The three greatest geniuses of the Solar System stood in shock as they stared at one figure in mortifying silence.
Their eyes showed a myriad of emotions, disbelief clouding all of them.
"D-Didn't ..ehk, expect me?" Charles grinned widely, as he spoke with intermittent coughs.
Despite his grin, Charles body was in a terrible condition.
His left hand was cut from the wrist. There were irregular cavities all over his tattered clothes.
Even though the cavities weren't bleeding, the trio could tell those injuries were actually bitten off flesh by sharp teeth.
"Kuh! Kuh!" Charles slowly limped forward as he cackled.
"Kekeke." He covered his mouth and threw his head back as his shoulders trembled.
Despite his attempts, he couldn't stop laughing.
"Hahaha!"
His lips distorted into a savage smile and his eyes emitted a fierce glint.
Ashtarh wanted to attack Charles but held back because of Sarah. Sarah was the same.
On the other hand, Xavier silently slipped away with no intention of attacking Charles.
Somehow, his intuition was screaming at him.
Xavier trusted his brain more than his body and he decided to watch out what Charles had in store.
Charles sensed Xavier's presence diminishing before it disappeared altogether, but he didn't mind.
He looked at Ashtarh and was about to clap. But realizing that he didn't have his left hand, he paused and instead just clenched and released his right hand at quick speed.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The wind was compressed under his palms and was blown away when he released.
"This is my applause to you, Ashtarh. You taught me a very valuable lesson, today." Charles said with a serene smile.
If someone else saw his face, they'd think he held no grudges at all and didn't laugh like a madman a few seconds ago.
"…." Ashtarh frowned at Charles' words, but asked something else. "Are you perhaps the one who orchestrated the beast tide?"
Sarah's gaze also condensed as she looked at Charles with a serious expression.
Since it had come to this, the three of them would need to fight Charles anyway. But what if the person who orchestrated the beast tide wasn't Charles?
"Huh? What tide?" Charles raised a brow in surprise and then shrugged. "I asked all my messengers to leave, how could I know?"
'He doesn't seem to be lying.' Xavier's voice sounded in their minds, deepening Ashtarh's and Sarah's frowns.
"You two don't look too worried." Charles' smile slowly receded. Except Xavier, these two were just frowning and seemed to be thinking of something.
Charles stretched his body and said. "Did you think I was too injured and you three can easily defeat me?"
As he said those words, his aura erupted and like fierce waves, hit them.
Ashtarh's eyes turned cold when he sensed the power in the aura. It was nowhere close to Charles' peak or even their peak.
But…it was significantly powerful than their current power.
In other words…
"I'm badly injured, but I can still beat you all." A bright light flashed and Charles transformed into a huge white were-wolf.
He still had those horrible injuries on his body, but even then, he was stronger than any of them.
Charles' scarlet eyes glowed with rage as he spat. "Show your greatness! Geniuses"
Boom!
His body disappeared and the next moment, his large fist loomed over Ashtarh.