Scarlett was a Mythic-grade summoner, while Luke was a freak who had somehow defeated both a Lesser and a Greater beast. Fighting the two of them head-on would be stupid.
Adrian knew that.
Why walk up to them and give them a chance to prepare? An ambush was obviously the better choice.
"Scarlett, watch out! We’re being ambushed!" Luke shouted when he saw his cruel brother hiding in the shadows.
"Yes, you are!" Jax growled like an animal as he and Mark lunged and grabbed Luke. Luke fought back, but they managed to pull his arms behind his back and hold him there so that he couldn’t summon.
"Luke!" Scarlett cried, her eyes glowing.
These were her classmates, but that didn’t matter either. If she had to kill them to protect Luke, then she would.
But before she could use her powers, something struck her in the middle of the back. An arrow.
Gasp!
Scarlett’s pupils widened. Her powers left her. It felt like something had blocked her meridian.
Then the paralysis hit her as her legs crumpled to the floor and the rest of her body followed.
"Phew! Clean shot, Chloe!" Leo said, breathing out in relief. "Who knows what would’ve happened to us if you didn’t step in?"
Chloe stood in front of a bookshelf with her bow still raised, while Scarlett lay paralyzed at her feet.
"So it turns out our queen isn’t as untouchable as everyone says..."
Scarlett couldn’t move. She fought against the paralysis, but it was useless. Chloe Ackerman had hit her with a petrification arrow, which was strong enough to keep her frozen for several minutes.
The only thing she could move was her eyes. Like trapped prey, she looked at Luke. Immediately he saw how helpless she was, something inside him flipped. The blood in his veins boiled like a volcano as he summoned the Hell Ape Gauntlet despite Jax and Mark holding him down.
"No! He summoned!" Jax and Mark panicked. Leo, who was keeping watch, panicked too.
They thought they had Luke under control, but the gauntlet changed everything.
SWOOSH! Luke swung his arm and sent Jax and Mark flying like blades from a ceiling fan. They crashed into different parts of the library, groaning on the ground.
Leo was the only one who managed to fight back. He activated Echo and turned his skin into the strongest metal he could make.
BOOOOM!
"Aurgghh!"
Lucky for him, that metal defense was the only reason Luke’s punch didn’t take him out in one hit.
Luke’s fist smashed into Leo’s chest with so much force that he smashed through the library wall and crashed into the creek outside.
Leo’s metallic skin started boiling from the contact with the Hell Ape Gauntlet, and the impact with the rocks in the river would’ve broken every bone in his body if his defense hadn’t held on by a thread.
Although things hadn’t gone according to plan, this was still the opening Adrian needed to kill Luke.
From a distance, Miquelon played his part and cast a spell of bewilderment. Luke’s mind became confused for a moment, giving Adrian the chance to get past his guard and stab him in the shoulder with a magical thorn.
"Arrghh!" Luke cried as the thorn pierced his skin.
His gauntlet suddenly disappeared and refused to be resummoned because the magical thorn Adrian used was a weapon that attacked the soul.
Luke groaned and stumbled aimlessly before crashing into some desks and chairs. Scarlett tried to crawl toward him, but her body still refused to move.
"Oh, dear. Mrs. Kingsley wants to check on her husband," Adrian mocked as he walked over his victory. He stomped on Scarlett’s hand to assert dominance. "I’m supposed to be your husband, whether you like it or not! Luke dies now."
The library went quiet. There was no one coming to save them. Scarlett’s eyes searched around for help, only to see the librarian walking out of the library as if nothing was happening.
"How could she...?" Scarlett thought hopelessly as she realized the woman was in on it.
Meanwhile, Adrian stood over his half-brother. He finally had Luke exactly where he wanted him.
Adrian didn’t care where he killed Luke. He could do it anywhere, even inside the academy library. As the Duke’s heir, his political influence could cover up his crimes or at least make the punishment much lighter.
He summoned the Golden Griffin, a beast with feathers as luxurious as coins. Energy started gathering in its chest as it prepared to burn Luke to ashes, but something stopped Adrian.
Someone was there.
Lucy Blackstone and Mizuki.
"Stop there, Adrian!"
"Adrian Kingsley, you know what you’re doing is wrong!"
Adrian glanced at the girls who revealed themselves from behind a shelf, looking ready to fight him.
Lucy must have used some kind of skill to hide their presence, because Miquelon had already confirmed that the library was empty.
"Did I say it was right?" Adrian asked, frowning between the strands of his silver hair. "Now leave me to my business, or don’t blame me for what happens next..."
"He isn’t going to listen to us," Mizuki whispered to Lucy.
Lucy already knew that, which explained why she summoned her beast instead of arguing with him.
All the shadows in the library came together and formed a creature larger than the griffin. It was the Malefic Spider. The shadows returned to where they had been once the spider took its shape.
Adrian took a step back, becoming more careful as Lucy gave him one last chance to leave.
"What the heck is that thing?" he whispered. No words could describe the nightmare standing behind her.
Could his griffin defeat it? Adrian wasn’t sure. If the Malefic Spider was also Elder-ranked, then this was a fight he couldn’t take lightly.
"You Blackstones just don’t know when to quit, do you?" he spat at Lucretia.
Lucy didn’t care about the insult. Her eyes said everything she needed to say: Don’t cross me.
Adrian became furious. After all that planning, he wasn’t going to get the chance to finish Luke. Now Luke would survive and come looking for revenge. And Scarlett would probably do the same.
"We’re leaving," Adrian growled, ordering his group to retreat. Who knew what that spider was capable of?
Meanwhile, Mizuki’s knees were shaking. She had stood up to Adrian because she wanted to help her friend, but the pressure that followed was too much for her. Once Adrian’s group left the library, she collapsed into a chair and started gasping for air.
Lucy dropped to her knees and went straight to Luke and Scarlett.
"Go guard the entrance and make sure they don’t come back," she told her spider before tending to Luke first.
He was badly hurt, and she was afraid he might not survive.
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