Chapter 996: Marvel: Awakening the Little Universe at the Start, Chapter 541

The next second.

On the altar inside the pyramid, flames roared to life with a whoosh, and on that altar, without any restraints, the young Professor X, who was a paraplegic, appeared in Hawk's line of sight.

Hawk instinctively looked toward Professor X, who was leaning against the stone platform of the altar.

Professor X's gaze happened to be looking over here as well, and then his eyes constricted.

"Watch out!"

"Boom!"

"Bang!"

Hawk instantly regained his focus, looking at the giant fist smashing toward him; instead of retreating, he advanced, and the moment he raised his hand, he met it with a punch.

A violent shockwave was generated between the collision of the fists, and then, when the shockwave slammed into the inner walls of the pyramid, the runes on the walls lit up, and as the entire pyramid trembled, that feeling of being trapped in a quagmire struck again.

But soon.

The quagmire sensation vanished, and Apocalypse's force rose to another level; the moment his right fist exerted pressure, he sent Hawk flying directly.

Boom!

Hawk, flying backward, turned into a streak of scarlet light, and the moment his back collided with the pyramid wall, light flickered within Apocalypse's red eyes.

Instantly, the metal wall behind Hawk seemed to come alive; the wall flowed like liquid, extending countless tentacles, attempting to bind Hawk from three hundred and sixty-five degrees without any blind spots.

But...

Almost the moment the tentacles were about to trap Hawk, Hawk shot out again like a cannonball.

"I don't believe the boost this pyramid gives you is infinite."

"Die!"

"Boom!"

Hawk's punch slammed straight into the chest of Apocalypse, whose height was now approaching six meters.

In an instant.

Apocalypse flew backward again, and almost the moment Apocalypse's feet left the ground, his figure began to shrink visibly, sliding back toward his normal size.

His power boost from the pyramid required his feet to be touching the pyramid's floor!

Hawk's eyes lit up; after seeing this, he braked his figure once more, endured the air that had begun to grow viscous around him, instantly appeared again before Apocalypse, who was flying backward in mid-air, grabbed Apocalypse's ankle, and once again, like swinging a whip, hurled Apocalypse toward the higher air.

Boom!

Bang bang bang—!!!

One punch, two punches, three punches!

Hawk's figure turned into a blur, appearing on all sides of Apocalypse, his fists landing on Apocalypse's body at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

In an instant.

The entire pyramid was trembling because of it, but at the same time, the air around Hawk also became viscous to the point of suffocation.

Finally, with a boom, after Hawk threw the last punch, he felt it difficult to move an inch, watching Apocalypse, who roared like a meteor and slammed into the pyramid altar with a boom.

And just at the moment Apocalypse fell onto the altar, the resistance around him that had been viscous to the extreme vanished visibly.

As one waned and the other waxed, on the altar, as Apocalypse stood up again, the injuries on his body that had just been brutally inflicted by Hawk were also recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Apocalypse lowered his eyes to glance at his chest, which was being rapidly repaired, then looked up at Hawk, who was standing in mid-air above, and spoke his first sentence.

"An interesting body."

"I'll take it."

"Ha!"

Listening to Apocalypse's hoarse voice, which carried a sense of certainty, Hawk chuckled: "Is your brain broken?"

Apocalypse was expressionless: "The test is over; your body meets my requirements perfectly."

Hawk raised an eyebrow.

Just then.

After Apocalypse finished speaking, the moment he opened his right hand, Professor X, who was leaning to the side and unable to escape, instantly sank into his hand.

As Apocalypse and Professor X locked eyes, the red pupils, almost in an instant, synchronized and dyed Professor X's blue irises red.

The next second.

Apocalypse opened his mouth, and the synchronized Professor X also opened his mouth.

A roar!

"Ah!!"

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

The runes on the walls in all directions of the pyramid, upon sensing this ultra-high sonic attack, suddenly lit up again.

But unlike the golden light from just a moment ago, this time, the runes revealed a blood-red color, just like Apocalypse's red eyes and like fresh blood.

And unlike the mere viscous sensation it had just brought to Hawk.

This time, it brought Hawk not just a viscous feeling, but a powerful sense of oppression that struck like a tsunami.

