Richard hadn't used Eight Swords Flash or Earthshaker just now. It had only been a simple horizontal cut.
Yet the moment Masamune was about to carve into the back of Shaw's neck, the blade stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
Teleportation.
Richard vanished instantly and reappeared dozens of meters away.
Only after he had withdrawn did Shaw turn around unhurriedly.
"If a strike from behind could kill me," Shaw said calmly, "I would have died ten or twenty years ago."
"Don't underestimate me."
Richard didn't respond immediately. His gaze had already fallen to Masamune.
The blade hadn't halted because he hesitated.
Its kinetic force had been absorbed.
Kinetic absorption.
Shaw hadn't merely hardened his body—he had drained the momentum from the strike itself.
Richard rotated his wrist and swung the blade lightly a few times. The weapon felt normal. No structural damage. No magical disruption.
"Troublesome," Richard admitted mildly. "But not invincible."
He looked at Shaw again.
"Ordinary attacks can't touch you. But you can't touch me either."
Then his attention shifted.
Magneto's enhanced clone.
Teleportation activated again.
He appeared directly in front of the clone.
Earthshaker.
Four flowing slashes struck in rapid succession.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Each blow collided against the magnetic field with metallic resonance.
The blade never reached flesh.
At the same time, Richard sensed it—an invisible magnetic pressure surrounding Masamune.
The clone was attempting to seize control.
To pull the blade from his hand.
To treat it as ordinary metal.
That assumption was fatal.
Masamune was not forged steel.
Whether in game lore or cinematic depiction, the blade had never been explained in metallurgical terms. Sephiroth had manifested it from pure energy.
The system labeled it an exclusive weapon.
That was enough.
Richard's magic surged.
Eight Swords Flash.
The magnetic grip shattered instantly.
Masamune blurred into eight intersecting arcs of light.
Again, the strikes hit the magnetic barrier, not the clone's body.
But the blade cut closer this time.
The clone reacted without hesitation.
Metal debris from the destroyed marina lifted into the air. Anchors, chains, twisted beams—dozens of objects converged from all directions.
Before they could reach him, Richard teleported upward.
He hovered directly above the clone, supported by Grand Wind.
Now he had measured the barrier.
Tested its tensile strength.
Observed its reaction time.
He adjusted his grip.
Both hands wrapped around Masamune's hilt.
Blade pointed downward.
For the first time in real combat, he invoked a skill he had previously avoided.
Prison Gate.
He dropped from the sky like a descending spear.
The piercing force was entirely different from horizontal slashes.
It wasn't about cutting surface area.
It was about penetration.
The blade struck the magnetic barrier.
The field resisted for a fraction of a second—
Then fractured.
Masamune pierced through.
The tip entered the clone's skull.
Momentum carried it downward through brain, spine, torso—
Until the blade's point punched into the dock beneath.
The moment contact completed, violent cross-shaped sword energy erupted outward from the impact site.
The clone's body split apart in radial segments.
Blood sprayed across shattered concrete.
Richard disliked using Prison Gate.
Eight Swords Flash and Earthshaker allowed distance.
Prison Gate forced proximity.
When the enemy died, they died directly beneath him.
Blood splashed close.
Fragments landed at his boots.
Even though he shielded himself with magic to prevent staining, the visceral nature of the move remained.
Teleportation.
He left instantly.
Reappearing more than ten meters away, he activated Plunder.
[New ability acquired: Magnetic Field Control, Mental Isolation.]
[Similar ability detected. Ability fusion in progress.]
[Telepathy strengthened.]
[Magnetic Field Control – Control any form of magnetic field. Current Level: Alpha.]
Richard allowed himself a small, satisfied smile.
Seventh Alpha-level ability acquired.
He closed the panel.
Across the dock, Shaw stood alone now.
Riptide dead.
No. 7 destroyed.
No. 8 shattered.
Magneto clone eliminated.
Only the Black King remained.
Shaw's expression was steady.
He had anticipated this outcome the moment Richard switched targets.
He glanced briefly at the segmented corpse.
Then looked back at Richard.
"Tell me something," Shaw said evenly. "Where exactly did I offend you?"
"Is it because I cooperated with the Mutant Affairs Department?"
"Because I sent Emma and Azazel to invite you?"
Richard wasn't surprised by the question.
If their positions were reversed, he would ask the same.
"If you need a reason," Richard replied calmly, "it's because you kidnapped two twins you shouldn't have touched."
Shaw's eyes narrowed.
Twins.
He understood immediately.
"Are they your friends?"
"No."
"Did someone hire you to rescue them?"
"No."
Shaw frowned slightly.
That made no strategic sense.
Before he could continue, Richard cut him off.
"Enough talking. Police and media will arrive soon."
He raised his right hand.
Dark energy condensed above his palm.
Black Magic Crystal.
"This ends now."
The sky above Shaw darkened unnaturally.
Hundreds of meteorites manifested high overhead—varying sizes, all wrapped in flame.
The night over Miami became a burning constellation.
Shaw looked up.
Energy absorption activated fully.
His body began to glow brighter than before.
Richard's eyes remained cold.
"Let's see," he murmured softly.
"How much you can really absorb."
.....
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