Hell's Blissfall, Even Gods Weep
"The worst X-Men ever..."
The contemptuous words deeply wounded the X-Men's pride. They emerged from the shock of the murderous aura, received Charles's nod of approval, and deployed their pre-arranged tactical attack formations to launch an attack on Russell.
"Now!"
Charles shouted and pointed to his temple, attempting to control Russell's thoughts through Mind Stone.
Crackling sounds!
Russell's hair crackled with Electric Arc, disrupting Charles's mental connection, and he swung his longsword to cleave the oncoming red shockwave.
Whoosh!
The Nightcrawler transformed into a blue-black mist and appeared behind Russell, its long tail lashing out like a serpent, attempting to coil around Russell's neck.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Russell anticipated the attack, sidestepped and slid to avoid Longtail's sneak attack, and at the same time flipped over and swept his sword across Nightcrawler.
Whoosh!
The Blade sliced through the black mist. Russell smiled coldly, raised his long sword behind him, and once again blocked the shockwave attack.
At this moment, Beast Hank and Mystique were engaged in close combat, approached. Russell swung his longsword and forced the two back.
Suddenly, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, and Russell's limbs became unresponsive, leaving him rooted to the spot and unable to move.
"Quickly, he can't move!" Qin shouted.
"Well done, Qin."
Hank roared, raised his right hand high, and unleashed astonishing power. In an instant, the air whistled as a heavy punch hurtled straight toward Russell's chest.
The fist landed on Russell's chest with a muffled thud, and Russell, still holding his sword, slid backward several meters.
Behind Hank, Raven leaped up, pressing down on his shoulder, and spun and twisted her waist in mid-air, gathering all her strength into her legs, and swept her leg out, hitting Russell in the neck.
Both attacks hit their targets.
"That's all?"
Russell shook his head in disappointment. "I was actually looking forward to it, but it turned out to be just kids fighting, not even as good as wild punches!"
As he spoke, his bound hands and feet moved slowly, from initial hesitation to effortless ease, and in less than two seconds he adapted to the pressure exerted on him by the zither.
Qin's face flushed red as she intensified the force applied to Russell, but she still felt powerless, as if she were wrestling with a giant beast.
"Quick, his strength is too great."
Upon hearing this, the Beast roared, its muscles tensing, and rushed forward, throwing a punch at Russell's cheek in an attempt to stop him from fighting against the harp's abilities.
Russell neither dodged nor evaded, but stood firmly in a horse stance, his left fist meeting Hank's fist head-on.
Bang!
"Aaaaaah!!"
Hank screamed in agony, clutching his fists and staggering back. The throbbing pain, as if his knuckles were shattering, made him feel as if he had struck steel.
"Snort!"
Russell snorted coldly, his whole body jerked violently, and he unleashed a powerful force, creating a vortex of air around him.
The heavy pressure left two deep footprints in the ground, and the cracked ground was covered with a spider web that spread in all directions, stirring up a layer of dust.
Across from her, Qin's face turned pale, her eyes blurred, and she almost lost her balance. Her abilities were not yet at their peak, and she was no match for Russell.
Alex unleashed a red shockwave with both hands. Seeing his teammates fall one by one, he overloaded himself with energy and released it. One beam shot straight at Russell's chest, while another struck the ground beneath Russell's feet.
Boom!!
Russell deflected the incoming red light with his sword, redirecting the attack towards Mystique. The ball beneath his feet exploded on the spot, sending flames soaring into the sky and thick smoke covering his location, obscuring the view of the onlookers.
"How boring. This kind of fight is not interesting at all. I bet 10 dollars that Russell is going easy on us."
Deadpool was bored out of his mind... no, he's not bored anymore, he's just plain bored, so he pulled Logan along and started a business.
"I bet Russell will win!" x2
"..."
It ended before it even began.
In the arena, Hank used his keen sense of smell to spot Russell first in the black fog. He flipped and leaped into the air, gathering all his strength in his legs, and brought them down in a tomahawk-like strike.
Russell swept his hand across the ground, his five fingers spread wide like iron clamps, delivering a powerful and heavy kick.
Silently, he took the next blow head-on, his lower body remaining firmly in place.
Hank's ankle was gripped, and he twisted it twice but couldn't break free. Instead, the grip on the large hand tightened, causing him to grimace in pain, feeling as if his bones were about to break.
"Beast, you're in luck. Next up is a move specifically for gods. Savor it."
Russell smiled, grabbed Hank's ankle, swung it around twice in mid-air to disperse the surrounding black smoke, and then slammed him into the ground like a hammer.
Boom!!
Hank felt his body being pulled by a tremendous force, the world spinning around him, and the sound of air being torn apart echoing in his ears. The next second, a sharp pain came from his back, and his whole body was deeply embedded in the floor tiles.
"Oh ho ho, I know that move. It's the green version of Hell's Blissfall, even the gods would cry."
Deadpool grabbed Logan's fist and used it as a microphone, passionately commentating on the battle, but Logan flicked his claws and punched him through the forehead, temporarily silencing him.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—
Russell grabbed Hank's ankle and, with a combination of forehand and backhand, threw him into a daze, leaving him completely silent.
