Scarlet light flared from within Wanda, struggling against the black mist.
But she had only awakened her power not long ago, and her grasp of it was still painfully shallow. Before long, that thread of scarlet was forced back step by step beneath the black mist's pressure.
"It hurts..."
Wanda felt all the strength leave her body. In the next instant, she collapsed into Fenris's arms.
Agony seeped through every inch of her, as if it had found its way into every pore. Her eyes opened slightly, but those lively pupils had turned into a cold, terrifying black.
"Fenris, what did you do to my sister?"
The commotion quickly drew everyone else's attention. As the crowd gathered around them, Pietro saw that Wanda, who had been perfectly fine a moment ago, had gone pale and fallen into Fenris's arms in the time it took him to turn his head. His eyes immediately went red.
With a low roar, his power erupted, and he lunged straight at Fenris.
Time around them seemed to freeze completely in that instant. Pietro's eyes locked hard on Fenris as he reached for Wanda.
"What a mess," Fenris muttered helplessly.
The corrosive nature of Hell's power was far too intense. Just a brief contact had been enough to knock out Wanda, a girl with nearly limitless potential.
What he had not expected was that Wanda, after clearly sensing the danger inside it, would still dare to lean in with her power fully activated.
Hearing Pietro's furious shout only made Fenris feel even more helpless.
He closed his eyes, then snapped them open again. In the next moment, everything around him rapidly slowed.
Professor X's shock froze on his face.
The X-Mansion crowd rushing over halted mid-step, their expressions varied and vivid, yet stiffened in place.
Within this nearly motionless world, only one figure was still running at high speed.
Fenris's gaze shifted, meeting Pietro's eyes at exactly the right moment.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
Fenris saw Pietro's eyes widen instantly, as though he had witnessed something impossible.
"That's enough. Stop."
Within that frozen field of time, Fenris slowly reached toward Pietro.
His movement was not particularly fast in Pietro's eyes, yet it gave Pietro the sudden, chilling sense that there was no way to dodge it.
Pietro changed direction several times, but that hand remained locked behind him with unerring precision.
Even after shifting course multiple times in a single instant, Pietro could only watch as Fenris accurately caught him by the back of the neck.
"Ah! Ow, ow, ow!"
Time, which had nearly stopped, abruptly returned to its normal flow. Everyone else only felt their vision blur. In Fenris's hand, there was now an awkward figure curled up like a kitten.
"It's not like there's no solution. Stop panicking over everything."
Fenris gave Pietro a not-too-hard slap on the rear, then casually tossed him out of the crowd.
"Wanda... ugh."
Turning his attention back to Wanda, Fenris rubbed his brow with a headache.
After thinking for a moment, he reached out and gently pressed his hand against Wanda's face.
Buzz.
With a low hum nearly inaudible to human ears, the black mist around Wanda suddenly began to churn.
"No. I don't want to sign any contract!"
"No!"
Wanda's consciousness had already grown hazy, and her whole body was trembling faintly.
It was as if she had seen some horrifying existence. Under the surge of emotion, red light flickered wildly around her.
But as Fenris reached out, the churning black mist seemed to be drawn by some invisible force. Very quickly, it flowed back along his arm and returned to his body.
The blackness in Wanda's eyes faded with it. Once her consciousness returned, she shuddered hard. Realizing that she was leaning against Fenris, she hurriedly scrambled back to her feet.
"Wanda, are you all right?"
"I'm okay."
Wanda nodded and pressed a hand to her chest, still shaken.
Fenris, however, was not doing nearly as well.
After the power of the Hell dimension returned from Wanda, the strange phenomena that had already calmed on Fenris's body began to surface once more.
Hideous wounds split open. Feeling pain erupt from every part of his body, the veins on Fenris's forehead bulged. A moment later, as the black mist uncontrollably dispersed on its own and his rampaging power was stabilized again by his body's automatic adjustment, he finally let out a breath.
"I really owe Dr. Otto for this..."
