Wednesday stopped thinking about that sudden vision and the omen of Enid’s death. Two more Morraks arrived on the battlefield.
“It seems he called them with that horrible screech,” commented Enid, speaking in her full werewolf form.
Wednesday nodded slightly. As the two Morraks arrived, the small Morrak stopped spinning, took some distance from the two of them, and stared at them.
Suddenly, it made an indescribable sound to Wednesday and Enid, and one of the newly arrived Morraks launched an attack. The other stayed by the side of the small Morrak, who seemed to have the ability to lead them.
While Wednesday and Enid fought against the attacking Morrak, they noticed something out of the corner of their eyes that startled them and was definitely not a good sign.
The small Morrak began devouring the other Morrak with great ferocity and speed-a scene far from pleasant to witness.
“We have to stop whatever it’s trying to do!” exclaimed Enid.
Wednesday nodded, and both began to fight with more intensity.
In a short time, they managed to send the attacking Morrak flying far away from them. They fixed their eyes on the small Morrak, but it was already too late. It had completely devoured the other demon, and now its tiny body was trembling and starting to change color.
Its skin began to take on a reddish hue, and its muscles grew more robust.
‘It turned the same reddish color as the Morrak that fought against Luke,’ Wednesday thought, relieved to see that the demon hadn’t evolved by consuming its companion but had merely entered a sort of berserker mode.
Luke had warned her to be cautious if a Morrak had reddish skin, as they were more ferocious and stronger, but Edgar had said it didn’t mean they had evolved.
“GROOOAR!” The small reddish Morrak screeched with far greater power than its peers.
A soundwave began to spread from its position in the direction of Wednesday and Enid.
Wednesday managed to create a dome of darkness that completely enveloped her, shielding her from the sonic attack. Enid wasn’t as lucky; it was impossible to outrun a sonic attack that traveled much faster than her running speed.
The wave struck her, causing immense pain in her head, and she felt blood begin to seep from her wolf ears. The attack was far more excruciating for her due to her heightened sense of hearing as a werewolf-far more developed than that of other outcast species.
The small Morrak launched itself toward Wednesday, its instincts telling it that her soul was the most delicious and exclusive. It also harbored greater rage toward her, having been unable to land a single hit throughout the fight.
Wednesday was startled by the Morrak’s sudden increase in speed, but before she could react, she vanished from the spot. In her place appeared Luke, his palm extended outward.
Around Luke’s palm, the air vibrated intensely. He had condensed telekinetic waves to a critical level.
‘Void Edge,’ Luke thought as he made a slashing motion with his hand.
The accumulated pressure was released explosively forward, creating a blade that cut through space at overwhelming speed.
Directly in the path of the telekinetic blade was the Morrak, moving too fast to evade the attack. It hadn’t anticipated its prey disappearing and someone else taking her place.
However, it didn’t seem upset. The scent of the boy in front of it was far more enticing than that of the previous human woman. It had never smelled a soul with such an intoxicating aroma. Thus, it didn’t care about the blade coming its way.
The Morrak crossed its small reddish arms in an X-shape and continued forward. The blade struck its crossed forearms.
The sound was sharp and dry, like a knife slicing through fine silk. Both of the Morrak’s arms were cleanly severed at the forearms, falling to the ground with a dull thud and a thick spray of dark blood.
The Morrak didn’t have enough time to register what had happened. The blade didn’t stop after amputating its forearms. Its path continued, cutting through the area just below the chest.
The cut split the Morrak from the base of its chest, separating the upper section of its body from the rest.
The demon didn’t even have time to make a sound. The upper half of its body hit the ground, followed by its small legs, which collapsed with a hollow thump.
A thick pool of black blood spread beneath the remains of the demon, its face frozen in a mix of surprise and unfulfilled hunger.
Luke turned his attention to the other Morrak and noticed that Nao, Yoko, and other people he had rescued from the labyrinth had arrived. They were handling it, along with Enid, who had already recovered from the sonic attack.
He quickly began to fly. He had used Shambles to switch places with Wednesday, and since he had been flying, she was now plummeting from a great height.
Fortunately, he would make it in time to catch her. He knew perfectly well that she was more than capable of landing without a scratch. But that didn’t matter to him. He had put her in that situation, and he wanted to make amends.
