Although the Black Phoenix had just been critically wounded by the causality effect of Heartless Angel, Richard did not press the attack to finish her. Instead, he immediately activated the Yamato's separation ability, slicing cleanly between the Black Phoenix and Jean Grey herself. Compared to killing her outright, severing the dark persona from its host was far more important to him in this moment.
He wasn't hesitating out of mercy. It wasn't sentimentality or weakness that stayed his hand. His instincts were screaming at him that the Phoenix Force would never allow its host to be killed so easily, and ignoring that warning would be suicide.
Even though the fragment of the Phoenix Force within Jean was incomplete, it was still the Phoenix Force. That cosmic entity did not tolerate disrespect lightly. On top of that, after the system updated the "Devil's Son (IV)" mission, the objective remained the same: defeat the Black Phoenix, not kill Jean Grey.
That distinction mattered.
If the system required defeat rather than execution, then in its evaluation either Jean could not be killed at all, or killing her carried catastrophic risk. The most obvious scenario was that eliminating Jean would trigger the Phoenix Force to retaliate at full strength, annihilating him in the process.
Richard's system wasn't particularly generous or sentimental compared to the cheat systems other transmigrators bragged about in web novels, but it was precise. And he trusted its judgment.
If killing Jean risked awakening the full wrath of the Phoenix Force, then killing the separated Dark Phoenix likely would not. The Phoenix Force resided in Jean Grey, not in the personality that had splintered from her psyche.
The Dark Phoenix, newly severed, stared at him in disbelief. She had never imagined she could manifest in the real world in this way, independent of Jean's physical body. The shock on her face was genuine.
Jean herself was equally stunned. Below them, Wolverine, Cyclops, and the others froze in place, staring upward as two identical figures hovered in the sky.
What did he just do?
Professor X had briefly explained the existence of the Dark Phoenix when Jean first lost control, so they understood that a destructive personality had overtaken her. They also knew Richard had been called to stop her. But none of them could have imagined that a single slash of that blade would drag the Dark Phoenix into physical existence.
Richard ignored their reactions. Surprise didn't win battles.
He raised the katana in his left hand and moved.
Eight Swords Flash.
The Dark Phoenix might not understand what he had done, but she was no fool. She reacted instantly, her eyes blazing with furious focus.
Telekinetic barrier.
For ordinary opponents, her telekinetic constructs were nearly unbreakable walls of force. But Richard was not ordinary. The first three slashes struck the barrier in rapid succession, cracking it like glass under a sledgehammer.
Then it shattered with a thunderous explosion.
Panic flashed across the Dark Phoenix's face for the first time. Faced with imminent death, she unleashed her most dangerous ability.
Material decomposition.
Invisible waves surged toward him, attempting to unravel both his body and the blade cutting toward her. She was trying to disassemble him at the molecular level.
Richard had anticipated something like this. In that split second, he flooded himself and the blade with dense magical energy, wrapping both in a protective layer of power. He couldn't be certain the magic would fully negate her decomposition, but he didn't need it to. One or two seconds was enough.
That was all he required.
The final five arcs of Eight Swords Flash tore through her.
"Farewell, Ms. Black Phoenix."
Unlike a body of flesh and blood, the Dark Phoenix did not explode into gore. Her severed form dissolved into fragments of black, smoke-like energy, dispersing in the air.
The Yamato could separate entities, but it could not conjure a biological body from nothing. Vergil's original split into V and Urizen had worked because he was a hybrid of human and demon. The Dark Phoenix, by contrast, was only a personality fragment empowered by stolen force.
As soon as she fragmented, Richard activated Plunder.
If she had still been inside Jean's body, he doubted he could have taken anything. His Plunder had only been Alpha-level. There was no way it could touch an Omega-tier mutant empowered by the Phoenix Force.
But now she was separated.
Now she was weakened.
Still, even he wasn't certain it would succeed.
System notifications exploded across his vision.
[New abilities acquired: Material Manipulation, Telepathy!]
[Duplicate ability detected. Fusion initiated!]
[Material Manipulation and Telepathy enhanced!]
