"Everyone!"
Steve took a deep breath, mustering all his strength to shout, "I know this situation is extremely unfavorable for us!"
It's extremely unfavorable! But isn't this the day we joined the Avengers for?
"We are the last line of defense for humanity! Behind us are thousands of innocent civilians!"
"No matter what happens, everyone, give it your all!"
"Save as many as you can! Fight until the very last moment~!"
His words rang out, powerful and infectious, stirring the hearts of all who heard them. Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hawkeye exchanged glances. Their bitter smiles gradually transformed into looks of resolve.
Yes—what else could they do?
"Then... let's do this!"
All the micro-missile launchers on Tony's shoulders and arms opened up, locking onto the densest cluster of enemies in the sky.
Just as the four were about to risk everything for this most tragic, final battle—
Change arrived!
Whoooosh—
Between the Chitauri army and them, figures appeared out of thin air!
It was as if hundreds—no, thousands—of beings had been cut from another canvas and pasted into this sky without warning!
They hovered in midair, each adorned in a variety of costumes and forms, but every one exuded a unique, powerful aura!
It was the mutant army under Lucci's command!
It's worth noting: this was not some random, chaotic teleportation.
This was Lucci, who, by leveraging the MagicNet, had gathered real-time intel on the Chitauri army. Through calculations and precise scheduling, he achieved the optimal deployment outcome!
Each squad teleported to the battlefield position best suited to their abilities!
The Avengers were dumbstruck by the sight.
"This..." Hawkeye stared in shock. "Who... who are they? Where did they come from?"
Black Widow looked closely and was stunned. "They have neither planes nor parachutes... they just appeared out of nowhere!"
"JARVIS! Scan them! Analyze their energy profiles!"
Iron Man quickly ordered.
"Sir, analyzing... analysis complete..."
JARVIS's voice echoed,
"Their forms surpass all models in the database. Preliminary judgment: similar to spatial teleportation—but at a scale and precision beyond all theoretical limits.
Scans show numerous abnormal bioenergy reactions, highly consistent with known mutant genetic profiles... but the intensity... far exceeds all known mutants."
Captain America was the first to recover from shock.
He didn't see a miracle or a threat; he saw a group of "friendly soldiers" about to rush into a meat grinder.
He didn't know who they were, but if they were hovering up there, they'd become the perfect live targets for the Chitauri!
With a leader's instincts, he yelled at the mutant army in the sky with all his might:
"Hey! Up there! Get down! Take cover! Move among the buildings! Don't stay in the air!"
Anxiety tinged his voice. In his view, this was the only tactic to buy these "reinforcements" a bit more time to live.
But Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto exchanged a smile when they heard the Captain's shout.
Handle it? No!
According to Prince Lucci's orders, their task was not to "handle"—but to annihilate!
—
Atop Stark Tower, Loki gazed arrogantly at the apocalyptic scene he commanded, eager to enjoy humanity's last struggle. The psychic scepter in his hand emitted a faint blue glow, resonating with the wormhole high above, continually summoning his army of destruction.
But just as he was savoring his triumph,
The sudden appearance of those figures in the sky froze his smile.
"Huh?"
"Mutants?"
Loki immediately frowned.
As a prince of Asgard, he had read countless Midgard periodicals and naturally understood the mutants—a unique group on Earth.
He knew they were rife with internal conflict, marginalized, hunted, and full of hatred and distrust toward humanity.
How could they possibly fight for the humans they despised?
It made no sense!
But this doubt lasted less than a second.
Loki's lips curled into a sharp sneer.
"Hmph... foolish creatures. What a pitiful choice."
He whispered with contempt,
"Just a mob of ordinary mortals with odd powers. Are they running to their own deaths, thinking my genocide isn't fast enough?"
To him, this was like a swarm of mantises swinging their sickles and charging toward a torrent of steel tanks.
"How could a few mutants possibly stop my Chitauri army, summoned from the abyss of the universe? They're just seeking death!"
"Very well—let the Midgardian supernaturals and humans turn to dust beneath my throne!"
He raised the scepter high, ordering his army to attack!
In the next instant—
The Chitauri surged toward the ground in dense waves!
Seeing this, Charles Xavier Shaw and Magneto, gave a light wave to the army behind them.
It was the signal for war!
ROAR—!
No more words were needed!
At that moment, thousands of mutants let out earth-shaking battle cries!
Relying on the MagicNet's aerial mobility, they shot forward like arrows released from the string, not retreating but advancing—launching the preemptive strike against the overwhelming Chitauri army.
Charge!
In that moment, the sky became their battlefield!
On the ground, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the remaining Avengers stood in utter shock.
They stared at the mutant army actively charging into the wave of destruction, their minds blank.
Insane...
All these people are insane...
Attacking an alien fleet like this—how could they even think of doing such a thing?!
In the next instant!
Thousands of mutants, empowered by Lucci, surged into the black tsunami of the Chitauri, like a flood rising against the current.
A concerto worthy of being called "divine punishment," surpassing the limits of human imagination, officially began in the skies above New York!
At the forefront stood Storm.
Her long silver-white hair danced in the wind, her eyes replaced by pure, destructive plasma.
Under Lucci's guidance, she no longer merely manipulated Earth's atmosphere, but learned to channel and borrow even more intense and primal energies from the vast cosmos!
"I bestow upon you the wrath of the universe!"
She spread her arms, chanting from the depths of her soul!