When he was just inches away from catching her, Luke noticed a change in the air. Wednesday, with impressive agility, twisted her body mid-descent, aiming her boots directly at Luke’s
face.
‘What the hell is she doing!?’ Luke thought.
With a quick movement, he dodged Wednesday’s “landing kick” by leaning to the side and catching her around the waist at the same moment.
“Why are you trying to use my face as a landing pad?” Luke asked, holding Wednesday’s body against his.
“I told you telepathically that I didn’t need your help. That ugly creature was my prey,” Wednesday replied in a slightly annoyed tone, crossing her arms while Luke maintained his
flight.
“I know. You also told me you weren’t facing anything unusual. A lie, since that small demon was the controller,” Luke said accusingly.
“I know. I lied because if I’d told you the truth, you would’ve flown over at full speed and wouldn’t have let me fight alone,” Wednesday said, clearly irritated.
“Don’t you want to fight as a team?” Luke asked as he gently landed on the ground, still not letting go of Wednesday’s waist.
“Fighting as a team is necessary when we face a real threat,” Wednesday replied, her tone firm and full of irritation. “In this case, we could each handle our own fights. I’m not a princess who needs rescuing, yet you interfered in my battle.”
“That wasn’t just any enemy. It was a demon, and not just that, a controller. It had to be eliminated as quickly as possible. Besides, I’d already finished my fights and even saved a few people along the way,” Luke said, as if his reasoning were indisputable.
Wednesday narrowed her eyes, her frown deepening.
“Oh, of course,” Wednesday said in a dangerously calm tone, pulling herself free from his grip with a sharp motion. “You finished your fights, saved the day, and decided I was being
too slow, is that it?”
“That’s not what I meant…” Luke said, realizing too late that he’d only made things worse.
“Of course, it is. I wanted to enjoy that fight, to feel the risk, not have my obsessive boyfriend show up and ruin it because he thought I was taking too long,” Wednesday shot back, her tone
biting and full of reproach.
“Obsessive boyfriend…?” Luke repeated, a slight twitch in his eye. He had only been showing concern for his girlfriend. Plus, he had eliminated a controller demon on the verge of evolving. His decision to intervene was the most logical and effective.
Why was the always rational and logical Wednesday making such a scene?
[Snap out of it, kid] said Edgar, who was flying beside Luke. He had come out when Luke mentioned the small red Morrak, curious to see a controller demon with his own eyes after so
long.
[What?] Luke asked, confused. Maybe his great-great-grandfather could shed some light on the situation.
[The reason for her annoyance is easy to figure out. Your intervention shows that you don’t
fully trust her ability to handle the situation on her own. You hurt her pride. You arrived and killed the demon with a single attack, and on top of that, you completely removed her from the scene with your teleportation technique] Edgar explained.
Now Luke understood. With Wednesday’s pride and ego, this was clearly a blow to her, especially coming from him. Even though his actions were motivated by his desire to protect her-no matter how slim the risk-not because he doubted her strength.
As Wednesday had said, it was a kind of obsession, and if he could reduce risks, he would.
Wednesday had already turned her back on Luke and was walking toward the door of the chamber to leave the labyrinth. She knew that with the demon’s attack, the game would be canceled, so she planned to return to the Petropolus mansion to sleep and head for Ohio in the
morning.
‘Before that, I need to talk to Enid…’ Wednesday thought, recalling her earlier vision and formulating a new idea.
Luke, who was about to follow Wednesday to continue the discussion, was intercepted by
Nao.
“Luke! We already killed that demon! Should we keep looking for more of them?” Nao asked with a smile, as if they were hunting butterflies.
This reached Wednesday’s ears just as she was about to step through the threshold of the ancient stone door. She stopped and slowly turned her head. First, she looked at Nao, who didn’t notice her gaze, and then at Luke, who was already watching her.
‘Oh, this just gets worse…’ Luke thought.
“I can’t. Go on your own; I need to do something else,” Luke responded quickly, hurrying
after Wednesday, who had resumed walking upon hearing Luke decline Nao’s invitation. Along the way, he managed to convince Wednesday to climb onto his back so they could fly through the labyrinth. That way, they would reach the entrance much faster and could check if
there were any loose demons along the way.
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