Chapter 82: Chapter 082: Surprised and Happy
"I think I heard someone say before, weren't you taken down by Charles..."
"Shut up!"
The 'Shadow Kings' suddenly shouted in unison when they heard the Red Devil mention that name, their expressions turning dark. They questioned coldly, "Why are you here?"
"I'm looking for a boy named David Haller. Do you know him?" Red Devil asked.
The moment the Shadow Kings heard that, they knew something was wrong. But before they could figure out how to respond, David had already spoken:
"I'm David Haller. Who are you?"
"Huh, what a coincidence."
Red Devil seemed surprised that he had found David so easily. After a short pause, he smiled and said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Red Devil. I came on behalf of the Hellfire Club to invite you to join us."
"No way!"
Before David could say anything, the Shadow Kings suddenly shouted in rage and glared at Red Devil. "He's mine! No one can take him from me. No one!!"
If the Shadow King taking over David's body was already crossing the line for the other personalities, then Red Devil's invitation clearly crossed the Shadow King's own line.
As a being who had turned into a pure mental entity, the Shadow King didn't care about pride. Even begging wasn't beneath him, as long as he could get control over David's body in the end.
But if David joined the Hellfire Club, his plan would become much harder. Many people in the club knew who he was—and some of them absolutely hated him.
If they found out what he was up to, they wouldn't hesitate to ruin everything for him.
So there was no way he could let David join the Hellfire Club!
As for Red Devil, being stared at and yelled at by a group of people with glowing yellow eyes would have terrified most people.
Even Dr. Beth, who was just watching from the side, was so scared she trembled.
But Red Devil didn't show even the slightest bit of fear. Instead, he looked thoughtful and said, "So that's why you're here… now it makes sense."
"Red Devil, I don't care what your Hellfire Club wants. Leave now—or I swear, I'll fight you to the death!" the Shadow Kings threatened together.
Hearing the Shadow King dare to threaten him, Red Devil's face instantly turned cold. "Farouk, do you even know what you're saying? Fight the club to the death? You? You're not even qualified."
"The Hellfire Club is strong, sure. But not even Charles could kill me. Do you really think you can? As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure your club never has peace again!"
Red Devil frowned at those words.
He really didn't know the Shadow King was here.
If he had known, he definitely would've come more prepared—or brought a few more people with him.
Both of them being level-four mutants, he wasn't afraid of the Shadow King. He even had some psychic powers himself, so if they really fought, he wouldn't be scared at all.
But just like the Shadow King said, he wasn't confident he could actually kill him.
Even if the club's strongest fighter, Juggernaut, were here right now, he couldn't say for sure that he could kill the Shadow King either.
With the Shadow King's current spiritual form, even Professor X couldn't completely destroy him back then. Who could claim to be better at fighting a mental entity than Professor X?
And if the Shadow King couldn't be killed, then his threat couldn't be ignored.
The Hellfire Club was a big organization with lots of people. Maybe he wasn't afraid of the Shadow King, and maybe Juggernaut wasn't either—but could the others say the same?
Not just the outer circle—even some core members weren't as strong as the Shadow King.
If the Shadow King was really determined to fight the Hellfire Club to the end, even if they eventually found a way to destroy him, they would still suffer huge losses before that.
All just for David? Was it really worth it?
Red Devil knew who David was. Juggernaut had told him his thoughts before sending him here. Since Juggernaut didn't like Professor X, he supported the plan too.
But if this was just about Juggernaut's personal grudge, dragging the whole club into a mess over it didn't make sense.
Red Devil was very calm. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have lived for thousands of years.
Because he was calm, even though he was furious that the Shadow King dared to threaten him, he didn't strike back right away. In fact, he was already considering whether it was better to just leave.
"Leave, Red Devil!"
The Shadow Kings seemed to notice Red Devil's hesitation and quickly pushed him further, "If you're willing to leave, I'll owe you a favor. If not, then we'll fight to the deat—"
"To the death, huh…? Hmm, so if I kill you, does that mean we can rest?"
A half-smiling voice suddenly interrupted the Shadow Kings' threat.
Even Red Devil was surprised. He didn't expect anyone else to show up.
"Dr. Raymond?!"
Dr. Beth cried out in shock and joy when she saw who it was—Raymond, the very person she had been desperately searching for all this time!
She was happy that Raymond was safe and standing right there, but also shocked that he would show up at such a dangerous moment. After all, there were three "monsters" here right now.
Yes, in Dr. Beth's eyes, there wasn't just one monster.
She had realized that all the people with glowing yellow eyes were actually one person. That was the first "monster."
Then there was Red Devil, who had just casually asked her out to dinner. He was the second "monster."
And finally, the person who could calmly talk to both of them—David—was clearly the third "monster."
After confirming that everything she was seeing was real, Dr. Beth had already mentally prepared herself to die. She knew that if any of these "monsters" really wanted to kill her, she wouldn't be able to escape.
That's why she hadn't even tried to run.
But she didn't expect Raymond to suddenly show up, and it made her panic a little. She didn't even realize what he had just said.
"Dr. Raymond, run!"
Seeing that Raymond was close to the door, she shouted at him.
"Raymond… You're okay? That's great!" David was clearly happy to see Raymond. His unstable emotions even calmed down a bit.
Even the Shadow King let out a sigh of relief.
At least with Raymond here, David's anger would fade, and that danger was gone.
As for what Raymond just said, the Shadow King didn't even think much of it. In his mind, Raymond was just a regular person he could mess with however he liked.
But what he didn't notice… was the small smile on Red Devil's face after hearing both David and Dr. Beth call Raymond by name.
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