Chapter 314 Northern Vs Caladhel [Part 3]
Northern sighed and fully raised his head, looking at Cal with a straight face.
Cal looked like he had just witnessed the birth of a deranged person. What was wrong with Northern, and why was he talking like that?
Was he having a mental breakdown?
A mental breakdown was not far-fetched; it was something that frequently happened amongst his own race. It just meant that some people didn't have the mental fortitude to deal with the horrors of the rift.
They either withdrew completely, settling to be mundane drifters, or tried their best to be Masters and ended their drifter careers there.
Was Northern someone like that too?
Cal doubted it. Those blue eyes he peered into didn't look like the eyes of a deranged human.
Northern was speaking with sincere concern.
'So he is actually worried about what will become of him should he start killing humans. Chaos and Void are consuming him?'
Cal understood not a word of what the guy was saying. After thinking for a while and finding no better way to respond, he said:
"Can't you just overlook everything and give me the boy? We are after the same cause, after all. Are you not here to close down this rift?"
Northern tilted his head sideways with a blank stare at Cal.
He gestured with his sword, pointing to Cal as he spoke.
"You think about it too. You met a strange human in the rift, one with pointed ears who can speak monster language when your entire life you thought you were probably the only one that could. This human has been watching you since you entered the rift but chooses not to approach. Instead, he takes advantage of the opening you created to steal the most important thing in the rift.
"After catching up to him and collecting the boy, he's begging to have the boy back and telling me to trust him. That he will walk into the very place he ran away from. All on his own…"
Northern paused, breathing silently and fixing a glare on Cal.
"Tell me, Mr. Cal, if you were in my shoes, would you be stupid enough to trust such a stranger?"
Cal scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well, if you put it like that…" His expression stiffened the next moment. "Does that mean we have to take this to the end? You want me to kill you?"
Northern chuckled, "I'm flattered. What gives you the impression that you can kill me?"
Cal forced out a side grin.
"I have not even begun to use my abilities… don't get cocky."
Northern chuckled even harder this time. He raised his head to count as he said:
"You've used Velocity Dash, Sonic Surge, and Shunpo. That just leaves out Time Warp and Breeze. I guess Time Warp is the strongest of your abilities for now, and you want to avoid using it as much as possible, but I'm excited to see what you will do with Breeze."
Cal froze, overwhelmed by the feeling of terror.
What he was trying so hard to hide all along, Northern already knew.
'What the hell?! How… this makes no sense! Wait, maybe he can see someone's talents. I did sense eyes peering into my soul before,' Cal guessed internally.
His rising confusion was put to a temporary halt when he gave himself that explanation. But he was still curious and furious.
And those feelings only grew worse as he intensely began to wonder for real, what the hell is this white-haired boy standing in front of him?
If he had to take a wild guess, Northern was at most sixteen, but he had the eyes of a man, an impressive height again.
He was intimidating from all sides, and it bothered Cal a lot.
He was beginning to really ask himself if he could defeat someone like this.
Cal and Northern stood motionless in the icy field, snow drifting lazily around them.
The silence between them was electric, a tension that crackled with the promise of violence.
Cal adjusted his stance, spreading his legs apart, his sword extended like a beacon of yellow lightning.
His gaze was steady, and his face was a mask of cold determination.
Northern, observing him, felt a strange mixture of excitement and dread.
Northern inhaled deeply.
He relaxed his grip on the Mortal Blade, allowing the rule of Chaos to flow through him while strengthening his muscles with a little Void essence.
He could feel it now, a rhythm to the chaos, a pulse that matched the beating of his heart. He wasn't fighting against it anymore. He was becoming part of it.
Without a word, Cal moved. He shifted forward with blinding speed, Stainless flashing.
Northern's eyes widened as Cal's form blurred; he was clearly now faster than before, very fast, but Northern didn't flinch.
Instead, he let his body flow with the movement, dodging to the side with a fluid grace that felt almost natural now.
Cal's sword passed so close that Northern could feel the static charge in the air.
He twisted his body, bringing the Mortal Blade up in a sweeping arc.
Cal parried, their swords clashing with a sound like thunder.
Lightning exploded from Stainless, racing along the blade and forcing Northern back.
He gritted his teeth, absorbing the impact through his legs and grounding himself.
Cal didn't ease at all. He pressed his attack, driving Northern back with a relentless series of strikes.
Each blow was faster and more precise than the last, a storm of steel and lightning.
Northern's arms burned with the effort of blocking, deflecting, and extreme fatigue, but he moved with the ebb and flow of Chaos, avoiding the worst of the attacks.
Northern spun away from a particularly vicious thrust, using the momentum to pivot and counter.
His onyx blade lashed out in a wide arc, aimed at Cal's midsection.
Cal leaped back, the tip of the Mortal Blade missing him by a fraction of an inch.
He landed lightly on his feet, a grin spreading across his face.
"You're good," Cal admitted, breathing heavily. "Better than I expected."
Northern didn't reply. He just stared at Cal blankly.
Cal's voice came out once again.
"But aren't you beginning to get tired? How long will you be able to maintain this? I guess keeping those clones does not just come free of charge. Your ability to copy things must come with a burden as well. Until when will it be before you break?"
Cal relaxed his posture and stood akimbo with an evil grin on his face, then said:
"Maybe I'll just draw this battle out a little more till you break."