Chapter 174 — Three Against One
Brook ran.
Behind him—
the world exploded.
Michael's sword struck first.
Brook's Devil's Instincts screamed.
He teleported.
The blast tore through the space where he had been.
He appeared again.
Lucifer's Hell Flame was already waiting.
Brook twisted.
The flames passed across his shoulder.
His skin burned.
Brook disappeared.
Death's Scythe came down.
Brook reappeared.
His heart tightened.
Brook fell.
Death stood in the distance.
One hand aimed toward him.
Brook gritted his teeth.
"No."
His fingers dug into the ground.
Death slowly closed his hand.
Brook screamed.
His heart felt like it was being crushed.
Michael's sword appeared above him.
Lucifer's Hell Flame surrounded him.
Death kept his hand raised.
Three attacks.
Three Sources.
One target.
Brook.
He smiled.
Lucifer frowned.
"What?"
Brook disappeared.
He reappeared directly behind Michael.
Brook's fist came down.
Michael turned.
Brook vanished.
Lucifer's fire followed.
Michael raised his sword.
The Hell Flame struck it.
Brook appeared behind Lucifer.
His knee slammed into Lucifer's back.
Lucifer turned.
Brook disappeared.
Death looked toward him.
Brook was already gone.
He moved again.
And again.
And again.
Not toward the third crystal.
Not yet.
He was watching.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Their attacks.
Their timing.
Their habits.
The first crystal had taught him something.
The second had changed something else.
Brook didn't know exactly what.
But he felt it.
The Sources were inside him.
And because of that—
their fighting styles were becoming easier to read.
Not predictable.
Never predictable.
But familiar.
Brook appeared before Death.
Death's eyes met his.
Brook smiled.
Death raised his hand.
Brook moved before he did.
Brook's fist struck Death's face.
For the first time—
Death stepped backward.
Brook disappeared.
Lucifer laughed.
"There you go!"
Brook reappeared above Lucifer.
His foot came down.
Lucifer blocked with Hell Flame.
Brook's leg burned.
He teleported.
Michael appeared.
Brook caught Michael's wrist.
Michael's eyes narrowed.
Brook smiled.
Then disappeared.
Michael's sword cut Lucifer's fire.
The battlefield shook.
Brook landed.
He breathed heavily.
Then looked toward the third crystal.
Still far away.
Still waiting.
"Stop running."
Brook turned.
Michael stood ahead of him.
Lucifer and Death appeared behind him.
Brook laughed.
"You first."
Michael raised his sword.
"This is not a game."
Lucifer smiled.
"Everything is a game."
Michael ignored him.
Brook looked at Death.
Death looked back.
Brook sighed.
"Three against one."
Lucifer grinned.
"Now you're understanding."
Brook's eyes hardened.
"No."
He raised his fists.
"I'm understanding you."
The three Sources moved.
Brook teleported.
Michael's sword.
Lucifer's Hell Flame.
Death's Scythe.
Brook disappeared between them.
Michael turned.
Brook appeared beside him.
Michael swung.
Brook ducked.
Lucifer's fire crossed the battlefield.
Brook teleported.
Death appeared.
Brook blocked the Scythe with both hands.
Pain shot through his arms.
Brook disappeared.
He appeared behind Death.
Death turned.
Brook was already gone.
Lucifer's Insignia appeared beneath Brook's feet.
Brook jumped.
Heat exploded through his body.
His muscles began locking.
Brook forced himself to teleport.
He reappeared in the air.
Michael was waiting.
Brook's eyes widened.
Michael's fist struck his stomach.
Brook folded.
Michael grabbed his arm.
Brook teleported.
But Michael held on.
Brook reappeared.
Michael was still with him.
Brook's eyes widened.
Michael's sword struck.
Brook barely moved his head.
The blade cut his cheek.
Brook kicked Michael away.
Lucifer's Hell Flame swallowed the space between them.
Brook disappeared.
Death looked toward him.
Brook appeared.
Death snapped his fingers.
A crack echoed.
Brook screamed.
His ribs broke.
He fell.
Michael's blast came toward him.
Brook's eyes widened.
He teleported.
The blast followed.
Brook kept moving.
But this time—
he didn't run away.
He led it.
Brook appeared beside Lucifer.
The blast followed.
Lucifer turned.
The energy struck.
Hell Flame exploded.
Lucifer was thrown backward.
His body tore.
Then healed.
Lucifer stood.
Laughing.
"You used him against me."
Brook appeared nearby.
"You're welcome."
Lucifer smiled.
Then attacked.
The fight became faster.
Brook's body disappeared and reappeared across the battlefield.
Michael followed.
Lucifer followed.
Death followed.
Every time Brook thought he had escaped—
one of them was already there.
Brook appeared near the third crystal.
Michael immediately saw him.
"No!"
Brook teleported.
Lucifer's Hell Flame crossed his path.
Brook appeared beside Death.
The Scythe moved.
Brook vanished.
The crystal remained distant.
Brook landed.
His breathing was uneven.
Blood ran from his arms.
His ribs hurt.
His body had been burned.
His heart still felt wrong.
But he smiled.
Because now—
they were chasing him.
Brook looked at the third crystal.
"You're scared."
Lucifer stopped.
Michael's expression hardened.
Death remained silent.
Brook continued.
"You don't want me to touch it."
Michael raised his sword.
"Brook."
Brook smiled.
"That's all I needed."
He disappeared.
The third crystal was hidden inside the ruins of a black structure.
