At that exact moment, Alex was sitting in the chair as if he hadn't just killed a man, so calm and confident that even the people aiming their guns at him seemed to have lost the will to fight after seeing what had just happened to Noah.
The mutant hadn't even moved—he had killed Noah with nothing but a thought.
Noah was one of the strongest mutants in the Dragon Rat gang, so his death hit everyone hard.
Some of them even started stepping back in fear, until Jack reacted faster, pulling a revolver from under his table and aiming it at Alex.
Jack had already realized that even if he handed over the money, he probably wouldn't make it out alive.
He had spent too long in the criminal world not to recognize a real boss when he saw one.
And the mutant in front of him clearly wasn't going to let him live.
So at the very least, he had to try to kill this monster—maybe then he'd have a chance to survive.
"SHOOT, YOU IDIOTS! FIRE! IT'S JUST A MUTANT!"
Hearing Jack shout, everyone snapped back to their senses—they had the advantage in numbers.
Without thinking twice, they all started firing nonstop at Alex.
As the bullets rushed toward him, Alex simply sighed, releasing an absurd amount of cursed energy into his body, reinforcing it to the limit.
Ray had already realized things were about to go very wrong, so he quickly moved outside the area, not wanting to get hit by a stray bullet—nor test the limits of Vox's regeneration.
The moment Jack gave the order, Alex was riddled with bullets from all directions.
Gunshots echoed through the room without pause as Jack's men—and even Jack himself—emptied everything they had into him.
They only stopped once they ran out of bullets.
But when they looked at where Alex had been… there was only a chair, completely riddled with holes.
"W-WHAT!?"
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?"
Jack shouted in fear.
For a moment, he thought he had escaped the death that mutant represented—but seeing the empty chair, terror consumed him.
The only thought in his mind now was that he was going to die.
Without thinking, Jack jumped up from the sofa and looked around frantically, searching for the mutant who had invaded his base.
"STOP THIS, YOU BASTARD! I WORK FOR THE KINGPIN, DAMN IT!"
Terrified, Jack shouted into the air, trying to threaten Alex with his boss.
Unfortunately for him, Alex couldn't care less.
Alex reappeared in the middle of the room and looked at all the henchmen—and at Jack.
He made a simple motion with his hand, spending a considerable amount of cursed energy.
What happened in the next second made Jack realize he should never have messed with Ray's new boss.
In an instant, everyone in the room except Jack was cut into dozens of pieces.
No noise, no dramatic movement—just death.
"I really didn't expect you to be stupid enough to actually try to fight me."
Since leaving society behind and training without holding back for his family, Alex had begun to realize something.
He had never truly been himself.
From the beginning, he had always been afraid of losing his family.
But now, there was nothing left to fear—he could finally be who he really was.
"You know… I was thinking about killing you, but I had a better idea."
Alex started walking toward Jack, who instinctively backed away.
But the room wasn't very big, and soon Jack found himself cornered against the wall.
Ignoring that, Alex stepped closer until they were face to face.
He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder—and in the very next second, Jack began to scream in agony.
"AAAHHHHHH!!!"
"You're going to your 'Kingpin' and repeat these exact words, got it?"
Alex spoke calmly, keeping his hand on Jack's shoulder while the man screamed desperately, trying to break free from his grip.
At that moment, Alex was testing something he had learned during training.
When he first used Cleave on someone, he realized it didn't just cut flesh—it was far more brutal, slicing through what was inside the body.
Of course, there were limitations, but the key was understanding how the body worked.
Once he did, he could cut precisely.
What he had learned now was how to cut in layers, not just organs.
At that moment, Alex was slicing through every muscle and bone in Jack's right arm.
But he avoided cutting veins or arteries—he didn't want him to die too quickly.
That required more focus, but the result was clear.
What Jack felt right now was like having his entire arm shoved into a massive meat grinder.
"DID YOU HEAR ME!?"
Alex shouted, snapping Jack's attention away from the pain.
It worked—barely.
Still crying and screaming, Jack weakly nodded, and Alex finally released his shoulder.
"Good. Now you have three days to tell your boss that all his territory belongs to me."
"If you don't… I'll make you wish for death."
Jack, completely overwhelmed by the pain, hadn't understood a single word.
Seeing that, Alex lost his patience and kicked him in the face, holding back just enough not to kill him.
The blow sent Jack flying to the side, knocking out several of his teeth.
That finally forced him to focus on Alex, terrified of taking another hit.
"Good. Now you're listening."
"You've got three days to tell the Kingpin that his territory is mine now—mine and my family's, got it?"
Jack, completely terrified, didn't even answer—he just got up and ran.
Stumbling as he went, he fled the hideout and ran straight into Ray, who had been standing near the exit.
Ray was startled to see Jack in such a broken, terrified state as he rushed past without even noticing him.
Seeing that, Ray was shocked.
He walked back down the stairs and found Alex sitting on the sofa that once belonged to Jack.
Bodies—no, pieces of bodies—were scattered all around him.
The scene made Ray's blood run cold, especially with how calm Alex looked in the middle of it all.
