Shadow of the Beautiful World

Louise, I'm not going back for dinner today.

Clark's voice sounded on the phone, and it sounded quite steady, but there was a trace of caution and anxiety that couldn't be concealed.

As a reporter, Louise Lane immediately captured this unusual emotion. She put down the knife she was using to chop vegetables, and asked:

What's the matter? Clark, you ran out in a hurry just now... You finally had a free weekend.

Something happened to a friend of mine.

Clark explained:

I'm trying to go back early in the evening.

What's that noise around you? Thunder?

Louise turned her head to look out of the window in surprise. In the direction she looked, the sky was clear, and there was no sign of thunder or rain at all.

But in the background voice of Clark's speech, there was a deep thunder that couldn't be concealed.

beep, beep

Clark hung up the phone the next moment, and he uncharacteristically did not answer Louise's question, which made the reporter frown.

Recently, after she and Clark officially lived together, she could always feel that Clark seemed to be hiding something from her.

I'll take care of you when I come back tonight.

Louise put her hips on her hips and said something harsh, but soon resumed cutting vegetables.

She is preparing a sumptuous and romantic candlelight dinner.

boom

The moment he hung up the phone, a loud explosion exploded in front of Clark's eyes, and the magnificent burst of flames caught Superman caught off guard in an instant.

The bonded Super Mark Armor, which was completely wrapped like a mummy in Kraktor's hands, and with dark red runes beating on the surface, finally couldn't withstand the pressure from inside.

In fact, it is already a miracle that the steel originating from the earth can restrain an out-of-control body close to the heavenly father level for such a long time.

The leaping flames are like erupting volcanoes, burning and rushing into the sky, reflecting the sky in the deep sea like the sunset.

On the surface of the sea, the gravitational force that became disordered by the intervention of force lifted the icy sea water to roll, and soon under the stirring of the scorching fire pillar, a continuously rotating vortex was formed.

Millions of tons of seawater are being squeezed elsewhere.

The water flow collided, and in the area close to the pillar of fire, a large amount of seawater was evaporated, making the air in this airspace scorched.

Above the sea, the sky began to overcast.

The dazzling thunder light traveled through the haze, like a leaping thunder snake, and condensed in the center of the cloud, becoming hotter and more dazzling.

Thor, holding Thor's Hammer, flew in the gust of wind. He circled the beating pillar of fire for several weeks, and then with a roar, he threw Mjolnir in his hand towards the pillar of fire.

crash

In the ear-piercing sound of thunder, Thor's Hammer turned into a dazzling bolt of lightning. During the collision of the thunderbolt, it carried terrifying energy and blasted on the surface of the huge pillar of fire like Thor's fist.

The collision of the two violent energies brought about the throbbing thunder and fire.

Just like the furnace between heaven and earth is burning, sparks jump out from time to time.

The piercing Thor's Hammer tore a crack in the thick curtain of flames, allowing Kryptonian Superman, who was involved in it and bound in the flames, to grasp the hope of escape.

He swung his fist, tore apart the flames that bound his body, and rushed out of the pillar of fire following Thor's Hammer.

His combat uniform was covered with scorched marks and torn wounds, but the combat uniform was healing itself, and the burns on his skin were not serious, at least for Kryptonians, this was not even a skin trauma. not on.

The only pity is Clark's neatly combed hair.

In the burning of the phoenix fire, that hair...

Gone again!

Clark with a big bald head hovered high in the sky, the red cloak on his back flipped in the gust of Thor's wind, and he looked down at the phoenix fire that was beginning to recede.

The counterattack just now seemed to have angered the lady in black. Under the curtain of flames, the expression on her cheek was not friendly.

That deadly coldness seemed to represent her murderous intent.

However, whether it's just Clark or Thor, they can all see the unconcealable confusion shining in the black phoenix's black eyes, and the dazed flashes from time to time.

She is facing two battlefields at the same time.

In the real world oppressed by her, Superman and Thor are thorny figures who are difficult to defeat in a short time.

