Chapter 1083: His Return
The moment Northern took flight, he lost all sense of direction. He was driven purely by the urgent need to put as much distance between himself and Kryos as possible.
The instant he launched into the air, he discovered that his speed had multiplied tenfold. The silver lining was that his body could withstand the impact without disintegrating. He was as light as a feather, yet his speed was overwhelming.
He flashed over a group of people below. When he tried to slow down, his velocity was so extreme that controlling it became a struggle. Just as he began to grasp it, he came crashing straight into the monster.
The collision sent a shockwave rippling outward, generating such tremendous force that the monster’s entire body convulsed violently before staggering backward. The colossal abomination lost its footing and slowly toppled over.
The entire landscape groaned like tearing metal as the creature plummeted earthward. Upon impact, the ground fractured and split apart.
The first tremor, as the monster staggered back, came like a muffled growl from deep beneath the earth—a low vibration that rattled pebbles and whispered through the soles of Jeci’s feet. Then, as it fell, the ground shuddered in earnest—an uneven, lurching pulse that seemed to pull the world sideways.
Massive rocks and nearby valleys groaned as if in agony. Deep cracks spider-webbed across the ground and spread like wildfire. Jeci, who was on the surface, leaped like a grasshopper from place to place without rest until the fracturing earth finally stilled.
At that moment, the land’s tortured groaning had faded, and everyone stared ahead with shock etched on their faces.
But their stupor shattered when they suddenly saw Northern rise into the air and streak away, continuing his flight.
Raven’s voice boomed like thunder.
"Something is wrong with him..."
Eli looked skyward because her voice seemed to cascade from the heavens, echoing everywhere. When he turned to Raven, all four of her wings spread wide as she soared forward.
"Hey! Wait!"
He tried to stop her, but it was useless—she flew with blistering speed.
Jeci, still on the ground, furrowed her brow. She had heard Raven say something was wrong with her master, and suddenly, restlessness consumed her entirely.
Lynus watched her from above with a cold frown, as if he knew exactly what she was about to do.
In that instant, Jeci shot forward, running with tremendous power and determined to cross before the Leviathan awakened.
Lynus shook his head and dove down. He scooped her up and lifted her off the ground, flying back up.
Jeci kicked her legs and struggled against Lynus’ grip.
"Argh! What do you think you’re doing?!"
"That’s what I should be asking you. If that thing awakens while you’re down there, forget about your master—you won’t even be able to save yourself."
Jeci snarled and continued fighting against his hold, but it was futile. Lynus possessed superior raw strength.
"It’s better than doing nothing."
Lynus scoffed.
"It’s reckless."
She frowned.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Lynus flew forward, toward the torn sky. He wasn’t as swift as Raven, but he was reasonably fast.
Eli and Thalen remained behind, staring at the shredded sky that looked like fabric torn in multiple places, and the fallen Leviathan that would most likely begin stirring at any moment.
"Uhm, should we also go after him?"
Eli frowned at Thalen’s words.
"What? Then who will take care of this?"
Thalen chuckled dryly.
"I mean, we certainly can’t. Besides, it’s marching forward—the Tyrant is ahead, and so is the Origin. It should be as much of a nuisance to them as it is to us. Moreover, I hate to say this, but if we want to defeat this thing, we’ll probably have to reach Sage Rian and get his help. It’s a shameless thing to say, I know."
Eli shook his avian head and sighed.
"So we’re going to ditch?"
Thalen looked down at him.
"Do you have any brighter ideas?"
The two fell silent for a moment. Then Eli spread his wings and flapped them powerfully, causing the wind to shudder. He used the wind to propel himself forward and spiraled off, with Thalen protected by an orb of air that prevented him from falling.
***
Northern flew forward with all his might. The landscape blurred at breakneck speed—so fast it made him dizzy—and the terrain below had transformed so many times he’d lost count.
His destination was the far edge of the Dark Continent: the Sleeping Mountains.
Northern carried painful memories tied to that place, but he felt that in the time it would take Kryos to reach him, he should be able to figure something out.
For now, he was desperately trying not to let the Void escape. It was like fighting the urge to vomit but holding it back. This time, however, the "vomit" wasn’t just threatening to spill from his mouth—it wanted to pour from every part of his body.
So he had to tense his entire frame while flying at terrifying speed.
After several more landscape changes, the mountains came into view. Northern barely had control of his velocity—turning was difficult, and stopping proved more disastrous than he’d anticipated.
It would take much longer to master than it had the last time, because this transformation was too drastic.
He hurtled straight toward the mountain and crashed into it like a falling meteor. A massive shockwave rippled from the mountain into the sky.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself in a cavern that his impact had carved. His entire body pulsed with strange vibrations. His eyes suddenly turned black like pools of liquid darkness, obsidian spots appeared across his skin, and something was being violently expelled.
The process was indeed furious and dangerous. Omniform was taking no chances, purging every trace of foreign energy from his body.
Northern was desperately trying to control it all—trying to keep it contained. But the truth was, he didn’t understand how this strange attribute worked. He couldn’t determine the best way to suppress it or control it to filter what should be expelled.
And he was frantically trying to stop it because he really didn’t want to lose his summons.
But now... it looked inevitable.
Northern gritted his teeth in agony. Even his white teeth were turning black, stained by liquid darkness.
Then something unexpected happened.
"How about I help?"
Northern heard a familiar voice.
He recognized the voice all too well—many nights at the Academy had been sleepless for him. What he rarely spoke about was how deeply his experiences in the Dark Continent haunted his dreams. Especially those he regretted killing.
And in such situations, there was only one instance. Northern had no choice but to kill Ulzred because the boy was the rift’s core. But he still despised it to his very bones. He loathed the decision he’d made, hated himself utterly for it.
A boy he had personally taken as his student. Yet killed with his own hands.
Every night, Ulzred visited his dreams.
"Teacher, don’t you miss me?"
Sometimes, the White Walker boy even pursued him. It was worse because Northern knew that somewhere in his soul, Ulzred’s spirit lingered. He was also trapped in the Limitless Void, seething with tremendous hatred toward his killer and never willing to walk the path of purification like other monsters did.
But just as he always did, he was too frightened to confront what he should have. He always told himself as an excuse that when he reached that bridge, he would cross it.
He probably thought he’d never have to reach the bridge, or believed there would be enough time.
But fate was merciless. And swift too—it caught up fast.
Northern, with trembling brows and his liquid darkness eyes also quivering, slowly turned.
Standing before him was a boy the height of a teenager. His eyes were icy blue, his hair black and tousled. He had green skin and strange arcane markings running across his body.
"Teacher... it’s great to see you again."
Northern frowned.
’Am I dreaming...’
The boy scratched his hair for a moment and shook his head.
"That’s a cute thing to say... ha ha... Teacher, I wish I had one too."
Northern’s frown deepened.
"You... you are not Ulzred."
The boy chuckled lightly.
"Of course I’m not. Your soul was so overwhelmed by everything that wanted to be there, it took a while to find one that didn’t want to. I merely took the boy’s soul to preserve my dying own."
Northern remained wary, scowling at the figure before him. He hesitated.
"Wh... Who are you?"
The boy pointed to himself, chuckling.
"Me? Oh, me! I’m the Chaos Prince. I prefer Anki—that’s my birth name, after all. So yes, please, Northern, call me Anki."