Chapter 605: An Execution
CHAPTER 605
Northern's grin stretched wider, a glint of dark amusement sparking in his Chaos Eyes.
The Guardian's renewed arm flexed, its grotesque sinews pulsating with crimson energy as if mocking his assault.
Yet Northern remained unfazed, the frost swirling around him intensifying as the temperature in the chamber plummeted further.
Lieutenant Dante, despite standing far away, could see dark frost subtly spreading around his exposed hand. The cold wasn't biting or in any way beyond normal, but it spread dangerously. 'His power is dangerous...' The Lieutenant thought with a tight frown on his face.
"I wonder how long you can keep regenerating parts of your body. Looks like in a while, I'll be having a much more enjoyable battle." Northern's voice resounded with the hint of an insane glee.
The Guardian lunged again, faster this time, its hands extending into claws, slicing through the air like a storm of razors.
Each strike carried a force that fractured the stone floor, sending shards flying.
But Northern danced through the onslaught, his movements fluid, almost taunting.
The void ice weapons hovering around him moved in tandem, intercepting blows and retaliating with precision.
"You're predictable," Northern said, sidestepping another swipe.
He thrust Grengar forward, the black blade piercing through the Guardian's torso.
Instead of recoiling, the creature roared and surged forward, impaling itself further onto the staff. Its other hand swung down, aiming to crush Northern outright.
Northern's Chaos Eyes flared.
"Black Lance."
For a moment, a grave silence descended upon the chamber; it looked like there was no impact. Then suddenly, the entirety of the hand was nowhere to be found.
Even the Blood Guardian itself was surprised.
The Guardian stumbled back, its massive frame trembling. It stared blankly at its missing hand, which was slowly flowing with streams of crimson ichor.
Then it turned its deep but trembling eyes to Northern, who returned the gesture with a crooked smile.
"What? It's not even that impressive; you should see the kind of devastating effect the improvised version of it has."
Northern dismissed Grengar and slowly raised his hands.
Black tendrils stretched out of his somber armor and folded over it, coating it and making it sable.
That part of Northern's hands looked like he was wearing a gauntlet crafted with the essence of the night. It gleamed viciously with a gloomy aura.
"You feel that?" Northern asked, his voice calm, his gaze unwavering. "That's your existence about to be dismantled, piece by piece."
The Blood Guardian roared, its cry reverberating through the chamber with primal fury.
Both of its arms ignited with crimson essence, growing larger and more jagged as they morphed into grotesque weapons.
It swung wildly, desperation seeping into its every move.
Northern didn't flinch.
He stood his ground, the black gauntlet pulsing with raw power, the void tendrils shifting like living shadows around his arm.
"Your struggle..." Northern began, his tone eerily casual as he tilted his head to the side, effortlessly avoiding another crushing strike, "...is beautiful. Pointless, but beautiful."
The Guardian's enraged movements became frenzied, each attack carving deep gouges into the chamber walls.
The air itself seemed to ripple with the force of its strikes, but none of them connected. Northern weaved through the chaos with unerring precision, his movements almost lazy yet impossibly sharp.
The frost clinging to him surged, spreading across the ground like a creeping blight.
The Guardian's footing faltered as the ice claimed its legs, rooting them in place.
Northern's grin widened. "I told you, void consumes all."
He raised his gauntleted hand and snapped his fingers. The sound was sharp, echoing unnaturally loud.
In an instant, the frost erupted into jagged spires, spearing through the Guardian's legs and torso.
The creature roared in pain as the void-laced ice drained the crimson essence from its body, the vibrant energy siphoned into the blackened constructs.
"You feel that, don't you?" Northern taunted, his voice low and menacing. "That's not just ice. That's the void unraveling your essence."
The Guardian thrashed, tearing at the spires with its now grotesque claws, but for every one it shattered, two more grew in its place.
Lieutenant Dante watched from a distance, his face pale. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene. 'This isn't a battle... this is an execution.'
Northern took a step closer, his Chaos Eyes blazing with unworldly light. The chaos constructs around him seemed to respond, shifting and pulsating through the air.
