The cavern pulsed with a sinister energy, thick waves of dark essence radiating from the exploding bodies. The ground trembled as if recoiling from the sheer malevolence being released.
Northern watched intently, his splintered gaze narrowing as he sensed something familiar—something ominous.
’Here we go again.’
From the ruptured remains of the creatures, pools of black ichor began to gather and converge at the center of the cavern.
The ichor writhed and twisted, forming grotesque shapes that flickered between solid and fluid, as if caught between two states of existence.
Northern’s grip tightened on the Illusion Sword, his eyes slowly examining the figures as they solidified their forms and turned to focus on him.
Brzzt
The atmosphere around Northern suddenly became charged, the gentle drifting of the chilly air around him becoming slower than usual.
’No perfect time to use this than now...’
Northern casually moved a step. From his feet to the ground, charged lightning sparks flew around, connecting and dancing between his leg and the ground. As he moved the other leg, the same thing happened.
The atmosphere became frozen, all the coming abominations paused between their movements. Northern was the only one freely moving.
The Speedwalk ability that his body had absorbed and broken down to use as a resource for an unlimited amount of potential speed, of course, was not totally lost.
Northern had figured during his generous use of his speed at the time he was trapped in the illusion that he had not completely lost all the talent abilities of the talent.
In fact, they all were resident in him; they just took another route to manifestation. A route more coherent to his body.
And after using so much speed consistently, he had eventually figured it out a long time ago.
Of course, the ability ate at his stamina like a starved beast. But it was the easiest and quickest way to end this fight. Then he could go ahead to rest.
’...that is if there is no other monster again...’
Northern raised his sword and calmly walked towards the frozen abominations. He took his time to slash each and every single one of them, the slash of his sword freezing along with the flow of time.
Darkness spread beneath his legs, following him slowly as he walked from one enigma to the other. When he was done with the last, the area where all the monsters stood was pooled by an almost liquid darkness.
Northern dismissed his sword and joined his hands together, muttering.
"Black Lance."
From the pools of darkness, as time rippled and resumed its relentless flow, sinister black lances erupted forth, their jagged forms crudely tearing through the abominations’ twisted flesh.
The air crackled with the oppressive weight of darkness, each lance dripping with fragments of shadow as it struck with unerring precision.
The abominations shrieked in discordant agony, their corrupted forms quivering beneath the merciless onslaught.
[You have slain Catastrophic Maelstrom, Dark Enigma]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
[You have slain Catastrophic Maelstrom, Dark Enigma]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
[You have slain Catastrophic Maelstrom, Dark Enigma]
[You have gained +10 talent fragments]
...
A satisfied glow dimmed in Northern’s eyes as he watched all of them succumb to the unavoidable cut of the Black Lance.
All of them except one.
At that moment, Northern’s eyes suddenly widened, followed by a very dark frown.
It seemed, by chance, the Black Lance’s precise and unavoidable cut had missed the cores of one of the enigmas.
’...That is bad!’
...And the creature was immediately, already adapting.
’Adapting to Black Lance is insane, shit, I messed up!’
From the ruptured remains of the creatures, pools of black ichor began to gather and flow towards the single surviving enigma.
’It’s even absorbing the rest?!’
Northern attempted to move but before he could, the swirling mass of ichor solidified into a towering figure, twice the height of the previous creatures.
Its form was vaguely humanoid but grotesquely exaggerated—massive, jagged limbs ending in claws that seemed to shimmer with a crimson sheen.
Dark armor-like plating covered its body, and from its back sprouted six elongated appendages, each tipped with a razor-sharp blade.
Most unnerving of all were its eyes—six gleaming orbs of deep crimson, arranged in a circular pattern on its head. They glared at Northern with an intensity that suggested intelligence, hunger, and something far worse: awareness.
The creature let out a deafening roar, the sound reverberating through the cavern and causing icicles to fall from the ceiling.
Northern raised the Illusion Sword, his expression cold and resolute.
"Alright, big guy... let’s dance... it’s not like I have any other choice..." he muttered with a pout.
Without hesitation, the creature lunged forward with terrifying speed, its six appendages slicing through the air in perfect synchronization.
Northern dodged the first strike with a burst of void essence, flickering to the side just as the second appendage came crashing down where he had stood moments before.
The impact shattered the frozen ground, sending shards of ice flying in every direction.
Northern didn’t let the creature recover. He surged forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. With a swift motion, he slashed at its torso, the soft glow of Chaos essence, coating the Illusion Sword glowing brighter as it cut through the dark plating.
But instead of ichor spilling out, the creature’s body absorbed the energy from the strike, its armor glowing faintly in response.
Northern flew back with widened eyes.
"Come on now?! It’s feeding off essence?"
Northern’s eyes flickered with irritation. ’Fine. Have it your way, don’t blame me if you get a stomach ache.’
He flared his Void wings, propelling himself backward to gain distance.
As he hovered in mid-air, he extended his free hand, summoning tendrils of pure Void essence that spiraled outward in intricate patterns.
The creature, sensing the surge of power, roared again and charged, its appendages slicing through the tendrils as it advanced.
But Northern had already anticipated its move.
With a sharp motion, he commanded the tendrils to coil around the creature’s limbs, anchoring it in place. The creature thrashed violently, but the Void tendrils held firm, tightening with every movement.
"Let’s see how well you handle this."
Northern raised the Illusion Sword... however, before his eyes, the monster suddenly began to grow even larger.
A horrified expression broke out on his face.
"Really?"