Chapter 154 — The Hunter Finds Him
Brook moved first.
The tunnel vanished around him.
One second he stood in front of Henry.
The next—
he was behind Azael.
Brook's elbow drove toward the back of Azael's neck.
Azael turned.
Too late.
The strike landed.
Azael's head snapped forward.
Brook disappeared again.
Azael spun.
Brook reappeared low.
A sweep took Azael's legs.
Before his body hit the ground, Brook was already above him.
A knee came down.
Azael rolled.
Brook's knee shattered stone.
Henry stepped backward.
He had seen Brook fight before.
But this was different.
Brook wasn't angry yet.
That was the frightening part.
He was calm.
Azael rose.
Brook's eyes were fixed on him.
Azael swung.
Brook was gone.
Azael's fist struck empty air.
Brook appeared beside him.
Palm.
Elbow.
Knee.
Azael blocked the first.
The elbow broke through.
The knee struck his ribs.
Azael stumbled.
Brook didn't chase him blindly.
He watched.
Death moved inside him.
Lifeline.
Tension.
Movement.
Brook could see the violence before it happened.
Azael's lifeline shifted.
Brook disappeared.
Azael attacked where he had been.
Brook appeared behind him.
His fist drove into Azael's kidney.
Azael turned.
Brook was gone again.
Henry stared.
"Jesus."
Azael laughed.
Even while bleeding.
"That's better."
Brook appeared in front of him.
Azael attacked.
Brook's body moved before the thought reached his mind.
His head tilted.
The fist passed his cheek.
Devil's Instincts.
Brook's body already knew.
Azael's second strike came.
Brook stepped inside it.
His hand caught Azael's wrist.
His elbow broke against Azael's jaw.
Azael's head snapped sideways.
Brook twisted his arm.
Azael pulled free.
Brook's foot struck his knee.
The joint bent.
Azael roared.
Brook disappeared.
Azael looked around.
"Where?"
Brook appeared behind him.
His hand grabbed Azael's shoulder.
And the two of them disappeared.
Henry froze.
The tunnel was empty.
Then—
an explosion sounded above him.
Stone fell.
Henry looked up.
Nothing.
Another explosion.
Farther away.
Then another.
Brook and Azael reappeared.
Azael slammed into the wall.
Brook appeared above him.
Azael kicked.
Brook vanished.
Azael's foot struck nothing.
Brook appeared beside him.
Fist.
Azael caught it.
Brook vanished.
Azael turned.
Brook's knee struck him in the face.
Azael hit the ground.
Brook landed several feet away.
His breathing remained controlled.
Azael slowly stood.
Blood ran from his mouth.
He smiled.
"You've gotten better."
Brook said nothing.
Henry stared at him.
Brook wasn't fighting for revenge.
Not yet.
He was fighting to win.
That was Brook.
Controlled.
Precise.
Azael spat blood.
Then laughed.
"You always were good at running."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
Azael stepped closer.
"I remember the first time."
Brook didn't react.
Azael smiled.
"Every time you disappear."
Brook's jaw tightened.
"I wonder if that's what you would have done."
Henry looked up.
Azael continued.
"When Sera screamed."
Brook disappeared.
Azael's smile vanished.
Brook appeared directly in front of him.
His fist struck Azael's face.
Azael flew backward.
Brook appeared above him.
Azael struck upward.
Brook vanished.
He appeared behind Azael.
Azael's body had barely turned before Brook's foot struck the back of his knee.
Azael dropped.
Brook appeared in front of him.
His fist drove into Azael's face.
Once.
Twice.
Azael grabbed Brook's wrist.
Brook vanished.
Azael spun.
Brook's elbow struck his temple.
Azael staggered.
Henry stepped forward.
"Brook!"
Brook stopped.
Henry saw his face.
Anger.
Just a little.
Azael saw it too.
He smiled.
"Sera screamed beautifully."
The tunnel went silent.
Brook's body disappeared.
Azael's smile remained for half a second.
Then—
Brook appeared above him.
His foot came down.
Azael raised both arms.
The impact drove him through the stone floor.
The tunnel collapsed.
Henry threw himself backward.
Dust swallowed everything.
"BROOK!"
No answer.
Henry reached for his weapon.
Then—
a body appeared beside him.
Brook.
Henry jumped.
Brook was breathing heavily.
His hands were shaking.
Henry looked toward the hole.
"Are you—"
Brook disappeared.
Azael roared.
Brook reappeared in the hole.
Azael swung.
Brook's Devil's Instincts reacted.
Brook moved before the punch existed.
His body twisted.
Azael missed.
Brook's elbow struck his throat.
Azael stumbled.
Brook's knee struck his ribs.
Brook vanished.
Azael turned.
Brook appeared.
Fist.
Azael blocked.
Brook vanished.
Azael's eyes widened.
Brook appeared above him.
Azael moved.
Brook vanished again.
The fight accelerated.
Henry couldn't follow anymore.
Brook appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared.
Disappeared.
Each time—
another strike.
Azael's face.
His ribs.
His knees.
His throat.
Azael stopped trying to predict where Brook would appear.
He started defending everything.
Brook landed.
Azael swung.
Brook's body moved.
Devil's Instincts.
Brook's mind wasn't telling him to move anymore.
His body simply knew.
Azael struck again.
Brook vanished.
Appeared behind him.
Brook's fist drove into his spine.
Azael screamed.
Brook grabbed him.
They disappeared.
