Chapter 1056: End of the Shadow Enthrall Arc
The hall where they all stood fell silent. Everyone stared at Northern from afar, but none dared approach him. Emotions rippled through the air, etched across their faces.
Doubt. Displeasure. Arrogance. Contempt.
It was all quite understandable—they had reigned as the strongest in the Tharion Citadel. Even when Northern joined, most knew nothing about it because they were scattered across the continent on missions.
It was difficult to accept him, yet even more difficult to displace him. Worse still, the boy didn’t seem to care.
Gourdon, however, seemed pretty friendly with Northern already.
Northern had gotten the full story of everything that had happened up until this point. He was currently sharing what he knew about the entire disaster unfolding—who Koll was and what exactly the bastard wanted to do.
With each word he uttered, Thalen’s face grew paler.
But at some point, Northern paused, causing Gourdon to ask with a slightly worried expression, "Are you alright, buddy?"
Northern’s expression drifted out of focus for a moment. Then he blinked and regarded them both with serious eyes.
"The Shadow Enthrall..."
Gourdon looked confused at first, but caught on barely a second later.
"Oh. What about it? Defeated it already?"
Northern frowned.
"That’s what I would have loved to say, but unfortunately, killing that bastard is going to be more difficult than I thought."
Gourdon flashed his teeth.
"Oh? Mind telling me about it."
Northern shifted his gaze to him.
"It has more than three bodies. Apparently, it can create multiple clones... the bastard copied my ability."
Gourdon’s frown deepened, though his eyes remained hidden, the tension showed in his expression.
Thalen spoke, his voice thick with concern.
"Right, you said you’d fought it once... what exactly happened?"
Northern exhaled.
"It fled. And seemed to have inherited some qualities of my soul. I think because of that, it can do what I was able to do while fighting it."
Gourdon folded his arms and grinned.
"So thanks to you, the monster got stronger?"
Northern responded flatly.
"That’s one way to look at it."
The three fell silent for several seconds. Then Thalen’s voice cut through the quiet.
"So... what are you going to do?"
Northern sighed, and his eyes began radiating soft blue light.
"I might have to step in myself... but don’t worry... this won’t even take a minute."
He looked at Thalen and pointed toward the balcony.
"Can I use that for a bit?"
Thalen nodded.
"You’re free to use wherever you like."
Northern smiled.
"Thank you."
Then he moved forward with gentle, calm steps. He stood at the balcony, leaped, and landed softly on the terrace railing.
He looked around, his gaze somewhat distant. Then he closed his eyes, trying to extend his spatial awareness as far as possible.
’Even in this darkness, the wind exists. And the wind is a force that lets me cut. If I simply apply the same principle I used with Black Lance... I think I should be able to do the same thing with the air... without necessarily having to move much.’
Of course, Northern didn’t know at this point that he was beginning to walk the path of the will.
Unless you possessed sharpened will, it was impossible to force the wind into action. That’s why, often, Drifters with elemental talent could create their own fire, air, or water.
Because the forces of the world, however common they might seem, were still forces of the world. They required a will so powerful and tyrannical to be moved.
And Northern’s Will, even though unrefined, was tyrannical enough to make the world tremble in fear. He just never realized it.
The wind obeyed him.
It was the swiftest, most silent attack Northern had ever executed.
He simply made the wind capable of cutting. Every current became a blade that could slice apart both soul and body.
As the wind flowed softly, it began severing the soul of every threatening monster. Northern’s spatial awareness easily reached where two of his clones were battling. Easy as a walk in the park, the monsters’ bodies began falling to the ground with absolutely no visible wounds.
Every single one—even the darkness that shrouded them, which was an extension of its soul—Northern was cutting with Wind Blade.
After a few seconds, the wind slowly began to disperse. The dark clouds above them dissipated, and light began breaking through.
Meanwhile, Northern looked down.
[Congratulations, you have slain an Apex Destroyer]
[You have gained 24 talent fragments]
[You have slain a creature transformed by Chaos, Void and Omniform]
[You have killed a rare phenomenon, first of its kind]
[You have gained 1,000 talent fragments]
[Omniform is absorbing the soul of this creature]
[Omniform is expanding]
[Omniform is transforming...]
[This transformation may take a while; however, it will not hinder your activities]
Northern frowned.
’Strange... I guess it only makes sense for Omniform to transform... but why is it going to take time?’
He sighed and discarded the thought, then turned back to the room.
He was almost unnerved by the stares. Everyone was looking at him—shocked, stunned, and disbelieving.
"Whaaaaat? For reaaaal? Are you kidding me?"
Zeek’s mouth gaped so wide it looked ready to detach.
"This is incredible... I’ve never seen anything like it. Gourdon couldn’t defeat it for days... and he..."
Rank 5 Zaire was already speaking carelessly before remembering that Gourdon was nearby and quickly stopped himself.
Nova, leaning on Lira’s shoulder, eyes sparkling, said, "But seriously. Did this guy just accomplish in one minute what we all couldn’t do in three days? No wonder the Headmaster goes all soft around him."
"Nova..."
Lira cautioned, but the Queen of Boom didn’t care.
"Am I lying? He’s been all gentle and careful around the boy, right?"
She looked at the rest of them.
Zeek adjusted his glasses. "I have no idea what you’re talking about. The Headmaster seems pretty normal to me."
He grinned and bowed gently toward Northern. "Kind sir, is there anything you might need?"
Northern regarded the short boy with a guarded expression. All their gazes had suddenly shifted—they were smiling, either intrigued or struck by curiosity.
"I’m fine... thank you for the kind offer."
He walked past Zeek politely.
"You worthless pig, is that what you’re going to stoop to?"
Nova yelled at Zeek.
But Zeek merely lowered his glasses slightly and peeked over the top.
"What do you mean stoop to? I’m merely following the Headmaster’s example. And pigs aren’t worthless! They cost a fortune!"
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