The military man's body blurred as uncontrolled force launched him through the air. He crashed into the first building, already crumbling from an enormous Maelstrom—a creature that looked like a twisted mix between a massive lizard and a jackal. The military man's body tore straight through the monster with brutal cutting force, punching through the second building and out the other side. His body rolled through the air, tumbling low before crashing into the third building, finally slamming to a bone-jarring stop against its weakened inner walls.
A moment later, the entire structure collapsed on him.
Prominent Leg sprawled on the ground, blood pooling beneath him as his breath came in ragged gasps. His eyes widened with confusion, stress creasing his already pale face as he struggled to understand how such a devastating blow could come from this fragile-looking boy.
He had crossed blows with the military man. He knew exactly how strong the man was—a siege wall, impossible to budge no matter how hard he tried.
And yet, with one strike from someone who didn't look half as strong, the man had folded and flown like paper in the wind.
Northern looked down at Prominent Leg and studied him for a moment.
He crouched down and examined the man's opened guts more closely. Then he slowly placed a hand over the wound.
At once, Prominent Leg let out a guttural cry as a hissing sound seeped from the point of contact.
Northern nodded and smiled faintly.
"I stopped your bleeding using a mix of cold and heat. Mostly heat—I just added a touch of cold so it wouldn't hurt as much. Though I imagine it still hurt like hell."
The Duke was still recovering from the searing pain, panting heavily. But he looked at Northern and nodded with what politeness he could manage.
"T-thank you."
Northern stood up, the smile lingering on his lips.
"Don't mention it."
As he slowly turned away, Ultron was already upon him. His fist tore forward with cold, terrifying speed—just a breath away from crushing Northern's skull.
However, Northern's faint smile remained unchanged. His eyes didn't flinch or waver, even with the sudden assault bearing down on him.
He threw an uppercut from below, smashing it into Ultron's jaw before the incoming blow could land.
The uppercut resounded like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves rippling outward before Ultron was launched skyward.
Northern lowered himself slightly and took off, shattering the ground beneath him as debris flew backward. His body blurred with speed, arriving at the point where Ultron was being hurled.
He joined his hands together and raised them over his head. Using [Earthbreaker], he brought them down.
Earthbreaker was a talent ability designed to shatter the ground. But Northern was slowly grasping the flexible nature of talent abilities the more time he spent with them.
He didn't need to use it on actual ground—his opponent's body could serve as earth of sorts. And this situation was perfect for the talent ability to shine.
As his joined hands fell upon Ultron, what the man had felt before paled in comparison. This time, his consciousness went black. The entire night trembled as a colossal shockwave tore through the air in a perfect circle. Then Ultron crashed into the ground, sending another shockwave rippling outward with debris at terrifying speed.
People and monsters alike were thrown back, flying dozens of meters. Buildings cracked and crumbled as devastation drowned everything that had been happening before.
The battlefield below seemed to enter a silent pause as the aftermath of the devastating crash settled. Soldiers helped each other rise from the rubble while even monsters scrambled to their feet, ready to resume their mindless slaughter.
Above it all, a boy floated in the dark sky with a look of slight surprise on his face.
He looked at his hands.
'...no doubt about it…'
His talent abilities had grown stronger—more potent!
A wild grin spread across his face.
'Damn, I can even feel it in my veins… I've definitely been missing out on what I should have built my entire life upon.'
Chaos and Void were cheat skills, intoxicating to use. But these… these weren't so bad either.
If he could master blending all his talents together, he was bound to be as strong as even Chaos and Void would make him. Perhaps even stronger.
Of course, there were some things he could never replace that Void offered him. The most important was the gift of his summons.
Northern clenched his fist with renewed resolve and slowly descended. All eyes on the battlefield were on him, his snow-white hair flowing in the subtle wind of the cold night.
He wore a dark-blue inner shirt with a cross neck that looked like ancient eastern garb, paired with black pants whose lower edges seemed torn. His boots were long gone—torn from the battle with Dante and discarded while flying here.
Northern glanced at the remaining monsters. Four of them: one Maelstrom, two Destroyers, and one Behemoth.
He moved sharply, vanishing before everyone's eyes. A terrifying, invisible weight fell upon the atmosphere, as if a mountain the size of the entire sky was about to crush them.
Everyone trembled for a brief moment—monsters and humans alike. In that instant, using the gravitational force of [Weight of the World], Northern strengthened his fist with [Colossal Force] and completely pulverized the Maelstrom's head from its body.
The massive creature stood headless for a moment before collapsing. Its head, with three vicious maws placed around it, hit the ground with a wet thud.
Before it even fell, Northern was already onto the second.
The air trembled and scattered violently at his sudden arrival, causing the first Destroyer to stagger back. It was a massive humanoid creature with four arms ending in crudely long, sharp claws. Its elongated head bristled with needle-like teeth.
Northern had already switched to a new name. He raised his hand, cutting with an invisible blade of momentum, then swiped forward with ease.
From the monster's shoulder down to its torso, everything sliced clean and fell, letting out a gory spray of black, putrid blood.
He ended the second Destroyer by simply passing through it. The last Behemoth died split in half from head to toe.