Chapter 989: ...The Storm
Annette stood, her chest heaving. Each ragged breath escaped in visible puffs, white vapor cutting through the frigid air.
Dawn should have brought bitter cold, but this battlefield had blazed so fiercely that everyone had forgotten winter’s bite was supposed to claim them.
Her fires, after all, belonged to one of the ancient Heritages of Drifters—power whose roots ran as deep as Reimgard itself.
Her family, her clan, stood among the oldest and most formidable, even though most wielded hammers instead of swords.
Annette’s eyes swept the scene, wide with disbelief. Relief flooded through her first—she had survived. The thought should have comforted her.
But... who could have done this?
Her gaze trembled as it took in the sudden, absolute freeze that had claimed everything and made the air terribly cold.
Then her eyes found the Leviathan.
Her legs gave out. She hit the ground hard.
The Evil Dragon—frozen solid! Its massive form trapped in ice, every scale and claw locked in crystal stillness.
A voice drifted to her ears, from above or behind—she couldn’t tell.
"It won’t last long... don’t act like everything has ended."
That voice—she knew it!
Heart leaping, she spun her head. There, emerging from the very air itself, his form taking shape as if the wind had woven him back together, stood the voice’s owner.
The name burst from her lips.
"Northern!"
Northern gazed down, his expression cool and faintly mocking.
"Why do you look so pitiful, Master Annette?"
She scowled.
"You little pest. And what took you so long?"
Northern studied her briefly, then lifted his gaze to the frozen Leviathan.
"I was saving the world."
Annette’s face turned to stone.
"Say what now?"
Northern looked back at her.
"What? What’s with that look you’re making?"
Annette laughed, struggling to her feet.
"Nothing. It just sounds wrong coming from you. I thought you were more likely to end the world than save it. I guess you’ve had some character growth."
Northern turned away.
"Shut up."
He stretched his hand down to her.
Annette looked at his offered hand, then at his face—still turned away. A small smile touched her lips as she grasped it.
"Alright, no jokes. You really have grown."
Northern pulled her up and let out a breath, studying the creature trapped within its icy tomb. A literal mountain of ice!
His brow creased with worry.
’This is all Absolute Zero could manage. And the effect last time was so devastating—I thought it would finish everything.’
When Northern had used Absolute Zero before, it had wiped out hordes of Behemoths without a trace. It should have frozen everything into nothingness. But the Leviathan proved too mighty a force to simply erase, which explained why a mountain of ice now dominated the academy grounds. Though it rose from the inner compound, the frozen peak stretched so high it cast shadows over walls two hundred meters away.
Deep within the ice, a red glow began to pulse. Faint at first, but growing brighter.
Northern stared at it, his frown deepening like storm clouds gathering.
Annette caught the look on his face and turned to the ice mountain. Her expression darkened to match his.
"What are our chances against a Leviathan?"
Northern lingered, watching the red glow brighten and dim, as if the beast struggled against its frozen prison.
He sighed.
"The best I managed was cutting one’s hand off and shoving it back where it came from. And that drained my entire essence—I slept for over ten hours."
Annette nodded slowly.
"I see... so that means you’ll be sleeping for twenty-four hours this time?"
Northern shot her a look.
"I know you’re not the sharpest, Master Annette, but at least try to make your brain work sometimes."
"Want to die?"
"What I’m saying is, this will be brutal. Very brutal. I’ll need more hands."
Annette glanced around.
"Besides Vida, I don’t see anyone else here worth a damn. They’re all useless bodies stuffed with hot air."
"Sounds personal, but whatever. I’m not talking about those... my summons will arrive soon."
Annette’s eyes widened.
"Oh! Right! Wait—summons? You have more of those?"
Northern couldn’t answer. A thunderous crack split the sky. The ice mountain had begun to break.
He sighed once more.
"There hasn’t been a moment’s rest for two days straight. Well, except when I passed out, but that doesn’t count."
Annette raised an eyebrow.
"What are you muttering about when a Leviathan is stirring right in front of us?"
Northern’s expression hardened. Dark light swirled around his body as black armor formed—lustrous plates with a small dent over the chest. The helmet sealed around his head, four blazing blue lights piercing through the visor like predator’s eyes.
He looked at Annette through those fearsome lights.
"Support me however you can."
Then he launched forward, shooting toward the sky. He stopped mid-air, hovering at eye level with the monster now shattering its icy cage.
The breaking sounds flooded the air, mixed with something deeper—a low, rumbling groan.
Northern held his position and watched.
Below, everyone else scattered as ice shards and white smoke rained down. Something else seemed to be happening deeper in the academy, but Northern stayed focused on this threat. Whatever else was brewing, they’d have to handle it themselves.
Even if he could be in two places at once, he’d rather face this alone. He’d need every ounce of power to fight a Leviathan.
Which was completely insane and stupid. But he’d run out of choices long ago.
He’d come too far down this path of insane and stupid to turn back now.
Northern folded his arms, waiting as the creature rose from a flood of white fog. Despite the thick mist, the Evil Dragon’s eyes burned through like twin suns.
The monstrous beast stopped, and slowly the light in its eyes dimmed—but didn’t die completely. Only a flicker remained, barely alive yet somehow more menacing. The look was lifeless and eerie at once, like death itself had taken notice.
The monster stared down at the boy floating before it.
Northern spread his arms wide. Ice and fire javelins burst into existence, filling the entire sky in a single heartbeat. Their shadows blanketed the ground below like a dark promise.
"Oh well, shall we begin?"