In the next instant, a "mini-nebula" of high-energy charged particles bloomed at the center of the Chitauri formation.
Countless golden, silver, and purple lightning chains lashed out in all directions like dancing dragons and snakes.
This was no ordinary lightning—it was a cosmic ray storm, capable of tearing the fabric of the universe!
CRAAACK—
In the raging torrent, thousands of Chitauri soldiers and proud aircraft were instantly vaporized and torn to their most basic particles—without even time to scream!
With just one strike, the vanguard of the Chitauri was swept clean from a massive, fan-shaped vacuum in the sky!
This shocking sight nearly popped the Avengers' eyes out of their sockets.
"That... was that a weather attack?"
Tony Stark's voice trembled in shock.
"JARVIS, analyze the energy index right now!"
"Sir... the peak energy from that instant burst... exceeded the total output limit of the arc reactor... Unable to analyze..."
Elsewhere on the battlefield, two figures crashed into the Chitauri ranks like meteors!
BOOM! BOOM!
Warships exploded in midair, smoke and debris filling the sky!
As the smoke cleared, two hulking figures appeared—
Colossus, body gleaming with organic steel, and Juggernaut, in a red helmet, bursting with unstoppable momentum!
"Out of my way, bugs!"
Juggernaut roared like a beast, kicking off and charging like a tank at full throttle into the Chitauri front line in a rampage!
The Chitauri soldiers tried desperately to harm him with energy weapons, but their attacks did nothing but spark harmlessly off his massive red form!
Each collision sent a dozen Chitauri flying, their bones and bodies crushed!
Colossus followed close behind, every swing of his metal fists splitting the air!
Whether it was Chitauri bodies or their aircraft, everything in front of them was reduced to scrap as easily as paper!
Together, they formed an unbeatable "demolition crew," carving a path of death through the ranks of the Chitauri!
In the sky, elsewhere—
Cyclops hovered at an altitude of several thousand meters, his expression icy.
Slowly, he removed the red crystal glasses that held back his terrifying power.
The next instant, a thick laser net of pure destructive energy burst from his eyes, slicing through the sky!
The red "net of divine retribution" made no sound, but its path distorted the very air!
It stretched from one end of the sky to the other, instantly cutting through Chitauri ships, soldiers, and even two Leviathans' armored hides—silently and completely!
Yet, none of this was the most shocking sight.
The most soul-stirring was the woman quietly floating above the battlefield—a woman in a combat suit, with flaming red hair: Jean Grey.
Her expression was calm and detached, and behind her slim form was the beautiful, burning golden image of the Phoenix, emanating supreme power as if from the dawn of the universe itself!
She reached out with a slender hand.
And, facing the densest region of the Chitauri Air Force, she gently grasped—
BUZZ—
The invisible, vast power of the Phoenix, so majestic it bent the very light, instantly enveloped a sphere several kilometers in radius!
Within, hundreds of Chitauri and their ships were seized as if by an invisible giant hand!
Their bodies lost all control; aircraft failed instantly!
And then, the invisible hand tightened!
CRUNCH... CRUNCH...!
The sound of twisting metal and shattering bone echoed through the sky!
Hundreds of craft and soldiers were compressed, crushed, and compacted by unstoppable force—
Until, before everyone's eyes, they suddenly collapsed into dense metallic spheres less than a meter across, sparking with electricity!
Then, as if encountering unimaginable heat, those spheres instantly vaporized into ash.
With just one move, nearly ten thousand enemies vanished!
At this moment, the former foes—X-Men and Brotherhood—were perfectly united under Lucci's will.
Each fulfilled their role, cooperating wordlessly, transforming into the most efficient, deadly, and beautiful war machine!
If Jean Grey and Storm's attacks were violent works of art,
The two mutant kings at the peak of the mutant world performed a quiet, dimensional reduction on the battlefield.
Magneto did not dive into the enemy ranks.
He floated calmly above the center, watching over his dominion like a cold king.
He slowly opened his palm upward, as if embracing the world.
In that instant, deep blue electricity flashed in his eyes.
He invoked Lucci's direct imprint and summoned [Electromagnetic Control]—a supreme power far beyond his prior comprehension!
No longer just manipulating metal, he now controlled one of the four fundamental forces of the universe—
Electromagnetism!
BUZZ—
An invisible, omnipresent force field instantly converged on him and radiated spherically across the battlefield!
In the next instant, all the Chitauri witnessed a terrifying sight that froze their souls!
Every metallic creation on the battlefield "rebelled" at that very moment!
Individual aircraft, once flying freely, had their internal energy pipelines instantly scrambled, control systems all failed at once, and they spiraled from the sky like wingless locusts, trailing black smoke!
Some crashed directly into their own side, triggering midair chain explosions and brilliant fireworks.
Others collided drunkenly into neighboring skyscrapers, causing explosive destruction.
Chitauri soldiers' energy weapons fared even worse!
The energy excitation devices overloaded instantly, burning out under Magneto's dominant electromagnetic field!
Countless soldiers found their weapons either "popped" and became useless or "bang!"—
Exploded in their hands, blood and flesh bursting in a blur of light!
Most terrifying of all, the bio-metallic armor covering their bodies,
Under Erik's will, became their deadliest cage!
The armor twisted uncontrollably, crushing the Chitauri inside to pulp!
With a mere thought, Magneto paralyzed the entire alien army!
Their proud technology became the tool of their own destruction!
…