Bloody Moon VII

Luke acted before Atlas. With his telekinesis, he controlled two uprooted trees and hovered above Atlas, aiming at him. These trees were fifteen meters tall and had a diameter of 50 cm. Each tree weighed approximately one ton. They were twice as large as the ones Luke had controlled in the past during his fights.

'Double aura, and he can lift two trees of that size. A terrifying talent,' Atlas thought, watching the trees floating about ten meters away.

Atlas was the servant, the right-hand man, of Elliot. He had watched him grow from a teenager into an adult and form his family. He had helped him in his fight against John, Luke's father. Not even his leader or John had that much power at Luke's age. He couldn't deny it was terrifying for a fifteen-year-old boy to have such strength.

'That's why eliminating him is the priority. He's a danger if he continues to grow,' Atlas thought, though he wasn't entirely sure how his boss knew about Luke's monstrous talent. He must have had secret methods to find out.

In an instant, the two trees were hurled at high speed toward Atlas—one from the right and the other from the left. The trees closed the distance to Atlas in just three seconds, traveling at over 3.33 meters per second with a combined kinetic energy of more than 11,000 joules.

Atlas extended his sharp claws, which were over five centimeters long and seemed exceptionally durable. With a quick motion, Atlas' claws sank into the wood of the trees rushing toward him.

Despite the hardness of the trunks and the kinetic force, Atlas' claws began slicing through the wood as if it were paper. Each swipe of his claws caused the trunk to fracture and splinter, sending pieces of wood flying in all directions.

'Is he Wolverine?' Luke thought with a grimace.

Although Atlas' claws weren't as long as Wolverine's, their hardness could easily rival Adamantium.

When Luke threw a 400 kg tree at Hyde at the same speed, the monster reacted similarly to Atlas, but the outcome was very different. Hyde's claws ended up shattered and bloody. In contrast, Atlas remained unscathed, and the attack was much more powerful.

Luke flew toward Atlas, reaching him in just one second—much faster than the trees. His smaller mass allowed him to achieve a greater speed than the one-ton trees.

Luke swung his right leg directly toward the gorgon's head.

With sharp reflexes, and now somewhat more accustomed to Luke's incredible speed, Atlas managed to dodge the kick, his face barely grazed by Luke's leg. Luke's right leg sliced through the empty air beside him.

Without wasting a second, Luke took advantage of his position and momentum. Focusing telekinetic waves, his left leg moved toward Atlas, who this time couldn't dodge the attack.

Luke's leg struck Atlas' face. The telekinetic waves were released, and Atlas was sent flying backward with impressive force. But as soon as he felt the ground under his feet, he used the momentum to dig himself into the earth. Although his movement was partially slowed, he still destroyed two trees in his path, leaving a trail of fallen trunks.

'Skin tougher than steel, five-ton strength, petrifying eyes... gorgons are broken,' Luke thought, watching Atlas kneeling on the ground, touching his nose, which was bleeding.

That's why Luke didn't try to immobilize the gorgon—it was an impossible task with his current telekinetic strength.

The psychokinetic force Luke generates is around two and a half tons. If an outcast generates more physical strength, they can break free, and Atlas falls into that category, having a strength of about five tons.

'He's like a tank. My advantage is speed,' Luke thought.

"Curse you, boy," Atlas said, frowning as he stood up and walked toward Luke with a furious glare. Despite his mythical bronze skin, the condensed telekinetic waves, when released, caused internal damage, even if his skin was harder than steel. Hence the blood at the corner of his mouth and on his nose.

'Hyde would already be half dead, but this bastard only has a little blood on his nose. Interesting,' Luke thought, smiling as he ran toward Atlas, who charged at him as well.

An intense fight began, illuminated by the reddish glow of the blood moon. Luke outmatched Atlas in speed thanks to his observation haki and telekinetic waves, which helped him dodge everything perfectly. This allowed him to pummel the gorgon, using him like a punching bag.

However, the strain he's under is immense. A single mistake and a deep slash from Atlas' claws could be fatal for him. His body isn't even as tough as steel. On the other hand, constantly concentrating telekinetic waves around his arms and legs and then releasing them is no easy task either. His forehead was beaded with sweat.

At one point, Luke barely dodged an attack from Atlas, but it ended up grazing his left shoulder, leaving a bloody wound and claw marks on his skin. Luckily, it wasn't too deep, but the claws tore through his skin as if it were nothing.