Henry heard the impact somewhere distant.
Then again.
Then again.
Brook was teleporting Azael through the underground world.
Stone.
Walls.
Ground.
Everywhere.
Azael was being used as a weapon.
Then both appeared.
Brook threw him across the chamber.
Azael hit the wall.
The entire structure shook.
Henry stared.
"Brook!"
Brook looked at him.
For a second—
he was himself.
Henry pointed toward his hands.
"Enough."
Brook looked down.
Blood.
Not all of it was his.
Azael laughed.
Weakly.
Brook looked back.
Azael slowly stood.
One arm hung lower than the other.
His face was covered in blood.
Still—
he smiled.
"You stopped."
Brook's breathing slowed.
Henry stepped toward him.
"Good."
Azael looked at Henry.
Then at Brook.
"You weren't there."
Brook went still.
Henry's face changed.
Azael smiled.
"When I had her."
Brook looked down.
Azael continued.
"She looked for you."
Brook's fists closed.
Henry whispered:
"No."
Azael took another step.
"She called for you."
Brook disappeared.
Henry's heart stopped.
Azael looked around.
The tunnel was silent.
Then Brook appeared behind him.
Azael turned.
Brook's fist struck his face.
Azael hit the wall.
Brook appeared again.
Another punch.
Again.
Again.
Henry watched Brook.
This wasn't the same.
Brook's movements were still perfect.
But something had changed.
Before—
Brook teleported to gain an advantage.
Now—
Brook teleported because being anywhere except beside Azael felt impossible.
Azael attacked.
Brook's Devil's Instincts reacted.
Brook disappeared.
Azael attacked again.
Brook appeared.
Countered.
Azael swung.
Brook vanished.
Countered.
Again.
Again.
Brook wasn't thinking.
Henry could see it.
The movements were too fast.
Too perfect.
"Brook!"
Brook didn't answer.
Henry stepped closer.
"BROOK!"
Brook appeared directly in front of him.
Henry froze.
Brook's fist was raised.
The Devil's Instincts had reacted.
Brook's eyes widened.
His fist stopped.
Henry didn't move.
Brook stared at him.
Slowly—
his hand lowered.
Henry swallowed.
"I'm not him."
Brook's breathing became uneven.
Behind them—
Azael laughed.
Brook's head turned.
Henry grabbed his arm.
"No."
Brook looked at Henry.
Henry saw it.
Brook was fighting himself.
Henry said quietly:
"Don't let him decide who you become."
Brook's expression changed.
For a moment—
the anger weakened.
Azael's smile disappeared.
Brook stepped back.
Henry nodded.
"That's it."
Inside Brook—
something moved.
Not physically.
A presence.
For the first time since they entered the underground world—
Michael spoke.
Brook.
Brook stopped.
The voice was distant.
But there.
Brook closed his eyes.
Another presence followed.
A laugh.
Soft.
Almost amused.
Finally.
Brook's eyes opened.
Lucifer.
Henry watched his expression.
"What?"
Brook didn't answer.
Death was already present.
Silent.
Watching.
But now Death reacted.
Brook felt something he had never felt before.
Fear.
Not his.
Death's.
Brook's hand touched his chest.
Michael:Control yourself.
Lucifer laughed again.
Lucifer:Why?
Brook's breathing changed.
Henry stepped closer.
"Brook?"
Death finally spoke.
Not with words.
With a feeling.
Brook's lifeline.
Brook saw it.
For an instant, his perception opened.
His own lifeline stretched through the darkness.
But something was wrong.
It was splitting.
Brook froze.
Azael smiled.
"You hear them too."
Brook looked at him.
Azael laughed.
"You're not alone in there."
Brook's face hardened.
"How do you know?"
Azael stepped forward.
Henry immediately raised his weapon.
Azael ignored him.
He looked directly at Brook.
"Because I know what it looks like."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
Azael smiled.
"To lose yourself."
The words struck deeper than they should have.
Michael's voice returned.
Do not listen.
Lucifer was quiet.
Brook felt Death watching.
Azael moved.
Brook's body reacted instantly.
Devil's Instincts.
Brook disappeared.
Azael turned.
Brook appeared behind him.
But this time—
Brook didn't attack.
He stood there.
Breathing.
Trying to remain himself.
Azael turned slowly.
He smiled.
"You're scared."
Brook's voice was low.
"No."
Azael stepped closer.
"You should be."
Brook's hands trembled.
Not from pain.
From restraint.
Henry watched.
The fight had changed.
Brook wasn't fighting Azael anymore.
Not completely.
Now—
he was fighting himself.
Azael charged.
Brook vanished.
He appeared behind Azael.
Azael spun.
Brook vanished.
Again.
Again.
But Brook wasn't attacking.
He was retreating.
Azael became furious.
"FIGHT ME!"
Brook appeared across the chamber.
Blood covered him.
Both hands damaged.
His breathing uneven.
Henry stood beside him.
Brook looked at Azael.
Then down at his hands.
Michael whispered:
You are still here.
Lucifer remained silent.
Death watched Brook's lifeline.
Brook closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
"I know."
Azael smiled.
"Good."
He lowered his body.
Ready to attack.
Brook raised his hands.
Henry looked at him.
"Brook?"
Brook's eyes remained fixed on Azael.
"Stay behind me."
Henry nodded.
Azael charged.
Brook moved.
The chamber vanished around them.
And this time—
the fight became something else entirely.
End of Chapter 154