom and fluidity of natural fliers like Superman and Void.

So Quicksilver’s movements required planning and preparation, making them more predictable. It was still far better than relying on Scarlet Witch’s magical footholds—but in Void’s eyes, it remained a path to death.

Void focused on evading Superman’s punches while staying away from the mutant empowered by the Phoenix Force. He deliberately tanked several of Quicksilver’s attacks.

That gave the newly airborne speedster a dangerous sense of confidence, making him feel as if the battle would end by his hand.

But it was all a trap.

The moment Quicksilver recklessly tried to punch Void’s head clean off and finish the fight—

Void caught his fist.

Quicksilver’s bones and muscles were superhuman, but they still couldn’t compare to Void’s raw strength. Void intended to cripple him on the spot—

Yet he was ultimately forced to fling Quicksilver away to avoid the next incoming attack.

Besides Superman’s usual iron-fisted assault, Phoenix’s clasped hands sliced toward Void’s arm like a pair of impossibly sharp blades, forcing him to release his grip.

At the same time, she swept Quicksilver into her arms, sending them both flying backward.

---

Under normal circumstances, that brief delay would have been enough for Void to spew more psychological warfare.

But Superman was right there.

And he wasn’t merely watching—he was all over him.

The instant he found an opening: punch, palm strike, kick.

Then he grabbed Void by the blue cape, yanked him back, and repeated the combo.

Two rounds weren’t enough.

Superman intercepted Void’s flight path, caught him again, and unleashed another brutal three-hit sequence.

Then thunder roared overhead.

Lightning rained down like a forest of divine spears—Storm’s long-charged ultimate attack had finally arrived.

But for Superman and Void, the overwhelming might of nature that ordinary people feared meant nothing.

They ignored it completely, continuing their battle with eyes fixed solely on each other’s lethal blows.

As for the little lady nearby?

Come back after you’ve learned to create black holes.

Cyclops’s attacks needed even less explanation.

Unless he removed his visor entirely and unleashed the full spatial energy connected to his eyes in a sweeping barrage, he simply couldn’t interfere in the battle between Superman and Void.

And if Cyclops truly went all out, seriously injuring both of them wasn’t impossible.

Unfortunately, Xavier’s teachings had always restrained him from truly breaking his limits. His attacks worked against ordinary enemies—but these two were clearly on another level.

The mutants and mages hadn’t coordinated properly either. Cyclops’s frequently misplaced shots ended up feeling more like interference than support.

Especially to the mages—many of whom already didn’t particularly respect Scarlet Witch, let alone Cyclops. Their irritation only grew.

---

Yet whether it was Void pounding Superman or Superman pounding Void, both sides felt as though they were punching heavy bags.

They hit and hit, but neither could clearly tell whether the damage was truly meaningful.

Void only sensed that Superman’s strength was steadily increasing, inching closer and closer to some critical threshold—and that uncertainty made him uneasy.

Superman, meanwhile, felt that no matter how hard he struck, he still wasn’t causing genuine damage. He wasn’t the real Superman, after all.

That uncertainty made him uneasy too.

And as their power levels escalated, collateral damage became increasingly unavoidable.

They smashed into skyscrapers, dragged each other through building after building, reducing structures to rubble in their wake.

Ordinary fighters could use the Earth itself as a weapon. Slam someone onto solid ground hard enough, and they’d inevitably be dazed.

But for Superman and Void, the Earth’s power had become nearly irrelevant.

Destroying ten more buildings wasn’t as effective as landing one solid punch to the face—or one brutal kick to the crotch.

Still, in order to dissipate the force of incoming attacks, environmental destruction was unavoidable.

Superman tried to restrain himself.

Void did not.

Unfortunately, as Superman’s power kept rising, even forcing himself to endure internal injuries couldn’t fully prevent collateral damage.

And every destroyed environment endangered the people hiding within it.

All Superman could do was minimize the impact as much as possible.

By all logic, this imbalance—one side attacking freely while the other fought defensively—should have tilted the battle in Void’s favor.

But the deeper Superman sank into the role, the stronger his conviction to protect became.

And somehow, his defense seemed to rise along with it.

At the same time, returning to the Kryptonian combat style of overwhelming close-quarters combat with super strength and speed—while fighting an opponent of equal caliber—made Superman increasingly proficient.

Quicksilver, having rejoined the battle, continued disrupting Void’s rhythm.

The lurking mages and Phoenix only aggravated him further.

But the worst part was the voice in his head.

The voice of Robert Reynolds.

Under Professor X’s guidance, it was growing louder and louder—as though the coward hidden in the abyss of his mind was trying to claw his way back up and reclaim control of the body.

To become Sentry again.

Not Void.

In fury, Void deliberately took solid punches from both Superman and Quicksilver.

Using pain itself to tell Robert Reynolds:

This is not something you can endure.

You’re just a coward who relied on overwhelmingly unfair powers to swagger before others. The real world will always contain stronger forces—and real pain hurts.

But taking those hits wasn’t only meant to intimidate Robert Reynolds within his mind.

Void also used the opportunity to break free from Superman and Quicksilver’s encirclement in one motion.

His target shifted to the greatest threat at present—

The man in the wheelchair.

Professor X.

---

The X-Men had been fighting since the formation of the X Department under CIA support back in 1962. From the days when Professor X could still walk to the present where he sat in a wheelchair, they had endured countless battles.

There was no way they would leave such an obvious weak point exposed for the enemy to attack.

If they did—

It was because it was bait.

From the moment Xavier drew Void’s attention to the instant Void launched his assault, Phoenix—despite lacking the mobility of the speedsters present—executed a brilliant castling maneuver.

She swapped positions with Xavier.

Not only protecting him—

But also giving herself the chance to confront Void head-on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉

I’ll release one bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!"

Let me know what should I do

Your support means everything—let’s crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~