[Third Person Pov]
Clark was using his enhanced vision to observe the black mist that flowed around the world, scanning for the most suitable concentration of the strange substance known simply as Curse. To him, it was never static. As he had explained to Lala earlier, it shifted and rolled like weather patterns—thick in some places, thin in others, always in motion.
At the moment, Clark had already carried them far from Japan, crossing oceans and continents in a matter of moments. Lala, for her part, had enjoyed the journey immensely, marveling at the blur of landscapes and lights beneath them as they traveled toward their destination.
When Clark finally slowed and came to a stop, Lala looked around with open curiosity. Beneath them stretched a vast expanse of dense forest, its canopy rolling endlessly into the distance. Darkness still blanketed the land, but it felt different from the night they had left behind—lighter somehow, as though the morning was just around the corner.
"Where are we?" Lala asked.
Clark hovered in place, his attention fixed on their surroundings. His blue eyes glinted faintly in the darkness as he studied the area with intense focus.
To Clark's senses, the curse here was unmistakable. It hung over the forest like a massive storm cloud, invisible to normal sight yet oppressive all the same. Worse than seeing it, however, was smelling it. The curse carried a sharp, acrid scent, unpleasant at the best of times, but here it was heavily condensed—thick enough that even Clark found it almost overwhelming.
"In Peru," Clark replied calmly as he began lowering them between the towering trees. "More specifically, the Manu National Park. Not that you'd recognize the name, but since you asked, I figured I should be precise."
They touched down softly, leaves crunching beneath their feet as the forest closed in around them. Clark glanced sideways at Lala as they began walking through the ominous terrain.
"Can you see well in the dark?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"Of course!" Lala replied immediately, puffing out her chest with pride. "Everything about a Devilukean is strong—including our eyes. So don't worry about me!"
Clark hummed thoughtfully as they moved. I wonder, he thought, 'does she share any abilities similar to mine? Probably not heat vision… but still.'
"Lala," Clark said suddenly, stopping. "Can you blow as hard as you can?"
"Sure!" she answered without hesitation, not questioning the request in the slightest.
She took a deep breath and exhaled with force.
Clark's eyes widened slightly as a violent gust erupted from Lala, the air roaring forward like a miniature hurricane. Trees were ripped from the ground, trunks snapping as they were hurled through the air and sent crashing deep into the forest. Leaves and debris spiraled wildly before slowly settling back to the ground.
When it was over, Lala leaned forward slightly, catching her breath. She straightened and looked at the newly formed clearing with a satisfied smile.
"So?" she asked cheerfully. "What do you think?"
Clark stared at the destruction, then slowly turned to her. "You had super breath this whole time?"
"Hehehe," Lala giggled, patting her chest proudly. "I can scream really loudly too! Papa always said I had big lungs since I was little."
Clark snorted despite himself and shook his head.
Lala shaded her eyes with one hand and scanned their surroundings, excitement creeping into her voice. "So where are they? The aberrations? I wonder what they look like."
"I'll start drawing them in soon," Clark replied as he removed his outer coat and tied it securely around his waist.
"How?" Lala asked, watching him closely.
"Normally, I suppress my spiritual power inwardly, so it's not detectable" Clark explained. "Once I release even a small amount, they'll be drawn to it. Like moths to an extremely powerful flame."
Lala nodded in understanding and reached for her D-Dial—the dimensional device that allowed her to store her inventions within a pocket space. With a single press on the screen, her Almighty Tool appeared in her hands. The wand-like device hummed softly as it activated, its mechanisms unfolding with practiced precision.
The two wing-like extensions snapped upward and fused together, reshaping into a sleek sword. Lala stepped into a combat-ready stance, her posture confident and steady.
"I'm ready!"
Clark studied her stance carefully. 'She's been trained with a sword before,' he noted.
"Okay, SpongeBob," Clark muttered under his breath with a scoff.
Lala tilted her head, clearly not understanding the reference.
Clark shook his head and stepped into the center of the clearing she had created, the oppressive presence of the curse pressing in as he prepared to release his power.
Lala visibly tensed as she stared at Clark in surprise. A golden-red aura outlined his form, shimmering like heat rising from a flame. She could feel it—the sheer pressure of his power rolling outward in invisible rippling waves and washing over her body. It wasn't painful, but it was heavy, overwhelming in a way she had never quite experienced before.
