"You!"
Cyclops stared at Aurelius Viremont, his gaze filled with utter shock. He hadn't expected the White Demon to utter such words.
"You... you truly are a demon!"
Jean Grey and Storm were equally stunned by the white-haired man before them. Seeing his uninhibited smile and cold, azure eyes, they felt goosebumps spreading across their skin. At this moment, they finally understood what the Professor meant: if left unchecked, the White Demon would cause irreversible consequences!
Even though Professor X knew Aurelius Viremont was straying down a dark path, hearing such blatant disregard for morality still left him shaken. He felt a deep-seated fear, a shudder that reached his very soul.
He cannot be allowed to continue like this. Otherwise, in the near future, he will be a walking natural disaster!
Thinking of the potential catastrophes, the Professor's expression grew grim. He spoke in a low, heavy voice:
"Aurelius Viremont, you have already stepped onto the wrong path. You cannot continue to fall! You possess power sufficient to upend the world; that power should be used for good, not for mindless slaughter! Killing doesn't solve problems—it only makes them more complex and volatile, leading to a point beyond redemption!"
Beside him, Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey nodded solemnly. They firmly believed in Xavier's philosophy: peace maintained through violence is unstable. Only through peaceful means can mutants and humans coexist long-term. They had fought for this ideal, stopping the Brotherhood of Mutants' schemes and establishing the X-Men to fight crime and change public perception. Saving the White Demon from his errors had become their most important objective.
Hearing the Professor, Aurelius Viremont adopted a look of mock thoughtfulness. "Indeed, you are quite right. Peace maintained through violence certainly cannot last forever..."
The tension in the air softened slightly as the X-Men relaxed. They assumed the White Demon had simply lacked guidance and had now seen the light.
"However..."
Suddenly, the White Demon flashed that familiar, terrifying grin. A bad premonition rose in the X-Men's hearts.
"Is there another possibility? Perhaps the 'violence' isn't violent enough. Perhaps the 'cruelty' isn't cruel enough. Perhaps... the strength is simply insufficient! If I am strong enough, my mere existence will suppress all dissent. As long as I stand there, no one will dare utter a word of 'no.' At that point, it will be enough. That will be true peace!"
Xavier's face paled. Cyclops reached for his visor, ready to remove it. Storm's hair billowed upward as the clear sky underwent a violent transformation, lightning and gales intertwining. Aurelius Viremont focused most of his attention on Jean Grey; he saw a flash of crimson flicker in her eyes.
However, the "Dark Phoenix" was still suppressed by Xavier's psychic seals. At this stage, Jean was far from being Aurelius Viremont's match.
Ordinary people nearby screamed and fled. In a matter of seconds, the street was empty, save for Aurelius Viremont and the X-Men facing him. Faced with two Level 5 mutants, one Level 4, and one supplementary Level 3 "small fry," Aurelius Viremont smiled and took a step forward.
His azure pupils shimmered with spiritual light. A massive repulsive force erupted from him, sweeping outward and pulverizing everything in its path. Dense cracks spider-webbed from his feet, covering dozens of meters, sparing only the small patch of ground where the X-Men stood.
Storm immediately summoned gale-force winds to assist Jean's telekinesis in resisting the pressure, but they were still forced backward. Seeing this, Cyclops ripped off his specialized glasses. Two thick ruby beams erupted from his eyes, surging toward the arrogant White Demon.
The beams—capable of slicing through steel with ease—suddenly slowed down as they reached the ten-centimeter mark around Aurelius Viremont. They could only crawl toward him at an agonizingly slow pace.
Aurelius Viremont watched the creeping lasers with curiosity. As he expected, the Limitless Technique couldn't completely block light-based attacks yet—at least not at Lv.2. However, as the level increased, the technique would eventually be able to easily stop lasers, toxins, and even spatial attacks.
For now, he still had to deal with them manually.
To Cyclops's horror, Aurelius Viremont placed his bare palm directly into the path of the optic blasts. When the struggling lasers touched his flesh, they failed to pierce it. Instead, the beams dimmed visibly, as if being drained.
"What?!" Cyclops gasped, questioning if his own powers were failing. "How can he block my lasers with his bare hands?"
The learned Professor X immediately spotted the cause. "No, he isn't just blocking them. He is absorbing the energy contained within your beams!"
Jean and Storm were even more shocked. "Professor, isn't the White Demon's energy absorption limited to a small amount? How can he absorb Scott's full output?"
Xavier's gaze was grave. "There is only one explanation. The White Demon's mutant abilities strengthen over time, and he acquires new ones as he grows. This growth trend seems to have no limit, and the speed is only increasing!"
The X-Men felt a chill. Did such a terrifying mutant ability truly exist? Even a Level 5 mutant shouldn't be able to do this. A unified thought formed in their minds: no matter the cost, they had to stop him. If he went completely out of control, the result wouldn't just be a disaster—it could mean the end of the world.
Deep within a red sea of consciousness, a figure with red hair and red eyes watched through Jean's perspective. She stared blankly at the white-haired figure, listening to Xavier's analysis.
The Dark Phoenix looked at the White Demon in disbelief. Under Xavier's constant lectures, even she had wondered if she was too extreme, or if her power was too dangerous.
But now, she only had one thought:
What am I compared to him? This guy is the real demon. He's way too extreme!