"Let's end this, shall we?" Northern extended his gauntleted hand, and the tendrils of void energy coiled outward, latching onto the Guardian's chest.
The creature roared again, louder this time, its voice laced with fear as the tendrils burrowed deep into its form.
Northern's smile turned cold. "Don't worry, you'll be reborn in my soul."
The tendrils surged upward, converging into a singular, massive lance of void. It hung in the
air above the Guardian, radiating a gravity-defying aura of annihilation.
For a moment, everything went silent, even time seemingly stopped; the only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of the lance's power.
Then Northern brought his hand down.
The lance descended with cataclysmic force, piercing through the Guardian's chest and into the ground below.
The impact unleashed a wave of void energy that obliterated everything in its path, carving a deep crater into the chamber floor.
When the dust settled, the Guardian was gone, its massive form reduced to wisps of fading crimson essence.
Northern stood at the center of the destruction, his frost dissipating into the air.
[Congratulations, you have slain an Apex Belial for the first time]
[You have gained 32 talent fragments]
[You have gained 1000 talent fragments for an outstanding achievement]
He exhaled slowly, his breath visible in the icy chill.
Lieutenant Dante's voice broke the heavy silence. "What... what are you?"
Northern turned to him, his Chaos Eyes dimming slightly. He tilted his head, a crooked grin
finding its way to his lips once again.
"I'm just someone trying to survive," he said, his tone almost lighthearted.
Then his grin faded, replaced by something darker, more foreboding. "But sometimes,
survival requires being something more."
He sighed and focused his gaze on the throne seat where the Blood Guardian had been sitting.
Northern leaped over the deep crater that separated him from the throne seat and landed in
front of it.
Then he slowly raised the void tendrils gauntlet and destroyed the seat.
[Congratulations, you have discovered one of the cores of the rift]
'Surprising really, it really does have more than one core.'
It was just as he had noticed while fighting the Blood Guardian. The rift had more than one
core.
'Isn't that supposed to be impossible?'
Northern moved to the next seat on the right and also destroyed it.
[Congratulations, you have discovered another core of the rift]
He wordlessly went on to the one to his left and destroyed it too.
[Congratulations, you have discovered the last core of the rift]
Immediately, the entirety of the chamber began to shake violently.
The chamber's walls quivered as cracks spread like spiderwebs, shards of stone falling in a
chaotic rain.
The crimson sky above flickered, as though the rift itself was gasping for breath.
Lieutenant Dante steadied himself, gripping the hilt of his blade while his eyes darted to Northern, who stood at the epicenter of the chaos, unfazed.
"Youngling! What did you do?" Dante shouted, his voice barely audible over the rumble.
Northern looked back, his expression indifferent. "Closed a chapter."
The void tendrils receded from his gauntlet, retreating into the shadows of his armor.
He glanced at the flickering sky, sensing the shift in the rift's energy.
"It's collapsing. You might want to start running."
'What the hell is it with this kind of violent closure?' Dante cursed under his breath, as his
instincts told him to heed the warning.
He turned toward the exit but paused, glancing back at Northern, who hadn't moved.
"You're not coming?" Dante asked, his voice strained with urgency. Northern smirked, his Chaos Eyes glinting. "I have something to collect."
Before Dante could argue, the ground beneath them split, creating a deep fissure that
swallowed the remaining throne seats.
A wave of scarlet energy surged upward, the rift's essence converging into a single, pulsating
sphere at the chamber's center.
Northern extended his hand, his gauntlet reforming. Void tendrils lashed out, anchoring
themselves to the sphere.
"Go," Northern commanded, his voice laced with authority. "I'll meet you outside."
Dante hesitated for a moment longer before turning and sprinting toward the exit, navigating
the crumbling chamber as debris fell around him.
Northern remained still, his gaze fixed on the pulsating sphere of energy.
"Three cores," he muttered to himself, his tone contemplative. "You were hiding something,
weren't you?"
The sphere responded, shuddering violently as if resisting his pull. The tendrils tightened,
siphoning its essence.
[Warning: Unstable Rift Detected]
[You have discovered a Chaos Core]
[Core Extraction in Progress...]
Northern's grin widened with madness lighting in his eyes.