I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1418: Not Quite The Expected Reunion

Annette rode across with a vast creature that looked like a nightmarish fusion of obsidian metal, adorned with a crown of twisted steel thorns and a maw that revealed slightly opened, needle-sharp teeth that resembled the barred entrance to a nefarious abyss.

Its wings were large and vast, covering almost the entirety of the sky where it soared. At the same time, it was wreathed in deep, dark clouds that flowed along with it.

Of course, this was none other than the evolved form of the first Chaos Spawn that Northern had slaughtered in the Dark Continent. He should have known then that the thing had come straight out of a Chaos Gate before he encountered the Blood King in another Chaos Gate, and then the Chaos Dragon that served as a third spawn.

Granted, he had not been able to fully deduce whether they all connected to the Chaos Prince or to the Chaos that preceded the Chaos Prince. But he was certain that the Chaos Dragon was a corruption from the original Chaos Prince’s carcass, and since the damn bastard had gone and used it to create a new body, he didn’t have it as an Echo.

He still needed something to hurl Annette and Revant across the distance with as much speed as possible. He needed something quite intimidating, so he had searched through the number of large-sized echoes in his soul and stumbled upon the bad boy that had taken his ship.

Well... its iterated and evolved form already.

Northern further merged both to create a more devastating new form. As much as he appreciated swelling numbers, he admired refined strength far more.

Standing beneath it, Annette couldn’t help but stare for a moment. They had been traveling for over thirteen hours. The surface of the creature served as plain ground — except it was metal. They had even managed to pitch a tent over it and create a makeshift shelter to endure the cold wind of the higher altitude.

Granted, by they... it was just she and Vida. Revant sat toward the twisted steel crown of the creature with his arms and legs folded, simply gazing into the distance.

Annette had packed a lot for the journey. One might have thought she was venturing on a vacation. From time to time, she had tried to share some of the supplies with Revant. He always politely turned them down.

Their journey was slow and swift at the same time. Usually, it would take about two to three days to reach the Empire Wall even by steady flight, but because it was a beast of immense speed, they had been able to cover the journey in barely two dozen hours.

The wall stretched beneath them like the spine of a leviathan, as large as the vast, lush land they could see below.

Annette stared at it with a forlorn gaze, remembering the first day she left her home with Rughsbourgh’s help. That day had been the beginning of her downfall, and yet she was happiest about it.

She had never truly loved the life of sitting and tending to flames. She had been made for much more, and she had understood it from a much younger age.

She just had not realized then that that "much more" would also include being the first woman — human, in fact — alive to dare, alongside two other people, to attack the gates of the Reimgard Empire.

"Honestly... I need to make a nameplate of achievement out of this if I do succeed."

Vida watched Annette with her grey eyes.

"You don’t sound too excited for this battle, master."

Annette shifted her gaze from the vast line of wall that turned and curved across the sea of land.

"I don’t?"

She placed her hands at the corners of her lips and curved them upward.

"See? Ain’t that one happy lady for ya?"

Vida sighed and looked away.

"I guess this is not really the reunion you were looking forward to."

Annette closed her eyes for a moment. Then a vein appeared on her forehead. It looked like it might pop... almost.

"Damn you, Northern! If I can, I’m sure I’ll get back at you for this!"

Revant, from where he was seated, stirred and turned slightly. Annette quickly went mute, then laughed a second later.

"I mean it in a friendly way. I wouldn’t, of course, bring any harm to your precious master."

Revant gave her a condescending look.

"Not that you could if you tried."

Then he shifted his gaze back to its original focus.

Annette stood there, having received a deathblow that struck the life out of her and petrified her.

Meanwhile, Vida was there to console her, gently tapping her shoulder with sympathy.

Finally, the wind changed and alerted both Vida and Annette. At the same time, Revant stood and stared down.

"Looks like the time to carry out the master’s orders has arrived."

Despite how afraid she was, Annette felt a tingling excitement rush through her. She opened her hands and summoned two malevolent dark gauntlets that looked like a jagged overlap of spines.

The gauntlets themselves appeared rather charred, resembling the severed limbs of a terrifying monster, with claws bearing a foreboding sharpness that seemed to drink the little light around her.

Her eyes glittered as she stared at them.

They were not the most elegant in appearance, but these were Ancient-rank gauntlets that Northern had forged for her barely a day after she asked. How he had managed to forge such an item, she had no idea. But because of him, she now had a weapon to channel her vicious flames through... something that wouldn’t break.

At the same time, Vida was being covered by an ominous stygian armor that shrouded her body from head to toe in thin plates of overlapping metal fitted like a second skin, adorning her magnificent curves. The helmet had four narrow eyes that glinted with sharp crimson light, and a dark cloak that grew shadowy at the lower ends floated behind her.

"Okay... what the actual hell? I think I need to request armor too! How could he not even think of creating armor for me? I’m the one who needs it most." Annette pouted despite her age.

Compared to the two of them, Revant did nothing. Clad in his clean butler suit and wearing black gloves, he glanced at them with irritation and muttered before diving down.

"I alone would have been sufficient for this..."