Chapter 1084: Desperate Hold
Northern shivered, the pool of darkness in his eyes retreating to reveal blue irises ringed with exhaustion. A frown creased his brows as he struggled at first to register what stood before him.
More than half of what tormented him was Ulzred—how the Chaos Prince now possessed Ulzred’s soul, and how he had managed to manifest a body.
However, he inhaled deeply and exhaled.
Northern looked down for a moment, thinking...
’The Chaos Prince, so what?’
He looked into Ulzred’s face and extended his hand.
The Chaos Prince looked at his outstretched hand and smiled.
"Are you sure about that? Right now you’re as unstable as wind in a storm, and you know I intend to drain every last torrent of the void from you."
Northern smiled as he looked down. Standing was taking its toll on him because he still had to suppress the void.
"It’s a good thing you’re at least honest with your intentions. That’s the one thing I can’t fault you wretches from the underworld for."
Northern fell silent for a moment.
"Do you mind answering some of my questions first?"
The Chaos Prince nodded.
"How did you get into my soul, and how did you get that body?"
"How did I get into your soul? Honestly, I’m a bit confused myself. All I know is that your soul must have come in contact with some remnant of mine for me to suddenly awaken within you. As for this body, I molded it while trapped in your soul. You know the void is a fundamental precipice of creation—I was able to imperfectly forge this vessel, though gaining control of the void from you will help me complete it."
Northern glared and chuckled.
"You seem awfully sure I’ll give this to you."
The Chaos Prince tilted his head.
"Won’t you? I mean, your soul is being purified from the inside out. Just let it all out already. Or would you rather my father claim it?"
Northern was silent for a moment. Then he raised his head and chuckled again, this time with an eerie edge.
"You think you’re clever? I know what you’re doing."
The Chaos Prince remained indifferent.
"And what would that be?"
"You were devoured by your father. I don’t know how you managed to escape that fate, but I know a large portion of your soul is still trapped within him—that’s why he can command chaos. Right now, you’re weak. You want the void so you can reclaim your other half from your father."
The Chaos Prince stared blankly at Northern for several heartbeats. Then he laughed softly.
"You’re sharp. That’s a quick catch, but you’re wrong. Right now, only a tiny sliver resides within my father’s soul—I slipped it in when he consumed Chaos. In time, I’ll be whole again and swallow the old man along with it."
He sighed and studied Northern.
"We don’t have to be enemies, Northern. You know Ulzred despises you, and I promised to avenge his death before he surrendered his soul to me. But as someone who has sacrificed so much in this life—especially people I loved—I understand where you’re coming from. We don’t have to be enemies. In fact, we could be great friends!"
His eyes lit up with possibility.
But Northern’s face darkened with hostile fury.
"Me? Be friends with you? I despise eating snakes."
The Chaos Prince winced.
"What does eating snakes have to do with being my friend, Northern?"
Northern pointed at him with trembling rage.
"Because you went slithering around the corners of my soul like a damn serpent, and now you want me to call you friend! Let’s not forget you’re here to strip the Void from me. You’re a self-serving snake in the grass, disguising poison as kindness—everything vile about a serpent wrapped in false friendship!"
The Chaos Prince fell silent for a moment, then looked at Northern with an expression that was impossible to read.
"You’re quite hostile, Northern. I’m not your enemy—surrender the void."
Northern glared at the Chaos Prince.
"I don’t think I want to. Not to a self-serving bastard like you."
The Chaos Prince’s face twisted, as if offended by the accusation.
"Self-serving? Isn’t that a bit much? Everything I did, I did for the good of the world. Look at your decision to kill Ulzred—because he was your only way out, wasn’t that self-serving? But you understood you had to do it. Isn’t it rather hypocritical of you to call me self-serving, hmm, Northern?"
Northern lingered for a heartbeat, then chuckled with that eerie edge.
"Hypocritical? I’m painfully hypocritical, and I learned to live with it long ago. What’s new?"
The Chaos Prince stared at him with cold, blank eyes.
Then he shook his head.
"It’s pointless trying to reason with you. Time is of essence, Northern—let the Void go. It’s ironic how the very essence of your soul is purging the void, yet you refuse to release it."
He studied Northern with eyes that sparkled with dangerous interest.
"Have you become intoxicated by the void’s power? I tasted just a sliver and knew true freedom. Having so much... there’s no way you wouldn’t feel like your definition of sleepwalking is riding clouds while snoring."
Northern chuckled again, each laugh serving to suppress his internal struggle, but it was growing more difficult by the second. The strain and sweat beading on his face was beginning to betray him.
"You can flap your mouth and spout whatever nonsense you want—I don’t give a damn. You’re not ready if you think I’ll bite on childish taunts like that. You might as well crawl back to your father and ask him to teach you better. You lack decent lines, brother. Actually, how about I announce your presence now so he can come and absorb you too? Right now you’re so pathetically weak, I bet he wouldn’t even need to break a sweat."
At this, the Chaos Prince’s eyes turned dark and razor-sharp with intensity.
He was silent for a moment, making both the atmosphere and air feel suffocating and ghostly.
"Northern... you don’t have to push this far. I’m a far better man than my father—I give you my word."
Northern laughed bitterly, nodding his head.
"Yes, sure. And you got hunted down by the Sun Origin and imprisoned in a moving tower."
The Chaos Prince’s face darkened furiously.
"The Origins were insufferable! They’re the true definition of self-serving bastards—they treated the rules like they were its creators when they were merely its guardians. The Origins were so drunk on power that they cut down anyone or anything that dared walk the path of Origination. And I tell you, Northern, being worlds apart won’t stop them. You’ll see—one day they’ll come for you too. And you’ll understand that those bastards aren’t the seat of justice. They’re insecure, traumatized children desperately clinging to a crumbling throne!"