Northern felt like he now had a hang of it.
‘No… this is not a feeling. There’s so much in my head. So much. I feel so powerful with this much information’
He had no idea what was happening or why but more than ever before he knew what he wanted to do.
His muscles screamed for him to dive into the pool of attacks. Even though his chest stung badly, they heaved with excitement.
Northern had never thought he would fall in love with combat. In fact, while growing up he thought he’d use his smartness to avoid it at all cost and only engage monsters.
But now, he was filled with so much excitement that he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like, consuming the battle styles of fellow humans.
He licked his lips at the thought of it.
With a roar of defiance, Night Terror recovered from another assault, its massive tail whipping through the air and slamming into Koll with the force of a battering ram.
The stalwart monster unleashed another torrent of void flames, the searing black inferno washing over the castle lord as Night Terror charged, its claws rending deep gouges in the cracked stone floor.
Northern’s eyes were wide with an azure luster. His senses worked in overdrive as he processed every minute detail of the terror’s movements.
He saw the raw, unbridled power behind each swing, the feral grace that belied Night Terror’s immense bulk.
And in that moment, his body could not take it again.
Northern shot into the fray, quickly matching the frightening sequence with a torrent of fast double strikes that seemed to flow in and out of each other.
His strikes growing more primal on the surface, more feral as he sought to emulate the monster’s fighting style.
Northern’s mind, thought nothing, he eyes, suspended in a realm of absolute focus.
Not only did his strikes become troublesome for Koll to deal with, Koll’s strikes were being parried easily with an out-of-focus look on Northern’s face.
Pearls of sweat formed on the maelstrom’s pallid face.
Something made his heart tremble… if he did have any. Cold tendrils crawled over his skin.
‘What is this? Am I getting scared? Of this insignificant mortal?’
As that reality seared into his mind. Koll’s expression paled for a second, then a dark scowl broke out of it.
With a defiant shout, Koll unleashed a torrent of crimson lances that flew across all directions.
Northern’s eyes darted here, there, there, here and there… calculating the trajectories of all the lances headed his way in barely a fraction of second.
He shot forward, colliding with them and swinging his hands, his blades deflecting the deadly projectiles in a blur as he danced through the onslaught.
The castle lord already had enough time, to regain his composure, he had delivered a frightening cyclonic kick that buried Night Terror into the ground and in that selfsame second darted towards Northern.
As the latter broke through the onslaught of lances, the castle lord appeared in front of him.
Surprisingly, Northern’s expression was indifferent. Even though the castle lord had just executed an amazing surprise.
‘This mongrel. It’s impossible that he predicted my attack!’
That was the only explanation for Northern’s coolly composure. But Koll would rather eat shit than believe that a mere mortal was capable of reading and predicting his attacks.
‘Never!’
Koll lunged with overwhelming fierceness.
Northern twisted aside, the razor-sharp claws grazing his cheek as he countered with a flurry of dagger strikes that forced Koll back several steps backward.
Koll sneered at Northern for a second and shrugged off Northern’s assault as if it were a mere nuisance.
“I seemed to have underlooked your capabilities as a mongrel. I prioritized dealing with the greedy king over you. That’s not honorable. And I apologize for that.”
He raised his chin.
“But make no mistake. You are… in the end… only a mongrel”
Northern didn’t know whether to get angry or be grateful.
Koll’s words sounded sincere at the same time insultive.
Northern quickly discarded what it could he and focused on the monster in front of him.
He was still in the zone and now more than ever was resonating with every part of his body and surrounding.
He felt like a part of a much larger flow. Not trying to chart his course amidst it but instead letting the tides determine his path.
He felt like a Battle Master!
Night Terror recovered, fiercely sprawling to its feet.
The stalwart monster let loose a bone-chilling roar that shook the very foundations of the castle.
Its tail whipped through the air, slamming into Koll and sending him crashing on one of the room pillars.
Before falling, Koll appeared behind Night Terror. The stalwart monster spun into the air, delicately curling its whole body in the air to evade the castle lord’s razor-sharp claws.
Northern’s gaze locked onto the terror again, it was not like he had absorbed enough.
‘I intend to devour every style you are capable of!’
Northern was sure— Night Terror would have been a very powerful warrior when he was a king!
Northern dove in and feinted left, then spun with blinding speed. His blades trailed streaks of silver that narrowly missed Koll’s throat.
The castle lord responded with a vicious counterattack, his claws raining down in a whirlwind of slashes that forced Northern to retreat…
17:38
…not without a couple of deep gashes on his shoulder and face.
His breathing was slowly becoming ragged. His face was battered, blood stains mixed with sweat here and there.
He could even taste his own blood in his mouth.
He exchanged the daggers and clenched tightly then focused on the castle lord who was locked in another fray of assault with Night Terror.
Taking a deep breath, Northern lunged forward.
Now that he was already getting a hang of it, tangling up with them didn’t seem like it’d be much of an issue.
In fact it provided him more ground to correctly mirror Night Terror, although it also had certain risks because he was very close to a deviant maelstrom.
The battle grew tense as Northern joined, everything was happening so fast.
The castle lord was locked in between the endless streams of attacks from both combatant, and didn’t seem to flinch a bit.
No, expression of dread on its face. In fact, it was awfully calm as it deflected all of their attacks.
But all routes for a counter were closed.
Together, Northern and Night Terror wove a deadly symphony, their movements synchronized in a lethal dance.
Northern danced and weaved crude strikes around the maelstrom, his footwork was a blur as he closed the distance, striking from every angle in a relentless barrage that complemented the terror’s bestial fury.
Blow after blow rained down upon Koll, each strike more vicious than the last. The chamber shook with the force of their clash, the very air trembling with the weight of their conflict.
Night Terror roared, its jaws gaping wide as it unleashed another torrent of void flames that engulfed the castle lord.
Northern mirrored the terror’s movements, his body coiling like a spring as he launched himself into a furious spinning assault, his stilettos tracing incandescent arcs that complemented the infernal onslaught.
Seeing that their symphony was getting more and more fluid, a slight frown began to break out of the maelstrom’s indifferent expression.
With a powerful swing, he struck forward, impaling Night Terror with a shimmering red Lance that belatedly appeared in its hands.
The Terror flew back like a rag doll, its massive figure smashing against the throne seat.
Koll didn’t of course rest, the moment he struck the monster, he twirled, another red Lance of energy appearing in his hands.
He struck Northern but the human had already seen it coming. Northern blocked the cross strike, crossing his own daggers upon each other.
He could feel the recoil sear through his bones and muscle as he withstood Koll’s powerful attack.
However… that moment.
Northern’s vision became blurry.
‘Crap. I overdid it…’