It took Richard almost no effort to pinpoint Phastos.
To ordinary senses, the Eternals were indistinguishable from humans. They breathed, aged, laughed, and grieved like anyone else. But to telepathic perception, they were anomalies. Their mental frequencies were too structured, too stable, like a signal engineered rather than born.
They were Celestial constructs.
Whether shaped as biological immortals or assembled in the World Forge, they were not natural life.
And Richard did not like unnatural things pretending to be human.
Just as he prepared to teleport and eliminate Phastos, the system interface appeared before him.
Mission: Superman PrimeMission Objective: Eliminate all Eternals currently on EarthProgress: 0/10Reward: Kryptonian Physique (Superman Prime Variant)Time Limit: 30 Days
Richard paused for only a fraction of a second.
Then he smiled.
He would have killed them anyway. But now there was incentive beyond satisfaction.
Superman Prime's physiology was not merely Kryptonian. It was superior. Greater durability. Superior solar absorption. Enhanced magical resistance. Reduced vulnerability to red solar radiation and Kryptonite compared to standard Kryptonians.
Superboy Prime was not narratively favored, but in raw potential he rivaled—and in some cases exceeded—Superman.
Ten Eternals in exchange for that upgrade was efficient.
Richard closed the panel and teleported.
Detroit.
A quiet suburban street.
Phastos stood in his yard wearing casual clothes, throwing a football to a small boy named Jack. Laughter hung in the air. Inside the house, Phil prepared lunch.
Jack noticed Richard first.
"The King of Mutants!" the child exclaimed excitedly.
Richard ignored him.
The authentic Yama Blade materialized in his hand.
Phastos recognized him instantly. Shock replaced joy.
He tried to speak.
Richard did not allow it.
Eight Flashing Cuts.
In less than a heartbeat, he crossed the lawn. The blade moved with blinding precision. Eight arcs of steel sliced through Phastos' body before the Eternal could summon a single construct.
Limbs separated. Torso collapsed. Flesh fell in sections.
Jack stared, frozen.
Richard did not plunder.
He activated Omega-level matter manipulation instead.
Phastos' remains disintegrated into atomic dust, leaving only blood staining the grass.
Then Richard vanished.
Back in Silver Manor, he checked the mission interface.
Progress: 1/10.
He began organizing the sequence.
Ajak in South Dakota.Druig in the Amazon rainforest.Gilgamesh and Thena in Australia.Kingo in India.Makkari aboard the Domo spacecraft.Sersi and Sprite in London.Ikaris—location variable.
Remove the healer first.
He teleported.
Four jumps carried him nearly three thousand kilometers in under twenty seconds. He hovered high above the plains of South Dakota.
Telepathy expanded outward to its maximum radius—800 kilometers in every direction. Thousands of human minds flooded his perception like static.
Then he found it.
An anomaly. Clean. Structured. Identical pattern to Phastos.
He locked on.
Teleportation.
He appeared above a solitary farmhouse in the middle of endless grassland.
Ajak lived alone.
Richard descended slowly, boots hovering inches above the dirt. The wind carried faint scents of soil and livestock.
Inside the house, Ajak was unaware.
He extended telepathy slightly and brushed against her consciousness.
Unlike Phastos, she sensed something immediately.
She stepped out of the house, eyes scanning the sky.
She saw him hovering there.
Recognition dawned.
"Richard Wesley," she said calmly, though tension tightened her voice.
"You know my name," he replied evenly.
"We observe. We don't interfere."
"You interfered plenty," Richard said softly.
Ajak studied him carefully. "You killed Phastos."
"Yes."
"You've come for me."
"Yes."
She did not run.
Instead, she approached several steps forward into the open field. "Why?"
Richard considered answering briefly, then decided honesty was simplest.
"Because you accelerate civilizations and then pretend to mourn their destruction. Because you call yourselves observers while manipulating evolution. Because your existence irritates me."
Ajak's gaze hardened slightly. "You misunderstand our purpose."
"Enlighten me."
"We ensure planetary development reaches required thresholds. We guide without direct domination."
"You guided Hiroshima," Richard replied coldly.
Ajak did not answer immediately.
"We learn from mistakes."
"You enabled them."
Silence stretched between them.
She looked upward at him. "Even if you kill us, Arishem will not forget Earth."
"That's fine," Richard said calmly. "He can come personally."
Ajak recognized the confidence in his tone.
She shifted into a defensive posture, cosmic energy beginning to shimmer faintly along her hands.
"You cannot win," she said.
Richard raised his hand.
Telekinesis froze her mid-motion.
Her body locked in place.
Unlike ordinary humans, her resistance lasted longer. Her Celestial-derived physiology fought against the force restraining her.
Richard increased output.
Her muscles stiffened completely.
He floated down until they were face to face.
"I don't hate you personally," he said evenly. "But you're in the way."
She attempted to summon healing energy.
He moved first.
The Yama Blade appeared.
A single horizontal strike.
Her head separated cleanly from her body.
Before the body could collapse fully, Richard activated matter decomposition.
Both halves dissolved into atomic dust.
Progress updated automatically in his mind.
2/10.
He did not linger.
Teleportation.
The Amazon rainforest.
Humidity wrapped around him instantly. Dense canopy stretched endlessly beneath.
He expanded telepathy again.
Druig's mental signature was distinctive—strong, invasive, capable of manipulating entire villages.
Richard located him within seconds.
A clearing.
Druig stood surrounded by a small controlled community. Their minds were subdued, orderly under his influence.
Richard descended without warning.
Druig sensed intrusion immediately.
He turned sharply, eyes narrowing.
"You," Druig said quietly.
Richard did not waste words.
Druig attempted to seize control of his mind.
The attempt shattered instantly against Richard's telepathic defenses.
Druig staggered as backlash struck him.
"You think you can—"
Richard appeared in front of him mid-sentence.
One vertical cut.
Druig split from shoulder to hip.
Matter decomposition followed immediately.
The controlled villagers blinked in confusion as his influence vanished.
Progress: 3/10.
Australia next.
The hunt had begun in earnest.
.....
Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then join my p@treon Right Now.
Link: p*atreon.com/BookReaderBoy (Remove the *)
Also Free members get 2 advanced chapters for Free as well.