Chapter 760 The Crooked One

The tall humanoid rose at least ten feet tall. It's arms and legs were bent in odd shapes and at odd angles. Its neck made a clear snapping sound as it gazed upon Team Zephyr. A jagged black hat rose higher into the sky, making the thing look way taller than it actually was.

'What's that?' Evan asked, unable to hide his fear. Shadows draped around the crooked humanoid legs. The thing didn't move, but it slowly forced a harsh and crooked smile at the group. Its coat billowed, releasing five shadows around it. The shadows rose and five stringed puppets appeared. The crooked creature's teeth began to chatter, and the five puppets all lifted their heads in unison and rushed at Team Zephyr.

Calis was the first to act. His shadow extended outwards, turning to spikes, and piercing the first two puppets. The puppets froze for a second before being yanked out. The crooked creature's arm was raised high as its fingers moved, quickly. The three other puppets ran past the spikes as a lightning bolt flew straight for the crooked creature. The two airborne puppets quickly flew in front of the bolt, taking the hit and dropping into tiny fragments.

Evan, Ritsuka, and Olivia sprinted forward. Evan summoned his shield and blocked an attack from one of the puppets while Ritsuka and Olivia faced the other two head on. Ritsuka swung his fist like it was gripped onto something invisible. The attack looked like it was going to clearly miss when Obsidian Glass appeared, slicing the puppet's head off in one clean swoop.

Olivia dodged the puppet's attacks. She bobbed and weaved, throwing a punch straight into its jaw. The puppet splintered into tiny shadow pieces, scattering all around. She quickly pulled the shadow splinters together and used it to pierce the puppet in the heart. The puppet shrieked as it puffed into black dust.

Liz fired off two more bolts and watched as the crooked creature summoned five more puppets. Three puppets appeared in front of the crooked creature, raising their hands. A large barrier appeared, redirecting the attack into a building. The two new puppets lifted their hands up and fired off black shadowy beams towards Liz. Liz lifted a hand and manifested a purple lightning barrier. The shadowy beams flew past the barrier, hitting Liz square in the chest before sending her off.

"Liz!" Manny shouted. He turned and ran for Liz but was met with lanky crooked creatures made of pure shadows. They made strange cracking noises as they rushed for Manny. Manny cursed as he blocked the attack with his arms.

"Manny!" Keng lifted his hand and blasted two crooked creatures away before sprinting over to help. Lee Seng began to turn his attention to help Manny when a strange whisper came to him.

"I found you."

Lee Seng turned his attention to the large, crooked creature. Its neck snapped to the side as its crooked smile grew wider. The thing had caught Lee Seng's attention. Rattles grew behind Lee Seng, catching him off guard as he was knocked to the ground. Lee Seng grunted. Arms wrapped around him as they pulled him up onto his knees. A jagged hand grabbed Lee Seng's face and pulled it back.

Lee Seng fought against the arms, whacking a monster in the face and ripping the rest off. He spun around and noticed the dark lanky creatures.

'Cthulu.' Lee Seng called for his katana. Tendrils grew from Lee Seng's hand forming the Cthulu's Moon blade. He wrapped his hand around the hilt and twirled the katana. A lanky crooked monster flew at him, throwing its sharp, pointed hand at Lee Seng. Lee Seng lifted the blade up and watched as it shimmered.

[New Moon Stance has been activated.]

The pointed hand flew straight past the blade instantly being stopped. Lee Seng pushed away and slashed at the crooked monster's hand. The monster screamed in pain as Lee Seng lowered the stance.

'That's New Moon… Then what's Crescent Stance?' Lee Seng thought.

[Crescent Stance - Horizontal strikes imbued with the user's abilities to manipulate the space around them.]

Monsters screeched as they flew at Lee Seng. Lee Seng dodged to the left, ducked and watched as a pointed hand flew straight for him.

'Dark Step.' Lee Seng flashed to the side and readied his blade. 'Waxing Strike.' Lee Seng flew forward, swinging the katana horizontally and slashed in front of him. The monsters shrieked as their bodies disintegrated into nothing. Lee Seng stood up and turned to access the field.

