With her eyes blazing with fire, Jean Grey used all her strength to create a shield in front of her.
The overwhelming sword energy struck her shield directly, and the sword energy that had just annihilated Apocalypse landed on the Phoenix Force barrier.
Then, Jean Grey was blasted into the ground, and the sword energy flew into the sky, disappearing from everyone's sight.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Jean Grey, slammed into the ground by Demon King Tohka, didn't suffer any real injuries.
Clearly, the shield had done its job well—at least better than Apocalypse's had.
But that was the limit. Because this was her first time using it, Jean Grey could only muster this much power.
Any more, and she might lose control—if that happened, the Dark Phoenix might appear prematurely. Whether that would happen in this world was another matter.
"Tch, I thought it was going to be a big fight. But it seems you didn't even have full control over your power. And your power isn't even complete."
At that moment, Demon King Tohka descended from the sky and landed in front of Jean Grey. That's why no one else attacked.
The X-Men stayed back because Demon King Tohka was too close, and so was Jean. Everyone had just witnessed Tohka's power firsthand, and no one dared to act recklessly—besides, they might not even be able to beat her.
Wolverine and Storm, unsure of what was going on, were still watching cautiously.
"Hope you're stronger the next time we meet. Otherwise, I'll kill you."
Looking at Jean Grey coughing in front of her, Demon King Tohka lost interest. Her weapon faded away, and she suddenly clutched her head in pain.
"That girl's consciousness is waking up? Tch. Looks like I can only end things here for today. But soon, I'll only need one more trigger, and I'll be able to freely communicate with that girl. Oh, and don't even think about doing anything to her while she's unconscious—or I'll wake up again."
As Demon King Tohka's words faded, her armor disappeared, replaced by casual clothes. Moments later, she collapsed, and Jean Grey caught her.
"Are you okay? Is she alright? How's the Professor?"
As soon as Tohka passed out again, everyone rushed over. They bombarded Jean with questions, while also cautiously eyeing the unconscious girl. It was clear there were some disagreements on how to handle her.
Storm and Wolverine, however, immediately stepped forward to shield Tohka.
They weren't X-Men anymore, and after witnessing Tohka's earlier actions, both had developed a favorable impression of her.
The other X-Men didn't seem to harbor any ill will, but everyone had seen what happened when Tohka attacked Jean Grey.
Though Demon King Tohka hadn't continued attacking, they all knew that if Jean hadn't blocked that strike, she would've ended up just like Apocalypse.
"It's fine. Let's go. The Professor's still inside. Now that this guy's dead, we can report back to the government."
Ignoring everyone else's reactions, Jean Grey simply picked up Tohka and left.
Besides the earlier threat from Tohka, the more important thing was that she was a government-assigned operative.
If something really happened to her, who knew what the consequences would be.
Mutants were strong, but the true resources lay with the government. Now they had Tohka—who's to say there wasn't a second one?
Besides, Tohka had left a good impression on her, and even the other side of Tohka didn't seem to bear her any malice.
That attack was just too perfectly measured— just enough to knock her power back without actually injuring her.
So, if anyone claimed Tohka wanted to kill her, Jean wouldn't believe it. Emotionally and logically, she had no reason to harm Tohka.
"Whew. Oh right, you two should come with us. After all, you're mutants too—and we've always been fighting for mutant rights."
Carrying Tohka, Jean turned and extended an invitation to Storm and Wolverine.
After all, the fact that they'd helped out proved they weren't bad people. Both were incredibly powerful—especially Storm, who could stand toe-to-toe with Magneto.
If she went back into society, who knew what kind of chaos might occur? Even though today's incident was resolved, Jean knew that mutants were once again at the center of controversy.
Having one more powerful ally gave their side more confidence, especially when it came to negotiating with the outside world.
"Alright, I'll go back with you."
Storm didn't hesitate. She had once been a street orphan. After everything that had happened, it was impossible to return to that kind of life. Being with people like herself was bound to be more fulfilling.
"Forget it. I'm not interested."
Seeing all this, Wolverine just gave everyone a glance, picked up his discarded jacket, and casually walked away. He really was like a lone wolf walking off toward the setting sun.
If Tohka had been awake, she definitely would've taken a picture of the moment—because it looked just like the final scene from Logan.
But unfortunately, she was now nestled in Jean Grey's arms, rolling over and even letting out a peaceful snore.
"Oh, and don't tell anyone about this girl's other form."
Soon after, the group boarded another aircraft. Magneto used a metal platform to carry the unconscious Professor onto the plane. At that moment, Jean suddenly turned and told the group.
"Mm, got it."
Everyone nodded at her words. Jean Grey's earlier actions had already earned their respect. Even Apocalypse couldn't block that attack, but Jean had managed to.
In other words, right now Jean was stronger than everyone present—except for that sleeping fool who had dozed off again. So, when she spoke, people instinctively obeyed.
"Zzz..."
As the plane slowly powered up, that same fool was already fast asleep in her seat, completely unaware of everyone else's expressions.
It left the rest of them speechless. Truly, only someone with no worries could sleep so soundly after a life-or-death battle.
Only Tohka could pull that off.