Hank: 0(:3)~(:3っ)
The feeling of being completely bound came over him again. Electric Arc lit up in Russell's hair to resist the Mind Stone intrusion. He slowly turned his head to look at Qin, who was sweating profusely.
With his fingers pried open by an invisible force, Russell dared not provoke the Phoenix Woman too much and released Hank's ankle.
Whoosh!
Nightcrawler arrived just in time and took the unconscious Hank away. Mystique filled the gap, trapping Russell's neck with a scissor kick.
Her agile body arched in the air, the exaggerated curve of her waist making one worry that her waist might break at any moment.
"Drink!"
Raven tried to throw Russell off balance by using her waist to spring back, but despite her best efforts, she had no effect. Russell was firmly planted on his feet, Raven couldn't budge him even after two attempts, ending up hanging upside down behind Russell in a rather embarrassing situation.
Russell drew his pistol from his waist and unleashed a barrage of blue bullets, forcing Jean to deploy her defensive shield to protect herself.
Without Qin's interference, Russell began to deal with Raven, his longsword poised to stab her from behind, forcing Raven to release her legs that were tightly clamped around him.
Clang!
A silver blade swept past, about to strike the fleeing Raven, when Nightcrawler appeared just in time, thrusting down like a long-tailed sword, a diversionary tactic aimed at Russell's chest.
Russell's lips curled into a cold smile again. He abandoned the pursuit of Mystique and swung his sword again, striking the dark blue-black mist scattered by the Nightcrawler.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—
To cover Raven's safe escape and to give Alex time to build up his shockwave, Nightcrawler repeatedly teleported around Russell, disappearing and reappearing more than ten times, at which point he even appeared as a ghost.
Russell's smile remained unchanged as he continued to strike, each time slightly slower than the Nightcrawler.
Finally, he sheathed his longsword, then suddenly kicked forward, his size 42 shoe print slapping the Nightcrawler across the face the instant the Nightcrawler appeared.
Nightcrawler had successfully dodged several attacks and was secretly pleased with himself. Even a powerful Mutants like Russell would be no match for his abilities. But his smugness was short-lived when he was kicked away by a flying kick.
The Nightcrawler vanished in mid-air in Teleportation, and when he reappeared, he stood steadily beside Raven, the pain on his face causing him to gasp repeatedly.
However, shame quickly made him forget the pain. Before he knew it, his clothes had disappeared, and he was standing there completely naked.
Seeing the shards of clothing at Russell's feet, Nightcrawler knew perfectly well that the man was just playing a trick on him; if he had really wanted to cut him, he would have been dead already.
A cold wind blew, Nightcrawler felt a chill run through his body. He couldn't help but shiver, clutching his vitals and crouching down on the spot, no longer daring to activate his abilities rashly.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
With a shout, Shockwave Alex unleashed his ultimate attack, thwarting the attacks of Hank, Raven, Wagner the Nightcrawler, and Jean.
He clenched his fists and thrust forward, unleashing a dazzling, blazing red beam of light that struck Russell instantly.
Unlike before, this beam of light, due to its longer accumulation time, had an energy intensity and impact force that far exceeded those of the previous beams.
Russell gripped the knife with both hands and held it horizontally. He tried to deflect the blade but couldn't immediately deflect it. He glanced at the exhausted X-Men, then suddenly raised the knife and slashed down, channeling the energy into the ground beneath his feet.
Rumble!!!
A red pillar of flame shot into the sky, accompanied by a deafening explosion, and the terrifying shockwave from the energy explosion ravaged the entire area.
The three Deadpool closest to him were thrown over several times. Erik used his powers to summon a steel-forged defense to protect the two limousines behind him.
On the X-Men's side, Jean Grey groaned, spreading her arms to create an invisible defense, firmly protecting Charles and the others. Her energy expenditure was several times greater than Erik's; after the aftershocks of the explosion subsided, she collapsed to her knees, utterly exhausted.
Raven helped Jean sit down slowly on the ground, and everyone watched the scene, silently praying that the attack would be effective.
Boom----
The hurricane struck, leaving a huge crater in the center of the college garden, with several cracks spreading outwards.
"Not bad, you almost killed me." Russell stepped out of the pit, raised his hand and gestured in front of the X-Men, with only a few millimeters between his thumb and forefinger.
Considering that he was spotless, the difference between his fingertips was enough to contain an entire universe.
The X-Men watched this scene in despair. To be fair, Russell's strength was not that great. Every move he made was predictable. It was as if they could have defeated Russell if they had put in a little more effort.
However, the truth is that no matter how hard they tried, Russell was still slightly better than them.
Being slightly stronger makes a world of difference!
The disparity was enormous, far beyond what numbers could compensate for; the enemy was too strong, and they had no chance of winning.
Russell swept his gaze across the somber faces of the crowd, then swung his longsword, creating a whirlwind. "A good warm-up exercise, which has stirred up a lot of my fighting spirit. The second round begins. This time, I hope everyone will go all out and not be as modest as before."
"..."
Who the hell was being modest with you!