Chapter 681: The Illusioned Monstrosity
Northern still couldn't understand how the mere presence of a Calamitous Belial would be so threatening when he had fought an Apex Belial before.
He stood there, frozen in sight, Chaos Eyes locked at the creature in front of him-which with every second seemed to phase in and out of existence.
Its manifestation alone was an utter confusion!
Suddenly the creature seemed to move-hell, he didn't even know!-before he could act, the creature blurred, splitting into a dozen identical copies that surrounded him.
Each figure shimmered faintly, their forms bleeding into the shadows like apparitions.
Northern's Chaos Eyes scanned the copies, but their rapid shifts and distortions made it impossible-even for Chaos Eyes-to pinpoint the real one.
The illusions attacked in unison, tendrils of shadow lashing out with precision.
Northern spilled into mirages of himself, dodging the attack. The attack was a bit challenging; at first, all others looked like an illusion, but then they looked real yet again.
However, Northern could at least make out with Chaos Eyes the reason-the real attack itself was shifting across several other illusions of it as they all lunged towards him.
And that was why he decided that using [Mirage] was the best shot he got.
Northern's glowing eyes narrowed as each of his mirages mirrored his movements perfectly, moving in erratic and unpredictable patterns that matched the chaos of the illusions surrounding him.
The creature's tendrils recoiled momentarily, sensing the confusion in its prey. Its shifting form paused, as if recalibrating, before the dozen copies launched another assault.
Shadow tendrils struck at each of Northern's mirages, their speed and precision cutting through the distorted space with terrifying efficiency.
Northern smirked, his Chaos Eyes flickering as something registered in them.
There was something the monster was doing, something very smart.
One of the shadow tendrils lashed toward a mirage, but instead of dispersing like an illusion, it met cold resistance.
Northern's real form materialized behind the attack, his twin-bladed staff, Grengar, spinning in a whirlwind of motion. The weapon's blackened edges hummed with Void essence, slicing through the tendril with a screeching howl.
The severed shadow recoiled, dissipating into the air, but the illusions around Northern didn't falter.
Instead, they seemed to double in intensity, shifting even faster, their attacks merging and overlapping like a storm of chaos.
Northern gritted his teeth as he dashed between the attacks, his movements seamless and calculated. [Mirage] gave him the edge he needed, his afterimages acting as decoys while he analyzed the creature's patterns.
Each flicker of the shadowy tendrils left faint ripples in the air, distortions only his Chaos Eyes could detect.
Northern frowned as they locked onto the faintest delay in one of the attacks.
He twisted his body mid-air, Void wings flaring to propel him faster, and slammed Grengar into one of the illusions.
The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, and the illusion shattered like glass, revealing a faint glimpse of the true creature within.
The shifting entity screeched, its distorted copies flickering as the pressure of Northern's attack destabilized its hold on reality.
Northern didn't hesitate. He surged forward, his Void wings slicing through the air as he closed the distance between himself and the weakened core of the entity.
Chaos Eyes burned brightly, peeling back the layers of the creature's deception. It was still shifting, its form blurring and phasing in and out of existence, but Northern could see the threads holding it together a network of essence binding the illusions to the real monster.
The creature was adaptive and deceptive. But unfortunately for the illusioned monster, there was no way its form would keep up with Northern.
He hurled Grengar again, the weapon spinning like a black comet toward the core.
The creature reacted, tendrils weaving a protective barrier of shadow around itself, but Northern had already seen the move, a couple of seconds before.
He vanished in a flicker of speed, appearing above the entity, Void feathers raining down like a storm of razor-sharp blades.
The shadow barrier cracked under the relentless assault, and the creature let out a guttural roar. Its shifting form spasmed violently, and for the first time, Northern could see it fully.
Its true body was grotesque-a mass of warped flesh and shadow, its surface rippling with countless shifting faces and limbs.
Each movement it made seemed to tear at the fabric of reality, its presence alone a corruption of existence.
"Finally," Northern whispered, his eyes locking onto the core pulsating deep within the monstrosity.
But the creature wasn't done.
