Marvel: Awakening the Universe.

Chapter 487 Hawke's Fear of Death (Second Update!!)
Yes.

This time, Hawke was preparing to once again enter into annihilation, to relive the insights gained between life and death, without any backup plan.

Unlike the one involving Stonehenge and Malekith in London.

He had a backup plan, ensuring that even if the phoenix at that time could not be reborn, he would not die.

This meant that he hadn't truly entered the state of Nirvana at that time.

But this time!
Hawke has no more tricks up his sleeve.

His inner universe was temporarily disconnected, and his divine power was sealed. Under such circumstances, if he were to enter annihilation and were unable to emerge from it, he would truly die.

His belief has always been that others cannot be trusted, only himself can be trusted.

but……

Except for Wanda.

Having accepted that his time had been perfectly closed because of Wanda, Hawke, if he had to choose one person to trust unconditionally, would only have Wanda as his sole remaining option.

Do you know what true extinction looks like?

"what?"

"When I enter Nirvana, everything about me will collapse, as if I had never existed."

Hawke's gaze was calm: "That's why I didn't dare to place all my hopes on 'The Phoenix Never Dies, It Only Reborn.' If I couldn't emerge from the annihilation, then I would die."

Wanda and Hawke looked at each other.

"But you succeeded back then."

"Just as my time has never closed, my soul has never been elevated."

Hawke smiled slightly: "Just like you said, what you get by cheating, even if you get it, is only superficial. You never truly possessed it."

The reason he remained five steps away from the portal of his eighth sense was because he still harbored a fear of death.

Well known.

Fear means being afraid, and being afraid means running away.

The word "escape" doesn't exist in the Saint Seiya dictionary.

Only when you are fearless of death, disregard death, walk into death, and gaze into the eye of death, can you truly say that you have experienced a journey of annihilation.

and so--

This time, he intends to leave no room for backup plans or distractions, and to truly and calmly embark on a journey of annihilation.

"When I enter Nirvana, all things are empty."

"But when I emerge from Nirvana, I will be the only one!"

Hawke defines his life as unique.

The only key is the key that unlocks his eighth sense of life. This key is hidden in the Annihilation. He needs the courage to face death ten times over to personally go to the Annihilation and retrieve this key.

"so……"

Wanda's smile gradually faded as she sensed the immense danger hidden in Hawke's calm words: "This time, you might really die?"

Hawke snapped out of his reverie, met Wanda's gaze, and spoke calmly as always.

"I won't lie to you, yes."

"why?"

"Because I'm afraid."

"what?"

“Nirvana requires fearlessness, but I was afraid, so I chose to cheat.”

Living things have an instinctive fear of death.

Hawke is no exception.

This is why he respects enemies who remain fearless in the face of death.

Just like Alexander Pierce.

He was fearless in the face of death, and even in the frozen underworld, he still showed the composure of accepting defeat.

This is also the ultimate reason why Hawke chose to waive Alexander Pierce.

Just like how everyone hates being a saint, but everyone likes being friends with a saint.

Because he is not.

Wanda was somewhat surprised when Hawke said "fear": "You're afraid of death?"

Hawke sensed the curiosity in Wanda's words.

He laughed.

"What's so strange about that? You said it yourself, I'm not a good person, so isn't it normal for a bad person to be afraid of death?"

"You are definitely not a good person."

Wanda looked at Hawke with a serious expression: "But you've always been a kind person. A truly bad person won't give anyone who tries to attack him a chance to live."

Hawke chuckled at Wanda's words, offering no explanation, but simply shook his head.

He didn't tell his daughter Chin the reason he let those people go, and similarly, he couldn't tell Wanda.

He really is a bad person.

Kind?

He was forced to be kind.

Wanda took a deep breath and looked at Hawke, who was shaking his head and smiling bitterly: "So, what should I do to make sure you can get out of the annihilation?"

Hawke shook his head: "I don't know."

Wanda frowned.

"What, you don't know?"

"If I knew, it would mean I had a backup plan."

Hawke and Wanda locked eyes. Hawke said, "If I know this backup plan, it means I'm prepared to enter Nirvana." Wanda frowned. "But are you so sure I can pull you out of Nirvana?"

Hawke shook his head.

"I do not know."

"Varied……"

"But only you, and only you can do it."

Hawke interrupted Wanda, looking directly into her eyes, then smiled brightly and chuckled softly, "When I was being killed by the mutant Apocalypse in every timeline, didn't you save me each time?"