And in the spiritual realm she just seized, Merlin, who has forcibly penetrated into it, is even more difficult to crack.

boom

Black Phoenix clenched its slender fists, and punched Thor's Hammer that was whizzing towards it wrapped in lightning.

Wherever her fingers went, the solid space was broken into pieces, filled with the power to annihilate everything.

In the flying of black space fragments, holding a warhammer, Thor, who was approaching aggressively, was punched and flew out.

The strengthening of the Phoenix Force is all-round...

What it gives to the qin is not just the manipulation of energy.

But at the same time Thor was knocked into the air, Clark's heavy punch, which rushed at the speed of light, also crushed the lingering energy around Phoenix, and the Kryptonian's fist hit Phoenix's beautiful cheek.

The pure power enough to pierce through the mountains exploded on the body of the phoenix with explosive contact, blasting the mighty lady from the sky into the sea.

boom

The scorching meteor fell into the ocean, stirring up a huge tumbling tide. Under Clark's gaze, it was as if a sun was about to erupt under the deep sea.

And Thor held the hammer in both hands, like holding a thunderbolt, leading a thick thunder arrow down from the sky and shooting towards the sea.

Get away!

Clark yelled.

In the next second, a scorching pillar of fire soared into the sky and collided head-on with the falling thunder arrow. The howling fire dragon seemed to engulf the thunder in the sky.

Thor narrowly escaped the attack of the pillar of fire, and he landed beside Superman. The Asgardian, who was wrapped in electric arcs all over his body, looked at the black phoenix that came out of the flames unharmed. He said to Clark :

Her speed...slowed down.

This shows that Merlin is making good progress.

The bald Superman clenched his fists, he glanced at the sky, and said:

We're not strong enough to hurt her...can you buy me a few minutes?

A few minutes?

Thor laughed loudly in the flash of thunder, and the Asgardian raised his hammer and said boldly:

As long as I still hold the warhammer, I can spend forever with her!

Then wait for me!

The figure of Superman rushed into the sky quickly, and he was going to absorb the power of the sun, so that he could enter a state of bursting power in a short time.

Otherwise, facing the ubiquitous annihilating power of the Black Phoenix, he is destined to fight very hard.

Phoenix also raised his head, looking at Superman rushing into the clouds.

She didn't know what Clark was going to do, but her instinct told her it would be best to let that troublesome guy off the field.

Black Phoenix raised his finger, chaotic light lingered on his fingertips, black lightning jumped, and in the next second, a black beam chased Clark and shot out.

But the blue round shield whizzed forward, spinning in the air, precisely blocking the black lightning.

The blue symbiote waved its strange wings, carrying the belated Steve Rogers to fly rapidly in the air, and grabbed the flying shield back into its hands.

Sorry for being late.

The captain shouted to Thor beside him, then folded the wings of the symbiote, blocked the shield in front of him, and fell towards the direction of the black phoenix.

The power of annihilation bombarded the shield, but it had no effect.

However, the closer he got to the Phoenix, the hotter the temperature became, causing the captain's symbiote to scream overwhelmed. He could only wave his wings and move away from the hot center of the black hole again.

Seeing the roaring Thor carrying dazzling lightning in the air and fighting the black phoenix at close quarters, a trace of helplessness flashed in the captain's eyes.

He drew a pulse cannon from behind, hovered in the air, and shot at the Phoenix, trying to distract the Phoenix's attention.

In the face of such an unreasonable enemy, in addition to the shield defense against teammates at critical moments...

There is really very little that the captain can do.

Tony, are you alright?

The captain asked in the communicator:

How long is your new toy?

The energy special attack type Super Mark 13 is flying over from California...Although it is supersonic...

Tony's helpless voice came:

But I guess it will take ten minutes.

The captain pursed his lips. He quickly threw the shield again, helped Thor block an annihilation ray, flew over to grab the shield back, and shouted to the Iron Man on the other side of the communicator:

Then protect Merlin's body... He told me not to let anyone get close!

good!

On the coast where there was only one scorching crater left, Tony held a pistol and stood guard with Sharron's trio, looking around vigilantly.

