BLACK FLASH
My pupils dilated as I made leaps in technique and understanding that should have taken weeks. I saw how inefficient I had been with my Curse Energy, RCT, and Binding Vows.
+4 STR +14 VIT +6 AGI +2 PER +8 END +5 CE
Congratulations: Pain Tolerance has reached lv 6
Congratulations: Mace Mastery has reached lv 5
Congratulations: Reversed Curse Energy has reached lv 8
Congratulations: Binding Vow has reached lv 6
Congratulations: Curse Energy Control has reached lv 8
Congratulations: Curse Energy Reinforcement has reached lv 7
The system agreed.
A manic laugh tumbled out of me as I flexed my Reverse Curse Technique, and my limbs snapped back. Muscles knitted together, bones fused without a hint of residual damage, and my crushed eye reinflated.
I flexed my healed hands, the muscles swelling with a strength that felt almost alien.
I was nearly twice as strong.
Cursed Energy Reinforcement lv 7
Current Boost: 500%
Passive Boost: 180%
Drain: 2 CE/s
Overcharge: Temporarily increase reinforcement to specific body parts by drawing cursed energy from others, leaving them vulnerable.
Current Boost: +250%
Effect: -70% global reinforcement effectiveness
Cost: 15 CE per Overcharge
A sudden boom rippled through the dome, shaking it. The dark edges flickered rapidly. The fighting outside must have grown serious. It was only a matter of time before it all came crumbling down, but before then, I had to beat her.
My hand shot up, snatching Lily's claw attack and wrenching her wrist until it snapped. I punched, rocking her jaw, and pulled her close.
I swept her over my shoulder, tossing her into the air before driving her down hard. The ground cracked with a catastrophic boom, a shockwave sweeping outward, and I brought a dagger down on her one good eye.
She raised her undamaged forearm, tanking the hit, and lashed out with a kick. My spine whipped back, and I shuffled away, dodging the follow-up sweep that I had sensed from the shift of her stomach muscles and curse energy flow.
A boar spear materialized in my hand, packed with Curse Energy. I spiked it forward with Overdrive and stabbed down, punching through her midsection and severing her spine.
She let out a surprised scream as I twisted, lifting her high and flinging her back into the crater we had formed with my last Black Flash.
I stepped forward, spear racing forward to finish the job when she struck a hand sign with her bleeding hand.
"Fettered Creation," she whispered.
Darkness spilled from her mouth by the bucketful, swelling and twisting into mutated flesh, teeth, bony masks, and musculature. It hit me like a high-speed train, driving me to the edge of the barrier, which buckled and strained.
The attack must have shattered a third of my skeleton, but the pain felt distant thanks to my pain tolerance.
I glared at Lily, who was barely holding on, one hand clutching her bleeding stomach. Her transformation had already begun to reverse. She struck another hand sign. "George… Gina…" she trailed off. "I need… help."
"Fuck that!"
My muscles swelled as Overdrive flared harder than ever, and I pushed the monstrosity pinning me to the wall. It barely budged, but then I got my legs behind it and pushed with everything I had. This time it shifted, keening left. I shuffled, barely getting clear of it before dropping to the ground.
Panic slipped into Lily's eyes, but only for a second before she banished it and fixed me with a scowl.
I matched it, RCT running around my body in rapid circuits, repairing damage. I could tell from her reserves that she could not repeat what she had just done.
That was her Hail Mary, hence the call.
"Not again," I said coldly. "I'm not doing this a third fucking time." The ground powdered as I took off with a gunshot, speed boosted by Overdrive. I skimmed over the distance, my feet touching down every dozen feet as I leaned forward. A sheathed katana manifested in my hand, packed with a glut of Curse Energy.
The barrier surrounding us rippled one last time before it collapsed, but not before I reached her.
Lily raised a hand, rousing Curse Energy, trying one last gamble. I pushed harder with my final lunge. Muscles ripped and tore, my teeth gritted so hard they nearly cracked. The blade exploded from its sheath, bearing a tide of destruction that swept through her neck and everything behind her.
The blade shattered, and so did everything else.
Congratulations, you've defeated a Special Grade Sorcerer while being an entire stage below unassisted and have shown significant mastery in your base technique. You've earned the privilege of a third.
Choose: …..
Congratulations: You've reached lv 28.
"Lily!" George's voice cut through the smoke, jerking me back to consciousness and sending a chill down my spine. A beam of red flashed over the thick dust cloud overhead, and I heard the moan of a thousand dying voices. A large shadow dipped from the sky, its edges wilting.
Superman or some other Leaguer must have taken down the strange Eldritch thing.
I let out a sigh, deflating. God. I would not even know where to begin fighting that thing.
"Technique Reversal: Maximum Black Hole."
