Chapter 170 — The First Crystal
The blast came for him.
Brook did not turn around.
He ran.
Michael's power tore through the battlefield behind him, swallowing ruins, mountains, and darkness in a wave of impossible force.
Brook teleported.
The blast followed.
He appeared again.
The energy was already there.
Brook teleported.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each movement brought him closer to the first crystal.
But each teleport drained something from him.
Brook landed hard.
His knees bent beneath him.
He looked over his shoulder.
Michael's blast had finally stopped.
Not because it had failed to reach him.
Because Michael had stopped it.
Brook stared.
Michael stood in the distance.
His sword was lowered.
Lucifer leaned against a broken structure nearby.
Death stood between them.
The three Sources were watching him.
Brook looked toward the crystal.
Then at Michael.
"You let me go."
Michael answered immediately.
"No."
Brook narrowed his eyes.
Michael slowly raised his sword again.
"You survived."
Brook smiled.
"Same difference."
Lucifer laughed.
"That's the spirit."
Brook looked toward the first crystal.
It was close.
Closer than ever before.
He could almost feel it.
Something inside him reacted to its presence.
Not hunger.
Recognition.
Brook's expression changed.
Michael noticed.
"So."
Brook looked at him.
Michael's voice remained calm.
"Now you feel it."
Brook looked back at the crystal.
"What is it?"
Death answered.
"A piece."
Brook waited.
"Of what?"
Death remained silent.
Lucifer smiled.
"That's enough answers for now."
Brook glared at him.
Lucifer smiled wider.
"Don't worry."
Hell Flame appeared in his hand.
"You'll get there."
Brook immediately moved.
Lucifer attacked first.
Hell Flame erupted across the ground.
Brook jumped.
He teleported over it.
Lucifer appeared in front of him.
Brook twisted.
Lucifer's fist passed beside his face.
Brook struck him in the stomach.
Lucifer barely reacted.
Brook teleported.
Michael's sword came down.
Brook disappeared.
Death's Scythe followed.
Brook reappeared beside the crystal.
Lucifer's Hell Flame appeared beneath his feet.
Brook jumped backward.
The fire erupted.
Brook rolled.
Michael was already there.
Brook blocked.
The sword struck his arms.
Pain exploded through his body.
Brook's feet dragged across the ground.
Michael pushed.
Brook teleported.
He appeared behind Michael.
His fist came forward.
Michael turned.
Brook disappeared.
He reappeared before the crystal.
His fingers reached—
Death appeared.
Brook stopped.
Death raised his hand.
Brook's body moved before his thoughts.
He teleported.
The air disappeared where he had been.
Brook landed.
His breathing was fast.
The crystal was right there.
But every time he got close—
they stopped him.
Brook stared at all three.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Then he understood.
The crystal wasn't simply guarded.
They were waiting for him to make a mistake.
Brook smiled.
Lucifer tilted his head.
"What?"
Brook's eyes moved toward the first crystal.
"Nothing."
Brook disappeared.
He appeared beside Lucifer.
Lucifer turned.
Brook attacked.
Lucifer blocked the first punch.
Brook teleported.
Michael's sword struck empty air.
Brook reappeared behind Death.
Death's Scythe moved.
Brook disappeared.
He was moving between them.
Not toward the crystal.
Away from it.
Lucifer laughed.
"What are you doing?"
Brook didn't answer.
He appeared before Michael.
Michael swung.
Brook ducked.
His fist struck Michael's chest.
Michael stepped backward.
Brook disappeared.
Lucifer's Hell Flame exploded.
Brook reappeared beside Death.
Death raised his hand.
Brook moved.
He appeared behind Lucifer.
Another punch.
Lucifer laughed.
Brook disappeared again.
Michael followed.
The three Sources began moving after him.
Brook continued.
Faster.
Teleport.
Strike.
Disappear.
Teleport.
Strike.
Disappear.
Lucifer smiled.
"You're enjoying this."
Brook didn't answer.
His eyes remained focused.
