’What in the world is taking this damned origin so long?’
Or had Ul already won?
Northern’s body was now so frigid that ice shards spread across his skin, cold mist emanating from his form.
Chaos Prince had reached his side, Titan also staring with a pale and sullen expression.
"Part...ner..."
Frosted air formed from his mouth as he spoke.
"You and... Titan... help me deliver the blow needed..."
He breathed raggedly.
"...to shatter this thing."
Northern was in a pitiful state—it was evident he was dying. His ten seconds had felt eternal, but as Chaos Prince landed and yanked him from his thoughts, everything suddenly accelerated.
"But... Partner—"
Chaos Prince stopped abruptly as the thermal foundation gave way with a sound like reality tearing.
Northern felt the absolute zero reach its breaking point within his body—his heart struggling against the impossible cold, his essence circuits freezing solid. But in that final second, he sensed it: a hairline fracture in the sphere’s base where the thermal circulation had completely collapsed.
He released the technique and stumbled backward, gasping as he flooded his system with scorching heat. Steam rose from his skin as his body temperature normalized.
He pointed at a section of the sphere that now flickered, the darkness wavering like a mirage.
"There! Strike that exact spot—now!"
Titan and Chaos Prince moved simultaneously.
Using [Colossal Force], Titan’s fist connected with the fractured point. At the same instant, Chaos Prince hurled a javelin that glistened with lustrous, solidified darkness.
Both strikes connected simultaneously, and the impact sent spiderwebbing cracks racing up the sphere’s surface. The darkness began peeling away in sheets, revealing glimpses of what lay within.
The sphere collapsed like a punctured balloon.
Northern’s heart nearly stopped at what he saw.
Kryos knelt in the center of a devastated crater, his body covered in wounds that leaked silver blood. His breathing was labored, his famous composure completely shattered. But he was alive.
Ten feet away, Terence lay motionless, her armor cracked and her face ashen. But Northern could see the faint rise and fall of her chest through the weak red waves of life still flowing through her.
Northern stared, confused, muttering.
"He defeated Ul?"
Kryos slowly, unsteadily stood and looked around—at the darkness shrouding the land because of red sands covering the clouds, at the devastated landscape.
His expression was indifferent, his face scarred, his amber eyes slightly dimmed.
"Ahhh..."
He then looked at Terence—Ul, of course—lying on the ground.
He took a deliberate step forward, then another, advancing steadily.
Northern frowned and vanished, appearing before Terence.
Kryos tilted his head, studying Northern as if trying to remember who he was. At the last moment, his eyes gained a flicker of recognition and a smile spread across his face.
"You..."
The smile vanished as the next word followed.
"You..."
He regarded Northern darkly.
"What are you doing?"
Northern summoned the Illusioned Hefter, his expression stark and unwavering.
"What does it look like? Taking a leisurely stroll and just happened to pass by a lady in distress? And as common sense dictates... being the gentleman I am, I must help a lady in need. Damn, I left my shining armor with that green-haired bastard."
He chuckled lightly, then wore a dark grimace as he faced Kryos.
"Fuck off, you shell of nut."
Chaos Prince on the sidelines suddenly clutched his stomach. He tried restraining his laughter, but it proved impossible—he burst out, releasing an obnoxious cascade of laughter.
The Origin of Chaos turned left, glaring at the one laughing with a scowl.
Then a deeper frown twisted his expression. He narrowed his eyes at Northern, then shifted his gaze to Chaos Prince.
At once, his face paled. He turned back to Northern.
"You simian! What have you done?!!"
His voice rang with pure indignation.
Northern smiled with satisfaction.
"Oh, your mother!!... or is it grandmother? Yes, I gave her to your son instead."
Kryos froze for a moment, his expression frozen too. At that moment, Northern’s mouth dropped open slightly.
"Wait... don’t tell me..."
He glanced at Chaos Prince.
"You didn’t even recognize your own son?"
He shook his head and looked at Chaos Prince simultaneously.
"I really can’t relate to your family situation. I can’t imagine how you grew up—did you at least have a decent mother?"
Chaos Prince immediately frowned.
"Partner... don’t mention my mother... please, for your own sake."
Northern frowned slightly and turned to Kryos.
Who smirked and looked at Chaos Prince with a frigid expression.
"Looks like you managed to shed your tail before getting devoured by me."
Northern’s mouth nearly dropped open again.
’These guys are beyond redemption. That’s what you say to a child you consumed?’
Chaos Prince laughed briefly, but the sound was hollow and laced with mockery.
"I was really hoping you’d get food poisoning at some point. Eating your own son has to be grounds for that, right partner?"
Northern, stunned, looked between them and finally at Chaos Prince.
"What? Why are you asking me? I’ve never eaten my own son! Hell, I’ve never even had a son!"
Chaos Prince walked toward Northern and stood beside him, then folded his arms.
The Origin of Chaos raised his chin slightly and rubbed his neck, looking somewhat stressed.
The battle with Ul must have severely drained him.
Northern glanced back at Terence, who was still too weak to move, then at the battered form of the Chaos Origin.
’Ul... she’s truly dangerous...’
She was not to be underestimated!
Yet in the end, she still couldn’t defeat Kryos—which proved just how weakened she’d become.
Northern suddenly felt compelled to discover what exactly had caused the first Origin to become the weakest.
But that was a matter for later.
Kryos sighed deeply and shook his head.
"Do you think it makes any difference?"
His eyes fixed on Chaos Prince.
"You, Anki, should know better."
Chaos Prince smiled back at his father.
"Northern is truly full of surprises. You’d be shocked to discover that yourself, old man."
Northern studied them both. Chaos Prince called his father "old man," but in reality, the man with his bronze skin and devastatingly handsome features, those piercing amber eyes, didn’t look any older than Chaos Prince—only more mature due to the weight in his gaze and his commanding presence.
The man chuckled—a sound like a tightrope balanced over the world’s madness.
"Anki... your only destiny is to be devoured by me. Are you so desperate that you wish to shatter the chains of fate? Do you not know the consequences?"
Chaos Prince’s eyes narrowed.
"Old man, that was something you bribed Kismet to accomplish, contingent upon my birth. You’re a flimflammer who cares only for your own hunger for power. You are cursed, father, and your curse is what led our entire family to ruin. It’s revolting to see that you harbor no remorse for what you destroyed, even after being given seven thousand years to reflect on your actions."
His glare darkened.
"Partner, let’s send this old man to depths of ruin where even his soul will mean nothing. Let’s kill a demented Origin."