As for using heavy trees, Luke discarded the idea. The reason? The speed at which he could move them. It was fast, but not fast enough. Atlas could react in those two or three seconds. The tree's kinetic force upon impact would be great, causing internal injuries—if it wasn't destroyed by Atlas beforehand.

If he used smaller objects, he could move them faster, but their hardness was terrible. They would barely tickle Atlas' mythical bronze skin.

"Damn brat!" Atlas growled, standing up from the ground once again. The number of times he had been sent flying by Luke was countless. His clothes were in tatters, exposing his muscular arms and part of his torso. His skin was scaly, with a sickly pale color.

"For someone over a hundred years old, you don't have much patience," Luke remarked with a slight smile. He, too, would be full of rage if he had only managed to land a scratch on his enemy after fighting at close range for over twenty minutes.

His method was working. Atlas was accumulating internal injuries from all the blows he had taken. He had already coughed up blood several times.

However, if Luke continued down this path, it would be a long and tedious fight. Plus, he couldn't risk taking another scratch—if it were deeper, it could be fatal.

'It's time to use my blue aura,' Luke thought, but just at that moment, Atlas' body began to change.

First, from his pale, bald head, snakes started to emerge, covering his scalp. Now he had a large mane of terrifying serpents.

But that wasn't the most striking change. The lower half of his body began to tremble and shift. The skin stretched and twisted. His legs, once robust and human, elongated and flattened, his muscles and bones transforming beneath the skin in an almost liquid manner.

His ankles rose, his knees fused into a single continuous segment. The texture of his skin changed, becoming a smooth, scaly surface of deep green with golden undertones. The scales gleamed with a subtle glow under the reddish light of the moon.

As the transformation progressed, Atlas' legs curved and flexed in a serpentine manner, adopting the form of a massive snake's tail.

'There they are, his snake hair and reptilian form…' Luke thought with a slight grimace. Things were only getting more complicated.

Atlas didn't utter a word. In his new serpentine form, he began to slither across the ground with imposing agility, his body undulating with far greater speed than before.

Luke raised both hands, aiming at the numerous snakes on Atlas' head—a faint smile formed at the corner of his mouth.

These snakes, while special and sinister in appearance, weren't made of the same tough material as the rest of his skin. Using his telekinesis, he began to rip the snakes from Atlas' head.

The snakes, unable to withstand the telekinetic force, started to detach one by one. In a second, Atlas was bald once again, and Luke crushed the snakes, squeezing them with his telekinesis.

Atlas growled in pain, feeling fresh blood on his head. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, but he continued advancing, more furious than ever.

Luke didn't stand still, watching as Atlas charged at him. Before Atlas could reach his position, Luke made a simple gesture with his extended index, middle, and thumb fingers.

'Shambles,' he thought and vanished from his spot. He reappeared not far away, behind Atlas, who now towered over 10 feet tall. Before Atlas could react, Luke placed his hand on the gorgon's bloody, bald head.

He did this in an instant, having disappeared and floated to reach the height of Atlas' head.

'Let's begin,' thought Luke, as he began using his blue aura to create a realistic telepathic illusion. To do this, he needed to make contact with his victim, and it was even better if he could touch the area near the brain.

To Atlas, he was still fighting Luke in a battle where he was slowly gaining the upper hand, and Luke couldn't keep up.

'An impenetrable skin, but an easy mind to infiltrate,' thought Luke with a slight smile.

If he were an advanced telepath, he could kill Atlas by manipulating his thought waves and creating an explosion in his mind, destroying his brain from the inside. Unfortunately, he didn't have that level of skill yet—and he wouldn't do it even if he could, because if the brain was destroyed, he wouldn't be able to read Atlas' thoughts, and he needed information.

"You, see? A three-aura user is incredibly powerful," commented Edgar, who had been watching the fight from start to finish. If Luke only had two auras, he might be able to fight on equal footing and have the advantage, but defeating Atlas would have been much harder. Killing him, even more so.

If Luke only had telekinesis, he'd be screwed, as he wouldn't be able to look Atlas in the eyes. And if he used a blindfold like he was now, he'd barely be able to dodge Atlas' quick attacks in his normal form. One hit from those claws, and it would be game over.

"Yes. It's time for this century-old gorgon to sleep forever," said Luke, as he stopped touching Atlas' head and stood about two meters in front of him.

'The illusion will last two more minutes. Let's see if my new technique can cut through mythical bronze,' Luke thought, preparing for a powerful attack.

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