He had looked forward to being free from all shackles, to being reborn in the mud and darkness. But when this moment really came, the first thing I felt was not heartfelt relief and joy, but confusion.

The air flow compressed to the extreme turned into an invisible blade, which exploded in mid-air in an instant. The blood splatters that flew around him also turned into murder weapons in the unrivaled assimilation of consciousness, which in turn pierced Elizhe's chest.

In the same place, in the same way. Twenty years ago, West ended Adelaide's short life, and twenty years later, it is finally the end of this fate.

His eyes were as red as blood. Due to the forced stimulation of the brain, the ability to artificially run wild, even the inhibitors diluted in the blood can no longer perform their due role at that moment. And perhaps, it is precisely because the pain of this outburst is so great that when the old enemy falls, West just stands in place, as if he can't react, and there is nothing in his eyes.

In this regard, Charles, who has been watching him, can understand very well.

After all, this hatred has lasted for too long, so long that all the blood and tears have soaked into the bone marrow, so long that West has almost let himself live for it. Until everything finally came to an end, there was a mixture of joy and sorrow. When I look at it, what I see now is the long and gray road I have walked.

It was as if the pouring rain had fallen from the sky, drenching his heroic brows and peeling off the cage he had poured for himself. All the past starts from the heart, and little by little it comes to mind. West stood in front of the arch-enemy's gradually cold body, quietly watching, quietly thinking, quietly remembering, and then converging into the pendulum of fate, finally breaking through all the shackles.

At that moment, as if the embankment had burst, indescribable emotions mixed with overwhelming exhaustion suddenly rushed in.

He clutched the clothes on his chest weakly, cold sweat dripping down and scratching the transparent marks. West found that he still seemed to be overestimating his limits. This kind of stress reaction is exactly the same as at the beginning, he thought that he could have persevered until the end, but now it seems that he can only go here.

The confusion of emotions could not help him. The sudden relaxation of the body brought only uncontrollable exhaustion and weakness. The only support that Professor X can give to his adopted son is here. And what was worse than expected was that without the support of superpowers, let alone escaping from the base, the hermit no longer even had the strength to stand on his own.

The forcibly accelerated metabolism weakens the effect of inhibitors, but also causes more damage to cells. West only felt as if he had been slammed into a lump of lead, and for a moment he was so heavy that he couldn't even lift his arms, so he had no choice but to fall to the ground.

At the same time, the collapse that had destroyed almost the entire base had finally spread to the proving ground, which was buried deep in the Alps. Fragments of the ceiling continued to fall around West, and massive cracks began to appear in the impregnable walls around them. It seems that in the blink of an eye, what you see is already turned upside down.

Force yourself to wake up from the overwhelming drowsiness. West looked up on the ground in embarrassment, but struggled to look up at the heavy iron door that had been reopened by Elizhe's death.

That was the only exit he could escape from now.

Even if the possibility of successfully returning to the ground was infinitely close to zero, as long as he had not lost consciousness, he was not willing to give up.

West Xavier clearly had a reason to survive. Twenty years of nightmares are finally waking up, and there is no dawn in sight, how can he die with regret at such a time.

Gritted his teeth and struggled to get up with the strength of his elbows. He clutched his broken wrist and stumbled forward against the wall. The deep and visible wound on his left leg was gushing and bleeding, leaving a showy mark on the boy's trajectory, and rubble mixed with steel bars continued to fall from the ceiling. But at this moment, no matter what, he could no longer take away even the slightest attention from him.

It's just that Lady Luck doesn't seem to be optimistic about West's struggles. Just as he was only a stone's throw away from the exit, there was a shaky collapse, and finally the bearing point supporting the test site collapsed, carrying more than 1,000 tons of reinforced concrete, and finally completely collapsed the ground building, all of which pressed towards the hermit!

Hit in the back by a partition, this time I didn't have the strength to get up again. Catching a glimpse of the dust-submerged corpse of Elizhe not far away, West had no choice but to reflexively close his eyes, unwilling to wait for the call of death.

However.

"Don't be afraid."

There seemed to be a breeze on his cheeks, and in the midst of extreme despair, the boy felt that he had fallen into an embrace warm enough to make people cry. At the same time, a series of beautiful and mysterious incantations spilled from the man's lips and flowed all around. In an instant, as if by the hand of God, time stood still, and even the dust flying in mid-air stopped in place, solidifying into silent statues in the years.

"Don't be afraid, Serena Williams."

Hold his West firmly in his arms. The mage buried his head in his neck, surrounded by the familiar smell of the man mixed with the smell of rust, feeling the beating of life under the veins, and his voice was very soft.

Merlin.

