Chapter 992: Seated Among The Stars
With the strength Northern had shown at the start, many couldn’t grasp why he was fleeing from the tentacles. They expected him to spin around at any moment and *bang!* Drive an ice-breaking punch into another tentacle.
Instead, all he did was run. Even his escape defied mortal limits.
Northern wasn’t running without purpose, though. His goal was to draw the Monster itself into battle, and that wouldn’t happen while the tentacles remained. So he should just destroy them, right?
He’d considered that. But Northern could "see" something others missed. The monster might look like it was moving, but it was pouring energy into controlling the tentacles. That pool of power was vast—so vast that if the creature itself started moving, it would spell doom for everyone.
That’s why Northern’s plan wasn’t to destroy the tentacles outright. Instead, he’d force the monster to use them as much as possible, for as long as he could endure it. Then he’d destroy them.
The deadly dance continued through the air, growing more dangerous by the second. Northern flew like the wind itself, blurring past buildings while tentacles crashed through them with crushing force. Stone chunks scattered and sprayed across the ground, making everything shake.
Northern would make sharp, impossible turns in the air like some top-tier Iran military missile. Those had been deadly in his time on Earth—who knew how deadly they were now, if Earth still existed.
His turns were so sharp they seemed to slice through the air itself. The tentacles struggled to follow such movements. Their edges blurred until they almost faded from sight. They smashed into buildings and veered off course. It was both terrifying and amazing to watch.
At some point, the tentacles shed their bulk for speed. They thinned out and burst with hot air, becoming whip-like tendrils—thinner but carrying more deadly force.
Then they shot forward with new speed.
Now they stopped chasing Northern from behind and moved right next to him, lashing out with desperate fury. Northern would glide away to dodge the whip strikes, making the air tremble each time.
Sometimes the force of impact between tentacles and air was so strong that concrete scattered on the ground below.
Northern didn’t stop. He would glance at the monster now and then but kept moving at that incredible speed, a frozen sun hanging behind him like a banner.
Ice spears formed around Northern and shot forward with air blasts, exploding with force that slowed one tentacle for a moment. One recoiled, another veered off course, but the third weaved through and charged forward without pause.
Northern spun and flew toward that one with blazing speed. Just as they were about to collide, he swept up slightly and glided over its body, racing along its serpentine length while his fingertips brushed its rough surface. A soft smile played on his lips.
The sky turned dark and gloomy, as if a storm was about to break loose.
Annette and the other instructors looked up with pale faces.
"What now?"
This was winter—rain couldn’t possibly fall at a time like this. And with the way the weather had been shifting on the battlefield in the last few minutes, it was easy to guess who was behind it again.
A bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky, landing in Northern’s hand. He flew back, wrapped in a backdrop of violently sparking electricity. One particular bolt danced in his grip as he threw his arm back and hurled the lightning forward.
The entire sky seemed to follow that strike. The spectators’ eyes went wide.
Annette froze in terrible shock.
"Hooowwwww..."
Her mouth felt like it might tear from stretching so wide.
Instructors scattered around the area all looked up, their faces twisted with fear. What humans couldn’t understand, they feared with every fiber of their being.
Vida stood near a corner where a chunk of stone had fallen minutes ago during Northern’s chase with the tentacles.
She stared at him, eyes narrowed.
She tried to remember their first meeting. Back then, he’d seemed like some rude, cocky brat who’d stumbled onto power by pure luck.
But now...
Now he looked like a man. Something had changed in how he used each ability. He knew what he was doing. The look in his eyes was deep and commanding, though he never looked at anything—or anyone—for too long.
Her lips parted slightly. The words caught for a moment before she managed to whisper to herself.
"He has become a man..."
She had no idea why that made her heart race, or why she was starting to wonder if she could be the type of woman he’d want.
She shook her head hard.
’My God, we’re in the middle of a battle!’
A massive ’thud’ echoed across the entire battlefield—the sound of a hundred rolling thunders. The ground trembled and split. Earthquakes ran deep into the earth’s core and spread like wildfire.
Everyone scrambled for safety from the enormous attack. When they all settled and the shaking stopped, they lifted their heads to find only two tentacles remained.
Northern hovered somewhere in the air, watching the last traces of lightning fade from his hand.
"Did I put too much void essence into that?"
The power of his abilities—whether copied or owned—depended on how much Void essence he poured into them. And if there was one thing Northern had plenty of, it was void essence.
The void essence Northern put into a single attack could drain the entire pool of a mature Sage.
That’s what gave such crushing power to what should have been a simple strike.
Nyssira, Shae, and the student council were just getting to their feet after being knocked down by the earthquake. They stared up at Northern with blank, stunned faces.
Shae trembled slightly.
"...he’s beyond our league."
They’d always known—at least since the Tournament began. They knew Northern was strong.
But there was a difference between knowing someone sat among the stars and thinking they simply sat above you.
Stars were unreachable. Northern showed a level of power that everyone there—instructors and student council alike—didn’t just fear. They feared the very idea of reaching that height.
He stood above them all, at a level both staggering and terrifying.
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