Chapter 707: The Adapting Darkness
Northern gritted his teeth as he watched the abomination grow before him. The creature's body swelled grotesquely, its armor thickening, appendages elongating, and those crimson eyes burning with even greater malice.
The Void tendrils strained, creaking under the immense pressure of the expanding form.
The greedy bastard had just explosively adapted to the little amount of Chaos essence it had absorbed from the sword.
That made Northern question whether it was really okay to let it keep absorbing his essence. He released the tendrils immediately, knowing that maintaining them any longer would only worsen the situation-he really did not want the monster adapting to the void.
'That would be very bad...'
It had adapted to Black Lance already. Although Northern was thankful that Black Lance was a derivative of Chaos Flame, which essentially belonged to the Chaos flow in his body.
Void was another story, plus the already foreboding feeling that he had about the strange darkness that surrounded the enigma.
Right now, his instincts were telling him that the creature absorbing Void essence was going to be a very detrimental mistake that would be costly, maybe not now, but eventually...
Northern's line of thought was cut short as the creature roared, its powerful guttural voice threatening to shatter the fabric of reality. Its massive form towered over him like a shadow of impending doom.
Unfazed by the difference in height and the terror that the creature posed, Northern glared back into its eyes.
In fact, for some reason, the creature seemed to recognize the defiance and resolve in Northern's glare, causing its eyes to become more menacing, glowing and dimming with a vicious crimson light threatening to devour rabidly.
Then the bastard moved.
With a sudden lurch, it lunged forward, its six appendages slicing through the air like massive blades.
Northern easily-using the Illusioned Hefter's Order Ability-blinked out of the monster's space and appeared far off.
But the creature was fast. Its reflexes were fast. Despite its grotesque bulk, it moved with terrifying speed, closing the gap between them in seconds and lashing those snake-like appendages towards Northern again.
Northern dodged, twisting mid-air as the first appendage narrowly missed him. The second came immediately after, forcing him to parry with the Illusion Sword. Sparks flew as the blade met the appendage, the force of the impact sending a jolt through Northern's arm.
'It's stronger...'
...And it was learning.
He gritted his teeth, spawning out his wings and flaring them to propel himself.
The creature roared in frustration, its eyes gleaming with hunger as it tracked his every move. Dark tendrils began to writhe around its form, pulsing in sync with the crimson veins crisscrossing its grotesque body.
Northern narrowed his eyes, focusing specifically on those tendrils that writhed around it.
He could tell... he could feel it-the energy emanating from the creature was shifting, becoming more chaotic, somewhat...familiar.
'Chaos...?'
But the bastard was doing what Northern was doing with Void tendrils with the Chaos it had absorbed.
The cold realization gripped him.
The bastard wasn't just adapting to his essence-it was attempting to recreate it, to become something more than just an abomination.
Should it succeed, that would give way to the birth of a very terrifying creature. Northern was not sure if any existence aside from him wielded Chaos, and he was too envious to let another.
'This bastard dies, right here, right now.'
Of course, his resolution had always been to kill it either way. But Northern did not think he had anticipated and wanted to kill a monster so much as he wanted to kill this evolved Dark Enigma.
Northern released the Illusion blade from his hands, leaving it to scatter in shards of black light. Then his fingers spread out.
As they did, azure ethereal threads flowed out of his hands, flailing like a restless wind, each strand gleaming faintly against the darkened air.
The air around Northern shimmered faintly as the azure threads danced in fluid, erratic patterns, their soft glow casting an eerie light across the cavern.
Each thread moved with a will of its own, responding to the slightest twitch of his fingers, bending, twisting, and weaving like strands of fate.
The creature roared again, sensing the shift in power, its tendrils pulsing violently in
response.
Without hesitation, it lunged forward, its six appendages slicing through the space in perfect synchronization.
Northern did not flinch.
With a flick of his wrist, the ethereal threads shot forward, slicing through the air with a whispering hiss.
