Chapter 998: Team-Work [part 1]
It was a rough guess, but Northern couldn’t deny what he was feeling. The sensation hit him like a punch to the gut—strong, familiar, yet twisted into something demented and wrong.
It felt like Chaos.
’How?’
Northern froze mid-air, his mind racing. At first, nothing made sense. Then he remembered the sources of Chaos he’d absorbed from the Blood King’s rift, and the one Bairan had recently defeated. The pieces clicked together, forming a picture he didn’t want to see.
Still, it felt impossible. He wouldn’t bet his life on the Crimson Cloud being some corrupted version of Chaos. Not yet.
He sighed, and suddenly two more Northerns appeared beside him.
’I wonder if I’ll survive this time...’
At the same time, he created three more clones in the Limitless Void. He would have loved to summon ten more, but he needed to balance his essence recovery with usage. Three clones already strained that delicate cycle.
But what choice did he have? Lives hung in the balance. He had to save the people and defeat the Leviathan, somehow.
He turned to the clone on his left first.
"Burning Storm, your job is support. The monster runs hot with fire affinity, so watch yourself."
The clone smirked—Northern’s own expression mirrored back at him.
"Don’t lecture me, arse. Besides, fire isn’t Burning Storm’s real power. You’re thinking of his Essence Manifestation, which you definitely can’t unleash yet."
Northern’s eyes narrowed.
"Don’t count me out. I make miracles happen."
The last words came from both Northerns at once.
He sighed and looked right.
’Looks like I still can’t handle three cleanly. I need to take it slow, or my brain will collapse from overload.’
He’d never pushed his mind this hard for long stretches. There was no built-up resistance to the crushing weight of enhanced cognition from Demon of Change and Emulation.
He faced the Northern on his right—Titan’s Reckoning now.
"You handle rescue and cleanup. Whatever you do, stay out of the red fog. And keep close enough to lend me your strength if I need it."
The clone nodded silently.
Northern had decided to limit himself to controlling two bodies with full awareness. Mastering more could wait for a time when the world’s fate didn’t hang by a thread.
He looked at Burning Storm and smiled.
"You and I are stuck together for a while, buddy."
Burning Storm let out a long breath.
"Yeah. I have to watch your back—it’s what Burning Storm would want."
Northern flicked his clone’s forehead with one finger.
"Shut up and do your job."
Then he vanished forward, cutting through the air at incredible speed. His clone followed, matching his pace with deadly grace.
Both of them lunged toward the Leviathan with deadly intent. Burning Storm wielded Breakneck Edge—momentum like a blade—as he neared the beast, the air rippled. Speed became his weapon. An impossible explosion of force shot him forward, leaving the main Northern in his wake.
He didn’t just fly past Northern. He sharpened momentum to a razor’s edge and descended on the creature with a whirlwind spiraling down beside him.
A powerful crash rang across the sky. Then darkness swallowed the world.
This wasn’t ordinary darkness. This was something alien and hungry—a darkness the world had never tasted. It pulsed with terrible power.
Combined with what Dread in Yearning could do, the darkness felt alive, like it wanted to devour everything in sight.
Northern plunged his hand forward from behind, just as his clone slammed into the Leviathan.
First came a sound like thunder being torn in half—a roar that split the entire sky.
The cuts appeared instantly. Northern saw them clearly—deep gashes sliding down the Leviathan’s body. Its hide looked like rock soaked in blood for centuries, crude and stained with ancient violence.
When the severed pieces hit the ground, the earth cracked and split. The Leviathan barely flinched. Instead, its massive hands rushed forward with speed and power that shouldn’t exist together.
The blow caught Burning Storm square, launching him backward in a blur. Northern didn’t let it shake him. This was the plan—create an opening, whether the first strike worked or not.
In the darkness that covered the academy, a world of fire suddenly exploded from Northern’s hand, setting everything ablaze for one brilliant moment. Then all the darkness veiling the sky twisted and flowed, pouring into his hands and merging with the flames.
The fire burned fierce and bright, slowly shifting color until it settled into something that looked like purplish-black flames, burning with pure fury.
Eclipse Dread manifested through what seemed like darkness, but that wasn’t its true power. The talent was a channel for dread itself—it took fear and made it real. This was the closest thing Northern had to fighting something as abstract as pure will.
The purplish-black flames surged upward with crushing intensity as Northern collided with the monster.
Silence claimed the world for one heartbeat. Then thunder seemed to fold through the atmosphere. But that wasn’t the end.
Burning Storm was already coming back. Northern had sent a mental command to Titan’s Reckoning too—after dropping off a white-haired student who wouldn’t stop staring, the clone had vanished and blurred forward like he’d never been there at all.
Burning Storm moved with terrible speed. For the few seconds he’d been launched away, he’d done nothing but build momentum—whether from being struck or running in mad circles before charging back toward them.
Either way, Momentum Guard had reached one of its sharpest peaks. The speed carried him far beyond what he’d managed while flying. He was still nowhere near light speed, of course.
Was it even possible? Northern believed it was. Racing at such speed with momentum building felt like being carried by invisible hands—amazing and different. If it was possible, he’d surpass light speed one day. Or maybe he already had?
’No way...’
This wasn’t the time for such thoughts. He flew across the land, hit the ground running, and raced toward the Leviathan’s legs.
As the attack from above echoed across the entire academy, Northern closed in on both sides of the beast’s massive limbs.