The tremendous recoil sent Luke flying backward at the same time.
Kusho opened his mouth and poured every last drop of the Tears of the Shadow from the container straight down his throat.
His presence immediately began surging. Violent darkness erupted from his body, and his flesh gradually took on the color of living shadow.
At that moment, Luke suddenly felt the demonic power inside him stir restlessly, as though it had sensed something familiar.
The Tears of the Shadow clearly came from the power of a demon.
And Luke knew that demon very well.
By then, Shen, Zed, and Irelia had already reached Kusho.
Faced with attacks from all three at once, Kusho remained completely unruffled. His shadowy body suddenly split into three separate Kushos, neutralizing their pincer attack.
Seeing this, Zed immediately formed several hand seals and summoned multiple shadow clones of his own, once again surrounding Kusho with superior numbers.
"Your power is only a tiny fraction of the Tears of the Shadow."
Kusho sneered coldly.
"Don't forget, most of it is inside me!"
The moment he finished speaking, each of his clones split again.
One became two.
Two became four.
In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty Kusho clones filled the temple.
Every one of them radiated a powerful presence.
Zed could currently summon only four shadow clones.
The situation reversed instantly.
Now they were the ones being surrounded.
Akali had barely joined the battle before finding herself facing at least three Kusho clones at once.
Ahri summoned her sunstone and circulated all of her magic through her body, watching the approaching Kushos warily.
In the next instant, the battle erupted.
Shen gripped his twin blades and stared at the man he had once respected more than anyone.
An uncontrollable fury surged inside him.
He didn't understand what had turned Kusho into this.
But today, he would defeat him here.
Shen charged forward and released the true form of his spirit blade. The short blade instantly transformed into a massive weapon blazing with spiritual light. With Shen's ninjutsu driving it forward, it swept toward Kusho.
Zed fought back with shadow magic.
His shadow clones were powerful in their own right, clashing viciously with Kusho's clones in a deadly struggle.
Irelia danced among her blades, remaining graceful even in the middle of such chaos. Her family crest shone brightly while razor-sharp spiritual light flashed through the air around her.
Akali and Ahri fought three Kusho clones together.
Their coordination was seamless, and within moments, all three clones were destroyed.
"That's it?"
Akali dusted off her hands with a dismissive snort.
Then she looked around and froze.
Kusho sat high above them on the throne, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"They've been getting impatient."
More Kusho clones surrounded the entire interior of the temple.
At that moment, every one of them charged.
At the same time, the rune fragment in Kusho's hand continued to glow, seemingly supplying him with an endless stream of magic.
Luke watched at least a dozen clones rush toward him.
He took one step.
His figure disappeared.
Sword light flashed like lightning.
Razor-sharp sword intent surged like crashing waves.
By the time anyone blinked again, every clone had already been destroyed.
Luke didn't stop.
He shot forward again at tremendous speed, cutting down clone after clone.
"Oh?"
Sitting upon his throne, Kusho narrowed his eyes.
He had already sensed from Luke's first attack that this man wasn't weak.
Now it seemed he would need to be more cautious.
Then Kusho glanced at the rune in his hand and smiled confidently again.
Ultimately, it wasn't much of a problem.
While Kusho's attention was drawn toward Luke, Shen immediately entered the spirit realm.
In an instant, he appeared before the throne and thrust his sword directly toward Kusho's heart.
The man before him was his father.
The teacher he had once respected above all others.
Yet now, he felt like a complete stranger.
Shen had wanted to hold back.
But as the Eye of Twilight, entrusted with preserving balance, he could not.
His short blade plunged straight into Kusho's heart.
A flash of astonishment passed through Kusho's eyes.
Then his expression softened with apparent pride.
"Shen, you've grown stronger. I'm sorry for everything I've done. If I have to die, I'm satisfied that it was by your blade..."
His expression suddenly twisted into a vicious grin.
"Did you really think I'd say something like that?"
His figure flickered.
Then it dissolved into shadow.
Shen froze in disbelief.
Just a clone?
When?
As the Eye of Twilight, Shen possessed extraordinarily precise awareness of everything around him.
Yet Kusho had somehow replaced himself with a clone right under Shen's observation.
"Shen! You're still not strong enough! What a disappointment!"
Kusho's laughter rang through the temple.
"You trust your eyes far too much. How can someone like you preserve the balance between the two realms?"
