As Richard rose and drew the Masamune from the ground, the fourteen mutant agents who had entered the plaza immediately shifted into combat stances.
Though they'd only just arrived, all had received reports of Richard destroying Sentinel robots with strange long-range attacks and critically wounding Benjamin, the Operations Department head. The surveillance team had witnessed Richard taking the gravely injured Benjamin away but hadn't confirmed his death. Out of professional caution—and primarily to preserve morale—they hadn't informed the agents that Benjamin was likely dead.
As Operations Department members, these agents understood Benjamin's considerable power. They were equally familiar with the formidable capabilities of the Sentinel robots—the Department's ultimate countermeasure against mutant threats. Now, confronted with someone who had single-handedly destroyed three Sentinels and incapacitated Benjamin, they recognized that Richard represented the most dangerous adversary they'd faced since joining the department.
If initially they'd questioned Benjamin's decision to issue a Class A warrant for Richard, those doubts had evaporated. In fact, they now believed Benjamin had underestimated their target. Richard's demonstrated ability to destroy multiple Sentinels and grievously wound a senior agent qualified him for an S-class warrant.
After all, even Magneto had only managed to destroy five Sentinels on his own. While Richard's current abilities might not match Magneto's, and he hadn't committed acts that shocked America and the world as Magneto had, his performance tonight alone warranted S-level classification.
Seeing the mutant agents hesitate to attack, Richard wasted no time. He activated Blinkstep, materializing before two agents like a phantom.
Octoslash!
Rather than employing Gravesong or Zanshin, he executed Sephiroth's signature technique. Eight lightning-swift strikes launched in an instant.
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
When Richard had vanished from view, the two agents had become hypervigilant, bracing for his attack from any direction. Yet when he appeared before them and performed Octoslash, they could only watch helplessly as the Masamune carved through their bodies.
Did he really just recently awaken his powers?
In their final moments, this singular question flash through both agents' minds. Then they collapsed, expressions frozen in disbelief and shock—or more accurately, their dismembered bodies fell to the plaza in pieces large and small.
Witnessing Richard kill two agents instantaneously, the remaining operatives, reporters on the helicopter, and viewers watching the broadcast all registered shock. Before Richard, the slain agents had moved with the sluggishness of normies. They'd stood motionless, unable to resist, dodge, or even react visibly as he attacked.
This defies logic!
How is this possible?
He must be using invisible powers!
After seeing two professional agents dispatched so effortlessly, viewers who had assumed Richard couldn't possibly survive the night expressed disbelief. They might have accepted the agents being defeated, but not so completely massacred without landing a single counterattack.
For those who trusted the Department of Mutant Affairs and harbored anti-mutant sentiments, the scene before them demolished their long-held beliefs. Had the agents on-site been able to hear the viewers' shouted curses through their screens, they would have been subjected to the vilest language, demanding to know if they were simply wasting taxpayer dollars.
If the broadcast audience couldn't accept what they witnessed, the on-scene agents found it even more incomprehensible. Beyond shock, watching Richard kill their comrades as easily as crushing ants triggered an instinctive, primal fear. Those with weaker resolve even contemplated immediate departure and resignation.
Though Department positions offered excellent compensation—several times a standard police officer's salary—no paycheck mattered if you weren't alive to spend it. Whatever posthumous benefits the Department provided would mean nothing to the dead.
Richard possessed no telepathic abilities, yet reading the expressions on the agents' faces revealed their uncontrollable terror. Recognizing this, he paused his assault and addressed them:
"I've been contemplating what 'gift' to offer in return for the Class A warrant issued against me by the Department of Mutant Affairs."
"Now, I have my answer!"
"I'll give you despair!"
To ensure the agents heard him clearly, and to guarantee the news helicopters captured his declaration, Richard employed a minor magical technique he'd recently mastered, projecting his voice to reach everyone at the scene and through the broadcast.
Despair?
The agents' expressions darkened to their limit upon hearing Richard's words. Had their abilities permitted, they would have immediately demonstrated how unwelcome his "gift" was. Unfortunately, they lacked such capability.
Though the agents offered no verbal response, Richard had no intention of prolonging the inevitable.
Shift Slash!
Under everyone's watchful gaze, he vanished again.
The next instant, he materialized behind an attractive female agent with an hourglass figure and voluminous golden waves of hair.
Slash!
The Masamune moved with lightning speed, sending the woman's head flying, ending her life without warning.
After executing the female agent, Richard didn't immediately use Blinkstep again. Instead, he summoned Firaga.
The Wall of Fire!
As the spell manifested, a barrier of roaring flames over thirty feet high appeared from thin air, encircling the entire plaza.
Wall of Fire wasn't a separate ability but a variation of Firaga. Whether creating fire walls, fireballs, or pillars of flame, all were possible through this versatile power.
Seeing the blazing barrier instantly surround the square, both the on-site agents and remote viewers immediately grasped Richard's strategy: close the gate and trap the prey.
Understanding his intentions didn't translate to stopping him. The fire wall served dual purposes—preventing the agents' escape while blocking Los Angeles police and special forces outside from providing ranged support.
Under the gaze of countless viewers, Richard began the final phase. Or more accurately, the final slaughter.
Octoslash, Gravesong, Zanshin, Thundaga, Blizzaga, Firaga, Judgement Cut End...
Blinkstep, Repulsion, Ion Shock Wave...
He unleashed his arsenal of skills and X-gene powers one after another, moving like Death itself descended from hell, harvesting agents' lives with methodical fury.
Lightning, ice, and fire interwove in deadly harmony...
Blood splattered and severed limbs scattered across the ground...
Thunder, explosions, screams...
Richard, wielding the Masamune, orchestrated an unforgettable symphony of carnage before countless witnesses.