The air surrounding Northern and the dead Paragon began to sizzle. Heat radiated so intensely it vaporized the atmosphere itself, sending tendrils of smoke writhing upward.
Koll's face darkened as he watched. Whatever was happening, he wouldn't stand idle and let it unfold.
He had come too far. No one would snatch victory from his grasp.
His jaw clenched tight as he shot forward. His figure melted into a black streak, cutting through space with breathtaking speed. Dante, still dazed from the recent clash, could only stare blankly as the Prophet thundered past him.
The man tore through the air like a midnight arrow, his legs churning beneath him, pulverizing rubble as he charged ahead.
He was nearly upon Northern when a voice split the tension.
"Haiiiyoooo..."
Before Koll could register the sound, something crashed into him with the force of a meteor. Pain exploded across his body as he tumbled away, carving a ditch through the unforgiving ground.
Bairan's figure blurred like a phantom as he pursued. Just as the Prophet's body began to slow, Bairan delivered another thunderous kick. The impact sent Koll flying with even greater velocity, a helpless projectile in the ruins.
Bairan vanished, then materialized mid-air. He twisted his body and hammered another devastating kick into the Prophet. The blow altered Koll's trajectory, sending him crashing into the earth below.
A shockwave of debris rippled outward as the landscape trembled beneath their battle.
Bairan touched down lightly, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. His eyes darted sideways, drinking in the sight of his Master performing yet another miraculous feat.
The vapor around Northern thickened until the very air seemed to burn like a flameless inferno shimmering with unseen power.
[Your body is evolving...]
Northern felt his skin tighten and harden. Something indescribable was transforming every organ within him, particularly his bloodstream. Liquid fire raced through his veins, scorching a path through his entire being.
Eventually, Northern's consciousness pinged with new notifications.
[Your body has grown]
[Congratulations, you have gained a third name]
[Congratulations, Unwritten has grown further...]
[You have grasped a fragment of the essence of True Name, you have understood what your true name could stand for, and thus you are slowly beginning to glimpse into the Art Of Names.]
[...However, the Art still remains elusive in its form, unless you are at the stage where your soul can carry the burden of names.]
[Congratulations, you have gained new talents.]
Northern finally withdrew his hand from the Paragon. He stumbled backward, his body swaying like a reed in the wind.
Paragon Raizel's empty vessel crumpled to the ground, nothing more than abandoned flesh.
Northern struggled to focus, his azure eyes gleaming with glacial intensity. Yet deep within those cold pools flickered something new—a spark of crimson fire nestled in the depths of his soul.
Absorbing a Paragon's True Name had drained him beyond measure. Northern never imagined he could achieve such a feat if Burning Storm's will hadn't yearned to surrender it to him.
Even so, the necessity of his actions left an acrid tang in his mouth.
He wobbled as he fought to stand tall, wisps of vapor still coiling from his skin like ghostly serpents.
The evolution had bestowed numerous gifts upon his body—he could sense their potency. But Northern knew he would need to examine himself more thoroughly to identify each blessing properly.
For now, though...
He lifted his gaze slowly, meeting the Lieutenant's bewildered stare across the battlefield.
Then he whispered.
"Change name..."
[Select the name you'd like to change to]
[> Titan's Reckoning]
[> Burning Storm]
"Burning Storm."
A crackling sound rippled through the air like electricity dancing across water. Simultaneously, Northern felt strength seeping back into his limbs. Molten power surged through him, igniting every cell in his body.
The system's revelation about understanding the essence of True Names resonated with absolute clarity. Through Burning Storm's final gift, countless fragments clicked into place within his mind.
The formation of a Soul World began with truly grasping what a True Name was. It confirmed what Northern had suspected all along.
By embracing the essence of a True Name—by becoming it—one shattered the boundary and comprehended the true weight of a Luminary.
Yet this transcended mere intellectual understanding. It was a truth that only a soul core could fully recognize and embody.
But Northern possessed no soul core, rendering this revelation only partially useful. Nevertheless, it illuminated his role with crystal clarity. He was an anomaly—a stranger to this world—yet bound by its fundamental laws.
Omniform granted his soul the unique ability to adopt any shape or form, to truly become what it mimicked.
Until now, attempting to give Northern a soul core had been nothing more than hollow imitation.
Yet Northern questioned this very conclusion. Was it truly mere imitation, or was his soul simply not yet evolved enough to comprehend its profound weight?
The truth he yearned to embrace about himself was that his True Name anchored him to—nothing.
A paradoxical notion, considering the impossibility of true nothingness. Initially, he might have claimed he simply lacked an anchor altogether.
But such freedom was impossible within the fundamental laws that governed Tra-el.
An anchor must exist—this was immutable truth. Yet simultaneously, his soul lacked the core that would allow it to be traced back to any origin source.
The conundrum twisted into a profound possibility: for him to exist within Tra-el's immutable laws, he required an anchor—and that anchor was, impossibly, nothingness itself.
And this strange anchor to nothing granted Northern the ultimate freedom—to become anything.
This paradox likely explained his natural resonance with the Copycat system. The revelation sparked a deeper question: had the Copycat system always been thus named, or had it adapted to mirror the fundamental nature of his soul and existence?
This was also the same for Chaos and Void.
Either way, Northern recognized only one true limitation—himself. The boundaries of his potential extended only as far as his self-perception allowed.
Yet this wasn't merely positive thinking or self-affirmation. It was primordial knowledge, accessible only through the deepest will of one's soul.
For the present, he would work within the confines of this "imitation." But when he finally grasped the true Will of his soul, the barriers between classifications and realities would dissolve. He could be a Paragon while simultaneously existing as a Luminary and a Transcendent.
The implications ignited twin flames in Northern's chest—a blazing excitement intertwined with profound sorrow, each feeding the other in an endless dance.