Wanda chuckled upon hearing this, exchanging a glance with Hawke: "Back at the Pyramid of Apocalypse two years ago, you were keeping a backup plan too, weren't you?"

Hawke nodded.

"Yes."

"But is it really not this time?"

"Really not."

"……it is good."

Wanda looked intently into Hawke's eyes, as if trying to see through them to his very soul, and then she smiled brightly: "You're not a good person, but you're a good father. To prevent our children from losing their daddy, I'll bring you back."

This is what Wanda said two years ago in front of the Pyramid of Apocalypse, as she stepped into Hawke's collapsing galaxy of time.

That time, Wanda entered Hawke's time galaxy with the determination to die.

After Wanda finished speaking, she sensed the gravity of the situation and forced a light smile as she looked at Hawke: "So, when do you plan to die?"

Hawke raised his eyebrows.

"That depends on how well Bolivar Trus's Sentinel robots are doing. After all, the strong should die the way the strong should die."

Just as an emperor must have his own way of dying.

If he were to die at some point, then the death he imagined would certainly be spectacular and magnificent.

There's an old saying that goes something like this.

Fine!
One cannot live to eat from five tripods, but one will be cooked in five tripods when dead!

Just like how he made sure to use Stonehenge in London as his altar even when he was faking his death, this time, if he were to really die, he would definitely find a good place and choose an opponent to send him to his demise.

Bolivar Trus's fully-fledged Sentinel robot is quite good.

"By the way, how's that little dwarf's sentinel robot coming along?"

"It's probably impossible for it to be on time."

Wanda shrugged: "Aren't they trying to catch Mystique Raven? They just caught her a few days ago, and these days they're working overtime drawing blood to study the compatibility program between the 'mimicry gene' and the Sentinel robots."

Mystique Raven is no naive girl. Especially after all these years of traveling around rescuing mutants, she has accumulated a wealth of experience in tracking and counter-tracking.

Ultimately, unless one's strength presents a precipitous and overwhelming advantage, an individual can never contend with the state apparatus.

A few days ago, or to be precise, five days ago, Mystique Raven was finally cornered by the Sentinels at Porton Nirvana and captured.

But Mystique Raven is not in mortal danger.

Wanda has been taking care of her.

"Have Professor X and the others received news of Mystique's capture?"

"Not yet, the news is being tightly controlled by Washington."

Wanda shook her head and looked at Hawke: "Should we tell our daughter this?"

Hawke thought for a moment, then shook his head: "No need. As long as Bolivar Truss's fully-formed Sentinel doesn't come out, Washington won't dare to turn against me. By the way, Magneto seems to have gone to Xavier's School of the Arts today, since they're leaving for Washington tomorrow."

Progress is slow on Bolivar Trus's side.

But Professor X made rapid progress. In just half a month, he successfully persuaded his best friend Magneto Erik to give humanity another chance and to give himself another chance for permanent peace between humans and mutants. He successfully convinced Magneto Erik to agree to accompany Professor X to the Congress in Washington, D.C.

Poor Magneto, he's probably going to get screwed over by Professor X again this time.

wrong.

It seems like there won't be any problems this time, since Bolivar Trus's progress seems to be a bit behind schedule, and he can't get the complete Sentinel robot ready before the congressional hearing as planned.

Hawke thought to himself.

Just as he was thinking about it, Wanda nodded.

"Yes, they should be flying to Washington tomorrow morning. What's on your mind now?"

"Give Washington the confidence to challenge me."

"You used your daughter to bait the nest?"

"Make a nest?"

Hawke raised an eyebrow and looked at Wanda: "Where did you learn that word?"

Wanda smiled slightly: "You taught me."

Hawke frowned, and just as he was about to speak, he realized what he was doing and promptly stopped the conversation: "It's not really about scouting, it's just that Bolivar Trus's progress is a bit slow, so we're just trying to urge him on. After all, we've been here long enough, it's time to go home."

Although the flow of time here is only ten years to one month in the context of this universe.

But they really did live here for more than two years. Although the years here cannot be added to their lives, memories do not lie.

therefore--

Hawke wants to go home.

Upon hearing this, Wanda also thought of Westview Town in this universe, where her two sons were left to be looked after by her maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents, and she was somewhat tempted: "What kind of message do you plan to have your daughter convey?"

Upon hearing this, Hawke looked at Wanda.

Eyes facing each other.

Hawke's face broke into an indescribable smile, the kind that comes with preparing to bait the spot for fishing.

……

(End of this chapter)