Barry stood tall, chest lifted, beneath the dark clouds as thunder gathered and roared above, echoing his furious rage.
Yellow electric arcs crackled beneath his feet, snapping and crackling against the dust suspended in the air.
He stood like the god of thunder and war amid the storm, bathed in yellow lightning. Thunder rumbled above him, crowning him with a halo of wrathful electricity.
Barry's face was contorted in anger, faint blue veins bulging across his skin, intertwining with the flashing yellow arcs. Lightning surged wildly across his eyes until it formed into a crazed, crackling pupil. His hair whipped upward in the turbulent energy.
Bruce's blood was splattered across the ground. His bloodshot, pain-filled eyes reflected Barry's fury. Seeing Bruce bleeding to protect him made Barry's rage erupt uncontrollably.
For years, they had been relentlessly hunted by the organizations under the Barmulodi banner. Fleeing helplessly, betrayed by some, hunted by others, and abandoned even more.
All the grief, the suffering of those years, compounded by the sight of Bruce's blood—his hatred for Barmulodi surged to its peak.
As the yellow lightning surged, the Speed Force awakened within him, merging with his emotion.
It ignited instantly. It exploded.
The environment became dangerously unstable, filled with a suffocating, oppressive atmosphere.
Barry stepped forward, like a golden god of war. The arcs of yellow lightning curled around him, his anger sizzling and flaring wildly.
Wherever he stepped, the ground cracked beneath him.
In a flash of thunder—
Boom!
A hole tore open in the storm-charged air.
It was as if the world, like plastic wrap, had been pierced by Barry. A terrifying yellow arc trailed close behind him as he moved.
It was as if Barry had stepped through a portal in reality. A massive sonic boom burst outward, and the shrill tearing of space echoed into the sky. Even the dark clouds above were momentarily stunned. Thunder recoiled in alarm.
In one quiet instant, the world erupted into its most violent upheaval.
Constantine's body tensed. In that instant, every cell screamed danger. Every trace of magical energy in his body warned him of the catastrophic power in Barry's wrath.
The magic within him surged uncontrollably, flooding into his brown trench coat. Mysterious lines, like a glowing circuit board, appeared across the coat. Blue energy connected back to the Ω symbol on his back.
The Omega symbol flared with brilliant light, casting a deep, dark-blue glow. A powerful magic circle formed, shrouding Constantine in a dense magical shield. His silhouette became obscured behind its glow.
At that moment—
Barry struck.
His speed was terrifying, as though one step had broken through the boundaries of space. He was already in front of Constantine.
Yellow lightning surged behind him, arcs rolling violently around his body, tearing the air to shreds. The blast of displaced air and the dust clouds were just now catching up to where he had run.
Barry's expression was crazed with rage. Veins bulged across his face, the arcs around him roaring violently. He slammed his yellow-charged fist into the dense, dark-blue magic shield.
Bang!
The yellow lightning collided with the shield like metal against steel. Arcs spread across the surface like writhing snakes before instantly vanishing.
A dull, drum-like boom echoed through the air.
Where Barry's fist struck, the sonic boom sent shockwaves tearing through the surrounding forest. Trees were uprooted, soil exploded, and the air rippled violently from the impact.
The compounded kinetic energy, built up in just 200 meters, had become monstrous.
The dark-blue shield was blasted into the air by the force. Its surface rippled wildly like stormy waves. Though invisible, the barrier was pushed to its limit. As it flew higher, the ripples thinned until the outline of Constantine's body became visible through the weakening shield.
Constantine felt like he'd been hit by a train. His organs twisted. His handsome face was clenched in agony. His heart beat out of rhythm, pulsing erratically. The internal vibrations rushed up through his chest.
Pffft…
He coughed a mouthful of bright red blood inside the nearly-transparent barrier, staining his white shirt. The sharp scent of blood filled his nose, and his ears began to ring violently. The pain in his eardrums became unbearable. His vision blurred, and with one breath, he forced out the last of his magical power, barely maintaining the shield.
But Barry didn't stop.
His furious gaze locked on the shield in the air. Yellow arcs erupted from his feet again, swirling around him.
His right hand began to spin, guiding the lightning from his entire body into his palm, forming a whirling vortex of yellow electricity.
Sand and gravel lifted into the air with the whirlwind. A thunderous tornado was beginning to form.
Barry abruptly stopped.
A spinning sphere of lightning shot from his hand, following the arc of his throw. The crackling sphere struck the magic shield with blinding speed.
The barrier rippled violently, and then.
It shattered.
With a sharp screech, the magic shield disintegrated under the friction. Constantine's trench coat was ripped apart, molecularly disintegrated by the blast.
"Ahhh!!"
Constantine screamed. The lightning sphere exploded into thousands of tiny arcs, stabbing into his body and seizing him violently.
He fell from the sky, twitching uncontrollably like a madman.
After delivering the strike, Barry's enraged expression turned to one of deep concern.
Behind him, the shockwave he had created hadn't yet fully arrived. The delayed dust and force surged forward, sending massive waves of air into the sky. The thick dark clouds seemed to rip open, torn apart by the sheer violence of his speed.
Barry found Bruce among the shattered trees and pulled him into his arms, weeping.
The scene was like a battlefield. It painted a sorrowful oil painting with raw, heavy strokes.
Sunlight shone through a gap in the clouds, casting a single beam into the broken forest.
Barry stood there, upright in his grief. His face was pained. Bruce lay in his arms, his eyes blind and filled with blood. His hands hung lifelessly at his sides.
(To be continued.)
***
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