Chapter 597: Two Icons
Northern was in thought for a minute, his eyes carefully scanning all of his void summons while seeming to converse with his brain at the same time.
He folded his hands together and lowered his head a little bit, furrowing his brows as he argued with himself.
'I should be able to finish the rest on my own. If I went full throttle with all my summons, in fact, defeating the rift would have been possible. Maybe I was just shortsighted for a bit.'
He scratched his chin.
'But then, how would I have copied these talents? Besides, I still need to copy the
Lieutenant's talent. Yeah, that alone is enough reason for us to do it together.'
With that final thought, Northern made his decision to go back and inform them so they could all come along with him, dismissing his summons.
Before Northern arrived, Dante had felt the disappearance of all eleven Catastrophic
Destroyers. He stood guarded, with a tense expression on his face.
As Northern approached all of them, the first thing he said was:
"You killed all of that? Alone?"
Northern smiled a little bit, letting it fade as he stopped in front of the Lieutenant.
"We are due to go forward and end this once and for all." His gaze met with Dante's as he spoke.
Then he averted it and glanced around at everyone else.
"You don't need to worry, Lieutenant Dante and I will finish whatever is left of this." He returned his eyes back to Dante again. "Right, Lieutenant?"
Dante, his expression rigid and indifferent, exhaled as he closed and opened his eyes, then responded.
"Northern is right. It's best everyone else just sit this one out."
"I'm coming with you," Ryan declared firmly, his expression becoming stubborn.
"Me too, I am still in good condition," Shin also added.
"Ryan, it's easy for anyone to know you've outdone yourself in the last full battle. And that is totally fine—there's no way an ability like yours wouldn't have its downside."
Ryan frowned. His fist trembled as he clenched tight. Northern was right; the flaw of his talent was indeed beginning to kick in. If anyone looked closer, they'd see that he was getting paler than usual.
If he pushed himself any more than he already had, he might have to start fighting through a serious cold that would sting throughout his body.
And the reality of this situation was that there was no need for all of that. He didn't need to push himself that hard, not when Lieutenant Dante and Northern could indeed put an end to things on their own.
Northern turned to his father.
"You too, father. I know you are in top condition after rising to a new rank, but you should still sit this one out. You'll only get in our way."
Dante glanced at Northern as he spoke.
Shin gritted his teeth, lowering his head for a few moments before releasing his voice from the jail of his teeth.
"I have heard you then. I will stay back, and we will protect ourselves in case things go wrong on any side."
'Things won't go wrong...' Northern, however, did not say that aloud. Instead, he offered a very short-lived smile and said:
"Alright then, father. That will be helpful."
Shin stepped closer and put his arms around Northern, hugging him for a brief moment.
"Be careful out there..." he said and released the hug, stepping back from Northern. Northern immediately turned away and walked from the group along with the Lieutenant. After they'd gone a little bit further, Dante spoke. "Isn't that quite the heartless thing to say to your own father? Even if he is your foster father."
Northern glanced at him, one of his brows tweaking up.
"What? It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that the Kageyama scion is not your father.
They have a strong gene for black hair. And your white hair is too foreign-if you are not a foreigner, then your parents must be."
Northern looked down with a frown on his face. 'Was it that easy to figure out?'
Lieutenant Dante sighed.
"Don't worry, I am not interested in whatever family you are from or the secret you are hiding."
Northern raised his head confidently and sighed too.
"That's a relief really, saves me from making a difficult decision."
Lieutenant Dante scoffed in disbelief.
"I guess it is understandable that someone like you is this cocky."
Northern grinned with a corner of his lips, looking at the Lieutenant with a playful light in his eyes.
"Cocky? Cocky really? I don't press where I know I won't break. Do you want to try and see if cockiness is just what this is?"
Lieutenant Dante paused, resting his hand on the hilt of his hung sword.
"Are you picking a fight with me?"
Northern, seeing how Dante's tone and expression suddenly became tough and authoritative,
clicked his tongue in disgust.
"You can't even take a little joke. Your life must be very boring."
"That's quite ironic coming from you."
Northern tilted his head, squinting his eyes.
"What do you mean by that?"
Lieutenant Dante hid a smile and continued forward. He enjoyed the disturbance and
managed to leave Northern as he walked ahead.
"Hey, hey, don't walk away. What do you mean by ironic coming from me? I am very good at taking jokes. I am a very likable person because I am funny."
"Sure, sure... at least it helps you sleep every night."
'What? This bastard...' Northern trotted forward but suddenly stopped as Lieutenant Dante
halted.
The Lieutenant glanced around, his eyes widened.
"And only you supposedly did all of this?"
Northern cocked his head, a menacing light glowing in his eyes, as he walked past Lieutenant Dante with his back-his eyes finding delight in the Lieutenant's disarrayed expression.
"When did I ever say it was only me... hurry up and let's go finish this."
He said as he turned around and suddenly vanished.
The Lieutenant also followed, his form blurring through the wind, leaving a crimson trail.
They continued to the top of the mountain, and after a while, finally reached its peak, then
they paused.
Northern stood at the edge of the mountain and looked down towards its backside.
The depth of the mountain was covered in crimson clouds; somehow, it resembled something
he had seen before.
"That is where the guardian is?"
"If I am not mistaken... yes," Northern replied, his gaze locked downward.
"What is the percentage of you being mistaken?"
Northern raised his head, with a crude grin. "Zero... none."