[Material Manipulation upgraded. Current Level: Omega!]
[Plunder upgraded. Current Level: Omega!]
[X-Gene Ability List Updated.]
[X-Gene Superpowers: 2 Omega, 13 Alpha, 24 Beta, 6 Delta.]
Richard couldn't suppress the satisfaction spreading across his face. He had expected her to be weakened, but he hadn't known whether her material manipulation would drop low enough to be plundered.
And he certainly hadn't expected Plunder itself to evolve.
He opened his updated ability list without hesitation.
[Omega: Plunder, Material Manipulation]
[Alpha: Super Strength, Super Physique, Accelerated Regeneration, Teleportation, Immortality, Magnetism Control, Energy Absorption, Enhanced Senses, Gravity Control, Telepathy, Invisibility, Heat Vision, Demonization]
He had crossed the threshold.
He was now, without question, an Omega-level mutant.
Before he could dwell on it further, another notification appeared.
[Mission "Devil's Son (IV)" completed.]
[Reward issued: True Demon Form (Vergil).]
Finally.
His already elevated mood soared higher. Tonight's battle had given him two Omega-level abilities, cemented his status among the most powerful mutants on Earth, and rewarded him with the transformation he had waited months to unlock.
Dimensional Slash. Summoned Swords. Yamato. True Demon Form.
Aside from the Force Edge and a few specialized techniques, he was nearly identical to Vergil now. The template fusion might not be formally complete, but in practical terms, he was there.
He closed the interface and looked toward Jean.
Physically, she had recovered. The Phoenix Force made conventional regeneration look primitive. As long as that cosmic energy remained bonded to her, she might as well be immortal.
But psychologically, she was shattered.
Professor X was dead. So were others. Even if it had been the Dark Phoenix in control, Jean would still remember everything. To her, it would feel like she had killed them herself.
She hovered in the sky, Phoenix energy flickering around her as anguish twisted her face. Richard said nothing. This wasn't his responsibility.
He teleported.
In an instant, he vanished from above the Xavier grounds and reappeared at the training field of Silver Manor.
He sheathed the blade back into the system space and released his outfit transformation, the Sephiroth-like attire dissolving back into his normal clothes. In the game, True Demon Form required a filled Devil Trigger gauge.
This wasn't a game.
He only needed magic.
Power surged outward from him like a tidal wave, blue-white energy expanding in a violent radius.
"True Demon Form."
In the span of a heartbeat, his body transformed. Silver hair remained, but everything else shifted. Dark scales armored his skin. A V-shaped blue-white light ignited across his chest. Two folded demonic wings flared behind him like a living cloak, and a long, muscular tail extended from his lower back.
The Yamato reconfigured into twin energy arm-blades fused along his forearms.
He couldn't see his full reflection, but he didn't need to. The glowing V, the arm blades, the silhouette—this was Vergil's true demon form.
His physical strength surged. His senses sharpened. Magic flowed through him like an ocean instead of a stream.
And beneath it all, something darker stirred.
A hunger.
An urge to cut. To conquer. To destroy.
If you held a hammer, everything looked like a nail.
He considered teleporting into the city and venting that violent impulse on a few criminals who wouldn't be missed. The temptation was real.
Before he could decide, golden sparks ignited in the air five or six meters ahead of him. A circular portal formed, spinning with intricate sigils.
One name surfaced instantly in his mind.
The Ancient One.
Stephen Strange had not yet suffered his accident. Richard had seen him at several high-end charity events in New York. Which meant the Sorcerer Supreme was still the bald woman in yellow robes.
The portal stabilized.
The Ancient One stepped through, robes flowing, a folding fan held casually in one hand. Her gaze swept over him, assessing.
She frowned.
"Are you Richard Wesley, the candidate recommended by Charles?"
True Demon Form altered not just his appearance but his life signature. Even the Sorcerer Supreme couldn't immediately confirm his identity.
Richard said nothing. He simply stood there, demonic wings flexing slightly, blue-white light pulsing steadily across his chest as the Ancient One studied him in silence.
.....
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