You can read early chapters on my [P].[A].[T].[R].[E].[O].[N].
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Wong turned to him. "That's impossible. There isn't enough cursed energy for a disaster-level threat."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Ethan replied. "But the cursed energy signature across the city is identical. I am sure, It's one curse, Wong."
Silence fell. Lucy and Justin made their way toward them as the other sorcerers also gravitated toward Ethan and Wong.
"I think I know who it is," Ethan said.
"It's a Cursed Technique I've seen before. Or rather, I've seen the opposite of it." As he looked at Lucy and Justin approaching.
"Drumroll, please." He waited, but all he received were terrified stares in return, naturally, His face fell.
"You guys are no fun. The technique is 'TERROR.' When the Cursed spirit manifests something it is certain will be terrifying, that thing becomes reality. It's a technique capable of opposing even the Ancient One."
The seasoned sorcerers grew even paler at the proclamation, but that wasn't all. They also felt it—something observing them, creeping silently.
SLICH! SLICH!
The sorcerers took their battle stances, Tao Mandalas glowing in their hands.
Seeing the shift in the atmosphere, Lucy stepped in front of Justin to shield the boy.
Suddenly, the ground shifted. The scenery warped. "Huhuhuhhuhuhu"—a loud, creepy laugh echoed from everywhere around them. Lucy looked toward Park, who was observing the transformation with a calm she couldn't comprehend.
"How do you fight someone whose cursed technique can change reality?" she questioned.
Justin, on the verge of tears behind her, asked, "Are we also going to die?"
Ethan looked over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Kiddo. Every cursed technique has its weakness and risk. The weakness and risk of this one..."
Clunk.
"Is simply me."
The sound of the wheel turning reverberated behind his words.
The scenery shifted. Night turned to day; the homes around him warped into worn-down, decaying mansions. Ethan looked around—he was alone. No Masters, no civilians.
"Ooh... I am in so much trouble," he mused, observing the changing environment. "They will probably be alright."
He had confidence in the Masters of Kamar-Taj who had arrived in Fairview.
"They may not be able to exorcise this one, but they will keep themselves alive until I do." He spoke outloud
The Wheel of Harmony had already materialized above his head. It gave its first turn, confirming his suspicion: this was no mere illusion. It was reality manipulation on a city-wide scale.
"I knew... I knew a strong cursed spirit was going to be born by the end of the year," Ethan called out to the apparently empty space. The creepy laughter had stopped.
"But oh, boy, did you exceed my expectations."
The environment shifted once more, a crimson mist enveloping the surroundings, and from the fog emerged entities born of nightmares.
Various iterations of Skinwalkers appeared; some possessed animalistic features like jagged deer antlers, while others displayed a grotesque fusion of coyote pelts and human anatomy.
"The Good Things" smiling-masked entity arrived, dragging the lifeless body of a woman—Jess—behind it.
Jason Voorhees, the iconic, undead, and unstoppable masked slasher of the Friday the 13th franchise, stood there—imposing and still—wielding his signature machete.
A doppelgänger of Ethan stood among them with an unsettling smile plastered across its face, tilting its head at an impossible angle.
"The Woman" who had decimated Justin's household stood with her entirely gray body contorted by a cracked spine. In her right hand, she clutched a pair of glasses identical to those worn by Justin's sister, Emily.
In the center sat the Black Box, from which a man with bulging eyes could be seen peeking out, his gaze fixed, waiting for the exact moment Ethan looked away.
Finally, a man with no eyelids and piercing blue eyes—his face split by a smile that stretched from ear to ear—stood dressed in a three-piece business suit with a sharp red tie, identical to the figure that had claimed the painter's life.
As soon as Ethan's eye saw the creature ahead, It triggered his HPA (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal) axis, resulting in a surge of hormones, mostly epinephrine and cortisol.
His heart rate and blood pressure soared; with his pupils dilated, he began hyperventilating.
"I'm feeling butterflies in my stomach... What the hell is happening?" Ethan questioned, dropping down to one knee with a hand to his chest.
"Ethan, I believe what you are experiencing is a panic attack brought about by induced fear," Tora replied as the entities began closing in on him.
