"Very... good!"
Shaw stood up from the ground.
It took him some time to recover from the feeling of almost splitting into two.
This was a state that appeared when he absorbed too much energy.
The more obvious the splitting, the more energy he was absorbing.
If that energy exceeded his tolerance, he wouldn't split into two people.
He would explode.
All the stored energy would be released at once.
What shocked Shaw was this-
Alex's shockwave was even stronger than the energy he had absorbed from the nuclear reactor.
Terrifying.
The thought flashed through his mind.
But his expression stayed calm, a controlled smile fixed on his face.
There was no need for anyone to read his expression anyway.
He had been sent flying.
That alone meant his status had dropped sharply.
Humans were like that.
Once a god bled, people started thinking about killing it.
"If it has a health bar, even a god can be killed."
And Shaw was no god.
At best, he was a powerful enemy.
And now, he had been blown away.
The pressure created by his earlier words-stand still and let you hit me-was gone.
Completely gone.
"What's that on your chest?" Shaw asked, feigning composure.
"This?" Alex touched the focusing plate on his chest.
"The crystallization of knowledge. Human wisdom."
"The crystallization of knowledge?" Shaw clearly didn't understand.
"Knowledge is humanity's greatest wealth," Alex replied.
"Very good..." Shaw felt the energy surging within him.
That single strike alone was nearly half of what he had absorbed from the reactor.
"You are very good," Shaw said.
"In terms of instantaneous burst power, I call you the strongest mutant I've ever seen."
"But..."
"Can you continue?"
Morin, standing to the side with a small notebook: "..."
Why did that sound so familiar?
I, Madara, call you the strongest.
Can you still dance?
Don't drag Naruto into this.
"Of course I can!" Alex said eagerly.
He hadn't even gone all out.
He had stopped earlier because he was worried he might accidentally kill the boss.
"Wait!" Sean suddenly spoke up.
"Isn't it my turn?"
The old Sean would've wanted Alex to go first.
Now?
He was worried the monster would be gone.
"Alright," Alex stepped back.
"Go ahead."
"What's your ability?" Shaw shook off the dust and stood still.
This guy didn't even have equipment.
He definitely wasn't as dangerous as Alex.
That thought passed through Shaw's mind.
"Sound," Sean stepped forward, visibly excited.
"You're really going to stand there and not resist, right?"
"Sound?" Shaw relaxed slightly.
"Of course I won't resist."
What damage could sound possibly do?
Honestly, he thought it would've been better if Alex kept going.
Two more shots and he'd be almost fully charged.
But he didn't want to expose himself too early.
"Then I'm relieved," Sean grinned.
He stepped closer.
And screamed.
High-frequency sound waves rippled visibly through the air.
But that wasn't the terrifying part.
The terrifying part was what happened after.
When the sound hit Shaw's body, it caused his entire body to vibrate.
Resonance.
A simple physical phenomenon.
Yet one capable of causing devastating damage.
From massive bridges to fragile glass-
Once resonance hit the natural frequency, even the strongest structure could be torn apart.
Shaw's relaxed smile had only just returned.
In the very next second-
He realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
His ability absorbed energy.
Kinetic energy.
Nuclear energy.
Electrical energy.
Thermal energy.
Special cells in his body absorbed it all, sustaining his life, extending it, or releasing it when needed.
Naturally, the kinetic energy produced by resonance could also be absorbed.
But the amount-
His entire body shook violently.
He was almost splitting apart.
He was at the limit.
At that moment, Shaw abandoned his earlier promise of standing still.
Without hesitation, he mobilized more than half of the energy stored in his body.
He was going to fight back.
Promises?
Integrity?
As long as he won, none of that mattered.
History belonged to the victor.
Only the survivor had the right to speak.
Erik's eyes narrowed.
The coin in front of him-trembling faintly-vanished.
He had never believed Shaw could endure Alex and Sean's attacks.
Now that he had gone from a performer to someone with crude physics knowledge, he understood very clearly-
Those two abilities were terrifying.
