The Red Devil instantly drew the scimitars from his waist, regarding Richard with grave intensity.
Were he alone, his decision would have been immediate—either teleport away or attempt to eliminate Richard without hesitation.
Unfortunately, he hadn't come alone.
More problematically, the White Queen now stood directly in front of Richard.
As the Red Devil contemplated how to extract the White Queen before Richard could act, Richard summoned his Masamune blade and lightly tapped the White Queen's fair cheek with its flat edge.
"If you wish to avoid harm, I suggest you step aside," Richard instructed the White Queen.
Feeling the cold metal against her skin, the White Queen regarded Richard with a complex expression.
Several thoughts raced through her mind simultaneously.
Is he friends with Mystique?
Did the Red Devil truly assault Mystique?
When Richard pressed the blade against her face, the White Queen's initial reaction wasn't fear. Instead, she frowned and looked toward the Red Devil, genuinely wondering whether he had committed such an act against Mystique.
Though she and Azazel belonged to the same organization, she harbored no illusions about the moral character of the Red Devil, Riptide, or Black King. None could be considered men of principle.
This didn't mean she remained indifferent to certain matters.
As a woman, she maintained a natural aversion to sexual violence against women.
Moreover, if the Red Devil had indeed assaulted Mystique, it implied he might attempt similar actions against her.
The White Queen could never have guessed that Richard's question about Mystique stemmed from his desire to determine whether Nightcrawler in this reality was Mystique's son.
The Nightcrawler from the films coincidentally shared Mystique's blue skin.
In the comics, Nightcrawler was explicitly Mystique's offspring.
When the Red Devil noticed his colleague regarding him with suspicion, his displeasure intensified.
"I never assaulted Mystique!" he declared, barely suppressing his mounting anger.
Though uncertain of the Red Devil's truthfulness, Richard had no intention of employing telepathy to verify his claims.
The millennia-old Azazel, possessing teleportation abilities, understood precisely how to thwart telepathic intrusion.
Even without teleportation, he needed only to continually shift positions, denying a telepath the opportunity to establish a mental lock, thereby preventing any invasion of his thoughts.
"One final question," Richard addressed the Red Devil. "Have you ever heard the story of 'I don't eat beef'?"
I don't eat beef?
What story is this?
What could be his intention?
Both the Red Devil and the White Queen, who had retreated to the side, regarded Richard with utter confusion.
Chronologically, both significantly predated Richard.
Yet in this moment, neither could follow his mental trajectory.
"Boy, you—" the Red Devil began, but before completing his sentence, a powerful premonition of death seized his consciousness.
This is wrong!
He's deliberately distracting me!
Though uncertain of Richard's exact intentions, the Red Devil wasted no further time, resolving to teleport away immediately.
As for the White Queen—her fate no longer concerned him.
The Red Devil's intuition proved accurate, but unfortunately, it arrived a moment too late.
While questioning whether the Red Devil had heard the "I don't eat beef" story, Richard had already mentally initiated Judgement Cut End.
Judgement Cut End!
As the Red Devil prepared to teleport, Richard executed the Judgement Cut End.
Like Richard's Blinkstep technique, teleportation required a brief "skill preparation" interval.
Though this window lasted mere tenths of a second, it provided Richard ample opportunity.
Before the Red Devil could complete his teleportation, the Judgement Cut End had already taken effect.
The Red Devil, caught at the technique's epicenter, felt an inexplicable binding force as the space around him distorted unnaturally, immobilizing him.
Simultaneously, crescent-shaped energy blades materialized from thin air, delivering devastating slashes from all directions.
Schick-schick-schick-schick-schick!
Neither the Red Devil's body nor his scimitars could withstand the Judgement Cut End's assault. Without time to react, the crescent energy blades passed through his form as effortlessly as through cake, reducing him to variously sized fragments.
Regardless of whether he had violated Mystique, Richard had never intended to allow the Red Devil's departure.
The Red Devil's possession of teleportation sealed his fate.
Azazel died? Just like that?
Emma recognized Richard's formidable power. She had witnessed his livestreamed confrontation at the Los Angeles branch, observing his use of Judgement Cut End against mutant agents.
Yet she never anticipated the Red Devil's complete inability to resist Richard.
How powerful is he?
Could he truly be an Omega-level mutant?
The White Queen stared at Richard in disbelief.
Richard paid no attention to her stunned gaze, calmly beginning his power assimilation.
[Gain new abilities: Teleportation, Immortality!]
[Compatible abilities detected; fusion initiated!]
[Teleportation enhanced!]
...
Examining the information panel before him, Richard frowned slightly.
Though teleportation and immortality constituted the Red Devil's primary powers, the comics depicted him with additional abilities.
Beyond teleportation and immortality, the comic version of the Red Devil possessed time-space freezing, paralysis, shapeshifting, and mental manipulation.
[Immortality: Extreme longevity, current level: Alpha level]
After briefly reviewing the Immortality ability description, Richard closed the information panel and approached Emma Frost, Masamune still in hand.
Soon he stood before her.
After appraising her figure, he spoke deliberately:
"Being a woman grants you chance of surviving compared to Azazel."
"First, how old are you?"
"Second, what purpose motivates the Hellfire Club's dinner invitation to Alpha and Beta mutants?"
"Third, have you captured mutant twins named Wanda and Pietro?"
"Consider carefully before answering. These three questions likewise determine whether you leave here alive."
Richard openly acknowledged his interest in the youthful White Queen.
This did not, however, guarantee her survival.
Should she attempt deception, he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate her and claim her telepathic abilities and diamond form for himself.
Hearing Richard's words, the recently composed White Queen immediately frowned.
Of the three questions, the first and third caught her by surprise.
His interest in the Hellfire Club's plans seemed natural enough.
But his curiosity about her age proved unexpected.
Additionally, she wondered how Richard had learned about Wanda and Pietro's captivity.
After more than ten seconds of deliberation, she replied:
"I am twenty-six years old."
"We invited other mutants to strengthen our organization's core membership."
"Regarding Wanda and Pietro—yes, they are indeed our captives, but I don't know their exact location."
"Only Shaw possesses that information."
"Furthermore, Shaw personally led the operation to capture them. I neither participated nor received details about it."
Sebastian Shaw alone knows their location?
Upon hearing Emma Frost's response, Richard's initial reaction suggested deception.
However, after further consideration—particularly noting her subtle, involuntary trembling—he concluded she likely spoke truthfully.
"Since you don't know where they're being held, then you—" Richard began.
Before he could complete his statement, Emma Frost interjected.
"Don't kill me! I can prove far more valuable to you alive!"
"Whatever you require—anything within my capacity—I won't refuse."
...
...
==============================================
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
=============================================