Chapter 1015: Northern vs Rughsbourgh [part 2]
Northern shot forward with blurring speed, the lightning in his hands dancing like a maddened whip.
His speed was insane; however, Rughsbourgh stood above Helena and turned his head. Northern’s brows subtly furrowed micromoments before he collided with Rughsbourgh, and a terrible shockwave rippled across the land.
Northern was sent reeling back, colliding with his force of lightning and causing it to rip through his arms and back as he rolled away. Blood splashed out in macabre paint as he rolled on the floor before coming to a stop.
His body was a mess. His back was ripped open such that his spinal cord was visible; his arms were torn too, blood dampening and soaking them in barely a second.
Northern remained on the floor for more than three seconds, gritting his teeth in agony. His body was dangerously durable. The only thing that could have pierced and damaged him so brutally had to be his own attack.
Northern bit through the pain, and chaos began to mend him. First, the muscle fibers of his back flowed and merged together, eventually covering his spinal cord before skin sealed over it.
The Night Terror armor was terribly split—jagged metal shards gaping as if a mighty hand had ripped it apart.
Northern slowly stood and examined the armor on his body. Night Terror armor was in a pitiful state yet still managing to hold together.
He gently grazed the edges of the metal split with his fingers, feeling a sharp pain in his heart—a terrible and uncontrollable ache of loss.
It was difficult to explain, but his heart ached.
He and the armor had come from way back.
Northern was still staring down when his eyes suddenly narrowed to slits, cold blue light radiating from his irises.
"I’m going to fill your last memories with his blood."
Northern hurled himself through space, his speed increasing. The moment he moved, he vanished into fragments of light and sharply reassembled before a blink. His hand, extended like a blade, shot toward Rughsbourgh, completely catching the man off guard.
He had no time to block Northern’s attack because the whole movement had happened while he was clearly still looking at Northern; however, before the light could transform to information on his retina that Northern had moved, Northern had arrived before him.
The space shifted as Northern’s hand reached him. The attack resounded somewhere else behind Northern, causing a wide cleave to suddenly appear across the leveled forest to his left.
However, Northern was grinning—which left Rughsbourgh confused.
He wanted to move but suddenly staggered to the side, his eyes widening as he felt something strike him but couldn’t quite see it.
’A fake?’
Rughsbourgh frowned as Northern straightened, looking at him with a raised head and glinting eyes.
"You bastard. You did something just now, didn’t you? I’ll figure it out on the second trial—don’t worry."
Rughsbourgh’s frown deepened.
’He knows? No. He doesn’t. He felt it. But still, how does that make any sense? Rewind is something that I almost forget myself when I use it on my body. How can he feel it?’
Oblivious to Rughsbourgh’s thoughts, Northern paused and watched, then he moved again.
Rughsbourgh was standing when the hand came from behind him—this time even faster. The movement didn’t register until his hand had fallen. Rughsbourgh’s head shifted by reflex, and Northern’s hand fell on his shoulder.
A massive spray of blood gushed out like a fountain and sprayed Northern’s face and body, marring the broken and nearly shattered armor.
Northern licked the blood on his lips with a cold, dark gaze.
"I am going to enjoy killing you."
Rughsbourgh was silent, but his frown was weary, betraying the uncertainty he tried to suppress.
However, he held out his hand and folded it into a fist. Immediately, Northern felt a crushing force—something was compressing him. He tried to move, but that only caused more agony; his legs twisted out of shape as though this space was not meant to be walked by him.
His entire body felt as though it were constructed wrong and was breaking through every part of his being with excruciating pain.
Northern was a friend of pain. To hurt was painful, and to heal was also painful. However, this pain was like nothing he had ever experienced.
He could not move. He could not fall to his knees or even shift his hand. He was standing, and it felt like he was standing with all his bones in the wrong places. If he tried to kneel, it was as though his femur could tear out of his knee.
Rughsbourgh put his hands behind his back as he walked closer to Northern.
"It is stupid of you to think you can kill me. But I guess I can understand. Koll was right in every sense to be worried about you. You are a dangerous existence."
A grin spread across his face.
"One that I have created myself."
He chuckled pleasantly.
"I have managed to create a masterpiece."
Northern was staring at him. His glare shot like daggers that could stab Rughsbourgh multiple times until he was lying in his own pool of blood.
He then gritted his teeth—his teeth felt inverted, like he was biting his own self, and so trying to grit them was a pain that seemed to ring through his head with madness.
But still he was trying to do it.
Rughsbourgh sighed.
"That is a stupid thing to do. You are being rejected by both the space outside and inside your body. Do not try moving—you will kill yourself."
Northern was forcing a grin out, and blood was dripping from his mouth.
"What’s to fear about that?"
A cracking sound resounded as Northern began to force movement; all the bones connected to his joints were shoving out of his body.
Bones were peeling through his skin. His eyes were stained with blood, and even more blood dripped from his eyes and nose. Standing was painful enough, but moving? Northern felt rejected by the world!
Until he moved.