Chapter 603: Supremacy
Northern leapt upward, his original form targeting the spellcaster while the reflections mirrored his ascent.
Grengar burned with black flames as he brought it down in a devastating overhead slash.
The spellcaster raised a barrier of blood essence, but it wasn't enough.
The original Grengar collided with the barrier, shattering it like glass.
Simultaneously, every reflected Grengar struck from a different angle, their blows converging on the spellcaster's body.
The combined force of the strikes was catastrophic. The spellcaster crumbled, its entire form shattering in a brilliant flash of crimson light.
The echoes of the reflected attacks resounded through the chamber, leaving cracks running across the walls and floor.
Northern landed gracefully, his reflections dissipating into faint wisps of light that dissolved into the air.
Dante stared at him, his expression a mixture of awe and horror.
Northern had, in a quick moment, dealt with all the crusader statues and spellcasters in the chamber. All that remained was the Blood Guardian itself and its two chiefs that flanked its left and right.
Northern watched with blazing eyes, an eerie crimson reflection on his face as they slowly stood from their seats. Simultaneously, the scepter of the Blood Guardian in the center seemed to intensify its glow.
The creature, however, stayed seated as the other two rose to their feet. Rising to their full height, they towered over Northern, their blood-forged weapons gleaming with deadly intent.
The chief to the Guardian's left wielded a long glaive, its crimson blade pulsating with a rhythm that mirrored the glow of the scepter.
The chief on the right carried a massive round shield etched with intricate runes, paired with a jagged, blood-red blade that oozed raw energy.
Northern's gaze flicked between them.
His Chaos Eyes carefully diagnosed them in and out, stripping their souls naked in an instant before its mighty visual prowess.
And just like that was how Northern discovered an interesting development.
A network of energy streams tethered the chiefs to the Guardian's scepter.
The chiefs weren't just warriors; they were conduits, extensions of the Guardian's power.
"Shall I try something new..." Northern muttered beneath his breath, a grin slowly creeping up his face.
The glaive-wielding chief moved first, its weapon slicing through the air with a high-pitched hum.
Northern's grin deepened. "Ice manipulation."
The temperature in the chamber plummeted instantly.
A bone-chilling frost spread from Northern's feet, creeping across the blood-soaked floor like living tendrils.
The heat radiating from the glaive faltered, its fiery arc snuffed out mid-swing.
With a sharp flick of his wrist, Northern conjured a jagged spear of void ice in his off-hand.
The spear wasn't merely cold-it radiated an absence so profound that even the blood-tinged light in the room seemed to recoil from it.
The glaive-wielder's strike descended, but Northern was gone, his body a blur as he sidestepped the attack with eerie precision. The void ice spear lashed out in retaliation, grazing the chief's glaive.
The reaction was instantaneous.
The glaive's crimson glow dimmed, frost racing along its edge as the void ice devoured its energy.
The glaive-wielder staggered, confusion rippling through its monstrous frame.
"Not used to taking something from you, huh?" Northern taunted, his voice sharp as the frost spread through the chamber.
The shield-bearer charged now, its massive form barreling toward Northern with the force of an avalanche.
Its shield emitted a crimson barrier, runes glowing brighter as it closed the distance. Northern didn't move. Instead, he planted the void ice spear into the ground. The chamber rumbled as the frost spread upward, transforming into a massive wall of shimmering black ice.
The shield-bearer collided with the barrier. For a moment, it seemed unstoppable-until the runes on its shield began to flicker. Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier, the frost seeping into the very essence of the blood-forged shield.
"Void consumes all," Northern muttered, his voice a chilling whisper.
The shield shattered.
Shards of frozen blood essence scattered across the chamber like broken glass, and the shield-bearer reeled backward, clutching its weaponless arm.
Northern moved like a predator. In an instant, he was behind the glaive-wielder.
He had displaced Grengar moments ago and now swirled his hand midair. From nothing, an ice spear spiraled into existence, and when its creation was complete, like a javelin, Northern thrust the spear into the air.
The glaive-wielder raised its weapon to block, but the void ice spear surged forward like a living entity, devouring the glaive entirely.
The weapon crumbled into frozen dust.
"Your turn," Northern hissed.
The glaive-wielder roared, raising a clawed hand glowing with crimson light, but Northern was faster.
Another void ice spear materialized in his hand, and he drove it through the chief's chest.
The room seemed to hold its breath.
The glaive-wielder froze-literally.
Its body was encased in void ice in seconds, the frost crawling up its limbs, over its face, and
into its hollow eyes.
A moment later, it shattered into a thousand pieces, the shards disintegrating into nothingness before they could even hit the ground.
The shield-bearer roared in fury, its blade swinging in a desperate arc.
Northern caught it mid-swing with a single finger coated with ice, stopping its blade.
From the tip of Northern's finger, the entire weapon froze, frost cascading down its jagged edge like a predator claiming its prey.
The shield-bearer's eyes widened in disbelief as the crimson blade turned brittle, its once- intimidating glow now a muted, fading ember.
Northern tilted his head, his grin sharp enough to cut steel. "You monsters need to put more muscle into your blows."
With a flick of his wrist, the frozen blade splintered into shards, each piece caught in an invisible vortex of void ice swirling around Northern.
The shards hung suspended for a fleeting moment, glimmering like deadly stars, before Northern thrust his hand forward.
The fragments obeyed.
They shot toward the shield-bearer with terrifying precision, piercing through its darkened
steel armor with no resistance at all.
Each shard carried a fragment of void ice's consuming power, freezing the creature from the
inside out.
The shield-bearer stumbled backward, its massive frame cracking audibly as the frost raced through its body.
It roared one final time, a defiant bellow that echoed through the chamber-then its roar cut
off.