Electromagnetic force.
When these three words came lightly out of Peter's mouth, Magneto's expression changed drastically.
He looked at the restless, leaping lightning in Peter's palm. The blinding light and the chirping screeches felt like an invisible sledgehammer slamming heavily against his heart.
How was that possible?
This human not only possessed monstrous physical strength, but could even control lightning?
After all, electricity and magnetism were two sides of the same coin.
The reason he, Eric, could become "Magneto" was precisely because his understanding and manipulation of the entire Earth's magnetic field had reached the absolute pinnacle.
After being enhanced by Apocalypse, his control over magnetic fields had reached an even more unimaginable level.
He was even confident that he could forcibly control any ordinary, man-made electromagnetic field.
But the lightning in this man's palm before him gave him a sense of dread.
He could feel that the lightning in this man's hand was anything but simple!
It was absolutely not the mere charging and discharging that an ordinary Mutant could do, but something infinitely close to natural lightning!
No, it was impossible!
Magneto shook his head, forcing down those "unrealistic" thoughts in his mind.
He silently told himself in his heart.
A person's power has its limits.
No matter how strong this young man in front of him was, he was still just a human in the end!
Although he didn't know how the youth had obtained power even greater than an Omega-level Mutant like himself,
having two or three of such powers should already be the limit!
How could every single superpower be mastered to the absolute pinnacle?
That's right! That must be it!
Perhaps the lightning in the youth's hand was already the absolute limit of what he could do!
He only needed to hold on for a moment. As long as his control and output of the magnetic field remained stable enough, he might still be able to forcibly turn it around and suppress the electromagnetic field created by his opponent!
At this thought, the last trace of hesitation in Magneto's eyes was replaced by resolve.
"Hmph! Don't think a little trick like this can scare me!"
Magneto roared, suddenly pushing his control over magnetic fields to an unprecedented extreme!
Because he exerted himself too hard, the veins around his temples bulged out.
As he pushed his ability to the limit, invisible magnetic field lines frantically expanded outward, intertwined, and stacked with him at the center, forming an absolute barrier in front of him composed of pure repulsive force—one so ridiculously intense that it could even be observed with the naked eye.
The metal debris he had forcibly extracted from the ruins now turned into his most loyal guards, spinning rapidly around him to form an additional shredding Storm.
But in the face of Magneto's efforts, Peter remained completely nonchalant.
With a calm expression, he simply stepped on the air, walking forward step by step against the terrifying magnetic field that was strong enough to bend light.
As he advanced, the lightning in his hand visibly distorted due to the interference of the magnetic field.
But that was all. Although the magnetic field caused the shape of the lightning to fluctuate, it could not stop its advance.
Zzzzt~
The Storm of metal debris was the first to make contact with the Chidori, but the moment it touched the lightning, it was demagnetized by the high temperature and high-voltage electric arc, crumbling into tiny specks of dust and falling away.
After breaking through the metal Storm, Peter continued to walk forward with a calm expression.
Cold sweat began to seep from Magneto's forehead.
The second layer, the third layer...
Layer after layer of magnetic barriers were breached by the terrifying electrical power.
Magneto's face began to turn pale, his body trembling slightly from overloading his ability, and a streak of bright red blood trickled down from his nose.
This was a sign of overusing his ability, which had already caused fundamental damage!
Peter's figure became clearer and clearer in Magneto's dilating pupils.
In the blink of an eye, the lightning was less than three inches away from his heart.
He could even smell the scent of ozone ionized in the air.
The shadow of death had never been as thick as it was at this moment.
But just then...
Sizzle~
The unstoppable lightning actually came to a halt without any warning.
...
Magneto froze.
An overwhelming sense of relief from surviving the ordeal surged over him like a tide, making him almost collapse to the ground uncontrollably.
He felt his heart beating like a drum. Looking at Peter, who was close at hand, a smile mixed with lingering fear and smugness involuntarily appeared on his face.
He won!
In this clash between electricity and magnetism, it was he, Magneto, who had won in the end!
"I told you, don't think this little..."
Magneto was just about to say something to mock Peter's overestimation of his own strength, while also venting the fear of having just walked past the gates of hell.
But before he could finish his sentence, the shocked and horrified screams of Storm and Psylocke echoed from not far away:
"What is that?!"
If it were those kids from the X-Academy making a fuss, he would have just sneered, dismissing it as some boring trick like 'Look, a UFO!'
But the ones speaking were Storm and Psylocke, who were also part of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, so he had no choice but to take it seriously.
Subconsciously following their gazes, he stiffly turned his head and looked up at the sky above him.
With just one glance, the smile on Magneto's face froze completely.
His mouth fell wide open, and a wheezing sound like a leaking bellows came from his throat. The horror in his eyes was a hundred times more intense than when he had faced death just moments ago!
In the thick, leaden layer of dark clouds overhead, a head so massive that it defied description had emerged at some point.
It was a mythical creature composed entirely of billions of bolts of lightning!
It had two horns on its head and was shaped like a giant dragon, with every single scale flashing with destructive electricity.
Though it had no physical body, it was far more oppressive than any flesh-and-blood creature.
Those eyes, made of pure thunder, pierced through the heavy clouds at this moment, coldly and indifferently... locking onto him!
"Ta-da~ Congratulations on making it to the second stage!"
Just as he felt his soul trembling, a nonchalant, slightly playful voice drifted over from behind him.
"This technique is called 'Lightning Release: Kirin'!"
"How is it? Do you like it?"
Like hell I like your lightning!
At this moment, Magneto felt like he was going crazy.
This kind of massive roller coaster between life and death was simply too devastating of a blow for someone with his arrogant personality.
But this was only one part of Peter's mind games.
Peter dispersed the Chidori in his hand, crossed his arms, and looked at Magneto's face, which was filled with blankness and terror, with plenty of time to spare. The smirk on his face grew even more wicked:
"Speaking of which, being able to whip up such a big guy is really thanks to your white-haired little friend."
He pointed from afar at Storm, who had a completely bewildered look on her face.
"If she hadn't accumulated so much electrical charge earlier, it really wouldn't have been easy for me to summon this little baby~"
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