Raymond ignored the suddenly excited Tao Pai Pai sub-personality and switched back to himself. He then looked calmly at Carl and Psylocke and said:
"You'd better calm him down. If this keeps going, I might not be able to hold myself back. Trust me, you really don't want to see what happens when that happens…"
Raymond's words were clearly a warning to Psylocke and Carl, but they worked surprisingly well.
The two of them could tell that Raymond had returned to a normal state, at least for now.
But those words, combined with how he had clearly "lost control" earlier, made it hard for them not to imagine the worst.
Was Raymond talking about falling back into that strange state from earlier?
Did that mean that if he was forced into a fight again, he might snap and turn back into that same out-of-control person?
If that was true, then if Juggernaut kept going crazy, he would definitely push Raymond into that dangerous state again.
They weren't sure if Raymond would get hurt… but they were pretty sure they wouldn't come out of it okay.
More importantly, there wasn't even a real conflict between them.
Even Carl, who had lost a squad of men to Raymond, didn't see it as a big deal and was actually fine with Raymond possibly joining the club.
That's why, when Juggernaut attacked earlier, Carl and Psylocke had tried to stop him.
Thinking of all this, the two exchanged a look, then moved quickly toward Juggernaut.
On the other side, Juggernaut clearly wasn't going to let things go so easily.
Even though Raymond's strength had surprised him a little, the punch hadn't actually hurt him—it just made him look a bit messy.
Now even angrier, the crimson glow around him grew thicker.
His whole body gave off an even more dangerous feeling.
But Carl got to him first.
Seeing that Juggernaut was on the edge of losing control, Carl quickly shifted into his crystal form and tackled Juggernaut from the side, holding him tightly and shouting:
"Black King, this is a misunderstanding! Calm down! Calm down!"
Juggernaut wasn't buying it and roared in anger.
But he didn't break free right away. He wasn't crazy enough to start hitting his own people, and without going all-out, it wasn't easy for him to shake Carl off.
That short delay was all Psylocke needed to reach them.
With a serious look on her face, she said, "Cain, did you forget the promise you made back then?"
Juggernaut's eyes were still glowing red, and he was breathing heavily, clearly about to lose it again. But when he heard her question, he suddenly went quiet.
He still looked angry, but not like he was about to explode anymore.
After a few seconds, he said in a deep voice, "Let go. I'm fine now."
Carl hesitated and looked at Psylocke. She gave a small nod, so Carl let go and turned back to his normal form.
Juggernaut then closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
When he opened his eyes again, the red glow in them was gone, and the aura around his body faded too.
"Come on. Let's go properly meet our new friend," Juggernaut said calmly as he walked toward Raymond, as if he hadn't almost lost it a minute ago.
Seeing that Juggernaut seemed to be back to normal, Raymond wasn't surprised. He knew exactly why Juggernaut got angry so easily.
This had everything to do with where Juggernaut's power came from.
Most people thought Juggernaut was a mutant, but that wasn't true. His powers didn't come from mutation—they came from a powerful being outside the multiverse:
The "Crimson Lord," Cyttorak!
Cyttorak was a higher-dimensional demon who ruled over a place called the Crimson Cosmos, a reality outside the multiverse.
This being was unimaginably powerful—compared to Cyttorak, the well-known demon lords were like a joke.
But because Cyttorak was so strong, and not from this multiverse, his power couldn't directly enter it.
The rulers of this multiverse wouldn't allow a being like Cyttorak to run wild in their world.
So Cyttorak had to find other ways to spread his power—like using rituals to send small pieces of his strength into local beings.
Juggernaut had once stumbled upon a shrine devoted to Cyttorak by accident, and had ended up receiving a portion of his power.
Even though it was only a tiny piece—less than a billionth of Cyttorak's full strength—it was enough to make Juggernaut as strong as a level-four mutant, and let him grow stronger the longer he fought.
But there was a catch. Cyttorak was called a demon for a reason—his power was pure evil, and it slowly corrupted anyone who used it.
The red glow covering Juggernaut earlier was Cyttorak's power.
It kept making Juggernaut more and more angry, more extreme in his actions, until one day, it would fully take over his mind and turn him into a mindless puppet of rage.
When Raymond first met Juggernaut, he noticed that the man didn't seem like just a brainless brute.
But the moment Raymond said something slightly offensive, Juggernaut reacted like Raymond had killed his whole family—that kind of behavior was clearly unnatural.
So Raymond figured Juggernaut was being affected by his powers, not really trying to kill him.
Given that, he wanted to see if Psylocke and Carl could calm Juggernaut down.
If they could, they'd keep talking.
If not… then he'd just have to let his fists do the talking.
Luckily, things turned out the way he hoped—Psylocke and Carl managed to calm Juggernaut down. He looked like he'd returned to normal.
"Sorry, I lost control earlier," Juggernaut said as he walked over, lowering his head a bit.
Though it wasn't a full apology, his attitude had completely changed from earlier, when he looked ready to murder Raymond.
"It's fine. We can talk properly now, right?" Raymond shrugged, showing he didn't mind.
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