'... Still, the thought of letting that bastard in-without knowing if it would even work-it's a gamble. If I'm wrong... I might lose my soul to it.'
But what were the chances that he was wrong?
Void was the origination of all things. In a way, it was the explicit beginning. Even Chaos was born from it—at least, to some degree.
His understanding of these concepts was fragmented. He couldn't definitively say this or that, not yet.
But he was willing to bet-heavily-that the Void within him would either consume the Shadow Enthrall... or at the very least, scare the shit out of it.
What if the Shadow Enthrall was ancient enough-powerful enough to seize control of his body without disturbing the Void?
What if it could coexist with it?
Northern shook his head, chasing the thoughts away.
'The deeper I think about it, the more I overthink it. I could be right... but I could just as easily be wrong.'
Regardless, the only path forward seemed clear now.
Northern's gaze swept across the endless swarm of shadow wraiths surrounding him.
It was like a city of millions, all forming a closing circle around a single man.
And they never stopped charging.
He vanished-only to reappear elsewhere.
Again and again, shifting from one corner of the abyss to the next.
But the result was always the same.
So he did the only thing left to do.
Northern exhaled slowly, casting one last look at the wraiths before him.
It took everything in him not to move-not to react on instinct. But he froze, suppressing every impulse to evade.
The shadow weapons and claws fell upon him.
The moment the first shadow so much as brushed the tip of his subtly flowing hair-
Every single shadow. Every wraith. The entire mass of the mist-
All of it flushed into his body with frightening intensity.
It poured into him, not just through one entry, but through every single opening in his head.
Eyes. Nose. Mouth. Ears.
It was like drowning in darkness.
Northern's body froze.
Even though he tried to move-tried to command his limbs-they did not respond.
For the first time, he felt something else in control.
A force that had invaded the very foundation of his being.
And with it, the slow, insidious creep of fear.
That whisper of doubt.
That terrifying realization-
'I might actually lose my body.'
The thought barely had time to root itself before he ripped it away and stilled his mind.
This was supposed to be a soul battle.
Many Drifters could barely comprehend their own souls, much less access them with clarity.
But Northern was not many Drifters. He was different.
Where the Shadow Enthrall was running to-
He would be waiting for it.
He dove into the Limitless Void... Into his soulscape.
Northern's vision shifted as easily as breathing. As effortlessly as blinking.
The familiar scenery of the Void Palace unfolded before his eyes.
There he sat, perched upon the white throne, its surface smooth and unyielding-less like something carved and more like an entire slab of celestial metal, untouched, unbroken.
He exhaled, relief settling into his bones.
Leaning back, he let himself breathe. Just for a moment.
The sky of the Limitless Void shuddered.
A quake, not of sound, but of presence.
The Limitless Void had no uniform sky. It was a compartment of different skies, shaped by the properties of every rift he had absorbed.
Yet, for the first time-
The workers-souls of monsters and that of some humans-paused in their endless labor
across the vast plains of the Limitless Void.
Every single one of them lifted their heads, their spectral forms frozen, staring up.
And there, above them-
A colossal darkness spread across the sky.
Thick. Endless. All-consuming.
A night darker than any night.
A sight that had never before been seen in this place.
'The bastard is here...'
Northern exhaled, a sharp, amused breath.
The Shadow Enthrall had attempted entry first. Yet, he had beaten it here.
He arrived before it.
And somehow, the odds no longer seemed quite so grim.
His confidence rose-not just a spark, but a steady, growing inferno.
With a relaxed ease, Northern leaned back into the throne, resting his weight on one hand.
Before him, darkish-blue flames flickered and danced, their eerie glow casting shifting shadows across his face.
The hall of endless titanic pillars was bathed in azure radiance.
Ornamental stars shimmered faintly, woven into the very fabric of the palace, their gentle
glow adding an air of subtle majesty to the scene.
The shadows looming across the sky rippled with a thunderous roll-a deep, reverberating pulse that sent tremors across the Void Palace.
For a fleeting moment, they paused, suspended in an eerie stillness.
A tide of darkness descended, flowing into the palace, cascading through the towering
windows that glowed with an unyielding blue radiance.
Like a relentless storm, the Shadow Enthrall poured into the heart of the Void Palace,
consuming it in an instantaneous night.
The atmosphere shifted.
The entire palace darkened, its mystic glow suffocated, swallowed by the invading presence.
The monster's dignity manifested.
Northern's frown deepened-a dark, sinister frown.
He had always known that Apex monsters were cheats-an unnatural force that bent the
balance of both monsters and rifts alike.
But now, he realized he had terribly underestimated them.
This was the third Apex he had encountered.
And none of them had been relatively easy to face.
The Apex Belial had been the easiest of them all. And somehow, that thought alone felt so, so
But there was no time to linger on that.
The sky of shadows had begun to materialize before his very eyes.
Northern remained unmoved.
His expression hardened that ferocious frown never breaking, locked in place like an
A majestic glow of power emanated from his eyes-not just of power, but the authority of
Watched as the Shadow Enthrall became vulnerable.
The moment he had been waiting for.
The moment the bastard would finally reveal its true body.