After moving away, Richard didn't immediately engage the nearby mutant agents. Instead, he blinkstep to the perimeter of their encirclement.
Before plundering Inessa's ability, his Blinkstep range had been limited to approximately one hundred meters. Now after his Blinkstep enhanced, he could traverse more than five hundred meters in a single jump. While five hundred meters might not seem particularly impressive as a raw number, for practical combat purposes, this range proved more than sufficient.
Upon reaching the encirclement's edge, Richard raised Masamune in his left hand and swung it with casual precision.
"Zanshin!"
As the blade completed its arc, six crescent-shaped energy waves—purple exterior with white centers—materialized from Masamune's edge and hurtled toward the special forces operatives before him.
Though these soldiers had been carefully selected from the U.S. military's elite ranks by the Department of Mutant Affairs, against combat-proficient mutants, they fared no better than untrained civilians. Not only Richard but even Sabretooth could effortlessly eliminate them at close range.
The purple-white energy crescents reached the soldiers in an eyeblink, passing through their bodies as easily as through soft pastry, reducing them to fragments of varying sizes.
Since its upgrade to Level 2, the energy waves generated by Zanshin not only traveled faster but also possessed enhanced cutting power. The bulletproof vests worn by the special forces soldiers offered no more protection than paper against these projectiles.
With a single technique, Richard eliminated six soldiers.
After dispatching them, he activated Blinkstep once more and vanished. Having become proficient in battle, his optimal strategy involved continuously using Zanshin to eliminate enemies one by one.
Soon, gunshots and screams echoed throughout the RV camp.
Though the mission required eliminating all mutant agents in the area, Richard felt no urgency. The system had allotted a one-hour time limit for the task. His plan was methodical: first clear out the special forces operatives or better known as the normies, then systematically engage the mutant agents. This approach would prevent the soldiers from providing ranged support while he fought the more dangerous targets.
First the minions, then the elites, and finally the bosses!
Though this wasn't a video game, the tactical principle remained sound.
Upon hearing gunfire erupting across the camp, Aiden, Belt, and the other mutant agents quickly deduced Richard's strategy. However, recognizing his plan didn't equip them to counter it.
Blinkstep wasn't a particularly rare X-gene ability, but the crucial factor was that none of them possessed it. Within the Los Angeles branch of the Department of Mutant Affairs, only two mutants could teleport: Inessa, whom Richard had already killed, and the branch director.
Though unable to match Richard's mobility, Aiden and Belt anticipated his divide-and-conquer approach.
Without hesitation, Aiden addressed the agent guarding Sabretooth and Clarice: "Bring them both here!"
After his command, the captives were swiftly brought forward. Aiden seized Sabretooth by the shoulder and called out loudly enough for his voice to carry:
"Stop now, Richard Wesley, or I'll burn her adoptive father alive!"
Initially, Aiden and his colleagues had been unclear about the relationship between Clarice and Sabretooth. Though the feral mutant had long been on the Department's wanted list, their intelligence division had never discovered his connection to Clarice. Had Sabretooth not appeared in the restaurant customer's viral video, Aiden and the others wouldn't have known he'd entered California.
After issuing his threat, Aiden summoned flames that enveloped his right hand.
Sizzle...
The fire scorched Sabretooth's shoulder, producing the nauseating sound of burning flesh. Had anyone else been subjected to these flames, they would have been howling in agony.
Yet Sabretooth demonstrated what true resilience meant. Despite the searing pain in his shoulder, not only did he refrain from screaming, but his face displayed only contempt.
Just as Clarice, unable to bear seeing Sabretooth's torture, was about to speak as Aiden demanded, the feral mutant's gruff voice interrupted: "You call that a threat? The fire I use to light my cigars burns hotter than your pathetic flames."
Sabretooth's sneering disdain only worsened Aiden's already foul mood.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!" Aiden snapped.
The flames consuming Sabretooth's shoulder expanded rapidly, engulfing his entire chest. As the fire began spreading toward his neck and legs, Aiden suddenly remembered something and dissipated the flames.
"Trying to provoke me into burning that collar off your neck?" Aiden's voice dripped with contempt. "Keep dreaming. With that collar on, you're nothing but an old dog."
After delivering these words, Aiden kicked the severely burned Sabretooth to the ground, then turned his attention to Clarice's face.
"You remained silent while your foster father burned," he observed coldly. "Let's see if you maintain that silence when it's your face that burns."
As he finished speaking, Aiden raised his right hand, and a small flame materialized on his index finger.
Just as he prepared to use this flame to coerce Clarice into speaking, Richard's voice cut through the air from more than twenty meters behind him.
"Threatening to disfigure a girl? Is everyone in the Department of Mutant Affairs as despicable as you?"
Though only about ten seconds had passed, Richard had used this time to systematically eliminate the normies operatives along the perimeter.
Ignoring Richard's taunt, Aiden summoned a fist-sized fireball in his right hand.
"Drop that sword, or I'll kill her!"
In response to Aiden's threat, Richard merely smiled and shook his head. He transferred Masamune to his right hand, gripping the hilt in a reverse hold, and began walking toward Aiden with unhurried, almost casual steps.
Despite his leisurely pace, Aiden, Belt, and the other agents immediately tensed, ready for combat.
As Richard approached, he spoke with unnerving calm: "Including today, I've met her exactly twice. I'm not foolish enough to discard my weapon for someone I've barely encountered. If you intend to kill her, do it quickly—don't waste everyone's time."
What?
His words stunned everyone present—Aiden, Belt, and their colleagues, as well as Clarice and Sabretooth.
Though uncertain whether Richard was employing psychological tactics, Aiden didn't waste mental energy analyzing the situation. Seeing that Richard had no intention of relinquishing his absurdly long blade, Aiden decisively raised his right hand, preparing to launch the hovering fireball at Clarice.
In that instant, Richard, still walking toward him, vanished.
Witnessing Richard's disappearance, Aiden and the others assumed he'd teleported.
They were mistaken.
What Richard executed wasn't Blinkstep but Shift Slash —specifically, the Level 2 version.
Shift Slash: Vanish in a blur and reappear behind your target, striking with surgical precision.
Previously he used it as a combo starter but change the slash that come with it to a more devastating move like Octaslash or Gravesong just to make sure.
Through experimentation, Richard had discovered that the Shift Slash in Sephiroth's template closely resembled Vergil's Rapid Slash from Devil May Cry. The primary difference was that Vergil's technique genuinely involved drawing a sheathed blade, whereas Richard's version—lacking a scabbard—required only a reverse grip.
Schick!
While Belt and the others vigilantly scanned their surroundings, anticipating Richard's sudden appearance and attack, Aiden—standing before Clarice—collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
His right hand had been severed at the wrist, and his head, separated from his neck, arced through the air, trailing crimson droplets.
Richard materialized behind Aiden's falling body, Masamune held casually in his left hand.
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