The Windblade Man, who had been battling the Siren moments earlier, suddenly stiffened.
An instinctive chill ran down his spine as if some enormous predator had just fixed its gaze on him. Even without turning his head, he could feel it clearly—Rorschach had locked onto him.
"Alex, Sean, Darwin," Rorschach said calmly as he began walking forward, "the three of you go with Charles. Find the device blocking his telepathy and destroy it."
His voice carried across the battlefield, steady and decisive despite the chaos around them.
"Eric and I are enough to handle the rest."
In Rorschach's judgment, the enemies present were not particularly threatening. With his current power, eliminating them was simply a matter of time.
Only one real problem remained.
Sebastian Shaw.
That man's ability was absurdly troublesome. No matter how powerful an attack was, Shaw could absorb the energy and convert it into strength. Even if he stood still and allowed someone to strike him repeatedly, killing him was almost impossible.
Without Charles's telepathic assistance, Shaw was practically unsolvable.
"Understood!"
"Got it, Rorschach!"
The replies came quickly from the others.
By now, Rorschach's authority within the group had been firmly established. Not only had he proven his strength many times before, but he had just killed two enemies in rapid succession moments earlier.
No one questioned his judgment.
Havok, the Siren, and Darwin immediately retreated toward Charles. The three mutants gathered beside him, ready to escort him out.
Charles himself had already reached the same conclusion.
He gave Rorschach and Eric one final warning to be careful before leaving with Moira and the others. Together they hurried out of the hall, their footsteps fading quickly down the corridor as they began searching for the device suppressing Charles's powers.
Meanwhile, Rorschach walked calmly toward Eric.
Across from them, the remaining enemies regrouped. The ninja, the Windblade Man, and the Nail Man stood together in a tense formation, their eyes locked on the two mutants in front of them.
For a moment, neither side moved.
"Rorschach," Shaw said at last, his voice echoing through the hall with a faint sigh. "You're proving to be quite troublesome."
He shook his head slowly, almost regretfully.
"I never expected your body to be that durable. One mistake… and the entire plan collapsed."
In Shaw's original strategy, the Wind Woman had been the perfect counter for Rorschach.
After all, how could anyone kill the wind?
Once the other members of Shaw's team finished their individual battles, Rorschach would have been surrounded and eliminated easily. There would have been no room for resistance.
But reality had unfolded differently.
Rorschach's body had simply ignored the dagger.
The Wind Woman—who had carried everyone's expectations—had died first instead. Her sudden death had completely disrupted Shaw's calculations.
"Rorschach," Eric said quietly.
His eyes were fixed on Shaw with a hatred so intense it seemed to burn. Anyone who looked closely could see the fury boiling behind his calm expression.
"Help me hold off the others."
"Of course," Rorschach replied without hesitation. "Go ahead, Eric. Leave them to me."
He understood perfectly well that attacking Shaw right now was pointless. Any strike would only feed Shaw more energy and make him stronger.
But Rorschach also understood something else.
Eric could not stand there doing nothing while the man who murdered his mother stood right in front of him.
Eric gave a short nod.
Without another word, he began walking toward the staircase leading up to Shaw's position.
Naturally, the three enemy mutants had no intention of letting him reach their leader.
The Nail Man immediately raised his hand toward Eric, preparing to launch an attack.
Before he could act—
Two blazing beams of red light cut through the air.
Rorschach's heat vision struck toward him without warning.
The Nail Man's expression changed instantly as he threw himself aside to dodge. At that moment, protecting Shaw mattered far less than staying alive.
The heat rays continued sweeping across the battlefield.
They slashed toward the ninja and the Windblade Man as well, forcing both of them to jump aside to avoid being cut in half.
In that brief instant of distraction, none of them had the chance to interfere with Eric.
Crack!
Rorschach stomped down hard.
The ground beneath his feet shattered as his body launched forward like a cannonball. In a single leap he crossed the distance between them and landed directly in front of the three mutants.
He had completely blocked their path.
"Your opponent is me," Rorschach said calmly.
As he spoke, he drew a dagger into each hand.
Then he charged.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Nail Man fired a barrage of razor-sharp nails toward him. At the same time, the Windblade Man slashed his arm through the air, sending a curved blade of compressed wind flying straight at Rorschach.
But compared to bullets, their attacks were painfully slow.
Rorschach's enhanced senses tracked every movement with ease. His dynamic vision, super hearing, and incredible speed made their strikes seem full of obvious openings.
He twisted his body to dodge some attacks while deflecting others with the daggers in his hands.
Within seconds, he had closed the distance.
Long-range attackers like the Nail Man were extremely dangerous at a distance. Once someone managed to get close, however, their weakness became obvious.
The Nail Man's expression immediately darkened.
His close combat ability was mediocre at best. Against someone like Rorschach—whose body was practically indestructible—the situation was terrifying.
Clang!
Just as Rorschach moved in for the kill, a katana slashed down toward him from the side.
The ninja had arrived.
With precise timing, he intercepted Rorschach's attack and forced him to defend.
Rorschach calmly raised his dagger.
The two blades collided with a clear metallic ring as he blocked the katana effortlessly.
At the exact same moment—
Two thin beams of red light flashed from his eyes.
They shot directly toward the Nail Man.
At such a short distance, there was no way to dodge.
Even attempting to retreat was too late.
"Urgh!"
The Nail Man let out a muffled cry as the heat vision struck him squarely. His body slammed backward and collapsed onto the ground.
Unlike the Wolf Man, he didn't possess monstrous physical durability.
One direct hit from Rorschach's heat vision was enough to end the fight.
The Nail Man lay motionless on the floor, completely incapable of continuing.
"Owen!"
The Windblade Man roared in anger.
He swung his arm again, launching another slicing gust toward Rorschach while the ninja followed up with another fierce sword strike.
But Rorschach moved first.
His body blurred as he sidestepped their attacks and rushed straight toward the Windblade Man.
Everyone immediately understood his intention.
He planned to eliminate them one by one.
But understanding the strategy and stopping it were two entirely different things.
Crack!
Rorschach pushed off the ground again.
His body shot forward more than five meters in an instant, crossing the battlefield like a fired shell. In the blink of an eye he appeared directly in front of the Windblade Man.
The dagger in his hand flashed forward.
The strike was swift, precise, and deadly.
The Windblade Man barely had time to react. With no opportunity to counterattack, he could only twist his body desperately to dodge the blade.
Unfortunately—
The moment he moved aside, two red beams were already waiting.
Rorschach's heat vision cut through the air and struck him instantly.
The Windblade Man collapsed just like the Nail Man before him.
In a matter of moments, only one opponent remained.
The ninja stood alone.
His face had turned extremely grim.
It had been less than a minute, yet two more of his teammates had been killed by this young mutant. The terrifying efficiency of Rorschach's attacks made it clear just how dangerous he truly was.
Without hesitation, the ninja raised his sword again.
He lunged toward Rorschach in a final attempt to fight.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The hall filled with the sharp sound of metal colliding as their weapons clashed.
.....
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