Gina's voice was haunting. Final.
A sudden spike of Positive Energy ripped me off my feet and sent me tumbling, trailing behind the mountain of rubble Lily and I had picked up during our fight.
I was drawn toward a growing dark spot at the runway's center, as asphalt, plants, and vehicles were pulled in too. I summoned my Boar and drove it hard into the concrete, using it to steady myself as objects whipped past.
The Leaguers with flight moved immediately, swooping down to scoop up those without, while the Young team leaned into their training.
Superboy dug his fist into the ground and formed the beginnings of a chain of bodies that kept them all from being sucked into the growing black hole.
Meanwhile, Gina and George remained in the air, floating above it all, blue blazing eyes fixed on me. George held a wounded Aqualad in his free hand and pointed a finger at me, pulsing with positive energy that glowed Red.
I blinked, my growing panic replaced with an overwhelming sense of curiosity. I didn't know if it was the high of the BLACK FLASHes or seeing a new application of Jujutsu for the second time in under a minute, but all I could focus on was the Positive energy.
Not even Lily had used it to fuel her technique. Was it a question of technique complexity or talent?
I was leaning towards the latter. I got the sense that it was rare among sorcerers from the memories I inherited from my father when I learned Reverse Cursed Technique.
That meant it was only a matter of time before I figured out my own technique Reversal. Why I hadn't thought to try that to try it when my technique was still active was beyond me.
Still, I was glad for yet another potential arrow in my quiver. I still hadn't processed potentially gaining a new Cursed Technique.
"He's charging up something," Zatara warned, bringing me back to the moment, and the Leaguers reacted.
Superman fired laser beams while holding onto Wonder Woman, Batman, and Zatara. Martian Manhunter hurled a chunk of rubble. Captain Atom unleashed a thick ray of energy. Green Lantern tended to the rescue effort, carrying a wounded Aquaman, Zatara, and Black Canary. He also flung a chain of willpower toward the Young Justice team.
They caught on and were pulled away from the event horizon.
The only Leaguer I did not see was Flash, who was circling the black hole's edges, ferrying other landbound Leaguers away.
Surprisingly, George did not move. All of the attacks hurled at him came to an abrupt stop inches from his face. The lasers pulsed and grew slightly in volume, but did not advance.
My eyes went wide with wonder and a growing fear. I'd been so sure the League could beat them before, but now, with his bullshit technique?
It was like Inverse on steroids.
How do you win against something like that?
Burn him out with attacks, or maybe use that technique Lily used to bypass Inverse. Cursed weapons like Curse Piercer were probably an easier option.
I set my jaw.
That was probably the real reason why he went after the blade.
"Don't," Gina said to her brother, grabbing his hand. The tip of his fingers glowed like a small red sun, dominating the night sky with a blinding light only I and Zatara could see. "That's not why we're here. You know what to do," she continued.
George briefly turned to her, the frown on his face twisting into a deep scowl. Reluctantly, he lowered his hand.
"I know what I'm doing."
Then, he tossed the unconscious Aqualad into the growing horizon, freeing his other hand. The sun popped, vanishing as suddenly as it appeared. His hand pulsed with regular old Curse Energy instead, and he jerked it in my direction.
My hands were scraped raw as I was forcefully yanked from my metal spear to his waiting hand. Thankfully, I never reached it.
The world blurred, and I suddenly found myself nearly a quarter mile away, far from the technique's reach with most of the non-flight-capable League members.
I blinked again, and then Aqualad was beside me. So was Flash.
"This makes it what, the second time I've saved your ass?" he smirked.
My jaw fell open. And I thought I was fast.
"Help him," Batman's sharp voice cut clean through my daze. I was wary to turn my back to George, I did it anyway, hurrying to Aqualad's side and running a preliminary scan of his biology with RCT.
The damage was extensive. It was going to take a lot of energy to heal him; energy I didn't have right now, but I moved to stabilize him anyway. That was when I felt the telltale swell of energy behind me and looked.
George was channeling energy again.
His hands spread wide, absolute fury painted on his face. Small red and blue spheres thrummed in his fingers like supernovas, their potency rivaling the gravity technique Gina had used earlier.
Fear drenched me, and Zatara's face mirrored mine, but I got the word out first.
"Superman!" I yelled. "You need to stop him now! No matter what it takes." Superman's face jerked in my direction, probably surprised that I had called out to him at all, but he heeded my call, muscles tensing, though I sensed a note of hesitation.
Just before he was about to attack, Gina spoke again.
"Don't," she said. "We need to leave."
"No. Lily was family."
"He'll get what's coming to him," she said, then looked straight at me. "You'll see."
And I got the distinct sense that she meant it.
Gina snapped her finger, and the black hole flashed white and exploded.
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