Fenris rose helplessly.
"Professor Fenris, are you all right?"
Wanda asked timidly from not far away.
"I'm fine. You're the one who may have gotten herself into trouble."
Fenris reached out and grabbed Wanda's arm.
He focused his eyes on it and, sure enough, spotted a black mark near the front of Wanda's arm. The mark was wrapped in scarlet light, faintly appearing and disappearing. Without looking closely, it would have been almost impossible to notice.
"What is this...?"
Wanda was startled. She quickly pulled her arm back and rubbed at the mark hard, only to find that it would not come off at all.
Even when she activated her power and tried to drive it out, it had no effect whatsoever.
"It's useless. With your current strength, you're still not quite enough to deal with it."
"Then what should I do?"
Wanda suddenly looked up, her eyes red.
"That is residual power from the Hell dimension. It's extremely unstable and could erupt at any time."
Since things had reached this point, Fenris could only spread his hands and say helplessly, "This power comes from Hell. It's similar to the magical power I usually train with."
"Both powers are extremely strong and are greatly beneficial to me. Unfortunately, my current strength still isn't enough to fully control them..."
"The power of Hell?"
At that, not only Wanda, but the students who had gathered around them could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
"Hell really exists?"
"Fenris, with that power inside you, are you sure it won't cause any problems?"
Professor X looked at Fenris with concern.
"I'll be fine. The problem is Wanda..."
Fenris looked quietly at the faint mark on Wanda's wrist. "The power of the Hell dimension is highly invasive and extremely unstable. It can go out of control very easily."
"If Wanda's abilities had already been developed to a high level, then the power of any dimension would not be a problem for her at all. But her current strength still isn't that high, and I'll be leaving the academy soon."
"If the power of the Hell dimension erupts during that time, then..."
"What?"
The moment Fenris said that, Pietro, who had just been tossed onto his backside, could no longer sit still.
In a flash, he grabbed Fenris by the collar, his face full of anger.
"Fenris, I'm telling you right now. I may not be able to beat you, but my sister only ended up like this because of you!"
"If anything happens to her, I'll... I'll..."
"I'll sneak up on you when you're in the bathroom and poke you with a stick!"
"Pietro!"
Wanda looked at her furious brother, caught somewhere between tears and laughter. She reached out to tug at his clothes, but Pietro was like an enraged little lion, hopping around Fenris in a fury.
"All right, enough!"
Professor X stepped forward decisively and cut through the noise.
He looked at Fenris. "Fenris, you have a solution, don't you?"
"I do."
Fenris nodded.
Wanda's potential was extremely high, and she did not have any power from the Dark Dimension inside her, so there was no need to worry about an energy conflict.
For him, the power of Hell was incredibly deadly, and he had only managed to endure it until now thanks to his G-cells. But to Wanda, its effect was not actually that severe.
"Wanda, I have two options."
Fenris paused, then explained seriously, "I know a sorcerer. She is powerful and very skilled at teaching."
"You have very high talent, and your abilities are compatible with this path. Under her guidance, your strength would improve by leaps and bounds. Before long, you would be able to solve the problem of the Hell power yourself."
"Even if that power erupts, the Ancient One would be able to step in and suppress it again."
"That's a good method!"
When Pietro heard that, he nodded repeatedly and kept poking Wanda with one finger.
"Sis, pick that one!"
"Shut up, Pietro!"
Wanda blinked her beautiful eyes. "Professor Fenris, I want to know the other choice."
"The other one..."
Fenris seemed somewhat troubled. He said, "If you don't want to learn sorcery, then I can only help calm the Hell power whenever it goes berserk."
"But you know I'll be leaving soon. If you stay at the academy, there's no way I can rush back immediately every time."
"So I still suggest you choose the first option. Aside from being much safer, it would also be good for your growth."
"Ah? So that's how it is..."
Listening to Fenris's advice, Wanda hesitated. Her bright eyes blinked.
"I want..."
(End of Chapter)
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