A violent surge of shadow power suddenly struck toward Shen from behind.
Zed flashed behind Shen and blocked the attack.
Both of them were blasted away.
Seeing Zed cough a mouthful of blood through his mask, Shen's heart seized as though someone had clenched a fist around it.
"Zed!"
"Zed, you're still just as foolish."
Kusho stood where he was, mocking him contemptuously.
"I thought I had taught you so much, but apparently you're still the same. Foolishly kind, foolishly loyal, and simply foolish!"
Even Akali couldn't stand listening anymore.
"One of them is your son, and the other is your greatest disciple. How can you even say something like that?"
"My son? My disciple?"
Kusho laughed even more contemptuously.
Power continued surging around him, while madness and exhilaration crept into his eyes.
"Compared to true power, what do those things matter?"
Ahri saw something different.
Feeling the evil rolling off Kusho, she took a small step backward.
"His soul was consumed by desire long ago."
Kusho's soul had already fallen completely.
It wasn't merely the shadow power corrupting him.
More than anything else, it was the rune in his hand.
Ahri remembered seeing Luke wield similar power before.
Yet there was an enormous difference between the two.
"This childish game has gone on long enough."
Kusho's smile vanished.
His expression turned cold as he released another wave of clones.
Zed was badly wounded now, and Shen was forced to remain beside him while fending off the surrounding clones.
Irelia was struggling as well.
Kusho's clones were individually strong, and their overwhelming numbers made them extremely difficult to handle.
Akali and Ahri stood back-to-back, barely holding off the attacks coming from every direction.
Kusho had completely taken control of the battle.
More importantly, no one could tell which one was actually him.
"Damn it, which one is the real body?!"
Even Luke appeared frustrated as he continuously cut down the clones surrounding him.
Seeing this, Kusho laughed.
"So what if you're the strongest among them? Blame yourself for getting involved in a conflict that had nothing to do with you."
He could tell that Luke was one of the rare truly powerful people here.
Unfortunately for Luke, he had encountered Kusho after Kusho had become even stronger.
With the rune in his possession, Kusho could create clones almost endlessly.
Luke could destroy as many as he wanted.
If he couldn't find the original body, it meant nothing.
"I can't find him. I seriously can't find him."
Luke looked around like a lost lamb, apparently completely bewildered.
Then, just as he seemed at a total loss, he suddenly shot toward one particular clone and brought his sword down with everything he had.
The smile was still hanging on Kusho's face.
Then it stiffened.
He immediately threw up his strongest defense.
Even so, Luke's sword sent him flying.
Seeing Luke come straight after him again, Kusho immediately unleashed shadow magic.
"This one was actually real?"
Luke himself sounded surprised.
He cut through the shadow magic rushing toward his face, only to lose Kusho's position again.
"Damn it. Where did he hide this time?"
Hidden elsewhere among the clones, Kusho quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
So it had just been coincidence.
The moment he relaxed, however, he suddenly saw Luke charging straight toward him again like a runaway stallion.
Kusho glanced at the clones surrounding him.
He didn't dare hesitate.
Once again, he unleashed shadow magic at Luke.
This time, Kusho merged into the shadows and reappeared on the complete opposite side of the temple.
"Found you again? You're not very good at hiding."
Luke looked around, suddenly locked onto another clone, and charged at it with everything he had.
Watching from far away, Kusho relaxed again and sneered inwardly.
To think he had actually been frightened by such an obvious bluff.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he realized Luke was gone.
He disappeared right in front of me?
Kusho immediately scanned his surroundings.
"Looking for me?"
A ghostlike voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Kusho's expression changed dramatically.
He immediately drew out even more power from the rune.
He had never been capable of completely controlling it, and in that moment, the rune consumed another portion of his mind.
Half of his soul seemed to lose its color.
Yet even then, his reaction came a fraction too late.
Luke's strike had already shattered the protective barrier.
His sword slashed directly across Kusho's body.
Agonizing pain tore through Kusho.
He didn't dare hesitate.
Unleashing shadow magic at full force, he rapidly retreated and created distance between himself and Luke.
"You could identify my real body this entire time, couldn't you?"
Kusho pressed a hand against his wound.
Blood stained his palm and dripped steadily to the floor.
He glared coldly at Luke, completely unable to understand how Luke could pick him out so accurately among countless clones.
There was only one explanation.
This man possessed some kind of ability that rendered the clones completely useless against him.
