Chapter 995: The Force of Will [part 1]
The flames still danced wildly around them, and Northern had planned to use their remnants for another attack while drawing on a different talent.
He stretched out his fingers for control, only to notice that the blue flames licking the earth and air refused to bend to his will.
A frown creased his brow. The next moment, the flames began pulling together toward a single point.
They swirled around the Leviathan, growing as they spun in a perfect circle, picking up speed. The flames pressed together and birthed something far more terrifying. The air itself seemed to melt—heat waves blurred everything, turning the world into a furnace.
The blazing heat reached Northern’s open wound. Even as it slowly healed, pain bit deep into his skin. He clenched his fist as blood trickled down his hand.
’What am I surprised for? It’s a leviathan.’
He steadied himself, refusing to worry. Maybe he hadn’t expected this much, but at the same time, he should have expected nothing less.
The flames expanded, growing so wide and tall they stretched from the crimson clouds to the ground. A pillar of fire tornado now rushed toward Northern with crushing speed.
"You seriously think my own ability can harm me?"
Northern lifted his fingers and snapped.
Everything stopped. In the blink of an eye, a towering pillar of frozen storm stood where the fire had been, connecting clouds to earth. It looked as if the heavens had finally built a bridge to descend upon the world.
The structure was breathtaking and terrifying—enormous enough to dwarf the academy itself. Snow drifted from its heights.
But the ice tower wouldn’t last forever.
Northern raised one hand and crushed his fist.
The tower began crumbling into spikes—not just spikes, but a storm of jagged ice that immediately tore through the entire area.
The academy walls and front compound vanished inside a raging frost storm. White blindness swallowed everything, and the unlucky people caught within couldn’t see a damn thing.
Vida trembled with fear but stayed put, especially when she watched a massive ice spear rocket past her with deadly speed.
Annette didn’t need to see such a sight to know better than to move in the blizzard. She understood that Northern fought with full awareness of his surroundings.
Others, though—three instructors and several students trapped in the storm—tried their best to find a way out, their efforts proving useless.
A true blizzard had taken over the academy grounds, making the familiar terrain completely foreign to those caught within it.
Northern stood at the storm’s heart, his face hard as stone. Blue light blazed in his eyes as he swept one hand around, controlling the blizzard’s fury and the speed of ice spears forming within it.
Soon, a frown settled on his face.
No matter how fast the spears moved, how strong the lances he forged, or how sharp their points, everything shattered against the Evil Dragon’s unbreakable hide.
But Northern grasped one thing clearly. The monster couldn’t control ice the way it commanded fire.
More precisely, it couldn’t bend ice to its will with the same overwhelming force it used on flames.
Northern raised two fingers in front of his face. Ryan had been a Master when he absorbed the talent, so FrostHeart held just three abilities.
Ice Manipulation, Absolute Zero, and Frost Bound.
Of course, he used Ice Manipulation the most—it left endless room for his imagination. Absolute Zero was devastating, and Frost Bound was what he’d used to trap the monster when he entered. But it could do far more than that.
"Combining Absolute Zero and Frost Bound..."
Northern narrowed his eyes to slits, focusing with sharp, biting intensity. This blizzard was his chance to do exactly what he had in mind.
To freeze the monster from within.
Frost Bound was an ice explosion that destroyed enemies either from outside or within. The destruction happened in quick stages, but Northern simply paused at the freezing stage, dwelling only on that part while using Ice Manipulation to strengthen the freeze.
This time, he would push the ability to its limit and use Absolute Zero to boost its power.
The blizzard grew stronger. The very air and everyone trapped within it—raging or not—began freezing in place. The effect spread until it reached the center where the Evil Dragon stood.
At that point, everything froze solid—the air, the ground, reaching up into the clouds and freezing parts of them too. What should have followed was an explosion.
But the explosion never came. Had the ability failed? Had it exploded without sound?
Northern felt the ability activate, but then he felt nothing—as if it had been erased before it could take effect.
His eyes grew calm as a red glow brightened from deep within the frozen region.
"Will..."
The glow blasted out of the ice. Northern vanished as the straight beam of light tore past the academy, past the island, into the air.
For a moment, across the entire Central Plains, people saw what looked like a red light streak forward with incredible speed before dying out in weak blinks.
The clouds parted and couldn’t flow back where the glow had passed.
The frozen blizzard melted as the creature tore through it with a savage cry.
The cry drenched the entire academy in sound that tore at their hearts. Everyone, no matter where they were, clutched their ears and bent down in agony. Blood poured from ears and noses.
Worse still, the students nearby bled through their ears until they passed out. The instructors struggled to stay conscious. Even Annette and Vida bled from their noses.
Northern was the only one floating in the air, hands at his sides, ready for the next attack. His arm and shoulder had fully healed, but the Night Terror armor seemed to be reaching its limit, leaving his shoulder and arms bare.
The Leviathan thundered across the ground with speed that shattered the earth and sent cracks spider-webbing through buildings. The very ground bore the brutal weight of its careless charge.
Northern braced himself. He didn’t run. Instead, a pillar of ice formed in the air, building itself with wild speed.
The pillar cast its shadow over the Leviathan’s entire body and half the academy. Northern felt the crushing weight of it press against his soul as he held it suspended.
The pillar stretched endlessly into the sky, facing the Leviathan charging toward him. With both hands raised, Northern groaned and roared as he sent the massive pillar of ice crashing down against the Evil Dragon.