In a desperate act, it unleashed a wave of pure distortion, the air around it warping and bending as reality itself seemed to fold.
Chaos Eyes flared as the wave washed over him, his surroundings dissolving into a maelstrom of incomprehensible shapes and sounds.
For a moment, he was disoriented, his mind grappling with the sheer magnitude of the attack. The creature had turned the battlefield into a realm of pure illusion, where even his Chaos Eyes struggled to discern reality from deception.
Northern steadied himself, cold fog dissipating around him as Void Aura emanated from him calmly like a beacon in the chaos.
The tendrils of distortion reached for him, but he pushed them back with a tremendous release of Void Aura.
Soon, however, Chaos Eyes began to adapt, tracing the faint threads that connected the illusions to the creature's core.
With the taut connection of the threads to the monster, Northern immediately knew what to
do.
Although, it was only a premonition.
Northern shot forward, his Void wings propelling him even farther forward as he dodged the creature's relentless attacks.
His eyes locked onto the threads of energy, and with each strike of Grengar, he severed them
one by one.
The creature howled, its form destabilizing with each thread that broke.
The illusions around Northern flickered and faded, revealing the cavern's true form once
more.
The creature's grotesque body trembled, its tendrils lashing out wildly in desperation.
Northern ascended into the air, his wings spreading wide as he gathered his essence for a final strike. The feathers on his wings sharpened, glowing faintly with Void essence as they
coalesced into a single, massive spear of destruction.
"I wonder what will happen if I do this," Northern said, his voice cold and final.
He hurled the spear with all his might and muttered.
"Echo"
The weapon pierced through the creature's core.
The spear tore through the creature's core, its trajectory leaving a trail of warped space in its wake. As it struck, the cavern trembled violently, the oppressive weight of the creature's essence collapsing into a deafening roar.
Northern's voice echoed, calm and resolute amidst the chaos, "Let's see if you can adapt to
this."
The spear unleashed its power in an eruption of essence, a pulsating shockwave radiating outward as the attack registered on the monster's body like a connection of combos.
The threads connecting the illusions to the core frayed and snapped in rapid succession, unraveling the creature's intricate web of deception.
Its grotesque form convulsed, the shifting faces and limbs melting into a swirling mass of
shadow.
The creature let out a final, guttural screech, its body disintegrating into countless fragments of shimmering darkness that dissipated into the air.
The cavern was bathed in silence, save for the faint hum of Northern's Void Aura.
He landed softly, his wings folding behind him, the glow of his Chaos Eyes dimming slightly
as he scanned the remnants of the battlefield.
His gaze was sharp and calculating as he surveyed the area for a couple of seconds. Then he
sighed and dissolved his wings.
Then... the momentary stillness was shattered. From the shadows where the creature had fallen, a faint, eerie ripple spread through the cavern.
Northern's eyes narrowed as the ripple expanded, coalescing into a faint, translucent figure.
The figure shifted erratically, its form unstable, as if it struggled to hold itself together. 'What is this? A second form?' He cursed with a deep frown on his face.
The translucent figure spoke, its voice dissonant and layered, like a thousand whispers
colliding.
"Who are you? This is a layer that should be impossible to reach," it hissed, its form solidifying momentarily into something vaguely humanoid before collapsing back into chaotic motion. "I don't perceive the heritage. You must be an anomaly."
Northern's stance shifted, his fingers tightening around Grengar. "What the hell? Since when
did a monster start speaking?"
This wasn't even monster language; it was clear scholastic tongue. That is, whoever this speaking monster was did not just know how to speak their language, but had studied rich in
it.
The figure lunged forward, its movements so erratic and fast that even Northern's Chaos Eyes struggled to track it. Tendrils of translucent energy lashed out, not physical this time, but
aimed directly at his soul.
Northern felt the impact-not on his body, but deep within, as though the essence of the
attack was tearing at the edges of his being.
Fortunately for him, he was resistant to soul attacks. Although, he still felt his soul tremble at
the impact nonetheless.
The creature's translucent form twisted, the remnants of its voice echoing in the cavern. "What a peculiar one you are. But your strength is meaningless against what you cannot
touch."