"It's soul resonance. The 'Terror' Technique is inducing on your biology"
"Induced Fear, huh? Well, for the record, it's a shitty feeling," Ethan spoke. From his shadows, two swords emerged; he gripped the white hilt while the black one floated sentiently beside him. "What about the civilians?" he questioned.
"They are being evacuated as we speak," Tora clarified. "Tens of thousands of Rabbits are sweeping through Fairview, teleporting them outside the town using Shadow Manipulation."
"Good... that's good," Ethan added, beginning to stretch his muscles.
"You focus on locating the cursed spirit main body—it's hiding itself well. I'll clear these mongrels," he said, bringing his sword to eye level and lowering his center of gravity.
"Let me show you why it's a bad idea, to give adrenaline to someone like me."
He glared ahead at the mob of monsters, then, with a burst of Cursed Energy, he charged forward.
Lucy Chen.
"LUCY!" she heard Wong's voice calling out to her. "LUCY! WHERE ARE YOU?"
"I am here..." she shouted back. As she looked around, she noticed Justin was still there with her.
"I am here... I am here... Please... I don't wanna die," she whispered between stifled sobs.
Justin tugged on her robes, and she looked down at him. "It's going to be alright. Alright, okay?" she told him, and he nodded slowly.
Soon, Wong's voice began to grow dimmer and dimmer until it was muted completely.
She took Justin's hand. "Hold tight, okay? Ethan Park is here... He is going to save us. He will... he has to. He is the strongest, after all."
"He is?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, yeah. You know, what else? Magic is real. Crazy world we live in, huh?" Lucy added trying desperately to fill the quiet.
"Yes, crazy indeed," Justin spoke in a neutral tone as the scenery around them began to shift.
"Where are we?" Justin questioned, his voice small.
I know this place, Lucy thought. As she looked around, her eyes landed on a familiar blue tent—her father's favorite.
"Malibu Creek State Park..." Lucy finally whispered. She stumbled toward a nearby tree and retched, the breakfast she had eaten that morning leaving her in a bitter rush.
"Not again..." she muttered. They were in the exact location where Patrick and Vanessa Chen had been brutally slaughtered by a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.
"Are you alright, big sis?" Justin asked, his eyes wide with fear.
Lucy looked back at him, a single thought echoing unbidden in her mind: I have to protect him.
She forced herself to return to his side and flashed him a steady, practiced smile. "I am going to get you out of here, okay?" After receiving a shaky nod from the boy, she stood up.
Park said this spirit can manifest anything it finds terrifying into reality. How does it know about Malibu Creek then ? Can it read memories, too? Lucy analyzed, forcing her mind into a state of cold clarity. If it can peer into my mind, does that mean...
"Big sis, what is that noise?" Justin asked, snapping her out of her stupor.
"Chewing noises..." Lucy gulped. "It's coming from the other side of the tent."
From behind the canvas, a face Lucy was intimately familiar with revealed itself, its mouth slick with fresh blood. It had the same disproportionately large head, with multiple smaller, skull-like faces embedded into the sides of the main cranium.
It's the same one, she realized.
"Run, Justin! Don't look back! Just Run until your legs give out!"
"Think of your mother and father... think about your sister !" she shouted over her shoulder as she unhooked two mystical batons from her side.
"JUST KEEP PUSHING FORWA...!"
SQUELCH! SCHUNK!
The corners of Lucy's vision suddenly went hazy as blood surged from her mouth. She looked down, her eyes widening as she realized her stomach had been pierced cleanly through—by a hand.
She coughed up more blood, her mind racing despite the shock. Wait, something isn't right... Why is the hand piercing from back to front? she wondered, the reality sinking in.
"Hey, Big Sis. Tell me... wouldn't it be terrifying to know that the one you have been protecting is responsible for this carnage all along?" Justin face twisted into a sickening look,"HAHAHAHA! It is, isn't it?"
The sound of his laughter echoed through the air as he withdrew his hand from her abdomen. Lucy slumped forward, her strength rapidly failing.
"You are not Justin," Lucy noted, her voice barely a whisper.
"No, no... I am not," the creature replied, lowering itself to her level. "You are losing blood excessively. I give it ten minutes before the blood loss takes you."
"Huhuhu But... I want you to know my name before you die; it's..."
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A/N: So how was the chapter?