At the same time, the entire wall seemed to have been melted by blood; countless blood-red tentacles appeared once again, and then, in the blink of an eye, appeared on all sides of Hawk.

In the blink of an eye, the number of tentacles became dense, so many that they almost submerged Hawk.

Slap!

A tentacle wrapped around Hawk's ankle, followed by his torso, then his limbs, and then it suddenly retracted backward, attempting to pull Hawk into the wall and fuse him into one with them.

Hawk, who was almost completely wrapped tightly by the tentacles, sneered.

The next second.

Boom!

Hawk shook his powerful body, and a strong shockwave erupted from within him; accompanied by the sound of snapping and tearing, the tentacles wrapped around him shattered one after another and fell off his body.

He also took this opportunity to instantly distance himself from there, then looked again at the altar where Apocalypse and Professor X were.

But...

On the altar, there was nothing; Apocalypse was nowhere to be seen, nor was Professor X.

Hawk landed on the altar with his toes, looked at the empty altar, and then realized.

No.

This is a mental attack.

Hawk's heart tightened, and the moment he looked up, his figure, like a cannonball, smashed directly through the pyramid.

Located in the real pyramid, Hawk, who was also wrapped up—not by blood-red tentacles, but locked by countless metal arms extending out, with only his head exposed and his eyes originally dull—had his expression return in an instant.

The next second.

Boom!!!

The metal arms wrapping his limbs and torso responded...

Didn't break?

"This is..."

"Adamantium?"

"No?"

"This seems to be Adamantine alloy."

Hawk felt the metal locking his limbs and torso, his eyebrows furrowed.

Fine.

This is a bit troublesome.

As everyone knows.

Adamantium is Adamantium, and Adamantine alloy is Adamantine alloy.

These two are different things.

The former is non-replicable, while the latter is relatively rare but can be replicated; furthermore, true Adamantium is non-magnetic, while Adamantine alloy can be magnetized.

Hawk's Golden Phoenix Cloth was forged from Adamantium.

And Wolverine's claws are the latter, which is Adamantine alloy; this is also the reason why Magneto can control Wolverine.

Adamantine alloy is magnetic, and since it is magnetic, it can be controlled by Magneto.

Very reasonable.

Just as Hawk frowned, feeling it was a bit troublesome, his body, under the restraint of the Adamantine alloy, began to drift toward Apocalypse, who was opening his right hand on the altar side.

"Do you know why you lost?"

"You are too proud; when you were outside, you clearly had the chance to dodge my attack, but your arrogance caused you to fall into my altar."

Apocalypse used his red eyes to stare at Hawk, who was bound by the Adamantine alloy, his voice hoarse with a hint of preachiness.

Hawk, with only his head exposed and his limbs tightly trapped by the Adamantine alloy, curled his lips.

"Is this why you were counter-killed by a group of humans back then, because you were too arrogant?"

"..."

On Apocalypse's deep blue face, his expression froze instantly while visibly turning black.

"I once thought they would be grateful for my benevolence."

"Unfortunately, I was wrong."

"Humans do not deserve my benevolence."

"Neither do you!"

"Sss!"

Hawk chuckled softly and looked at Apocalypse: "I am curious, how do you plan to plunder my body?"

Apocalypse's expression returned to normal.

"Kill you, and your body will belong to me."

"Is that so? Then how do you plan to kill me? You cannot even break through the defenses of my physical body."

"Yes."

Apocalypse nodded in agreement, locking eyes with Hawk: "The strength of your body is unbelievable to me; the current you is indeed someone I cannot kill, but I can kill the you from the past who did not yet possess such a powerful body."

Hawk raised an eyebrow.

"My time is fixed; no one can stir up trouble on the timeline I have already walked."

"True, if you had not come here."

Apocalypse said in a hoarse voice, and then a pair of red eyes—blood-red light almost overflowing from his pupils—instantly spread across Hawk's entire body.

The next second.

Hum!

The river of time belonging to Hawk, which had been temporarily shielded due to his arrival in this universe, seemed to be pulled directly out of Hawk's body under this seemingly writhing red light.

Hawk frowned.

Apocalypse said in a deep voice.

"I can enter every one of your time nodes and kill the you at that point in time, just like seawater seeping into a dam, or like a silkworm devouring a leaf, nibbling away at your time bit by bit, killing you on any timeline."