They moved faster than the creature's appendages, weaving through the gaps between the dark blades like serpents, wrapping around them in a tight, shifting grip.
The creature's momentum faltered as the threads constricted, tightening like a noose around its limbs. It thrashed violently, trying to break free, but the threads clung to it stubbornly, pulsing with a faint azure light.
Northern's eyes gleamed coldly. He raised his hand higher, and the threads obeyed, lifting the creature off the ground.
The tendrils writhed furiously, but every movement only caused the threads to dig deeper, severing the flow of chaotic energy within them.
'Not so fast.'
The creature shrieked, releasing a wave of chaotic force that distorted the air around it. The impact caused the threads to quiver, but Northern didn't let go.
Instead, he spread his fingers wider, and the threads multiplied, forming a dense web that surrounded the abomination entirely.
With a fluid motion, Northern flicked his fingers, sending several strands darting toward the creature's exposed joints.
They moved like needles, precise and deadly, piercing through the gaps in its armor with terrifying accuracy. Crimson ichor sprayed from the wounds, sizzling as it hit the frozen
ground.
The creature retaliated, swinging one of its appendages in a wild arc.
Northern pulled back slightly, the threads responding instantly by retracting, avoiding the
strike by a hair's breadth.
Then, with a subtle twist of his fingers, he redirected the threads in a spiraling motion, looping around the creature's neck and torso.
The azure strands shimmered brightly as they tightened, slicing through its armor with a soft, metallic screech.
Northern's movements were graceful, almost serene, as he guided the threads with practiced ease. To an observer, it would have seemed like a dance- each flick of his fingers, each subtle motion of his wrists, orchestrating a symphony of light and shadow that encased the
battlefield.
The creature shrieked again, this time in pain, as more threads pierced its core, disrupting its chaotic flow. Its tendrils flailed desperately, but they could not touch Northern. He was always a step ahead, weaving through the gaps with ethereal precision, his threads slicing through the air like whispers of death.
But Northern knew better than to grow complacent.
The creature's body began to shift once more, its veins pulsing erratically as it tried to adapt
to the threads. Crimson light flared within its core, threatening to destabilize the web that
bound it.
"Nah, I'm not going to allow you to do that..."
Without hesitation, Northern brought his hands together, the threads converging into a
single, concentrated point above the creature.
They twisted and spun, forming a spear-like shape that pulsed with raw energy.
With a final motion, he thrust the concentrated spear downward.
The threads shot forward in a brilliant streak of light, piercing the creature's core with
unerring precision.
The impact was immediate-crimson light exploded outward, but the threads didn't falter. They tightened around the core, sealing it in a cocoon of azure light.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still. The creature's thrashing ceased, its form quivering violently as the threads drained the chaotic energy from its core.
The light dimmed, and with a final, shuddering gasp, the creature collapsed, its body disintegrating into fragments of dark essence.
[You have slain a Devilish Dark Enigma]
[You have gained +15 talent fragments]
Northern rolled his shoulders, easing the soreness.
"Crap. I've been here for a while, I need to leave and rest for the beginning of the festival."
Northern sighed and was about to turn when he suddenly paused and frowned. He turned back slowly and narrowed his eyes with a suspicious frown.
The darkness seemed to still linger, now even more than before. It was shifting as if moving
along the same circumference.
Northern slowly extended his hands, getting ready to unleash a lot on whatever it was. He just
pitied his stamina.
Bairan's voice echoed from the Limitless Void.
"Master, I think this is the floor boss..."
"Shut up, I know." Northern had forgotten for a moment that he had to face the floor boss; the immense strength
of the monster had led him to easily forget.
'If the floor monsters were that difficult to deal with, how strong will the floor boss be...?'
Just as he thought about it, the ground suddenly began to shake, albeit slightly.
The array of crimson eyes opened again in the darkness, but this time, they seemed to draw nearer and got clearer as the darkness itself seemed to take a definite shape.
As Northern saw the creature coming out, his eyes went up and his face paled out completely.
"H-oly crap..."