Chapter 1074: Bullying the World
Northern dove straight into the gaping chasm, pursuing both Origins as they collided and clashed with earth-shattering force.
His distance was vast compared to theirs, even as he traveled at insane speed. The terrain seemed to be folding inward, as if the world itself was fleeing from them.
Each strike drove the ground level further away. The side walls caved inward, and their collision created a persistent rhythm—melodic yet hideous. It threatened to rupture his eardrums even from this impossible distance.
Sound had always been Northern’s Achilles’ heel.
Regardless, he surged faster, as fast as he could manage, and spent essence to accelerate even further.
He manifested two more clones. Burning Flames rocketed forward with a devastating shockwave and exploded ahead with blistering speed, leaving the two behind.
Immediately, Northern shifted his perspective.
He hurtled forward at breakneck speed. His growing velocity and natural ability to build momentum—using it to catapult his speed even further—proved invaluable, and he was finally within sight.
At that moment, their swords clashed again.
Northern saw white.
He blanked out for a heartbeat. The next instant, he was embedded in a wall, as if crushed by the world itself.
Blood erupted from his mouth as he bit his tongue, instinctively trying to mutter:
"Crap."
He didn’t peel off the wall and drop. Instead, the walls buckled and shattered, and the wind—the wall of stone, everything—fled even further from the collision, dragging him along. His body tore through the ground with savage speed.
He came to rest somewhere deep underground, buried with only a tunnel leading to the epicenter of the vicious battle raging between two Origins.
Northern slowly stood and slammed his knee.
"Damn! I want to see the fight!"
Still stubborn. He shot forward, but was met by a force that sent him tumbling through the air. His head cracked against the underground wall, crushing a section before he slumped to the ground.
He remained in that position for several moments before sitting up. Blood painted half his face crimson.
He sat cross-legged for a moment.
’Let’s think... what’s happening here?’
To him, it seemed the impact of their collision was so devastating that the very fabric of the world was unraveling. Or were these shockwaves?
Northern frowned and shook his head.
"Will."
It had to be that.
’Wait... but how can Origins will override that of the world?’
He was confused for a moment, it made no sense. But then, when he thought about it.
Ul’Tra-el was a world that existed as a unified whole. What was to say that because of the world’s separation, the will of the world had also been fractured? In other words, it was possible for an Origin’s will to override that of Tra-el.
That would explain why the world seemed to be running away.
’I mean... it’s two Origins fighting.’
Northern paused for a moment. Another person weighing on his mind was Terence.
’I don’t know why Ul can’t descend with her own body, but isn’t fighting at such intensity within a human’s fragile form putting Terence in mortal danger?’
Northern buried his face in his hands and sighed, then stood up.
"The world won’t part for me to pass. It’s too terrified and just wants to escape whatever’s happening up there. Weak-ass world."
Northern closed his eyes.
’Can I rely on Chaos Eyes? They’ve existed even before Chaos.’
He opened his eyes, but there was nothing. No extra sight beyond the pitch darkness stretching before him.
’No Chaos Eyes. Chaos has been purged from every fiber of my body and soul. Disappointing but relieved.’
Instead, he could feel a continuous flow of... nothing. Everything.
’Hmm... strange. Perhaps I could get back All Eyes? Or has Chaos consumed it totally...’
What he didn’t know was how to exactly to do that. And he would definitely think more about that but first he needed to overcome his current predicament.
’Is it possible to use brute force to shatter the world’s will and break through?’
Northern exhaled.
’Before I decide that, let me check on the others.’
He closed his eyes.
His real body was trapped in the same situation, and Titan’s Reckoning as well. Each imprisoned in different sections beneath the earth crust.
He sighed and shook his head.
’I guess I’ll have to try brute force then.’
Northern rose to his feet again, rolling his shoulders as the underground pressure gnawed at his bones.
First, he recalled Burning Storm and Titan’s Reckoning. Then he stared forward.
"Fine... let’s see if you can hold against me."
The air in the cavern was stale, unmoving. But Northern didn’t need it to come from anywhere—he made the wind.
It began as a low breath that escaped his lips, then thickened into a slow spiral around him, pulling threads of dust and gravel into its wake. Each inhalation fed it, each exhalation honed it, until the entire tunnel trembled under the gathering tempest.
Northern was learning subtly. He knew how it felt—Will. And he was pouring everything into weaving it through every use of his talent abilities.
’I wonder if Kryos would have still been able to corrupt my ice mountains if I had been more conscious about manifesting them with my will.’
Nothing would have changed, because the quality of his will was still painfully immature. In fact, immature was an understatement. But still, it was worlds apart from an ordinary talent ability manifestation.
The difference was heaven and earth. If a talent ability manifested with will was human, a talent ability manifested without will was a hollow doll that merely looked human.
So Northern made sure to not just command the wind—he inscribed his will into its very essence.
It wasn’t mere air now, but an extension of his intent:
’Move. Break. Carve a path.’
The swirling current howled, compressing tighter, folding into invisible blades that shrieked against the unseen wall keeping him trapped. The resistance pushed back, thick and suffocating, like trying to slice through the concept of "No" itself.
Northern gritted his teeth, veins bulging along his neck.
"Don’t care... if you’re the world’s will... or the will of a frightened dog..."
He snapped his arms outward, and the spiral detonated into hundreds of cutting gusts, their edges keening with the fury of his intent. The walls screamed—yes, screamed—as the press of resistance finally cracked.
For a heartbeat, the force that held him wavered.
Northern didn’t hesitate. He condensed all the remaining gale into a single forward thrust—a blade of pure wind wrapped in the essence of Go Through—and rammed it into the fracture.
The air burst forward like a flood escaping a dam. The oppressive will shattered before him.
Northern smirked darkly with his bloodied face.
"Looks like you can be bullied."
Without another thought, he shot forward, the winds carrying him toward the roaring epicenter where two Origins were still locked in their cataclysmic battle.