Chapter 380 The Deciding Night [Part 3]: Meeting An Old Friend [Part 2]
Northern felt the cold, slimy tendrils coil around his legs, dragging him deeper into the dark abyss of the river.
He struggled to break free, but the grip was strong, pulling him with relentless force.
He opened up his hand and materialized the dark stiletto, knowing that in these murky waters, speed and precision would be his allies.
The pressure of the water increased as he was pulled further down, his ears popping painfully.
Definitely, he had no trouble breathing, but the darkness was oppressive, and his visibility was limited.
As he activated his Chaos Eyes, the world around him subtly shifted to reveal the true nature of his surroundings.
The murky water became clearer, the tendrils pulling him down more visible.
Northern slashed at the tendrils with his dark stiletto, the blade slicing through the thick, rubbery appendages.
The creature responded with a violent jerk, pulling him closer to its massive body.
As he descended, he caught sight of the monstrosity: it was somewhat like a mutated octopus, its tentacles covered in barbed spikes, its body pulsating with a sickly green glow.
The creature was more than just a monster; it was an abomination, a Devastator, corrupted by some unknown force.
With a swift movement, Northern twisted his body, cutting through another tendril.
The water around him clouded with dark, inky blood, the Devastator shrieking in pain, the sound vibrating through the water.
He used the brief moment of distraction to propel himself away, but the creature was relentless.
More tendrils shot out, aiming to ensnare him once more.
Northern's mind raced as he dodged through the tendrils. Of course, he was insightful enough to know that he could breathe did not mean he could win this battle in the water.
He needed to find a way to bring the fight to the surface. Whatever this abomination was, it knew very much that this was its territory.
Northern didn't think it would be willing to follow him. Which meant he needed to outsmart it.
Now as far as the topic of smartness goes, Northern could not confidently raise his head in that regard. But it wasn't like this situation really gave him a choice.
He looked down at the monster, vision cleared from the obscuring darkness, he noticed the creature's glowing eyes, and an idea formed.
He maneuvered through the water, dodging the lashing tendrils, and swam towards the creature's head.
As he got closer, he could see the central eye, a massive, glowing orb that radiated like the source of anything's power.
The Devastator roared, sensing his intent, and unleashed a barrage of tentacles.
Northern weaved through them with agility, using the stiletto to fend off the attacks.
He focused on the glowing eye, knowing it was his best chance. A detrimental attack to where it hurts would give him a moment away from the Devastator.
If it works out well, this vicious water mogul will get enraged, lose whatever sense it has and follow him to the surface.
With a powerful thrust, he drove the stiletto into the eye, twisting the blade. The creature convulsed, its tentacles flailing wildly.
Northern was thrown back by the force of the creature's thrashing.
He managed to regain his bearings, swimming rapidly away from the wounded beast.
The Devastator's screams echoed through the water, a sound of pure agony.
But it wasn't over yet.
The creature, blinded and enraged, began to lash out indiscriminately, the water churning with its fury.
Northern felt a sharp pain as one of the barbed tentacles grazed the vambrace of the Twilight Dawn, leaving a deep gash.
He grimaced but didn't let the pain slow him down. He needed to get to the surface, to regroup and plan his next move.
He swam upwards, but the Devastator was not ready to let him go. It surged after him, its massive body creating a powerful current that threatened to drag him back down.
'Oh crap... what the hell?'
The mere force of the creature's movement was like a command to the water bodies.
Swimming seemed to get harder, it was like all water itself was clawing at Northern's body to slow him down enough for the Devastator to catch up.
And Northern didn't intend on having that.
He narrowed his eyes, that slowly glowed with an ethereal azure light and muttered.
"Sonic Surge"
Northern blasted forward through the water like a propeller, his force resonated in the whole depth and from the way the waters vibrated and formed bubbles, one could tell two major invisible forces were causing turmoil within the depth of the river.
On the surface, the turmoil began to reflect, the water surface began to dance and bubble up like something gripped the water by the neck and began to suffocate what was left of the little air it had retained in it.
Meanwhile, on the riverbank, Mr Fluffy was focusedly observing this, he dug his claws into the ground with blue eyes fiercely determined to jump at anything the moment it came out.
Although the depth of those courageous blue eyes was still a suppressed fear.
Even though Northern had created enough force to propel himself faster, there was a limit to that.
On land Sonic Surge sure would have propelled him miles faster than, but underwater, his movement was heavily restricted, he was close to the riverbank but he still had the Devastator on his tail, closing in on him with an enraged flare.
Northern desperately looked around, searching for anything he could use to his advantage.
As he spotted a cluster of sharp rocks jutting out from the riverbed, an idea sparked in his head.
He swam towards the rocks, the Devastator hot on his heels.
As he neared the rocks, he timed his move perfectly, darting between the jagged edges.
The creature, blinded and frenzied, crashed into the rocks, impaling itself on the sharp points.
The water around them turned dark with blood, the Devastator's movements growing weaker.
Northern didn't wait to see if it was dead.
He continued his ascent, his lungs burning from the exertion despite the necklace's aid.
He broke the surface of the water, gasping for air, the cool night air filling his lungs.
Immediately, Mr Fluffy darted towards him and pulled him with—fangs—onto the riverbank.
Northern collapsed on the sand, despite breathing underwater, his lungs still burned, and exhaustion burrowed deeply into them.
He flinched and quickly propped himself up. As he did, a clone appeared beside him, and materialized Stainless.
Northern's armor shattered into black sparks and from the flow of those sparks coalesced another vicious and dark metallic armor, much more formidable than this one.
He held Grengar, focused his azure eyes on the surface of the water and muttered:
"It's coming"