Compared to Ajak and Druig's abilities, Richard found himself far more interested in Sersi's power. Healing and mental control overlapped with his existing X-gene arsenal, making them useful but not transformative. Matter transmutation, however, was different. It carried extraordinary potential despite its obvious limitation—physical contact was required to activate it.
That weakness did not diminish its value. In fact, when weighed against its versatility, the limitation felt almost trivial. In raw theoretical ceiling, this ability rivaled the Dark Phoenix's material manipulation. Given sufficient energy input, Sersi's power could theoretically alter even Celestial-grade matter.
When he had killed the Dark Phoenix, Richard had plundered Omega-level material manipulation. That power allowed him to disassemble matter down to atomic structure, but it did not alter its intrinsic properties. Even if reduced to fundamental particles, matter retained its original nature. Sersi's ability operated differently.
Her transmutation did not merely deconstruct—it rewrote. It could rearrange atoms, molecules, and subatomic particles into entirely new configurations. In simplified terms, it manipulated the structural rules of matter itself. In the language of fantasy fiction, it brushed against the foundational laws of the world.
After reviewing the system notification, Richard allowed himself a faint smile. Satisfaction was rare, but this was close.
He closed the interface and stored the Yama Sword back into system space. Without hesitation, he activated mind transmission and vanished from the museum.
The moment he disappeared, Dane Whitman and the frozen bystanders regained consciousness. Dane blinked in confusion as the world seemed to resume mid-motion. Sersi, who had been sitting across from him moments ago, was gone.
His eyes darted around the room instinctively. A ripple of alarmed voices rose from nearby visitors. Following their gaze, he saw the warped floor where Sersi had liquefied the surface into a swamp-like distortion.
Understanding struck him instantly. He rose from his seat and rushed downstairs without another word.
…
In London's West End, inside an unremarkable apartment building, the last remaining Eternal in the city lay stretched across a sofa. The water elf—trapped in the body of a primary school student despite being over seven thousand years old—stared at the ceiling while contemplating whether she should visit a nearby bar that evening. Her thoughts drifted toward irritation more than anticipation.
She had lived on Earth in this childlike form for millennia. Watching Sersi and Dane openly share affection always stirred frustration within her. They were teammates, yet she alone remained imprisoned in a body that denied her adulthood.
I've grown up. I want to live like an adult. I want to fall in love too.
Her silent complaints were interrupted by a shift in the air.
Richard appeared in the living room without warning, materializing like a shadow stepping into shape. She recognized him instantly.
Richard Wesley.
She sat upright, alarm flashing across her face. Before she could speak, a blade of compressed wind sliced invisibly through the air.
The strike was instantaneous.
The wind edge crossed her neck in a flawless arc, severing life with surgical precision. Her head did not detach or fall. A thin red line marked the cut, but externally she seemed almost untouched. Only her eyes betrayed it—frozen in shock as vitality drained from her skin.
Richard did not hesitate.
Plunder.
New abilities acquired: Creating Illusions, Immortality, Control of Cosmic Energy.
Duplicate abilities detected. Fusion initiated.
Immortality and Control of Cosmic Energy enhanced.
Creating Illusions: Generate realistic illusions to confuse enemies or control projected constructs.
He stepped forward as her body tilted toward the floor. Raising his right hand, he touched her shoulder and activated Change Matter rather than decomposition.
Under his gaze, her body disintegrated into air—no residue, no trace. The transformation was cleaner and faster than simple molecular breakdown.
Almost identical to decomposition, he assessed silently. Faster conversion rate.
Without lingering, he teleported away from the apartment.
He did not leave London. Instead, he reappeared along the Thames near Tower Bridge. The river shimmered under late afternoon light as he activated Creating Illusions, reshaping his iconic silver hair into short black strands.
He selected a café with a clear view of Tower Bridge and ordered coffee. Sitting by the window, he mentally opened the mission interface.
Mission: Kill all Eternals on Earth. Current progress: 9/10.
Only Ikaris remained.
Unlike Sersi and the others, whose approximate locations were traceable through memory extraction, Ikaris was unpredictable. From Ajak's memories, Richard knew that Ikaris had separated from Sersi five centuries earlier and lived a wandering existence. Even his fellow Eternals had little knowledge of his whereabouts.
Richard considered his options carefully. He remembered one critical event: Ikaris had taken Ajak to Alaska and pushed her from a cliff, allowing Deviants recently freed from ice to kill her. Whether those Deviants were still active was uncertain, but Alaska provided a tangible lead.
The detour would cost little time.
Decision made, he temporarily set aside further analysis and finished his coffee while observing the bridge's steel structure against the river. As he prepared to leave for Alaska, his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen and frowned slightly at the caller ID.
Black Car Bud.
He answered.
"Sir," Black Car Bud began, voice tight, "you asked me to monitor Skye from the Rising Tide organization. There's a small complication."
"What kind?" Richard asked evenly.
"She hacked into the New York base database."
Richard's tone remained steady. "Let me guess. You stored my information in that database, and now she knows I control the club and ordered you to investigate her."
"Yes, sir," Black Car Bud admitted immediately. "But I have her contained. Your information shouldn't be leaked yet—"
A young woman's furious voice cut in from the background.
"I'm warning you, let me go right now! Or the whole world finds out tomorrow what you've been doing!"
Richard recognized the voice without needing introduction.
"Location?" he asked.
"New York base," Black Car Bud replied.
"I'll be there shortly."
He ended the call without waiting for acknowledgment. Outside the café, he activated teleportation repeatedly—nine consecutive jumps carried him from London back to the Hellfire Club's New York base.
Inside the base, Skye sat restrained, irritation written clearly across her face. Black Car Bud looked uneasy.
He stepped forward immediately. "I was negligent. I'll handle this cleanly. No information about you or the organization will leak."
"It's not your problem," Richard replied calmly. "Leave. I'll take care of it."
Black Car Bud hesitated but ultimately nodded and exited.
Richard walked to the sofa opposite Skye and studied her. As in another version of events he remembered, she possessed distinctly Chinese features—black hair, dark eyes, sharp expression.
With a casual motion of material manipulation, he dissolved the ropes binding her wrists.
"Help me find someone," he said. "Do that, and you walk away. The database information is yours to do with as you like."
Skye flexed her numb hands and looked at him warily. "Who?"
"A man named Ikaris. He may use another alias. He may not."
Richard withdrew paper and pen from system space and began sketching rapidly. The ability Precision Painting—plundered from a minor mutant—allowed him to reproduce images from memory flawlessly.
Within seconds, Ikaris's likeness emerged in detailed graphite clarity.
Accurate Painting: Rapidly and precisely reproduce images seen or imagined.
He handed the sketch to Skye.
"You have three days."
She examined the drawing and smirked. "Three days? Don't insult me. I need one."
For a hacker of her caliber, a clear facial reference was more than sufficient.
"If you find him within a day," Richard said evenly, "I'll not only release you. I'll also tell you the truth about your parents."
Skye's expression shifted instantly.
.....
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