The old man, Tommy, was wiping down his hunting rifle. Sensing Luke's gaze, he turned his head.
His weathered eyes were filled with exhaustion.
"Young man, if I were you, I'd leave this place immediately. Run as far as you can. Crystal Lake isn't as beautiful as the internet makes it out to be."
Tommy glanced at Madison and Maria following behind Luke, paused, then added with clear implication, "Especially for someone like you."
"An immortal vengeful spirit is sealed here. It can appear anywhere nearby, at any time. Believe me—you absolutely don't want to encounter it."
Luke caught the subtle change in Tommy's expression the moment he said it. There was hatred there—and fear.
That wasn't the fear one felt toward a ghost.
It was fear reserved for something closer to gods or demons.
War God Tommy… was even he afraid of Jason?
"Come on, old man. Not even an eight-year-old would believe a story like that."
Madison, bold and sharp-tongued as ever, clearly had no intention of taking a frail-looking old man seriously.
Tommy smiled faintly, his tone carrying an indescribable heaviness.
"Children, of course, won't be afraid—because he doesn't harm children. He waits for them to grow up… and then harvests them, one by one."
Maria shuddered violently. For reasons she couldn't explain, a chill crawled up her spine.
A voice deep in her heart screamed at her.
Run.
It wasn't a sixth sense.
It was her—Airam.
For the first time, Airam was speaking to her without the mirror.
"Luke… Madison… how about we go somewhere else?"
Maria tugged lightly at Luke's sleeve and said quietly but firmly, "I'm not feeling very well. I feel a little dizzy."
Maria's pale face flushed slightly from lying.
Hearing this, Luke subconsciously checked Maria's status through the Reality Editor.
After registering anomaly targets, Luke could already modify their intrinsic values.
He had also recorded their abilities into the Reality Editor, allowing him to equip them onto himself at any time.
Maria provided an ability called Dark Personality, which could manifest a rational, cold-minded alternate personality.
When facing danger, this dark personality would be immune to most negative mental influences and could exert nearly all of the body's potential strength.
Madison, on the other hand, provided Luke with both a skill and a talent: Telekinesis and Wizard Bloodline (Madison).
Neither Telekinesis nor Wizard Bloodline occupied skill slots. They directly became part of Luke's instincts and constitution.
He now possessed the same exceptional Wizard talent as Madison and had successfully awakened magical power, granting him the ability to learn magic from the American Horror Story universe.
Madison's magical talent was terrifyingly strong even within the American Horror Story: Coven world.
Her potential was so overwhelming that even the current Supreme Witch, Fiona, considered her a threat.
Fearing this, Fiona killed Madison before the Seven Wonders trial to select the next Supreme Witch could even begin.
With that same talent now in his possession, Luke would naturally have no difficulty mastering the Seven Wonders as well.
Of course, that would require further study at the Witch Academy.
Although the American Horror Story worldview isn't as vast as Marvel's, it runs incredibly deep.
Ordinary people may be fragile, but the witches casually toy with resurrection, time reversal, and teleportation.
Even in the Marvel Universe, abilities like those are absurdly overpowered.
Luke didn't detect anything abnormal when checking Maria's status, nor did he switch her to the Dark Airam personality.
However, within the 3D stereoscopic view, he suddenly noticed a massive red dot entering the 700-meter alert range.
Shifting the view toward it, he saw a burly figure—half his body encased in metal, wearing Jason's iconic hockey mask, a huge machete clenched in his hand—walking straight toward them.
[Anomaly detected — Murderer Jason. 100 Anomaly Points obtained.]
"Is this… Space Jason X?"
Luke raised an eyebrow. Good grief—starting in the final form right from the beginning?
Jason's speed was frightening. He appeared to be walking slowly, yet each step covered the distance of two normal steps.
And that wasn't all—
He could also teleport!
This was the hallmark ability of the vengeful spirit Jason—always appearing suddenly in the most impossible places, delivering terrifying surprises at the worst possible moments.
"Damn it—hurry up and leave!"