Brook landed outside it.
Michael appeared.
Brook immediately attacked.
Michael blocked.
Brook disappeared.
Lucifer's fire entered the ruins.
Brook teleported.
Death appeared inside.
Brook jumped.
The Scythe passed beneath him.
He landed.
The crystal was ahead.
Michael entered.
Lucifer behind him.
Death beside him.
Brook stood between them.
No room to teleport far.
No open battlefield.
Just the crystal.
Brook looked at it.
Then at them.
Lucifer smiled.
"You're trapped."
Brook smiled back.
"No."
The building shook.
Brook raised his hands.
Michael narrowed his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
Brook looked at the ceiling.
Lucifer looked up.
Brook teleported.
Michael's sword came down.
Lucifer's Hell Flame erupted.
Death's Scythe cut through the darkness.
Brook appeared above them.
Their attacks collided.
The entire structure collapsed.
Brook disappeared.
Stone fell.
Michael was buried beneath rubble for a moment.
Lucifer's fire destroyed the falling debris.
Death stepped through it.
Brook ran.
The crystal was close.
Michael appeared.
Brook blocked the sword.
Lucifer's fire followed.
Brook teleported.
Death raised his hand.
Brook disappeared.
Again.
Again.
The structure was collapsing.
Brook's Devil's Instincts reacted.
He moved through falling stone without thinking.
Teleport.
Step.
Duck.
Teleport.
Jump.
The three Sources followed.
Brook was getting closer.
Then—
he stopped.
The third crystal stood before him.
Only a few steps away.
Brook breathed heavily.
Behind him—
silence.
He slowly turned.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
They stood together.
No longer attacking.
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Michael lowered his sword.
Lucifer stopped smiling.
Death stared at Brook.
Michael spoke.
"This is your last chance."
Brook looked toward the crystal.
"To do what?"
Michael looked directly at him.
"To stop."
Brook laughed.
"You mean lose?"
Michael shook his head.
"You don't understand what happens when you collect all three."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Then explain it."
Michael remained silent.
Brook shook his head.
"Of course."
Lucifer stepped forward.
"Brook."
Brook looked at him.
Lucifer's expression was serious.
For once.
"If you touch that crystal, we cannot protect you from what comes next."
Brook stared.
The words stayed with him.
Death spoke.
"Protection was never promised."
Lucifer looked toward him.
"Shut up."
Death stared back.
Brook looked between them.
Michael's eyes remained fixed on him.
Brook's breathing slowed.
"You all keep saying things."
He pointed toward the crystal.
"But none of you answer anything."
Michael raised his sword.
Brook's expression changed.
"Fine."
He turned toward the crystal.
The three Sources moved.
Brook smiled.
He disappeared.
Lucifer's Hell Flame struck Michael.
Death's Scythe moved toward Brook.
Brook appeared beside Death.
His fist struck.
Death turned.
Brook teleported.
Michael's blast came.
Brook appeared behind Lucifer.
The blast followed.
Lucifer's body exploded apart.
Then healed.
Lucifer screamed.
Not in pain.
In anger.
Brook appeared near Michael.
Michael's sword came down.
Brook grabbed his arm.
He teleported.
Michael followed.
Brook smiled.
"You did it once."
Michael's eyes widened.
Brook reappeared.
Michael was pulled directly into Death's path.
Death's Scythe moved.
Michael twisted.
The blade cut his shoulder.
Michael stepped back.
Brook disappeared.
Lucifer attacked.
Brook appeared beside him.
He grabbed Lucifer.
Lucifer laughed.
"You really want to do this?"
Brook smiled.
"Yep."
Brook teleported.
Lucifer disappeared with him.
They appeared directly in front of Michael.
Lucifer's Hell Flame exploded.
Michael raised his sword.
The two powers collided.
Brook was gone.
Death looked.
Brook appeared above him.
Death raised his hand.
Brook's heart tightened.
Brook screamed.
But he stayed.
Death's fingers closed.
Brook fell.
Closer to the ground.
Closer to the crystal.
Death's eyes narrowed.
Brook smiled.
"You finally figured it out."
Death looked toward the crystal.
Too late.
Brook teleported.
He appeared directly in front of it.
Michael moved.
Lucifer's fire followed.
Death raised his hand.
Brook touched the crystal.
Silence.
No explosion.
No sound.
The third crystal cracked.
White.
Crimson.
Then black.
The three lines beneath Brook's skin moved.
They spread across his arms.
Brook stood still.
Michael stopped.
Lucifer froze.
Death's Scythe lowered.
The third crystal shattered.
Brook closed his eyes.
And everything inside him—
became quiet.
For the first time since the fight began—
no pain.
No attacks.
No instincts screaming.
Brook opened his eyes.
The three Sources stood before him.
Lucifer stared at him.
Brook smiled.
"I won."
Lucifer laughed once.
Michael looked toward the darkness.
Death remained silent.
Brook looked between them.
"What?"
Michael finally answered.
"You collected them."
Brook frowned.
"Yeah."
Michael looked at him.
"Now you must understand why."
Brook's smile disappeared.
The darkness around them began changing.
Something was coming.
Lucifer looked toward Brook.
Then smiled.
Not happily.
Almost sadly.
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"What now?"
Death answered.
"The truth."
Brook stared.
Michael raised his sword.
Lucifer's Hell Flame disappeared.
Death's Scythe lowered.
The fight—
was over.
But Brook understood something.
The test wasn't.
End of Chapter 174