When I felt the familiar temperature behind me, it was like being immersed in warm water, and the string that had been tight in my mind suddenly relaxed. Maybe he hadn't expected Merlin to return, but with the mage by his side, West knew he would never have to worry about it again.

- That's what he has the ability to do. I didn't have to use magic, I was willing to give everything I had.

He will always find him.

"Merlin ......"

The exhaustion of the blood finally pushed him into the darkness. The moment he closed his eyes, West muttered to himself. He knew that a pair of clean, clear light gray eyes would always fall on him, and that there was Amoryth's gentlest and most powerful magic, and that even if he was in prison, it would still give him the warmth he craved. Across the mountains and rivers, out of the barren wilderness, to find the grandest mystery in this life.

He fell asleep in the infinite darkness. But even so, there was a figure hovering in consciousness. The man seemed to smile many times and seemed to say a lot. From the past to the future, he did not fall at all, so that even in the sinking, the corners of his mouth showed a good-looking smile.

… …

When I woke up, the morning light was faint, and the sky had just dawned.

As if rising from the suffocating depths of the ocean, West slowly opened his eyes and looked at the familiar lines of the ceiling above his head, his gaze blurred for a moment, and then became clearer than ever.

This is his home, there is no doubt about it. It wasn't the empty house that was far away in Oxford, almost nothing, but the room in Xavier's Gifted Junior School, which really belonged only to him.

I lay down for a while, making sure that I was not missing a single place in my body. The hermit tried to get up slowly, but there was no weakness or pain as he had imagined, and he was even more energetic than he had ever been. And those originally hideous wounds are almost healed, so it is conceivable that it may have been a long time since the final battle sunk in the Alps.

A long, long time ago, he woke up from the darkness like this. But it is not the end of pain and scars, but the beginning of another long period of desperate atonement.

But now, it's all over.

The warm late summer sun pours in through the cracks in the curtains, leaving a mottled halo of silhouettes on the floor. The noise from nowhere was mixed with the brightness, and West, with some curiosity, climbed out of bed, came to the window, and looked at the group of children chasing each other in the grass not far away.

Maybe it's the rare good weather that makes everyone in the mutant school happy to come out and bask in the sun. Storm Girl and Jean, Wolverine and Cyclops, and even Hank, who has been soaked in the underground laboratory for many years and no one can drag him, actually came out to let himself go, crouching to the side and muttering something to Raven. Farther away, Professor X in the shade of the tree did not participate in the students' play, but turned his head to look at Magneto, who was standing quietly next to him, with a smile between his eyebrows.

If it had been a few months ago, it would have been something that West could never have dreamed of, but now it's true. The corners of his mouth opened a small but brilliant arc, and the young man leaned over his chin to prop himself up on the windowsill, his beautiful pupils reflecting the sunlight like the blue sea, his eyes were gentle and focused, and finally fixed on the thin figure surrounded by children.

It seems to be a feeling. On the grass, Merlin, who was being pestered by the little ones to show off his magic, suddenly raised his head and looked at the already familiar room on the second floor of the castle, which happened to meet a pair of clean and clear eyes.

The mage froze in place, not even aware of when the magic in his hand was gone. Immediately, he blinked in disbelief, just a light turn, and disappeared in place amid the exclamations of the children.

"What's going on?!"

Startled by Merlin's sudden action, Scott jumped up from the ground with a spirit, and was about to press his glasses on the conditioned reflex, but was slapped down by Wolverine next to him.

"Look over there."

Jean and Charles, who have psychic abilities, were stunned and laughed meaningfully. Cyclops and the equally confused Storm Lady Magneto looked to the second floor at Logan's motion, but they only had time to see the surprised side face of the window, and in a short moment, they suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight as if they had been dragged by something.

…… Oh, this is such a large amount of information, the baby was stuffed with a mouthful of dog food for some reason.

"It's so convenient to have magic."

silently sighed with emotion. Storm Girl glanced lightly at Scott, who was next to her with a look of 'Lying in the groove, really blind Lao Tzu's dog's eyes', a little distressed, should she run over and hug the hermit who finally woke up without doing anything now, or stop the group of little people in front of her who were cheering and rushing upstairs, and buy them more alone time?

"Is this a question that still needs to be considered?"

His eyelids jumped, and he made up his mind to stay in place. After experiencing countless winds and waves, Rogan raised his wrist to look at the time, with a smile on his face, not noticing the gaze of Magneto from behind him like a searchlight:

"That brunette doesn't look like a mess with him. West should be pretty weak right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if they tossed it all the way to dinner. ”

“……”

If it weren't for Professor X, Eric still couldn't accept that his son had run away with Mr. Lansell, and he was sure that he had already wiped out the entire Xavier Manor.