Chapter 553: Tug-O-War
Everyone present in the underground chamber stood with wide eyes, stunned.
What had just happened?
Alystren couldn't believe what he was seeing, and even Ryan showed a rare hint of tension on his face.
The Lieutenant's subordinates, who had arrived late to the scene, wore expressions of shock, their faces even paler than before.
Lieutenant Dante's speed was beyond comprehension for those in this realm, a fact well known to those who had worked and walked alongside him.
His speed was so extraordinary that it was safer to accept that one could never truly understand it rather than attempt to.
Trying to comprehend it only led to despair-a hopeless realization that a human, like themselves, could move so impossibly fast.
Many also claimed that Lieutenant Dante never moved or reacted at his maximum speed. It was rumored that the thread used to sew his uniform was heavier than normal, making his clothing weigh more. He even added a shoulder coat to increase the burden.
He wore weighted bangles as well, all in an effort to slow himself down as much as possible. Some even speculated that his speed was a flaw of his talent.
He was unnaturally fast, unbeatable in any race, and untouchable in battle-no one had ever managed to land a hit on him.
However, what they had just witnessed with their own eyes was something else entirely.
Before their very eyes, they had seen their Lieutenant fly, a blurred line, and crash into a pile of stones opposite the rift.
It left them speechless, their mouths agape.
A red-haired woman suddenly scowled, "That bastard!"
She gritted her teeth and shot toward the place where the Lieutenant had crashed.
However, the entire ground instantly froze, causing her steps to slip. She turned into an uncoordinated ballet dancer and embarrassed herself, falling on her head.
Everyone found the sight slightly amusing, but no one dared to laugh.
They were sure that a second ago, the ground had been plain and rough. But now, it looked like an ice-skating rink.
Alystren, his face drawn, slowly creaked his head back.
'He did this? Damn it! I forgot he's just as bad.'
Ryan stood indifferently behind him, staring with a lifeless expression on his face.
The atmosphere was abruptly interrupted by a powerful tremor that disintegrated the pile of debris into small chunks of stone and sent cracks across the frozen ground.
A pressure, capable of grinding them down, wafted along with the wind, feeling like a mountain falling upon their heads.
They bowed and struggled to look straight, and Alystren and Ryan were no different.
In fact, Ryan seemed more affected. As he tried to resist, he was pushed all the way to his knees, coughing up blood.
"Fool, you can't resist the Lieutenant's aura," one of them muttered.
He was equally in pain from the aura but took pleasure in seeing Ryan suffer as the pressure damaged him.
As the cloud of debris cleared, their eyes all focused on one thing.
Two figures in the cloud, whose silhouettes slowly revealing.
The Lieutenant was standing tall, his head slightly raised in dark amusement, while the white-haired boy in front of him stood unperturbed, glaring into his eyes.
"Good. Good. You have to be at that level to be of use to me," Lieutenant Dante's voice rang out, tinged with a malicious dominance.
It wasn't that Northern didn't feel the intense pressure of the man standing before him. In fact, every fiber of his body screamed in protest.
The only positive was that with each passing second, he could feel the effect of his resistance growing.
But the recoil on his muscles was intense; it felt as if the pressure were ripping the fibers of his muscles apart like paper.
With a grave expression, Northern stared into the red eyes of the Lieutenant.
"You want to play a game of aura? Well, then, let's play a game of aura."
His voice growled, slightly strained, but it carried sufficient intimidation.
The Lieutenant's subordinate, who had been mocking Ryan earlier, was caught in a whirlwind of disbelief.
'How? How can this be possible?'
He felt his excitement fade, as everything suddenly ceased to make sense.
There was someone capable of standing beneath the Lieutenant's intense aura.
And not just standing-he was closer to the Lieutenant than they all were. The pressure in
that area should have been suffocating.
And yet, the human-who didn't even appear as old as him-was withstanding it.
He gritted his teeth in pain, his eyes gleaming with envy.
'If only I had a better talent,' he thought.
The thought had barely finished when an intense and cold presence mixed with the one
already terrorizing them.
Then, the tug of war began.
The air in the chamber thickened, charged with invisible currents of power.
Northern's Void Aura expanded like an unseen storm, crashing against the oppressive force emanating from Lieutenant Dante.
Their auras clashed violently, sending ripples through the very fabric of the atmosphere.
The subterranean walls groaned under the pressure, tiny cracks spidering across the stone, as though the chamber itself were caught in the duel between two titans.
Lieutenant Dante's aura, already a suffocating weight, grew denser, like a mountain collapsing onto Northern.
It bore down with brutal intensity, capable of reducing most to their knees in an instant.
His subordinates, still bowing under the force, trembled even more as the struggle
intensified.
The air burned with the Lieutenant's dominance, his power commanding absolute
submission.
However, Northern's Void Aura was different-an enigma that didn't crush but consumed.
Where Dante's pressure was a hammer, Northern's was an abyss.
It didn't meet force with force; it absorbed it, distorted it.
The very space around Northern seemed to warp, reality bending and twisting as if it couldn't
decide whether to stay intact.
For a moment, there was a stalemate.
The clash between Dante's overwhelming dominance and Northern's unfathomable void
created a vacuum of silence, like the eye of a hurricane.
Then, that stillness snapped.
The ground beneath Northern fractured, splitting under his feet as the Void Aura began to
assert itself.
Dante's red eyes flashed with a flicker of surprise-brief, but unmistakable.
His lips curled into a delighted smile, and suddenly, his aura disappeared. As he released it,
the already breaking walls and stones shattered into fragments.
Northern also retracted his Void Aura, staggering back a few steps but managing to stand in
place before he lost his balance.
His gaze remained grave, the intense light in his eyes undimmed.
The Lieutenant leaned on one hand against his sword and extended the other toward
Northern.
"I am Lieutenant Dante, leader of the revolutionary army. Can you tell me who you are and
what your rank is?"
Lieutenant Dante's tone was calm, still carrying a hint of dominance but sounding as though
he was addressing an equal.
Northern could feel the respect in both his tone and his eyes.
Barely meeting this man had left his entire body sore with pain. What the hell would fighting
him do?
"Northern."
He thought of using another name, but Northern was being cautious. His ties to Reimgard
were not a chapter he was ready to confront.
Hence, he wanted to keep everything about it secret. He hadn't even told Shin.
"Oh, that's an odd name-Northern. And your rank?"
"I am a Master."
Lieutenant Dante's eyes flew open.
"No way! You're lying."
Northern's brows lowered into a tense frown.
"Why would I lie?"
The Lieutenant was silent for a few seconds, his eyes still wide with surprise.
He then said, "With what I saw just now, I seriously thought you would be at least an
Ascendant."
"Sorry to disappoint you then," Northern muttered in displeasure.
"No, don't take it the wrong way, young lad. I'm not disappointed-I'm very impressed." The
Lieutenant paused for a beat, observing Northern keenly.
Then he suggested, his tone subtle and charming, "How about we beat this rift together, and
we can get to know each other while we do that?"
Northern glanced at Ryan. He had no reason to refuse, and this was a great opportunity to
steal another Paragon's talent.
He was sure that this rift would offer a lot of fragments.
He had expended everything on copying the cult leader's talent, so he could just rack up
talents and copy yet another Paragon's.
But beyond that, this rift was going to be the most difficult, gut-wrenching rift he had ever
entered.
He could feel it in every dark corner of his soul.