At that moment, Tommy suddenly grew agitated, his gaze darting around restlessly.
"I can feel his aura. There's no mistake—it's him!"
"He… he's back again!"
Maria was completely bewildered by this, while Madison snapped irritably, "Can you speak clearly? Don't you know people who talk in riddles are the worst?!"
Tommy said nothing. His sharp eyes were like those of a veteran soldier, brimming with killing intent.
"It's Jason. A vengeful spirit." Luke turned his head slightly to the right, explaining to Madison without looking back.
"The vengeful spirit is approaching. Tommy, how many times has Jason been resurrected?"
Tommy looked at Luke in shock, hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly, "Since I first killed Jason at the age of ten, he's been resurrected at least ten times. And… I suspect someone is deliberately resurrecting Jason."
"I've been stationed at Crystal Lake for ten years, just to find the person hiding in the shadows. But… they seem to have a very powerful organization backing them. They always manage to lure me away at critical moments, then secretly study Jason's power."
Luke's expression turned serious when he heard that.
He wasn't afraid of vengeful spirits evolving.
What he was afraid of were arrogant fools who believed they could research and harness the power of vengeful spirits.
People like that often only made such entities even more terrifying.
In just a few moments, when Luke looked back at Jason, he had already reached the outskirts of the resort campsite.
And there, inside a small patch of thick shrubs, a man and a woman were passionately indulging their most primitive desires.
"Oh~ Karl, there are still eighteen balloons left—we need to hurry!"
"Kelly, I'm cumming—oh, shit! You bastard, can't you see we're busy?!"
"Karl, ignore that asshole, keep going! Fuck me!"
"No, I can't! My little brother's scared stiff! Please, bro, wake up! Come on! Damn it! Maybe I'll never be a man again!"
"If that's the case… then you be the 0, and I'll be the 1—ah!!!"
"Bloody Murder!!!"
"Help!"
The entire resort campsite instantly descended into chaos.
People screamed as they fled in every direction.
Jason, drenched in blood, advanced with heavy, steady steps. When a muscular man dared to rush at him, Jason casually swung his blade and decapitated him, as effortlessly as slaughtering livestock.
"Stay here. Don't move. I'll be right back."
Luke turned his head and instructed Madison and Maria.
Madison hadn't yet gone to the Witch Academy for formal training. With only basic Telekinesis, she was no match for Jason at all.
Luke remembered that in the Friday the 13th series, there had once been a girl with supernatural powers who, even after her parents were killed, had exhausted every method and still failed to kill Jason.
In the end, it was her deceased father—returning as a vengeful spirit—who dragged Jason into Crystal Lake, barely managing to seal him away.
Hearing Luke, Madison swallowed her eagerness and nodded reluctantly.
Maria was about to speak when her attention was suddenly drawn to Luke's right palm.
Zzzzt—!
Scattered arcs of electricity burst into existence, wild and chaotic like tangled hair, dancing across Luke's palm.
As he slowly clenched his fist, the lightning sharply converged inward, as if finding its true form.
The sharp crackle of thunder subsided for half a second, then erupted again—this time as an even more piercing, high-pitched shriek, like countless raptors screaming at once.
Madison was stunned. Another new ability.
Just how many kinds of magic did Luke know?
"Th-this is…"
Maria felt her worldview collapse. Her best friend was actually a superhero?
"This is… Chidori."
Luke raised his right palm. Violent lightning was forcibly compressed into the narrow space of his hand, condensing into a spherical, high-energy mass.
It contained terrifying power—enough to tear steel apart—and made the air itself tremble.
The pure blue lightning glow not only caused Tommy, who had been raising his gun, to freeze in shock, but also drew Jason's attention.
The merciless red light in Jason's eyes was momentarily overwhelmed by the brilliance of the lightning.
In the next instant,
Luke vanished.
Jason's eyes flickered.
Then he saw the stunned expressions on Tommy's face—and on the two women behind him.
Jason realized it at once.
He was behind him.
Boom!!