Looking at the remains, Ray noticed Tyon poking at some of the pieces curiously, occasionally glancing around—until he spotted Ray watching him.
Tyon simply waved his hand and stopped touching the corpses of those killed by his father's technique, then walked over to Ray, trying to look intimidating.
It failed completely, since Ray knew that although Tyon was strong, he was still just a child.
Ray knew Alex was powerful, but what he was witnessing right now wasn't just strength.
It was something far beyond that.
It felt more like authority.
Almost as if Alex were the personification of death itself.
Ray had never seen anyone come close to that feeling.
Not even Magneto had ever made him feel this way.
Not that Ray had personally known him, but he had seen him fight—and that was already something.
Seeing Ray's reaction, Alex realized he needed to snap him out of it.
He still had something important to discuss.
"Ray, we need to talk about something. Come here."
Hearing Alex's voice, Ray flinched slightly, pulled out of his own thoughts.
Even so, he complied and walked over.
As he got close enough, Ray could clearly feel it again.
Alex didn't feel like a normal mutant.
He felt like a force of nature.
"Ray, I need your help with something… I need you to help me build a criminal organization that will fight the government."
Hearing that, Ray froze.
The absurdity of the statement hit him all at once.
He had just recovered from witnessing a massacre, and now Alex was talking about creating a criminal organization.
"Alex… are you crazy?"
The words slipped out instinctively.
The moment he realized what he had just said, Ray put a hand on his head, silently cursing himself for calling a man like that insane.
"No, Ray. I realized something. If I want anything in this life, I need power and a foundation—and that's exactly what this group will give me. And of course… more freedom."
Ray didn't argue.
Alex was right.
But the problem was obvious.
To build something like that, they needed three things.
Money—they had some.
Connections—they had none.
And most importantly, people.
Which they absolutely didn't have.
There were only three of them.
And Tyon didn't even count in a normal sense.
Ray wanted to tell Alex to drop the idea.
Or even run away and abandon everything.
But when that thought crossed his mind, something else followed.
'Damn it… I've been running like a rat for years. And now that I've finally found someone who can help me stop being trampled by the world… I want to run again?'
'How am I supposed to face my family if I keep living like this?'
Remembering that he had survived Jack only because of Alex, Ray made his decision.
"Alex… I know this idea is insane in a lot of ways, but… I'm with you. Even if it means sinking with you."
Alex was slightly surprised.
He hadn't known Ray for long.
He had expected resistance.
But seeing the determination on Ray's face, he didn't need any further confirmation.
He just smiled and stood up.
"Alright, Ray. Let's start by checking our territory."
Just as they were about to leave, Alex suddenly remembered something.
He began searching through Jack's hideout, confusing the other two.
But it didn't take long for them to understand.
Alex was looking for where Jack kept his money and valuables.
He expected it to be well hidden.
But it wasn't.
It was right under Jack's couch.
Easy to find once Alex started tearing the place apart.
When he found the safe, his eyes lit up with anticipation.
Without hesitation, he released a slash infused with cursed energy, splitting the safe in half.
Unfortunately, he miscalculated the force and ended up cutting through several bundles of cash—probably around ten thousand dollars.
Even feeling a slight sting in his chest, Alex quickly grabbed everything and moved on.
"Ray, you worked for Jack. Do you know his territory?"
"Yeah, I do. But it's small—and honestly one of the worst. It's right next to the destroyed area. He only got it because no one else wanted it."
As they made their way back to the base, they continued discussing the organization.
Ray was worried about their lack of manpower.
Managing even a small part of New York would be difficult.
Especially with the inevitable territory disputes now that Jack was gone.
Alex understood the concern, but refused to recruit just anyone.
They were being hunted.
That alone made things complicated.
"Alright… I have an idea. It could go very wrong."
That caught both Alex's and Tyon's attention.
Well—Alex's attention.
Tyon was busy playing with a Rubik's Cube he had found.
"I'm listening, Ray."
Ray took a deep breath.
"What if we start recruiting mutants? Not just mutants—but people who are persecuted or rejected by society. If we give them a place… they'll become loyal to the ones who saved them."
Alex considered it seriously.
There were problems.
A lot of them.
If he did this, he'd be placed in the same category as Magneto.
Not in power—but as a threat.
And that would put a target on his back.
A real one.
But Alex wasn't afraid anymore.
Not after everything he had been through.
He knew his own strength now.
Even if an army surrounded him… he believed he could kill them all.
"Good. We'll go with your idea. Ray, you'll find mutants who need help—people who want a place to live. Not in peace… but free from fear."
Ray nodded and started to walk away, ready to begin.
But then he stopped and turned back.
"Alex… what's the name of the organization?"
Alex froze.
Right.
Every group needed a name.
And he had never cared about things like that.
After a few seconds of silence, he answered without thinking.
"We'll call it… Sanctuary. What do you think?"
Ray stared at him for a moment.
Then thought it over.
"It's good… but won't people mistake us for some kind of religious cult?"
Alex froze again.
"…Screw it. It's Sanctuary. Anyone who complains gets beaten."
With that, Alex started walking off, muttering in irritation about never being able to come up with the perfect name.
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