Chapter 1016: Northern vs Rughsbourgh [part 3]
Wracked with agony no human should survive, Northern tore himself from the compressive circle. The instant he emerged, he crumpled to the ground, paralyzed.
Having shattered his body to escape the law that made space reject his very structure, his entire bone system wasn’t truly broken—if he remained in that space, it would feel right, because breaking his bones according to that realm’s law was like restoring order.
But the defying process was excruciating.
Rughsbourgh sighed.
"How pitiful. I have an endless reservoir of essence. I can simply do this again."
The air around Northern compressed once more, and the torment returned.
But Northern... he was intimately acquainted with pain.
The second time would never mirror the first. He clenched his teeth, blood spraying from his mouth. He thrust his hand with vicious speed, plunging his entire body forward as crimson squeezed from his wounds.
Rughsbourgh clenched his hands again, but Northern had vanished from sight.
He frowned instantly, whipping his head around to search for him, only to sense something elusive. He twisted quickly, but the side of his arm was cleanly severed by a sharp, invisible blade.
Rughsbourgh’s expression twisted as he stared at his arm, blood streaming down his hand, painting it crimson.
*I can detect every physical object within space... how is he evading my detection?*
The answer was obvious. Northern’s attack wasn’t physical. However, that made it treacherous to counter.
The attacks that struck his body—those he could handle. The real problem was the one that hit him and left no blood, the one that truly concerned him.
That first invisible assault—Rughsbourgh was certain his soul had been affected. And he couldn’t detect it at all, even after it touched his body. The pain registered in his soul, leaving a trace of the attack itself. But that trace had also vanished from his grasp like smoke. Hence his unease.
But Rughsbourgh remained confident he could crush the young wildling.
He had too many trump cards. And Northern, no matter how vast and powerful he seemed, was merely a Sage.
A Sage against a Luminary was madness—unthinkable. Nobody would last three seconds against him, let alone escape his space manipulations and make him bleed repeatedly.
Considering this, Rughsbourgh chuckled softly.
"I must say, you are formidable. A Sage, and yet..."
Rughsbourgh glanced at his shoulders, already healed. He sighed.
"You are truly astounding. But young, and foolish."
He prowled forward.
"Boy, why don’t we collaborate? I have glimpsed the truth of a Luminary and how it paves the path to become a Zenith. And perhaps, I may have discovered what lies beyond a Zenith. Are you not curious? Are you not curious why we were weakened and imprisoned in this pathetic realm of a world?"
Fragments of light coalesced to reform Northern. His brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
Rughsbourgh raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised.
"Don’t tell me you were constantly running to avoid detection?"
Northern tilted his head slightly, still glaring.
"What about it? Since you can sense everything in space, and my speed surpasses even light, it can move faster than space can remember. Plus, I can easily run at that speed after realizing it. You pose obstacles so trivial for me to overcome—it’s why I must implore you to devise something far more challenging."
Rughsbourgh paused, staring blankly for a moment before erupting in booming laughter that seemed to soar into the atmosphere, spreading echoes far and wide.
Northern stared with a disgusted expression.
The roar of laughter eventually receded, and Rughsbourgh’s thick, sharp voice rang out.
"I’m beyond impressed. I’m speechless... Koll was utterly baffled by you. Now I see why—and to make things worse, he can’t kill you?"
Rughsbourgh suddenly squinted.
"The power of Chaos and Void. Why aren’t you using it?"
Northern was still looking with disgust, but this time it was becoming more direct.
"None of your business."
Northern vanished once more. Rughsbourgh snapped his fingers. And Northern was standing before him again.
"...it’s why I must implore you to devise something far... more..."
Northern stopped mid-sentence. He looked down with a puzzled expression, then looked back up at Rughsbourgh.
"You... bastard."
Rughsbourgh’s eyes widened.
*He really did feel it!*
Northern apparently wasn’t bluffing. He could sense the influence of rewind, could somehow notice himself repeating the same actions.
How was that even possible? The concept of time encapsulated everyone and everything. No one should be able to feel its repetition.
Rughsbourgh’s mind churned with a thousand questions running wild.
But in the end, he just sighed and smiled.
Northern examined his own hand. What he was saying had suddenly felt like repetition, and it was even more vivid than before.
Plus something strange was happening. He was having fragmented memories of what he’d said and done before. This was the major reason why he was taking different routes with his abilities—because he’d felt himself use them and was somehow starting again.
It made sense that if Rughsbourgh could control space, he also had an ability over time. However, Northern didn’t think it would be so overpowered. From what he suspected, it was just something to complement his spatial abilities.
’In fact, if what he can do is rewind time... then that would explain his body.’
There was no other explanation, but Northern seemed to fundamentally understand why he was a young boy and almost two years later a grown man in his early thirties.
Northern opened his hands and immediately, rows of flames spread out into the air. Illusioned Hefter appeared in his grasp, the blade catching the harsh light of the sky.
Northern savored the moment, his eyes sharp with focus as he glared at Rughsbourgh. Ice spears also began to manifest around him.
Then they began to shoot forward. Rughsbourgh didn’t move an inch—space either blocked them right in front of him or they were transported elsewhere, so the entire surrounding roared with explosions here and there.
Then Northern inhaled powerfully and exhaled, his eyes narrowing to slits. Then he vanished.