Alaska.
Relatively speaking, it was a desolate land, sparsely populated.
Its greatest claims to fame were a few remaining gold mines and sled dogs.
Few knew, however, that alongside the Alaskan dogs lay low-grade Deviants, dropped onto Earth thousands of years ago by the Celestial named Arishem.
Ikaris hovered high in the sky, looking down.
Beneath a thick layer of snow, deep within a perennially frozen lake, a massive horde of Deviants lay dormant.
The eleven of them had spent thousands of years fighting these creatures—a struggle spanning virtually the entirety of human civilization.
“What on earth were those things…?” Ikaris’s expression was grim to the extreme.
He looked down at the claw marks on his chest.
Though the wounds had long since healed, the shock the Xenomorphs had dealt him refused to dissipate.
It was his first time encountering a species so strikingly similar to the Deviants—growing at terrifying speed just as they did—yet fundamentally different in nature.
He stood bathed in the swirling snow.
Just then, another figure flew toward him.
The intruder moved slowly, yet his arrival carried a tangible, suffocating pressure.
“Magneto?” Ikaris frowned slightly.
He paid close attention to human history, so he naturally recognized the man.
At the same time, he cast his gaze further into the distance, catching sight of a red figure rapidly teleporting more mutants over.
“Azazel?” Ikaris’s frown deepened, filled with doubt and suspicion.
From far away, Azazel raised his head.
His eyes locked with Ikaris’s, and his lips curled into an enigmatic smile.
Four thousand years ago, during the era of Apocalypse, Azazel had been just a rank-and-file soldier under Apocalypse.
Having survived all the way into modern society, he had seen countless formidable individuals and personally witnessed numerous monumental historical events.
In Ikaris’s eyes, Azazel was far more noteworthy than Magneto.
“Are you the Fly-Boy?” Magneto flew up, stopping a short distance away.
His very first words shattered Ikaris’s composure.
“Fly…
what?” “Fly-Boy.
That’s what everyone calls you.” Magneto ignored the shift in Ikaris’s expression.
Barely concealing his agitation, he asked briskly, “You’re a Deviant, aren’t you?
How did you survive until today?
Longevity, or time travel?” “Watch your phrasing, Magneto!
How could I, Ikaris, possibly be a Deviant?!” “There’s no need to hide it.
Duval aside, even SHIELD confirmed that you’re a Deviant.” A flash of eagerness crossed Magneto’s eyes as his sharp gaze swept over Ikaris from head to toe.
Even SHIELD leaned toward confirming his identity.
Mmh, though…
this powerful build, sleek lines, flawless skin…
didn’t quite match the typical traits of a Deviant.
Deviants, as the name implied, possessed an average individual capability inferior to that of the Eternals.
Wild genetic mutations rendered their appearances and abilities wildly grotesque and varied.
Ikaris’s appearance was far too pristine.
Ikaris raised his voice.
“I am an Eternal!
A pure, perfect, powerful being born without genetic defects—an Eternal!” “Eternals?” Magneto frowned, the warmth in his eyes cooling instantly.
“If I recall, the Eternals were nothing more than homeless dogs beaten into obscurity by the Deviants.
How could you be an Eternal?
If you are, how did you survive on Earth?” “What nonsensical garbage are you spewing?!
If not for us Eternals constantly hunting down Deviants for millennia, how could you earthlings have lived so peacefully?!” Fury ignited in Ikaris’s chest.
“Deviants are nothing but beasts that feed on humans!
Are you insane, feeling empathy for Deviants?!” He had wanted to slaughter Duval and the Xenomorphs to vent his rage, only to fail.
Now this mutant had showed up out of nowhere, talking complete gibberish.
Ikaris was actually millions of years old, but because Arishem repeatedly wiped his memory before sending him to various planets on missions, he only retained memories of the past few thousand years on Earth.
He knew little about Earth’s ancient history, nor did he know that twenty thousand years ago, another group of Eternals had fled Earth.
“That really is a shame.
Not only are you not a Deviant, but your heart is filled with prejudice.
Insulting Deviants…
damned racist.” Magneto lost his patience completely.
“Unluckily for you, I happen to be the most extreme kind of racist.” Given his temperament, exercising enough patience to converse with this guy was already rare.
Confirming that Ikaris was not who he wanted made him even more disappointed.
Eternals?
What could Eternals do?
These worthless things could accomplish nothing.
“Since you’ve survived to this day, you must have something special about you.
Capturing you might give me a chance to find real Deviants.” Magneto wasted no more words.
He was never one to hold his temper.
Seeking a sense of identity from the Deviants, he had nothing left to say to an Eternal.
He struck ruthlessly without delay.
A powerful magnetic field violently erupted.
Docile as obedient children in Magneto’s hands, the magnetic forces swept forward, enveloping Ikaris.
Ikaris was extraordinarily incensed.
By the doctrine of the eleven Eternals, they never meddled in human affairs outside of dealing with Deviants.
But now, Ikaris truly could not hold back any longer.
*Sizzle!* Beams of golden heat vision blasted forth.
Magneto’s expression remained stern.
Expecting this, he raised a hand, drawing infinite metal from all directions to intercept the golden beams.
On Earth, magnetic fields were omnipresent.
Utilizing them to manipulate ubiquitous metallic ores was undoubtedly the most efficient way to fight.
Yet against an Eternal like Ikaris, Magneto simultaneously used magnetic fields to disrupt Ikaris’s physical body.
“Hm?
You can fly at will, yet you aren’t utilizing Earth’s magnetic field?” Magneto was surprised.
“Drawing on planetary magnetic fields would at most save me a little effort!
As if I would rely on such a thing!” Ikaris’s flight relied on channeling his own immense internal energy.
He could even fly out of Earth, traversing the cosmos in flesh and blood!
Mmh, just like Captain Marvel.
The clash between two powerhouses erupted in full.
Ikaris darted at high speed through an overwhelming cloud of metal.
Golden heat vision blasted wildly, slicing through all matter and piercing countless incoming metallic ores.
Yet Magneto’s ability went beyond manipulating metal; he mobilized magnetic force to forcefully disrupt the bio-magnetic field of Ikaris’s body.
An invisible net of energy coalesced, locking Ikaris in place and compressing his maneuvering space.
“You’re like a Sparrow flying around wildly.
You’d best stay in a cage,” Magneto said.
Ikaris shifted his body continuously and let out a cold snort.
Feeling the discomfort inside him, he forced his way into the upper air through sheer physical power, looking down on Magneto from above.
The next second, he swooped down with a roar.
Magneto retreated rapidly, manipulating endless mass within sight that surged toward Ikaris like a boundless river.
In every direction, the ground trembled and mountains shook, as though the entire world had been plunged into chaos.
The momentum was earth-shattering, yet for the moment, Magneto couldn’t truly take down the formidable Eternal.
Suppressing Ikaris was easy, but killing him would take time.
“Give up.
My people are already here.
You have nowhere to run,” Magneto said.
Mutants radiating powerful aura after aura were rapidly converging on Ikaris.
“Run?
You expect me to run a second time?!” His hair disheveled, Ikaris gritted his teeth and sneered.
He whipped his head down toward the shattered frozen lake.
“Let’s see who’s going to be running now!”