บท 156: Crackstone III
Luke and Wednesday created their respective shields against the massive fireball already descending upon them.
Luke created a telekinetic shield that rose like a transparent barrier, vibrating intensely. It resembled a crystalline wall that shimmered with a faint glow.
Wednesday's shield, on the other hand, was one of dense and profound darkness. When the two shields met, their protective effect amplified.
Luke's telekinesis intertwined with Wednesday's darkness, merging to form an even more powerful barrier. This fusion emitted a strange aura: a swirl of black and white moving in chaotic yet harmonious patterns.
The fireball struck the combined shield with a deafening roar. Flames crackled and hissed upon contact, spreading sideways in a wave of intense heat. The shield trembled under the pressure but held firm, keeping the fire's force at bay. Finally, the fireball exploded into a cloud of flames and energy, a blinding eruption that illuminated all of Raven Island.
Though the shield absorbed most of the impact, the explosion partially broke through, scorching the ground and setting nearby trees ablaze.
As the shield dissipated, Crackstone frowned, realizing his enemies were no longer in sight. He stood motionless, his eyes scanning every corner of the surroundings, searching for traces of Luke and Wednesday. The haze from the recent explosion still hung in the air, making every shadow seem thicker and more deceptive.
Suddenly, he sensed something unusual: a subtle disturbance in one of the tall trees, where the shadows seemed to move unnaturally. At first, he hesitated, but he sharpened his senses and finally detected a faint, growing hum.
Focusing his gaze on the tree, Crackstone could just make out a distortion in the darkness—exactly where Luke and Wednesday were hiding.
Wednesday had cloaked them in a veil of shadowy camouflage, a blackness that blended seamlessly with the forest's shadows.
Only someone with senses as sharp as Crackstone's could have found them so quickly. But by then, it was already too late.
Luke had already gained the seconds he needed to concentrate his energy into a vibrant telekinetic sphere, humming and ready to be unleashed.
He launched the telekinetic orb toward Crackstone. The sphere shot forward with impressive speed, nearly blurring as it cut through the air.
Wednesday acted simultaneously, releasing three orbs of darkness, each the size of a basketball, which followed the telekinetic orb like dark satellites.
Crackstone tried to move, flexing his body in an attempt to dodge the telekinetic orb, but Wednesday's dark orbs made it far more difficult. The three dark spheres acted like invisible anchors, pulling him in different directions.
As Crackstone struggled, the telekinetic orb closed in rapidly. Realizing he couldn't evade it, Crackstone decided to defend himself.
With a swift motion of his staff, he conjured a reddish stone shield enveloped in flames. The telekinetic orb collided with the fiery wall, unleashing its accumulated energy in a deafening explosion.
A blinding flash of energy erupted, and the force of the blast was so immense that the ground beneath Crackstone was carved into a massive crater. Nearby trees were uprooted and hurled in every direction.
This time, Luke's telekinetic orb was far more powerful than the one he had used against Sebastian. Had he used this level of power back then, it would have destroyed the entire middle courtyard of Nevermore.
The difference lay in his intentions and circumstances during that fight. He hadn't wanted to cause too much damage to the school's property, and Sabrina had been nearby; attacking with such force would have killed her. Furthermore, Sebastian wasn't as powerful as Crackstone, so using that much power wasn't necessary. In addition, Luke's strength had grown significantly since that battle.
Luke and Wednesday sprinted toward Crackstone. They needed to seize this moment to finish him off if possible. Upon reaching the massive crater, they descended swiftly without hesitation.
There, at the center of the crater, Crackstone was standing, to both their surprise. However, his condition didn't look good at first glance. He was missing an arm and a leg, and his face was even more disfigured than usual—though it had already been grotesque, with its decayed, greenish hue since his resurrection.
Despite his state, Crackstone remained upright, firmly holding the demonic book and his cursed fire-spewing staff. His wounds were regenerating at an astonishing speed; even his missing leg regrew before Luke and Wednesday could reach him to pummel him into submission.
Luke now understood that if Crackstone made it to Nevermore, he could easily destroy its infrastructure. Although the professors were strong, not all of them could match the strength of this demonic normie.
Luke and Wednesday were special cases—rare talents who had already surpassed many adult outcasts, as demonstrated when Luke killed Atlas or Wednesday took down Shark, the vampire from the Kairia clan.
