Crackstone propelled himself forward with a burst of fire behind him, making his speed much faster.
'Is he going for close combat?' thought Luke, surprised to see that Crackstone intended to engage in close-quarters combat with Wednesday.
He had assumed that, since the normie held a magic staff in one hand and a demonic book in the other, he would attack from a distance.
Luke didn't just stand idly by as the normie, with a fiery rocket behind him, approached his girlfriend. He immediately used all his six-ton telekinetic strength to immobilize Crackstone.
His speed only decreased slightly under the six tons trying to crush him. This surprised Luke, as it meant Crackstone must possess strength exceeding six tons.
However, Luke also sent a mental command to Crackstone, ordering him to stop. Crackstone halted for only a second before continuing his charge.
Although the time Luke bought for Wednesday was brief, it was enough for her. She leaped upward with all her might, reaching nearly ten meters and successfully evading Crackstone's charge.
In mid-air, she conjured more than five spears of darkness, which immediately launched toward Crackstone. He stopped in his tracks and raised his head, staring at Wednesday.
With superhuman reflexes, Crackstone quickly moved his head to dodge the spears, which grazed his cheeks, leaving black blood trails that healed instantly.
One spear managed to pierce his shoulder, but his regeneration was so fast that he barely showed a faint grimace of pain.
"Now you have no escape!" Crackstone exclaimed with a manic smile, aiming his staff at Wednesday.
Wednesday was in the air, falling slowly toward the ground like a feather. She couldn't dodge in such a position since she had no shadows to use for shadow travel and no flight ability.
A burst of fire shot out of Crackstone's staff at great speed and size, heading straight for Wednesday. If it hit her, it would reduce her to ashes.
The manic smile vanished from Crackstone's face when he saw Wednesday disappear from the spot. His attack ended up turning a medium-sized rock to ashes.
'It must've been the other psychic's doing,' thought Crackstone, frowning slightly.
Wednesday had already communicated telepathically with Luke, instructing him to use Shambles on her after she jumped and attacked Crackstone. Otherwise, she would never have risked such a precarious position.
Luke had already launched a dozen small knives at Crackstone at maximum speed, surpassing that of an average bullet.
However, to Luke's surprise, Crackstone, with superhuman agility, dodged the first few knives headed toward him. He moved with speed and precision, as if he could predict their trajectory. Using his staff to conjure fire would have taken too much time.
When the final knife approached his face, Luke smirked slightly and activated Shambles, swapping places with the knife.
In the blink of an eye, his body teleported in a flash, leaving the speeding knife behind and instantly appearing right in front of Crackstone.
In a fluid motion, Luke delivered a knee strike directly to the enemy's head with devastating force. The only downside was that he couldn't concentrate large amounts of telekinetic waves in his knee, but it was still a blow stronger than usual.
Due to the speed of the attack, Crackstone was forced to take the hit. Luke's knee smashed into his face, breaking his nose, but his demonic resilience held firm.
Instead of being knocked down, Crackstone's head remained as steady as a rock. He planted his feet on the ground with such force that the earth beneath him cracked and sank. His durability and accelerated regeneration allowed him to withstand the blow, and he smiled menacingly.
'This is not good...' thought Luke. Before he could retreat, Crackstone extended his hand with lightning speed, grabbing Luke by the shirt.
Infernal flames erupted from Crackstone's hand, enveloping Luke in searing heat, burning his flesh and charring his body in seconds.
The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as Crackstone grinned, revealing his rotten, green teeth.
But just as Luke's charred figure collapsed, something strange happened. The corpse began to disintegrate, transforming into thousands of black crows that swarmed toward Crackstone, obscuring his vision.
"Get out of my sight, vile creatures!" Crackstone shouted, slamming his staff into the ground and conjuring flames that incinerated all the crows, making them vanish.
As his vision cleared, he saw Luke and Wednesday standing a short distance away, attacking from both flanks.
Luke, concentrating his telekinetic energy, channeled waves into his right fist, causing the air around it to vibrate. He launched his fist toward Crackstone's right side.
At the same time, Wednesday summoned a massive hammer of darkness, its surface twisted and pulsating with sinister energy, which struck from the opposite flank.
Just before the impact, Luke sent a direct mental command to Crackstone, ordering him to stay still. It lasted only a brief second, but it was enough for their combined attack to land.
Luke's telekinetic punch struck with surgical precision on Crackstone's right side, while Wednesday's shadow hammer crashed in from the left.
The concentrated energy of both attacks fused at the center of his abdomen, generating a shockwave that made the ground beneath them tremble.
Unable to withstand the force of the simultaneous strikes, Crackstone was sent flying like a ragdoll, his body spinning through the air as he was hurled backward at a brutal speed.
He smashed through several trees along the way, each exploding into clouds of splinters and leaves as his body collided with them. The trunks shattered and fell in his wake, leaving a trail of destruction as Crackstone continued to be flung through the air.
Finally, his forced flight ended when he crashed into a massive trunk, which barely managed to stop his momentum, collapsing into a pile of rubble and dust.
Luke and Wednesday stared at the spot where Crackstone had been launched. Their faces showed no hint of triumph from landing the attack and sending him flying.
A normal opponent would have been left half-dead at best—if not outright killed—but Crackstone was far from normal. His demonic regeneration was far too rapid, even faster than that of the werewolf from the Kairia clan that Luke had previously faced.
Moreover, his reflexes and speed were incredible, surpassing their own. They had only managed to land a hit because they attacked two-on-one, using teleportation and illusions to their advantage.
"Damn it. His face felt like it was boiling," Luke complained, looking at the knee he had used to strike Crackstone's face.
There was now a hole in his pants right over his knee, revealing burned skin beneath. It wasn't too serious, but it hurt.
Behind them, the fire Crackstone had unleashed since his revival burned fiercely, spreading steadily across the island's vegetation. The flames were immensely powerful—far stronger than those conjured by Sabrina or Sebastian.
"Normal damage won't be enough. He's stronger than we expected," Wednesday said with a serious expression. Since they were facing a normie who had made a pact with a greater demon, they had conducted extensive research to at least gauge some of his strength.
But they hadn't anticipated his regeneration being so superhuman, even surpassing that of werewolves. On top of that, his reflexes and speed were superior to theirs.
Thankfully, being a team of two allowed them to support each other. Through their telepathic bond and an unspoken understanding, they could fight on even terms and even gain a advantage.
Still, the damage they inflicted on him was minimal. They watched as Crackstone stood up again, advancing toward them without a single visible injury, despite taking a direct hit and crashing through multiple trees along the way.
[Do we stick with Plan A or move to Plan B?] Luke asked through their telepathic link. Speaking this way was faster and saved energy.
[Finding his black heart will take too long. Who knows where he's hiding it, and it might even be tiny... Plan B] Wednesday replied. Luke nodded in agreement.
This time, Crackstone didn't approach to fight at close range. He understood that with their bothersome teleportation techniques and the fact that he was facing two opponents, he wouldn't be able to inflict much damage.
Raising his staff, he began to conjure a massive amount of fire, and within just a few breaths, he had created a large fireball radiating intense heat. The temperature in the area rose by several degrees.
Without wasting any time, he made a forward motion, sending the fireball hurtling toward Luke and Wednesday, burning all the vegetation in its path.
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