Northern's eyes flashed cold with a vicious grin. It was obvious that Revant had gained tremendous power by realizing his potential through the variations he'd created. He could now switch between his Prime Tyrant form and a new being called Hollow King, though all existed within the same person.

Haemal charged again, despair radiating from him in suffocating waves, his fist cocked back for another strike.

Northern sidestepped the blow—clean, efficient.

Then drove his knee into Haemal's ribs with bone-cracking force. The Echo staggered, but Northern was already moving—elbow to the back of the skull, slamming Haemal's face into the gray ground.

The Tyrant tried to rise. Northern stomped on his spine, pinning him flat.

Haemal's aura intensified, despair clawing at Northern's mind like fingers prying at his skull. Northern felt it—the weight, the emptiness, the soul-crushing hopelessness.

He ignored it.

His fist came down. Once. Twice. Three times. Each impact cracked against Haemal's skull, sending shockwaves rippling through the Soul Forge.

Haemal roared, void energy erupting from his body in a violent explosion that hurled Northern back several meters.

The Tyrant rose, blood streaming from his nose, his hollow eyes blazing with fury. Dark tendrils of void spiraled around him, and the air itself warped and twisted.

Northern landed in a crouch, then launched forward.

Haemal swung. Northern ducked under it, his palm striking Haemal's solar plexus with surgical precision. The Echo's breath expelled in a violent gasp.

Before Haemal could recover, Northern's knee found his jaw. Teeth cracked. Blood sprayed.

Haemal stumbled back, but Northern didn't let up.

A precise strike to the throat. A palm to the chest that sent Haemal flying backward.

The Tyrant crashed into the gray ground, skidding dozens of meters before finally stopping.

He tried to push himself up. His arms shook. Blood pooled beneath him.

Northern walked forward slowly, deliberately. No rush. A small smile played on his face.

Haemal's face flashed with terror, confusion. The next moment, his despair aura pulsed desperately, trying to drown Northern in hopelessness, but Northern's expression never changed. Cold. Smiling.

Haemal managed to get to one knee before Northern's boot connected with his face, snapping his head back and sending him sprawling again.

Northern stood over him, watching as Haemal coughed blood, his hollow eyes dimming, his body trembling.

The Tyrant tried to speak. Northern's foot pressed down on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

Haemal's fingers clawed at Northern's boot, void energy flickering weakly around his hands before dissipating entirely.

Haemal's struggles weakened. His breathing became ragged. His eyes—once blazing with fury—now stared up at Northern with something else.

Recognition.

Then Northern laughed and withdrew his leg.

"Ah, that was fun! So much fun! I've always been curious about how I'd fare fighting you. Thank God I didn't try it before now."

Haemal slowly stood up. In addition to his slightly taller frame, the color of his eyes had become gray.

"I didn't kill you, by the way. I mean, common sense—how are you alive right now? Driving my hand through your gut was the only way to save you."

"That's difficult to believe with how you were smiling just now."

Northern laughed again.

"Oh, I enjoyed beating your ass."

Haemal was silent for a moment. Then he slowly stood, examining his body.

"What did you do to me?"

He gave Northern a questioning look.

"What have you become?"

Northern just kept smiling, then asked, "How do you feel? You seem to have gotten your prime powers back—and more. What about your memories, Haemal?"

His eyes widened for a moment, surprised. Then the shock dissipated.

"Of course you'd know."

Haemal's eyes flew open.

"That bastard! Damn it! What are you doing here? Where is Kryos?!"

Northern frowned.

"I can't let my subordinates die."

Haemal shouted with urgency.

"You need to get Chaos Prince now! Leave the Reflective bastard to me!"

Northern's expression darkened, and immediately the gray vastness around them vanished. But instead of appearing on the fractured land, they materialized at the desert's edge.

Northern glanced up, a deep frown creasing his face.

'What is…'

Chaos Prince was up there in the sky. Koll was too. And Kryos was between them... dissolving.

Northern's eyes flared the moment he realized it, and he shot upward between the two of them. Both flew back from the impact as he caught Kryos, soaring higher with him.

He held the Origin of Madness by the collar and looked down at him for a moment, registering how terrified—and at the same time, how devastated—he looked.

His body was breaking apart, and something was leaking out from beneath him.

"Take it back..."

He rasped.

"Take it back. Now! I'd rather give it to you than let that unfilial worm have it!"

'Aoi.'

[Based on your current abilities, you CANNOT copy Chaos]

[However, Kryos can be Echonized.]

Northern was confused for a moment. Kryos was an Origin—was it possible? Was he powerful enough to kill an Origin?

[Right now, due to a rare artifact, Kryos has been mortalized. This is causing catastrophic leakage in his soul essence and all its conduits. Hence, he can be killed]

[If you want to preserve Chaos as an Echo, you will have to kill him NOW]

"It's useless, whatever you're trying to do, Partner."

Chaos Prince shouted as he flew closer.

"I spent three thousand years designing a dagger that can kill an Origin, and orchestrated this entire moment to test it on my father. That way, the Origins won't know of its existence. Indeed, he made his decision to come all the way here. I knew he would make such a decision, so I made it part of the plan. Right, friend?"

He glanced at Koll, who was standing somewhere on the ground. The essence flowing out of Kryos was splitting in two directions, streaming toward both of them.

Northern pressed his lips together, realizing he'd been wrong the entire time. But not entirely—he had suspected and been wary of the Chaos Prince, just not to this magnitude.

He'd never thought that Koll was aiding Chaos Prince and not Kryos. No, could it even be called that? They seemed to be in alliance, one that Koll stood to benefit from.

And Northern instantly figured it out.

'Chaos Prince wanted to test if he could kill Origins for obvious reasons. And Koll wants to become an Origin to fight his father. The two of them have a common enemy…'

He gritted his teeth and gripped Kryos's face.

"I'm not sorry for this."

Chaos Prince's smirk vanished the moment he noticed something.

Ice immediately engulfed the Origin, but it didn't stop the essence leakage. At once, that ice shattered and scattered into tiny fragments.

The next moment, a terrifying explosion devoured the land and spread across the vast continent, shrouding everything in white.

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