Calis, Ritsuka, Evan and Olivia were struggling to get past the puppets. The large crooked creature stood in its exact spot. It continuously summoned puppets and crooked monsters to fight them. Keng and Manny managed to reach Liz, but the puppets seemed to continuously show up, stopping Liz from getting any shots in at the threat doing this.

Lee Seng's senses shook as he turned to the side. A large shadow slammed down next to him, cracking the road. The large shadow pulled back, swiping at Lee Seng's feet. Lee Seng flew straight into the ground. Puppets and crooked monsters jumped at the opportunity to get Lee Seng.

Gold, black and silver wisps appeared all around the field. They burned the monsters away as they ran into them. The monsters' shrieks were especially loud. Without a second thought, Lee Seng pulled himself to one of the wisps and listened to the sounds of frustrated cries. Dark Step had saved him, again.

He threw himself onto his feet and listened to the whispers come back.

"You and your friends won't be able to go back…" The voice whispered. "I shall relish killing you all one… by one… And maybe… I'll start with her." Lee Seng watched as the large crooked creature lifted its long and jagged arm up and pointed at Olivia. Lee Seng's eyes narrowed at the creature as it began to imitate laughing.

The puppets abruptly pulled back a couple feet before opening their mouths. A loud chattering noise grew as the puppets all chattered in unison. Everyone lifted their hands to cover their ears. The puppets were creating some sort of sound attack!

Out of Lee Seng's peripheral, he noticed something growing in Olivia's shadow.

'No!' Lee Seng thought. A lanky crooked monster flew out and landed. Lee Seng ripped his hands from his ears and started to run. The crooked monster pulled its arm back as the large crooked creature continued to smile.

"No!" Lee Seng shouted. A black wisp appeared in between. Lee Seng Dark Stepped as the crooked monster plunged its hand straight for Olivia. Lee Seng's eyes widened. For a moment, the chattering of the puppets grew quiet. Olivia turned, eyes growing wide. Lee Seng spat out blood as he turned and noticed another creature appearing. He silently screamed as he grabbed Olivia and held on tight.

Tendrils moved across Lee Seng's body onto Olivia's. It grew dense as the second lanky crooked monster went for the attack. The tendrils blocked the attack and fired off two attacks of their own. Lee Seng watched as the second monster turned to dust while Olivia watched the one behind Lee Seng vanish.

Lee Seng gasped and dropped as the monsters vanished. Olivia panicked as she lowered herself to hold him. He tried his best to hold in the pain. The rest of Team Zephyr forced themselves to fight the puppets. They all quickly made work of the puppets as more creatures were summoned.

"Lee!" Olivia screamed. Lee Seng coughed as he tried to clutch wound. "Manny!" Manny whipped his head around and noticed Lee Seng and Olivia were on the ground. "He's hurt!"

"Go!" Keng blasted another puppet. "I'll protect Liz!" Manny nodded and sprinted. Puppets and crooked monsters appeared in Manny's way, trying to block him. Keng twirled Hydrosphere in his hands and slammed them together. "God Weapon Art: Serenity Path." A path of water shot from underneath Manny's feet forwards, pushing the monster's away as Manny continued  forwards.

Liz lifted her hand up and shot at the wet puppets and crooked monsters. She watched as the electricity hit the first puppet, exploding it before jumping onto the next target. Manny ran over to Lee Seng and Olivia. He dropped to his knees as the waters pooled around them.

"What happened? I thought he was over there?" Manny motioned with his head. Olivia shook her head.

"One second he was there… The next they were screaming and—" Olivia caught Lee Seng's look. He was smiling as Manny's hands lit up. Lee Seng immediately groaned in pain as he tried to move.

"Hold still!" Manny shouted.

"Heads up!" Calis shouted. A trident flew past the three, embedding itself into a puppet. The puppet exploded, dropping the trident lodged into it. Calis pulled the water towards him and surfed on it. He flew past Manny, Lee Seng and Olivia and leapt off the water and landed next to his trident, grabbing it and stabbing it into the next monster.

"Ritsuka!" Calis shouted. "Evan! Forward!"

"What about them?" Evan asked, swatting a crooked monster away from him with his shield. "They'll be defenseless!"

"I'll protect them while Manny's healing. Try to get the thing summoning all of these things!"