Michael swung.
Brook disappeared.
Death looked toward him.
Brook moved.
Lucifer followed.
The three Sources were no longer standing around the crystal.
Brook had pulled them away.
Farther.
Farther.
Farther.
Then—
Brook stopped.
Lucifer landed several feet away.
Michael stood to his left.
Death to his right.
Brook looked at them.
Lucifer smiled.
"You finished?"
Brook looked behind them.
The crystal.
Unprotected.
Lucifer's smile disappeared.
Brook teleported.
Michael moved first.
Brook appeared near the crystal.
Michael's sword was already coming down.
Brook ducked.
The blade passed over him.
Lucifer's Hell Flame struck the ground.
Brook teleported.
Death appeared.
Brook disappeared.
He was close.
Michael followed.
Brook blocked the sword.
The impact dropped him to one knee.
Lucifer's flames surrounded him.
Death's Scythe came down.
Brook disappeared.
He reappeared in front of the crystal.
His hand reached.
Lucifer appeared.
Brook's fist struck him.
Lucifer's head snapped back.
Brook grabbed him.
Lucifer smiled.
Brook used him.
He teleported.
Lucifer appeared between Michael and Death.
Brook was gone.
Lucifer's Hell Flame exploded.
Michael's sword came down.
Death's Scythe moved.
The three attacks collided.
Brook landed beside the crystal.
The shockwave hit him.
He stumbled.
But he didn't move away.
The crystal was directly in front of him.
He reached toward it.
Death appeared behind him.
Brook felt his heart tighten.
His hand shook.
Michael's sword moved toward his back.
Lucifer's Hell Flame appeared ahead.
Brook stood between all three attacks.
No escape.
Brook smiled.
Lucifer's expression changed.
Brook whispered:
"Got you."
He didn't touch the crystal.
Not yet.
Brook teleported.
He appeared above them.
Michael's sword struck Lucifer's fire.
Death's Scythe cut through both.
The battlefield exploded.
Brook fell through the smoke.
He reached for the crystal.
Michael looked up.
Brook teleported.
Michael's blast passed through the place he had been.
Brook reappeared beside Death.
His kick struck Death's arm.
Death moved.
Brook disappeared.
Lucifer attacked.
Brook appeared.
His fist struck Lucifer.
Lucifer laughed.
Brook moved again.
He was forcing them together.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The three Sources attacked.
Brook moved.
Their attacks collided.
Hell Flame struck Michael's sword.
Death's Scythe cut through Lucifer's fire.
Michael's blast forced Death backward.
For the first time—
the three Sources were fighting each other again.
Brook ran.
The crystal was waiting.
Michael noticed.
"Brook!"
Brook teleported.
Lucifer moved.
Hell Flame followed.
Brook disappeared.
Death raised his hand.
Brook reappeared.
He couldn't breathe.
Brook stumbled.
The air vanished.
His vision blurred.
Michael's sword came down.
Brook forced himself to teleport.
The air returned.
He landed beside the crystal.
Brook reached—
Lucifer's Insignia appeared beneath his feet.
Heat exploded through his body.
Brook screamed.
His muscles locked.
He fell.
The crystal stood directly before him.
Brook reached toward it.
His body refused to move.
Lucifer walked toward him.
"You really thought that would work?"
Brook looked at him.
Lucifer smiled.
The heat increased.
Brook screamed.
Michael approached.
His sword rested against his shoulder.
Death stood silently behind them.
Brook's body shook.
Lucifer crouched.
"You're close."
Brook glared at him.
Lucifer smiled.
"But not close enough."
Brook's eyes moved toward the crystal.
His hand was inches away.
Lucifer followed his gaze.
Then laughed.
"You can't even move."
Brook's fingers pressed into the ground.
His body shook.
The heat was unbearable.
Every muscle inside him had locked.
Lucifer stood.
"Try again."
Brook's expression changed.
Lucifer noticed.
The amusement disappeared from his face.
Brook's fingers moved.
Slowly.