Without stacking hundreds of layers of magnetic defense in advance, even Erik wouldn't dare take them head-on.
Shaw had no chance.
In this situation, he had to counterattack.
Erik had been waiting for it.
And now-
As Shaw prepared to strike Sean, a fatal sense of danger surged through him.
Pure instinct.
Shaw released all his energy toward that threat.
The shockwave alone sent Sean flying.
This was energy from the reactor.
From Alex.
From Sean himself.
And yet-
Against that coin-
Tiny.
Insignificant.
It was unstoppable.
The speed represented unimaginable kinetic force.
The instant the coin left Erik's side, it crossed dozens of meters.
Almost without resistance-
It appeared in the center of Shaw's forehead.
A heartbeat later-
The sound arrived.
A deafening bang.
"You..." Shaw stood frozen.
"What kind of power is this?"
"Heh," Erik chuckled coldly.
"The power of knowledge."
"Knowledge..." Shaw murmured.
Then he finally couldn't hold it anymore.
The instinct of survival forced him to absorb all the kinetic energy instantly.
But anything-if taken in excess-becomes poison.
The sudden flood of energy pushed every absorptive cell in his body past its limit.
Before, the energy had been spreading uncontrollably through his body.
Now, that process was complete.
And there was still energy left.
Too much.
He couldn't release it.
He had never experienced being this full.
Every cell capable of absorbing energy was already swollen to its limit.
He knew-
If he released it now, he wouldn't survive.
A dam can release water.
But when the flood exceeds its capacity-
The dam collapses.
So Shaw endured.
He gambled.
If he succeeded, he would reach a level of power beyond imagination.
He lost.
"If you had even a little knowledge," Erik said calmly,
"you wouldn't have let me keep stacking the magnetic field."
"You're ignorant."
"You use power like a beast."
"You don't understand its source, or how to use it properly."
"That's the difference between you and me."
"And that's why our paths diverge."
"You think brute force makes you king of the world."
"But humans rule the world because of knowledge and wisdom passed down for thousands of years."
"Thumbs up," Morin nodded in satisfaction.
This speech alone proved his teaching had been effective.
"Humans... knowledge..." Shaw's body trembled.
He removed his helmet.
Sighed.
"Leave," he said quietly.
"I can't hold it much longer."
"Let's go," Charles said.
"He's right."
"Erik," Shaw called out as they boarded the plane.
"What?" Erik turned.
"Take this."
The helmet flew through the air.
"I still don't believe everything you said."
"Then why give this to me?" Erik examined the helmet, quickly scanning its internal magnetic structure.
"Because you'll need it," Shaw said.
"It blocks telepathy."
"With it, and your ability, you won't be controlled."
"I believe there will be a day you need it."
Shaw laughed loudly.
This was his final move.
He believed Erik would become radical.
Telepathy was the greatest threat to most mutants.
Without equal ability-or this helmet-resistance was impossible.
By giving Erik the helmet, he was giving him a way to oppose Charles.
He believed that would eventually split them.
And when that happened-
One side would oppose humanity.
That was Shaw's grand design.
"Heh," Erik understood instantly.
Then he threw the helmet back.
"You... want to be controlled?" Shaw stared in disbelief.
"I will never be controlled," Erik said coldly.
"Your thing is dirty."
"And your vision is too narrow."
"You can't imagine the power of knowledge."
"It's just a helmet."
"I can make one whenever I want."
With that, Erik boarded the plane.
The engines roared.
It took off.
"AHHHHHH-!"
Shaw roared in fury.
Even now-
Even now-
Erik still looked down on him.
And worse-
Shaw couldn't stop them.
Because he knew Erik could block telepathy.
That was enough.
"You will split," Shaw screamed at the departing plane.
"Your paths are opposite!"
"You will fight!"
"And one day you'll realize I was right!"
"Humans and mutants can never coexist!"
The explosion swallowed the coastline.
A mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
This-
Was the final mark left behind by Sebastian Shaw.
The Black King.
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