Chapter 573: In The Fray [PART 2]
Lieutenant Dante glanced back, catching the tail end of Northern's assault, and his grip tightened on his sword, frustration gnawing at him.
He had thought himself to be the strongest amongst them. Trying to understand the unreasonable leap in Northern's strength in just the short time since he'd left him left his head throbbing with pain.
He couldn't even confidently vouch for his victory should he go all out against the kid.
Even though he wanted to be stubborn about it, concluding that he might possibly defeat Northern, but he knew the cost would be so great that he would become useless as a Paragon in the future.
That is, if he didn't die moments after the confrontation.
With such a great destiny standing before him, why should he go ahead and ruin his life by poking a beehive that would do just fine without disturbance?
However, Dante still felt like he had to do something to rein Northern in. If the young lad wouldn't be a subordinate in his grand dream, then he must make sure that he doesn't become an obstacle.
With such thoughts finalizing the silent worries in his head, Dante swung out, his sword strike shooting away with red light and destroying every abomination in its path.
The battlefield resonated with a trembling impact; even the red sky seemed to note the terror of such an attack.
Several monsters in a linear path lay blemished and severed in their own flesh and blood, wide, large, clean marks on their bodies, some cleanly cut in twain.
Aside from the main attack, Dante's sword slash seemed to have spawned children of the same slash, only in minuscule ratio.
Dante wanted to feel proud of himself. But there was no time for pride, no room for wounded egos.
He clenched his jaw, refocusing on the enemies before him, his blade a relentless fury as he drove back the flood, each swing clearing a path, his subordinates rallying to his side.
Shane fought close to Jeci, her breathing labored, sweat glistening on her brow, yet her movements were fierce, determined.
She cast a glance at Northern, something dark and resentful in her gaze, but it was lost in the chaos, her focus shifting back as another creature lunged, her blade slicing upward, spilling dark blood into the mist.
In the distance, Ryan weaved through the melee, ice springing from his hands in jagged, crystalline formations, piercing the creatures that surged toward him.
He fought with a deadly calm, his gaze steady, calculating, yet every so often he'd spare a glance at Northern, a faint flicker of respect mingling with his wariness.
Northern's Void Tendrils lashed out, ensnaring a statued creature that towered above the others, eyeless, its skin seeming to droop.
He pulled it close, the tendrils tightening, crushing, absorbing every last ounce of its essence.
[You have killed a Disastrous Maelstrom Statue of Sin]
[You have gained +5 talent fragments]
He felt the energy flood into him, a dark pulse that heightened his senses, steadied his limbs.
As if to respond to the fury of his onslaught, several more of the statued monstrosities veered their direction towards him.
And started marching. Northern's grin deepened, his voice a low, dangerous murmur, barely audible.
"Come on then. I'm not even close to finished."
Seeing their march was getting too slow for him, Northern leaned forward, gathering an austere amount of momentum that caused the ground beneath his feet to tremble and crack without having even moved yet.
As he lunged forward, not only did the ground resound in a terrible shock wave that sent cracks in all directions and flung away all splinters of broken stones, but the monsters also suffered great damage, their bones wrecking as they were thrown away by the force.
It was like a colossal being bathed in lightning was catapulted into their midst. Northern's body surged forth with a radiant but dreadful blue light lining his trail. He did not hesitate to weave his dagger even though bathed in so much speed.
Rotten Crimson bodies fell by his movement alone-that was how it looked from the eyes of an onlooker. Northern was so fast that only the pronounced seer and high-rank drifters could see him, high rank meaning at least a Sage.
He leaped into the air, the Void Tendrils wove themselves around his arms and formed a lusterless black gauntlet on both hands.
Northern collided with the head of one; as he did, a massive outburst of his void essence blasted forth from behind, adding force to his collision power.
Northern had used it as powerful momentum to drive his fist, wrapped by the Void gauntlets, into the monster's head and with brutal and stubborn force, yanked its brains out from
within.
The gruesome display sent a shockwave through the ranks of the monsters, their eyeless faces turning toward Northern with a flicker of hesitation, as if some fragment of fear had wormed its way into their primal instincts.
Blood, dark and thick, splattered across Northern's gauntlet, dripping down his arm in thick rivulets, but he didn't pause, didn't even seem to notice.
He was already moving; as this one slowly went down like a felled tree, Northern leaped toward the next creature, his jump resounding like a powerful clap of thunder.
Another statue-like monstrosity, towering and gnarled with twisted muscle, lurched forward, its mouth a gaping maw lined with jagged teeth.
It swung a massive, clawed arm at Northern, the air vibrating from the force of the strike.
Northern maneuvered in the wind and ducked low, evading with deadly grace, and his Void Tendrils lashed out from his gauntlets, anchoring into the monster's arm and torso, clamping down with an iron grip as Northern's feet touched the ground.
With a sharp twist, Northern wrenched the creature's arm clean off, dark ichor spewing from the wound.
He raised his hand slightly above his head and swung back like he was ready to throw a javelin. From nothing, a warm light of strings appeared in his hands and elongated into a long javelin.
Northern narrowed his eyes and flung forward with his entire body.
The javelin of chaos essence made its way, piercing the wind and everything in its path; several towered maelstroms were left with large gaping holes in their chests, and a mighty
crash resounded beyond the horizon.
Northern watched as five maelstroms crumbled to their knees in one go.
[You have killed a Calamitous Maelstrom Titan of Sin]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
[You have killed a Disastrous Maelstrom Statue of Sin]
[You have gained +5 talent fragments]
[You have killed a Calamitous Maelstrom Titan of Sin]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
[You have killed a Calamitous Maelstrom Titan of Sin]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
[You have killed a Calamitous Maelstrom Titan of Sin]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
He felt the familiar, dark pulse of energy infuse his body once more, his senses sharpening,
every fiber of his being thrumming with a dark vitality.
His grin widened, his eyes glinting with an almost unhinged delight. This was the battlefield he had craved, the chaos in which his power thrived.