The Insignia burned brighter.
Brook screamed.
His skin cracked.
Blood ran down his arm.
Michael watched.
Death remained silent.
Brook's hand moved.
One inch.
Lucifer stared.
The heat increased.
Brook's arm shook violently.
Another inch.
Lucifer raised his hand.
"No."
Brook's body disappeared.
Lucifer froze.
Brook reappeared beside the crystal.
The Insignia was gone.
Brook's hand reached forward.
Michael moved.
Death raised his hand.
Lucifer's fire erupted.
Brook touched the crystal.
The world stopped.
There was no explosion.
No sound.
No pain.
Brook stood before the crystal.
His hand pressed against its surface.
The white light moved through his arm.
Brook's eyes widened.
The battlefield disappeared.
For a moment—
he saw something.
A wall.
Twelve symbols.
A sky filled with broken light.
A hand reaching toward him.
Then—
a voice.
Not Michael.
Not Lucifer.
Not Death.
Brook.
His breathing stopped.
The voice was gone.
The battlefield returned.
The crystal cracked.
Brook stepped backward.
The three Sources had stopped moving.
Lucifer stared.
Death looked toward the broken crystal.
Michael's expression changed.
Brook looked at his hand.
A thin line of white light had appeared beneath his skin.
He touched it.
"What was that?"
No one answered.
Brook looked at them.
"What was that?"
Lucifer's expression was no longer amused.
Death remained silent.
Brook turned toward Michael.
Michael finally spoke.
"One."
Brook looked back at the destroyed crystal.
"One what?"
Michael raised his sword.
"One of three."
Brook looked toward the distance.
The other crystals appeared again.
Far away.
The second crystal glowed crimson.
The third remained hidden in darkness.
Brook looked at them.
Then back at the Sources.
His smile slowly returned.
"I touched it."
Lucifer's eyes narrowed.
Brook laughed.
"I actually touched it."
Lucifer looked toward Michael.
Then Death.
Something had changed.
The three Sources had fought Brook.
They had fought each other.
But now—
for the first time—
they were looking at Brook differently.
Brook noticed.
"What?"
Michael stepped forward.
Brook's smile disappeared.
Michael raised his sword.
"Now."
The battlefield trembled.
Lucifer's Hell Flame appeared.
Death lifted his Scythe.
Michael's eyes remained fixed on Brook.
"You understand the path."
Brook looked toward the second crystal.
Then back at them.
"Yeah."
Michael spoke.
"Then run."
The three Sources attacked together.
Brook disappeared.
Outside—
Brook screamed.
Henry jerked forward.
"BROOK!"
The scream became a groan.
Then silence.
Henry stared down at him.
Brook's body remained unconscious.
But the wounds—
stopped appearing.
For several seconds.
No cuts.
No blood.
Shoyo kept her hands above Brook.
Her healing magic remained active.
Sera watched his face.
Henry slowly looked at her.
"What happened?"
Sera didn't answer.
Brook's fingers moved.
Henry's eyes widened.
Then—
another cut appeared.
Henry froze.
The wound closed.
Then another opened.
Brook groaned again.
Henry grabbed his hand.
The Ectoplasm around Henry's arm slowly moved.
It stretched toward Brook.
Henry looked down.
This time—
he noticed.
The black substance was moving differently.
It wasn't responding to danger.
It wasn't responding to Henry.
It was responding to Brook.
Henry stared at it.
"What are you doing?"
The Ectoplasm stopped.
Then slowly pulled back.
Henry continued staring.
Something was changing.
Not only Brook.
Inside the darkness—
Brook appeared beside a ruined mountain.
He fell.
The first crystal was gone.
The white line beneath his skin remained.
He touched it.
Then looked toward the crimson glow in the distance.
The second crystal.
Lucifer's laughter echoed behind him.
Brook smiled.
Michael's sword struck the ground.
Brook moved.
Death's Scythe followed.
Brook disappeared.
The fight continued.
But now—
Brook knew he could win.
End of Chapter 170