Kusho had been careless.
If he hadn't started absorbing and storing the rune's power inside his body years ago, that last strike might already have killed him.
"Just lucky."
Luke flicked the blood from his sword.
He knew that the rune's power had absorbed at least half the damage from that attack.
He vaguely remembered encountering someone with a similar trick years ago.
Unfortunately, Kusho was somewhat more cautious by comparison.
The man had already absorbed a considerable amount of rune energy into his body.
Luke possessed True Sight, which allowed him to distinguish every illusion and false image.
Mere clones could never fool his eyes.
"Lucky, my ass."
Kusho formed two hand seals and used a secret art to stop the bleeding.
He refused to believe Luke had found him through luck.
If he fell for the same trick again, he might as well give up on ever showing his face in Ionia.
He was forced to change his entire approach.
Now he watched Luke as though facing his greatest enemy, recognizing him as the target that had to be eliminated first.
This man had been hiding his true depth all along.
Kusho still had no idea exactly how powerful Luke was.
Combined with Luke's ability to distinguish his true body, it was almost as though Luke had been designed specifically to counter him.
If Kusho had avoided that previous strike, he would still have had confidence in fighting Luke head-on.
But wounded as he was now, he probably wasn't Luke's match in a direct confrontation.
Kusho glanced at the rune in his hand.
His hesitation vanished almost instantly.
"I hadn't intended to take this step so soon. You forced me into this."
Luke stared at him speechlessly.
"What exactly did I force you to do? Aren't you the one who screwed everything up?"
"Hmph. Words are meaningless now."
Kusho clenched the rune.
Blood-red energy immediately began spreading up his arm, forming cracks across his flesh.
His voice became strained with suppressed pain.
"I will make you regret this. Behold, true power!"
The crimson cracks spread across Kusho's entire body in the blink of an eye.
Every one of them blazed with the rune's overwhelming energy.
"AAARGH!"
Kusho let out a pained roar.
Gradually, however, the agony in his voice transformed into exhilaration.
His presence continued skyrocketing.
The pressure pouring from him seemed to make the air itself ten times heavier.
Violent crimson magic surged like rolling thunder.
Rune energy completely engulfed his entire body.
His hair rose upward like burning flames and merged with the aura of shadow surrounding him.
When his eyes opened, they resembled those of a demon.
He no longer looked human.
There wasn't even anything left in his appearance that resembled Kusho.
Every clone vanished at once.
The others stared in alarm at the completely unfamiliar monster before them.
"Power! True power!"
Kusho roared in ecstasy.
His voice sounded like a wild beast, deafening throughout the temple.
"Everyone dies!"
He took one step.
Boom!
A lightning-like afterimage remained behind him as he instantly appeared in front of Luke.
A tremendous eruption of rune energy struck Luke on the spot and sent him flying dozens of meters like a kite with its string cut.
Although Luke managed to defend himself, he immediately understood what had happened.
Kusho was now completely under the rune's control.
He had utterly lost himself.
This was the inevitable fate of an ordinary person who tried to master the power of a rune.
Eventually, they would become nothing more than its puppet.
In the next instant, Kusho appeared above Luke while he was still flying backward.
Violent magic crashed downward like thunder.
Luke swung his sword.
A roaring gale exploded outward.
At the same time, the Riftblade in his left hand suddenly shattered into countless pieces.
The fragments revolved around his body and formed a protective barrier.
Even so, the force smashed Luke into the ground.
A massive crater appeared beneath him, and the entire temple shook.
"Weak! Far too weak!"
Kusho laughed wildly, his voice resembling that of an evil spirit.
He raised a hand.
Thunder formed from rune energy and rained madly into the crater below.
Kusho had completely lost himself in the intoxicating sensation of power.
His soul continued sinking deeper and deeper.
The entire mountaintop shook.
Rune energy ravaged the earth without restraint.
The temple trembled violently and looked ready to collapse at any moment.
After bombarding the crater several times, Kusho suddenly noticed something was wrong.
Luke's presence hadn't disappeared.
Instead, it had suddenly grown several times stronger.
Kusho stopped.
He stared into the crater.
Luke stood there calmly.
A layer of rune energy covered his body like gleaming armor, brilliant and overwhelmingly powerful.
None of Kusho's previous attacks had left so much as a scratch on him.
Luke looked up.
"This kind of power?"
"I have it too."
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