Chapter 332 Fear And Hatred
Northern stood, folding his hands, clad in the vicious Night Terror armor. Every part of the air around him exuded primal terror.
Augmented by the essence of Chaos to inflict misery and fear upon his opponents, no one was free from that overwhelming aura of his.
As long as they felt the despair of the difference in strength, they would come to feel the presence of fear, one that emanated from the armor.
Right now, Sura, who stood as the pinnacle of this rift, a creature to be reckoned with from the underworld, stood frozen in fear, trembling at the sight of the man—boy rather—an ordinary Nomad that stood before him.
The boy stood still, not attacking but just looking with a downturned smile.
Eventually, Sura discarded the spears, waving away the rest and shooting them towards the wall of his castle. They shattered into fragments, destroying the wall into even smaller pieces as Sura had said they would.
So now he knew that nothing was wrong with his attack. The problem had to come from Northern.
'How was he able to block my spear attack?'
It made no sense to Sura, because that attack froze space itself.
If it didn't get through to Northern, then that means Northern's ability didn't conform to the reality of this space; it didn't even conform to this reality.
Sura was looking down, thinking about it. The moment that line of thought entered his mind, his eyes widened.
'That's impossible! It can't be… such an existence should never be allowed to roam free in this world.'
His eyes shook with intense fear as he raised them to look at Northern.
Then, with a trembling voice, he asked:
"Are... are you a Tyrant?"
Northern blinked; something changed in his countenance.
"Finally…" he muttered, then began walking closer to Sura, who instinctively took steps backward.
"Tyrant? What is a Tyrant, Sura? Are you a Tyrant too?"
Sura let out a half-hearted smile, almost chuckling.
"Of course, you can't possibly be one of them. Neither can I, we are just two insugnificant beings."
After the short smile, he seemed to have gained back his composure. He straightened up, exuding a more confident aura.
Then he looked at Northern evenly and nodded,
"I accept, you took me by surprise and I underestimated you. But that will be the end of that. As long as I know now that you are not a Tyrant, I have nothing to be afraid of."
Northern squinted his eyes at Sura, moved his head back a little bit, and said:
"You have nothing to fear? Not even the Origins?"
Immediately, a tempestuous rage stormed in his eyes; his vehement displeasure at the word Northern uttered was evident all around his stance.
Northern knew instantly he had struck a nerve.
And that only pleased him more. His lips curled and chin rose.
"Ah, ah," he scoffed a little, "which is it? Are you scared of them or do you hate them? Did they take something from you?"
Sura did not respond to him but instead just glared, consumed by rage.
His current expression was a stark opposite of his usual visage before now.
And Northern was enjoying the way this was turning out. He was enjoying the fact that he could poke at this being's emotions.
"Which Origin was it? Taerun Lor? Or his lover?"
Sura's furious countenance resonated with Northern's words.
'Yes! I hit the mark again!'
Northern was just randomly speaking the names he had observed in the information of the smoking pipe.
And it did seem like one of those two had angered Sura.
Now, Northern didn't think Sura was an Origin or a Tyrant. If he was any of the two, the rift would have been of higher rank.
But he still thought that there was something significant about Sura that made him recognize what these two entities were and even hate one.
And from the looks of the guardian's reaction, Northern could tell he feared one and purely hated the other.
He still couldn't evaluate which one was more dangerous from Sura's reaction.
Because he didn't know which one was mightier: to fear something or to hate it.
Fear would make you cower; hatred, however, would mask you with false reality, illusions that make you think you can stand a chance.
That illusion clouded one's judgment and made them overestimate their capabilities.
Of course, both emotions exist on a spectrum, and their effects can vary based on intensity and context.
But the point of Northern's thought was that the Origin which induced hatred in Sura was stronger, at least from Sura's reaction, than the Tyrant which induced fear in him.
Of course, anyone would think his thought pattern was careless and untrue.
In terms of raw power, an entity that induces fear could be considered stronger because fear is a primal emotion often tied to immediate survival instincts, suggesting the entity poses a significant and recognizable threat.
However, the hatred-inducing entity shouldn't be underestimated.
The ability to inspire deep-seated, lasting negative emotions suggests a different kind of strength—perhaps more insidious or far-reaching in its impact.
Which was why Northern felt—based on Sura's reaction—that the Origin is a greater threat to Sura than the Tyrant is.
Of course, that didn't mean he dismissed the threat the Tyrants posed based on Sura's reaction too.
But he was currently just trying to draw out more information, as much as he could.
Sura let out a deep, audible sigh and then curled his lips into a delighted smile.
"You snake. Using coy tactics to pry information from me?"
Northern raised a brow. He was shocked and surprised at Sura's sudden control over his emotions.
It was sad. He really wanted to see more, think more, evaluate and come to a reasonable conclusion—at least something close.
But the fun had ended.
Northern shrugged and muttered, "It was fun while it lasted," then he smiled sincerely at Sura.
"Shall we end this, then?"
Northern lifted one finger, his index finger, still smiling at Sura.
But the air had suddenly changed, and Sura instantly felt it. He was furious, no doubt, but now he was becoming pale, reminded of the dismay he had felt a couple of minutes ago.
"Here, have it back." Northern pointed the finger at him.
In an overwhelming instant, all of Sura's spears came flying back at him from thin air.