Seeing the two charging toward him, Crackstone engulfed himself in flames and shot into the sky in a fiery vortex—a peculiar way to travel.
Luke and Wednesday followed, throwing a barrage of attacks at him. Unfortunately, they couldn't land any fatal blows, as his regeneration was too fast, and the fiery vortex served as an excellent defense while he fled at high speed.
Within minutes, Crackstone had completely healed and returned to the fight. The roles were reversed.
Luke and Wednesday dodged Crackstone's fiery attacks, which he seemed capable of casting endlessly and without any need for preparation.
'Stupid regeneration and fire-spewing staff,' Luke cursed in his mind as he dodged a fireball.
Thanks to the synergy he had with Wednesday, they managed to evade Crackstone's relentless attacks. They defended themselves with their complementary shields—Luke used Shambles on Wednesday, as the fire often prevented her from traveling through the shadows. They counterattacked only when the timing was right.
The forest on Raven Island was in ruins. Much of it was engulfed in flames, craters scarred the terrain, and a multitude of dark orbs launched by Wednesday remained scattered across the battlefield, refusing to vanish.
Crackstone noticed that those dark orbs didn't disappear. He realized Wednesday was plotting something, though he couldn't discern exactly what.
Despite holding the advantage—his regeneration keeping his body in perfect condition—he remained cautious. Luke and Wednesday, in contrast, showed signs of fatigue and accumulating injuries from the intense fight. Though none of their wounds were severe, they bore light burns, cuts, and bruises.
Even so, Crackstone dared not let up on his assault. He couldn't give them a moment to breathe and had to attack relentlessly, with any means necessary.
He knew that if he gave Luke any time, the boy might conjure another dangerous orb like before. That explosion had been perilous, even for him, inflicting internal damage on his blackened heart.
In a split second, Crackstone unleashed a torrent of fire directly at them.
Luke reacted swiftly, tearing up the forest floor with his telekinesis to form a barrier of earth as a shield. Then, wasting no time, he used his Shambles technique to teleport away from Crackstone, observing the battlefield from a safe distance thanks to his domain.
Crackstone wanted to seek him out immediately, knowing Luke was likely conjuring another telekinetic orb to hurl at him. But Wednesday wasn't going to let that happen.
With a simple gesture of her hand, the dark orbs scattered across the battlefield began to emit an intense gravitational pull, their combined influence dragging Crackstone toward a central focal point.
"Awake, Crow," Wednesday murmured in her monotone, icy voice.
The giant crow came to life once more, resurrected from her last battle against Sabrina. Its eyes gleamed with malice as they fixed on Crackstone. It immediately recognized that this opponent was far more powerful than the shrieking, whiny girl it had faced before.
This time, the crow didn't speak—it acted. From its massive, shadowy body, four tentacles shot out, lunging for Crackstone's arms and legs.
In response, Crackstone conjured fiery bursts that twisted the air, scorching the tentacles. But the crow held him immobilized just long enough for the dark orbs to intensify their pull, dragging him closer to the ground through their collective force.
The crow endured for a time, but eventually, Crackstone managed to incinerate it completely, reducing it to a cloud of dissipating darkness. Wednesday coughed up blood but ignored the pain.
Placing her hands on the ground, she sent shadows spreading toward Crackstone. He had no time to react before they coiled around his feet like roots, pulling him in the opposite direction of the dark orbs' gravitational pull.
His feet slid, his legs losing their grip on the ground, and he stumbled awkwardly before finally crashing to the ground with a resounding thud.
Crackstone's fury surged as he tasted dirt, his rage amplifying further with the indignity of the fall.
'Damn descendant of Goody Addams! Trying to humiliate me!' Crackstone fumed internally. He couldn't fathom why she would bother making him trip. All she needed to do was keep him in one place so he couldn't dodge the telekinetic orb.
Before he could get back on his feet, Crackstone noticed a shadow looming over him. From the ground, he looked up, and his expression darkened.
Standing before him was Luke, his gaze cold and resolute. In Luke's right fist was a vibrant energy—a concentrated mass of telekinetic waves pulsing with overwhelming intensity, forming a translucent sphere.
Luke's left hand braced his right, gripping it firmly to compress the telekinetic waves further. The sphere glowed and trembled with an energy desperate to be unleashed.
'Shit,' Crackstone thought, realizing Luke's fist was headed straight for his head.
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