The grass beneath their feet bent and swayed as if caught in a sudden storm. Farther into the forest, leaves and branches whipped violently, trees groaning as the air itself seemed to recoil. The sounds of the jungle began to change—chirps and distant calls twisting into harsher, unfamiliar noises. Something feral stirred beneath the canopy, something drawn to the power Clark had released.
"Clark…" Lala said slowly, her voice tight with disbelief. "Be honest. How much were you holding back against Zastin?"
Clark glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, a small, knowing smirk tugging at his lips and didn't reply.
"The battle simulator incident?" She asked lightly.
Clark exhaled and rolled his shoulders. "Let's just say this—controlling energy inside your body is much easier than controlling it once it's released. That's especially true for me, since I have… well, a ridiculous amount of it."
He lifted a hand, the aura around him pulsing faintly. "Between Grandma's training and my own, I've gained pretty solid control over everything internal. But once that energy leaves my personal field, maintaining precision gets harder. I've improved a lot thanks to the meditation techniques from the House of Tor. Coating others with my aura, vibrating my molecules, even releasing this much power—those are all results of that training."
He paused, then added calmly, "Take three steps back."
"What?" Lala asked, startled by the sudden instruction—but she obeyed immediately, retreating just as the air above them distorted.
Something massive dropped from the sky.
The impact shook the ground as a towering creature crashed into the clearing, the force nearly knocking Lala off her feet. She stared up in stunned disbelief, wrinkling her nose in instinctive disgust. The monster was an unnatural fusion of forms—part amphibian, part brute—its hulking body looming above the treeline. Around it, grotesque winged shapes began to form, swarming and buzzing as if born from the creature itself.
The beast let out a deep, distorted croak, its presence radiating hostility.
"The techniques I've developed—and the ones I still want to develop—are things I have to figure out on my own," Clark said, completely unfazed. "In a way, that is also part of Grandma's training. She never taught Momo or me specific techniques if we didn't ask for it. She believed those were things we had to discover and create ourselves as everyone had their own way of fighting."
The creature struck first.
Its tongue lashed out with terrifying speed, slicing through the air like a launched projectile. Clark barely shifted, tilting his body aside with casual precision. The attack slammed into the ground behind him, the force cracking the earth and sending debris flying.
Clark moved in a blur.
With a swift, controlled motion, he swept his hand through the air, spiritual energy forming a sharp edge. The attack severed the creature's strike cleanly, forcing it to recoil with a furious cry.
Blood erupted and rained around them from the cut ends as it violently twitched.
Before it could recover, Clark was already there.
He drove forward at super speed, appearing directly in front of the creature, his fist drawn back. When he struck, the impact sent a visible shockwave rippling through its massive frame. The force alone was enough. The impact didn't just stop the creature—it erased it. The air detonated outward, the shockwave flattening everything in its path as the massive form collapsed in on itself, reduced to nothing more than scattered remnants, like its small and large intestines, stomach, lungs, and blood that rained down across the clearing. The forest floor was left scarred and stained where the power had passed through.
Clark lowered his arm and looked down at his clenched fist, exhaling a satisfied breath. Then he glanced back toward Lala.
"Want to take care of the flies?"
"Yes, please!" Lala exclaimed, energized and eager after witnessing his display.
She launched herself into the air with a powerful flap of her wings, her sword flashing as she cut through the swarm with practiced precision. The creatures slammed into her from multiple angles, but her natural durability turned their attacks into little more than nuisances. Laughing, she spun and slashed, cleaving through them one after another.
Several of the larger ones, that were the size of dogs, broke off and rushed Clark instead.
He didn't even move his feet.
All he did was turn his head.
His eyes glowed red, beams of heat lancing outward, his eyes flashes repeatedly as he blasted his heat vision out like shots before sweeping across an entire charging creature. They vanished mid-air, the threat neutralized in an instant. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he finished clearing the sky.
"Hey!" Lala called out playfully, hovering nearby. "I was just about to cut those!"
Clark laughed, raising his hands in surrender, his eyes still faintly glowing. "Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help myself."
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