I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1156: Let’s Have A Little Chat

Northern had to admit, he’d never thought a cry so ugly and guttural could sound so pleasing to his ears.

He released Kryos’s fist—at least what remained of it. The hand was mangled bone, wrecked, fingers broken at grotesque angles. Shattered fragments had invaded his bloodstream and were tearing through his skin.

Silver blood poured from his hands, and everything looked like a celestial mess.

Northern regarded it with a flicker of pity.

"This has to be the most an Origin has bled, right?"

He looked at Kryos, his expression sympathizing with him over the matter of his hand.

Meanwhile, the Origin stared at Northern with a deeply horrified face.

"No... no... no, this shouldn’t be possible. This shouldn’t be possible. This shouldn’t be possible. This shouldn’t be POSSIBLE!!"

His face twisted into grotesque rage.

"How can a mere mortal have superior strength to the embodiment of chaos itself?"

Northern gave him a dismissive smirk.

"Stop that. Stop it. Stop lying. You’re no embodiment of Chaos."

He gave Kryos a knowing smile and pointed at his eyes.

"I see better now."

He pointed to the right side of Kryos’s body.

"All the Chaos you took from me is here. You’re having a difficult time digesting it, just as your boy over there is with the Void. Apparently, something about the nature of my soul made it a home for Chaos and Void. You took them away from their home, making matters worse."

He raised his chin at Kryos.

"Chaos is rejecting you, isn’t it? You have enough power to suppress it, but that’s dividing your attention. Which makes sense because it made no sense that you haven’t killed us all—and there’s the minimal use of your madness tendencies. I expected something more vast, that the entire terrain for a thousand kilometers would be overturned, you know, that the oceans themselves would be turning on us."

He gave Kryos a disappointed look.

"But now that I can see, I understand. And honestly, it’s painful. I had all my hopes up for nothing."

Kryos glared with primal viciousness.

"You mere—"

"Wind."

[Wind Manipulation has been used]

Kryos’s entire world shook before he could grasp what was happening. He opened his eyes and was already far away, seeing Northern—who stood on the ground, holding Ul’s face in his grasp—as a tiny dot.

The Origin had been hurled into the sky by a storm of wind that ravaged the entire desert, sending him over six hundred meters high in mere milliseconds.

Northern studied the result, intrigued.

"Even wind manipulation is more potent."

[All abilities have been enhanced, and frankly you poured too much essence into that ability usage, which caused a staggering response]

’How much?’

[3%]

Northern suppressed a chuckle.

’Aoi, you might see that as too much, but frankly speaking, three out of a hundred percent can’t be too much.’

[...at the moment. However, you must account for the longevity of the battle and the greed of your skills. At your current rank, due to the rarity of your race, essence replenishment rate is slightly slower compared to consumption rate]

’Okay, okay, Aoi. I’ll try to be more conscious next time. I’m just getting used to all of this, okay?’

Northern paused and replayed their conversation.

’Were you scolding me just now?’

[Incorrect]

He still had a feeling that was what had happened but returned his attention to the young lady in his right hand.

Kryos was going to take a while to fall, so he needed to talk to her.

Ul remained still in his hands, having surrendered to his grip long ago.

The moment he released his hands, she fell to the ground and scrambled back, putting distance between herself and Northern, her face wary and furious at once.

It was as if every hair on her skin had stood on end and her awareness and brain had activated a new level of adrenaline—fight—triggered by a danger unlike anything she’d ever encountered.

However, as soon as she backed away from Northern, the person she backed toward was the same Northern.

[Eclipse Step has been used]

Northern let loose a small smile, gripping Ul’s shoulder.

"It’s cute to watch you run from me."

Ul glanced over her shoulder, terror painted upon her face by a sadistic and hateful artist, her eyes trembling frantically.

"It’s alright. I won’t hurt you. We just need to talk."

Northern suddenly looked up, his eyes narrowing.

"That’s faster than I expected... I guess he decided not to care anymore."

He returned his eyes to Ul.

"Give me a moment, Mother Nature. Let me take care of that disease of a man."

Northern vanished silently with just a slight displacement of desert sand.

Ul tried to shoot away but suddenly crashed into an invisible wall.

She frowned and stepped back, running her hand across the air in front of her to detect what it could be.

Then her frown turned to shock and disbelief.

She ran in another direction, but barely ten meters in she collided with another wall of air and fell to the ground.

From where she sat, she looked up, her expression crumbling.

Her lips and voice trembled as she spoke.

"H—H–How?"

Meanwhile, Northern whispered through the air on a silent gust of wind and seized Kryos, who was shooting downward with crimson flames burning fiercely from his feet.

Everything happened so fast that Kryos hadn’t even detected him until his hair was suddenly yanked and his direction forcibly altered.

Northern rocketed high into the sky at insane speed, yet it felt smooth, peaceful—the turbulent force of gravity wasn’t resisting him at all. If anything, it felt like the wind had suddenly started flying in their direction.

Kryos twisted his legs the other way and the crimson flames on his feet blazed even more ferociously, but the speed didn’t change.

In the darkness, the glow of the Origin’s crimson flames cast a beautiful red radiance across the side of Northern’s face.

Kryos gritted his teeth and abandoned his attempt to use more force to fight Northern’s speed. Instead, he drove his feet—wreathed in the flames of madness—toward Northern’s face.

There was a thunderous explosion in the darkness of the sky. Crimson flames scattered like malicious fireworks, and Northern’s flight halted for a second.

As the flames dissipated, his head was turned slightly sideways by the force of Kryos’s kick—the Origin’s foot planted on his cheek.

That side of his face, which should have been completely scalded by flames of madness, was absolutely fine, save for a small fire scratch near his temple.

Northern’s eyes shifted down to the Origin from his angle.

"You’ve gone and done it now."