On the ground between them, Merlin was sitting there in a cross-legged posture, with his eyes closed and his breathing long, he looked as if he had fallen asleep.

His soul has completely left his body, and now he is trekking hard in the spiritual world of Black Phoenix.

It is very dangerous to rashly enter the mind of an out-of-control person, especially for a mutant like Jean Gray who is good at spiritual power. When she is in the Phoenix Force, Qin's spiritual power will also be greatly strengthened.

If he is not careful, Merlin will be trapped there to death.

Even worse, it became the food of the hungry phoenix.

This is a world of blazing flames, just like the world that has been completely burned by the flames, leaving only a piece of scorched black ruins.

There was scorching gunpowder smoke everywhere, like a lonely and hopeless doomsday scene.

This is the reflection of Qin's despair on the spiritual level.

Everyone has their own unique world in their hearts, which is constantly changing according to people's will.

But now, Merlin was walking in the scorched ruins covered in haze, seeing the devastation in front of him, he could feel the pain and despair in Qin's heart even more.

Her world is falling apart...

Perhaps from the moment Phoenix woke up, her world began to collapse, but due to the support of the spiritual pillar, she could still barely resist the erosion of the soul, and when the last pillar collapsed...

The world begins to fall apart.

Aww!!!

An indescribable shadow rose from the barren land behind Merlin, full of anger.

Merlin looked back, a round of sun was rising from below the horizon, it exuded high temperature and desperate heat relentlessly, it was a creature soaring like a phoenix.

But beyond the circle of flames, there were dark silhouettes beating again.

It's like a fusion of shadow and fire...

Merlin's figure suddenly disappeared into the dark ruins. He hid silently to avoid being discovered by the Phoenix Force flying across the sky.

And where the scorching phoenix covered in shadows went, the ruins also dissipated and collapsed like weathering.

This spiritual world is over...

After being shattered, it is being completely devoured by malice, and then transformed into the nourishment of darker beings, like a giant beast capable of devouring the world conceived in despair.

In the shadow of the ruins, Merlin looked at the light flying overhead.

It is also polluted.

The fusion of Phoenix Force and Qin is relative, while it is affecting Qin, Qin is also affecting it.

In the infestation of despair and pain, the power of the phoenix, which was supposed to be scorching and burning everything, also began to shift in a darker, deeper and more distorted direction.

It is no longer a qin, nor is it a phoenix...

Dark Phoenix...

Merlin reached out to push the glasses, but it was empty.

Only then did he realize that he was in a soul state, and it was impossible for Icarus to follow him.

swish

Merlin, whose body was illusory, stretched out his hand and shook it, and a magical beacon spun in front of his eyes, guiding him through the ruins.

Fortunately, the Spirit Beacon was added at that time...

Merlin looked around, followed the guidance of the road signs, and quickly passed through the ruins.

After a few minutes, he saw the only remaining building among the ruins of this desperate world.

It was a house, a log cabin very common this side of North America, and in this almost black-and-white soul world, the room looked very old.

That was Jean's last refuge.

It is the last hiding place of a desperate soul.

kuang

In the ruins behind Merlin, the collapse of the world is accelerating, which means that the black phoenix is ​​eroding Qin's last will.

He must speed up.

Once Dark Phoenix completely replaced Qin, then it would be impossible for him to leave this place again.

And once the Dark Phoenix really appears, with Clark and Thor alone, it will be difficult for them to restrain her.

Bang, bang

Merlin stretched out his hand and knocked on the closed door in front of him, but no one answered.

The next moment, he reached out and pushed the door open, and then walked into it.

Qin...

Standing at the door, Merlin looked at the darkness like an abyss without a ray of light. The light of the world of despair followed Merlin's figure into the room, illuminating the darkness.

That is the only light.

In that darkness, Jean was curled up on the ground.

Her hair was disheveled, her face was haggard, and her eyes were filled with blankness, pain, loss and helplessness that could not be concealed.

She turned her head and looked at Merlin with a miserable and distressed gaze.

She said in a hoarse voice:

I tried...

I failed...

I'm sorry...this is too painful, let me go.