Chapter 778: The Predator And The Prey
The battle was decided.
The fate of the winner-and that of the loser-had been sealed from the very moment the fight began.
No matter the effort, the struggle, the desperation, one of the two-a contender for this vast and delicious soul-was bound for defeat.
The result was inevitable.
...
And what was that result?
A grin split Northern's bloodied lips, jagged teeth stained with crimson, his expression twisted in ugly satisfaction.
His body swayed, staggering backward, yet his voice drifted forward, carried by the hollow winds of the Void Palace.
"What are you doing? Who have you been dancing with all this time?"
A simple question.
But something was wrong.
The voice did not originate from the crumbling Northern.
The Shadow Enthrall's seven necks shifted slightly, dismissing the sudden chill that laced the air. Yet, something gnawed at its senses, a crawling unease.
Slowly-it turned.
Beyond the swirling flames, beyond the battlefield of ruin-
There.
A kingly figure sat upon a white throne, leaning casually against the right armrest, draped in an air of absolute dominion.
Northern.
The real one.
His gaze smoldered, sharp, condescending a predator toying with its prey.
"It was a bit entertaining, watching you make a fuss over a single clone." He scoffed.
"So you defeated a clone... and you think you're king now?"
His grin widened, teeth flashing wickedly.
"Dream on."
Leaning forward on the throne, his glowing eyes darkened, a flicker of malice burning in their depths.
"How about you fight a few more of them?"
The Void Palace trembled.
All around the Shadow Enthrall, figures began to emerge-each identical to Northern, each grinning, each carrying the same unsettling air of confidence.
Clones.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Pooling together like a growing storm, encircling the abomination like a pack of wolves hunting an injured beast.
Northern watched, his satisfaction evident, as the creature let out another deafening roar. But before it could finish-
Seven clones shot forward with flawless synchronicity.
Seven fists struck seven heads.
A devastating shockwave rippled outward, sending the monstrous abomination reeling back, all seven heads whipping back violently at the same time.
Then-the real slaughter began.
The clones swarmed, moving with ruthless precision, attacking in droves.
The Shadow Enthrall roared, jerking violently, shaking its colossal form to cast them off. But it was useless.
They climbed it like an unstoppable tide, relentless and unshaken.
Each individual clone carried half the power of their master.
Each one alone could potentially destroy the maelstrom.
And yet-
It was faced with thousands.
The outcome was no longer in question.
It was already over.
All Northern had to do was watch.
He sat upon his throne of dominion, watching as the onslaught unfolded.
The clones climbed tirelessly, scaling the Shadow Enthrall's monstrous form, their relentless blows hammering into its body without end.
Some clawed at its steely flesh, skin peeling away, bones grinding against metal-yet they
did not stop.
Every failure was followed by another.
And another.
And another.
Until - a crack.
A small fissure-spreading, branching, fracturing.
Not in one place. But everywhere.
The colossus of shadows was being submerged beneath their limitless numbers. No matter how violently the Shadow Enthrall thrashed-slamming its massive heads against the ground, against the pillars, against the very fabric of the Void Palace itself—it was futile.
They only grew more persistent.
Then, in one final act of desperation, the creature unfurled its wings-a desperate attempt to
take flight.
But it never left the ground.
A single clone-particularly furious-leapt skyward, a twin-bladed staff in his hand.
And with one clean, ruthless sweep-severed the wing.
The creature's balance shattered.
It lurched mid-air, momentarily suspended in its failed ascent, before the weight of
countless clones dragged it downward.
It crashed, tumbling through the Void Palace, its enormous frame splintering the floor
beneath it.
The clones surged forward, tiredlessly.
They climbed, battered, crushed-turning the abomination into nothing more than a
battered husk.
And Northern?
He continued to watch.
His grin was dark, hungry, laced with the glee of absolute control.
Of course this was only possible here, in the Limitless Void.
Here, void essence was endless. His only limitation, stamina meant nothing-it was tied to
the physical body, and his soul was unbound.
While he had been skeptical at first, reluctant because of the unpredictability of Chaos and
Void, everything had gone exactly as he planned.
And now-
The creature's death was inevitable.
More and more fissures erupted across its enormous form, leaking liquid darkness.
It tried to resist.
Tried to thrash, to lash out, to shake them off-but its strength had waned.
For every clone destroyed, two more emerged.
For every moment it fought, its body crumbled further.
The Shadow Enthrall let out one last, agonized snarl-
Then-it dissolved into a mist of shifting shadows.
Northern's grin widened.
"Of course, I knew you would do that."
The Void Palace darkened at his command.
The radiant glow faded, swallowed by an abyss of pure void, as every entry point sealed shut.
The Shadow Enthrall was desperate. And its desperation gained a shape.
A form.
A swirling mass of shadows, compacted into a single, thick vortex of darkness. The Shadow Enthrall surged upward, a black storm of pure ferocity, blasting through the
reinforced walls of the Void Palace with a force that shook the very foundation of the abyss.
A final attempt.
A last, desperate effort to escape.
It shot into the sky, ascending into the endless expanse of the Limitless Void, rising beyond
Northern's reach before he could seal it within his soul.
Not that he hadn't anticipated the move.
Not that he couldn't have stopped it.
But he hesitated.
Again.
A strange, inexplicable discomfort coiled within him.
Something about the Shadow Enthrall's presence inside his soul unsettled him, an
unshakable discomfort gnawing at the edges of his mind.
Taking the fight outside was better.
With its weakened state, this time, he would finish it.
The creature soared higher, vanishing into the vast sky above the Void Palace, its dark mist
dissipating as it fled into the abyss.
Northern wasted no time.
He tore free from his soulscape, opening his eyes back to reality.
His senses sharpened, his focus locked onto his target, already preparing to rain down an
unrelenting flurry of attacks.
But-
Silence.
Stillness.
Nothing.
'Huh?'
His breath steadied and muscles remained tense, battle-ready.
Yet-
There was nothing.
His gaze swept across the battlefield, his mind racing. And then-slowly-he turned his
head.
The Shadow Enthrall was gone.