He thrust his hand forward, releasing a spiraling torrent of white and black essence that crackled and hissed like a living storm.
The blast slammed into the creature's chest, forcing it back for the first time. Cracks spread across its iron-like skin, and the ichor flowed freely now, staining the ground beneath it.
Northern landed, knees bent, breath heaving. His vision blurred for a moment, the strain of using Chaos and Void at the same time immediately beginning to take its toll.
But he couldn't stop. Not now.
The creature straightened, its form flickering in and out of clarity as if refusing to fully exist in this realm. Its many eyes burned brighter, madness incarnate. It raised its odachi once more, preparing to charge.
Northern grinned despite the pain coursing through his body. He could feel it-the rush of battle, the thrill of dancing on the edge of death.
He never thought he would hear himself say such a thing. But he really did. Perhaps there was a certain complacency he employed towards battle because he knew he could not get hurt anyway.
Maybe that was why he had not been giving his whole; despite having a generous repertoire of talent abilities, he chose to be stereotypical and boring.
Because nothing so far had been life-threatening to him. At the same time, his mind could not help but drift away in question.
Did he really have to be in an immersed realization that death could reach him anytime for him to enjoy battle?
The creature blurred forward, closing the distance with terrifying speed, its odachi cleaving through the air in a merciless arc.
Northern didn't move-not at first. His eyes were busy tracking the details, reading the shifting cracks in space around the incoming strike. It was subtle and could easily be missed, but the creature terribly affected the space around it by its movement alone.
And those eyes on its hands made it so hard for Northern to move faster than the creature could expect, or to surpass its perception.
There was almost no way out of it.
At the last possible moment, he shifted. Void essence flickered around his form like shadows as he twisted to the side.
Northern watched again with widened eyes as the odachi's edge grazed past him by mere inches, scattering the Void Force and sending a chill down his spine.
He spun with the motion, his body fluid and precise, black flames surging to his palm as he retaliated with a strike aimed at the creature's exposed side.
The blow connected. And the flames exploded upon impact, sending another crack rippling across the creature's body. But it didn't falter. Instead, several of its arms lashed out at once, aiming to crush him under sheer brute force.
Northern leapt back, but one arm caught his ankle mid-air. He felt the bone twist painfully before he was flung across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
He hit the ground hard, sliding several feet before coming to a stop. His breath caught in his throat, but he forced himself up, shaking off the pain.
'W-what was that just now?'
It had happened so fast that he could not keep up. The Dark Seer had somehow managed to touch him.
'It broke through the Void Force?'
Northern had not the time to celebrate his paling terror. The creature also was not going to give him any.
It charged again, this time all of its arms moving in perfect synchronization, a whirlwind of deadly limbs and jagged steel. The odachi came down once more, splitting the air with a high-pitched whistle.
Northern didn't dodge. Instead, he raised both hands, white and black energy spiraling in each palm before colliding together in a violent pulse.
The collision created a shockwave of force that met the descending odachi head-on.
The ground shattered beneath their combined force, fragments of stone flying in every direction.
Northern's legs buckled slightly under the strain, but he held his ground, forcing the creature's weapon back through sheer willpower.
Essence crackled wildly between them, distorting the air, making it hard to tell where reality ended and chaos began.
Before the creature could react, Northern's form blurred, splitting into three identical clones. Each clone shot around with blurring speed and quickly, they surrounded the creature in a triangle formation, weapons drawn and essence crackling at their fingertips.
The first clone struck from the left, twin dagger blades aimed at the creature's knees. The second clone lunged from behind, Grengar in its hands-humming with an insidiously sinister glow-he hurled it toward the creature's back.
Northern himself charged head-on, the Soul Threads forming in his grip like a coiled whip, ready to bind and tear.
The creature roared, a sound that seemed to reverberate through the very air. Its limbs twisted unnaturally, blocking the incoming attacks with frightening precision.
Two arms caught the stilettos, snapping them apart like brittle twigs, while another set of arms swatted the dual-bladed staff out of the clone's hand. Its odachi moved in a blur, aiming to cleave Northern in two.
But Northern was faster. He blurred out of the sword's path, his strings lashing out like serpents. They wrapped around one of the creature's many arms, searing into its iron-like skin. He pulled hard, forcing the creature off balance, giving his clones an opening.
Stainless appeared in the hands of the second clone as it shot forward and struck again, this time aiming for the area where the creature's core sat.
The blow landed, carving deep into its chest. The ichor gushed forth, sizzling. The creature stumbled, momentarily overwhelmed by the combined assault.
Northern didn't hesitate. He gathered all the essence he could muster at the moment, white
and black swirling around him in a vortex of raw power.
His eyes burned brighter, Chaos and Void merging into a single, volatile force.
This would be it-the finishing blow.
"Die," he whispered, voice calm, steady.
He thrust his hand forward, releasing the gathered essence in a blinding torrent.
The blast tore through the air, a roaring wave of destruction that slammed into the creature
with unrelenting force.
The ground trembled, cracks spidering out from the impact as the energy consumed
everything in its path.