I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1167: King of Counters

Invisible threads erupted from Northern’s body, spreading through the void sphere in an instant. They attached to the chains, to the walls, to the geometric array above, to the Chaos Prince himself.

[Thread Severance has been Activated]

Every chain snapped simultaneously. But more than that—Northern severed the sorcerous connections binding the Catastrophe Theorem together. The complex array unraveled, its mathematical precision destroyed by cutting the threads of cause and effect that held it stable.

The Chaos Prince’s eyes went wide with genuine shock.

”You can manipulate soul threads? But that’s—”

[Gossamer Domain has been Activated]

The entire sphere became Northern’s territory. Every surface within a hundred meters was now connected to him through invisible soul threads. He could sense everything, manipulate everything, control everything within that space.

Including the Chaos Prince’s position.

[Fate’s Needle has been Activated]

An invisible thread pierced the prince’s soul before he could react. His body went rigid as Northern’s will imposed itself through the connection.

The prince tried to move, tried to teleport, tried to explode void essence—but his body wouldn’t respond. The thread made him a puppet, and Northern was pulling the strings.

Northern pulled himself up out of the sphere using the soul threads like spider silk, emerging to stand on solid ground. The Chaos Prince floated beside him, held immobile by the thread through his soul.

”Let me explain something.”

Northern spoke quietly.

”You’ve had twenty thousand years to learn techniques. To master spell arts. To refine your skills.”

He walked around the frozen prince, examining him like a specimen.

”But I have talents you can’t replicate through practice. Abilities that don’t care about your experience or your knowledge.”

[Binding Weave has been Activated]

More soul threads erupted, wrapping the Chaos Prince in an intricate pattern. The more he would struggle, the tighter they would constrict.

The prince’s voice came out strained, forced through gritted teeth.

”You... think this... will hold me?”

Void essence began to pulse from his body, trying to corrode the soul threads. And it was working—slowly, but working. The threads began to fray where the void touched them.

Northern acknowledged.

”Clever indeed. But not clever enough.”

[Return has been Activated]

Every bit of damage the void essence did to Northern’s soul threads would be inflicted back on the Chaos Prince after five seconds. The prince would literally hurt himself trying to break free.

The Chaos Prince’s eyes blazed with fury and... was that respect?

”You’re adapting to everything I throw at you.”

Blood ran from his mouth as his own void corrosion began to damage him.

”Every technique. Every strategy. It’s like fighting someone who has the perfect counter prepared in advance.”

He coughed, more blood spattering.

”Fine. FINE! You want to see what I’m really capable of? What twenty thousand years of desperation taught me?”

The void essence around him intensified to a level that made reality scream. His body began to blur, becoming indistinct.

”You know Northern, I have been fighting, running, dying and coming back alive for a while now. The Firsts, they were really bent on killing me. I’m sure you’d have seen it in my beautiful Tower you had parked at the Sea Harbor. You seem to have gotten by eye, but my eye is not the only one that exists. Asides from all twelve plagues Northern, I have thirteen vestige scattered across your world.

”Did my vestige make you a prodigy, it fifth strongest. And it is the only one I’ve been able to get back. So boy, do not pride yourself in overpowering me. I will be back and when I’m back. I certainly will destroy you. As a gift.”

He grinned hard.

And the next thing, his form split. Not clones. Not illusions. Actual quantum superposition.

The Chaos Prince now existed in seventeen different states simultaneously. Each one real. Each one able to act independently.

”Void Recursion: Branching Catastrophe.”

Seventeen different versions of the Chaos Prince moved at once, each one using a different combat style, each one attacking from a different angle, each one reinforced with sorcery that bent the laws of physics.

One used the Celestial Fist technique, each strike carrying the weight of a collapsing star.

Another channeled Flowing Shadow Palm, his movements too fluid to track.

A third employed the Titan Breaking method, his blows designed to shatter even the most durable defenses through pure vibrational resonance.

Three more wove sorcery while the others attacked—Void Lances, Reality Tears, Existence Erasure Beams.

The remaining eleven fought with weapons manifested from void essence—swords, spears, chains, axes—each one wielded with master-level technique.

They converged on Northern from all directions at once.

And Northern smiled.

It was a small smile. Cold. Almost pitying.

[One’s True Self has been Activated]

[True Clone has been Activated]

Perfect copies of Northern erupted from his body. But these weren’t just duplicates—they were him. Each one shared his memories, his abilities, his will.𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

And unlike the Chaos Prince’s quantum states, Northern’s clones could coordinate perfectly because they were the same consciousness.

The seventeen Chaos Princes crashed into seventeen Northerns.

And the desert exploded into chaos.

One Northern faced the Celestial Fist version. The prince’s punch carried star-collapsing weight, but—

[Reversal has been Activated]

The weight reversed, crushing the Chaos Prince’s own fist.

Another Northern intercepted the Flowing Chaos Palm version. The movements were too fluid at the same time too chaotic to track with normal eyes, but—

[Layer 2: Flow Perception has been Activated]

Northern could see the momentum, the energy flow of the Chaos itself. And he had to admit that the Chaos Prince’s manner of wielding Chaos was nothing short of astonishing. He was awed by it. The man weaved Chaos like a body, his body, he flowed with it and was in perfect fluidity with its state.

It took a while for this version of Northern to adjust because even though he could read each movement before it completed, countering with perfect timing was another issue. The Chaos Prince was either too fast, or took account of his predictive eyes and went too slow instead setting traps for him.

But Northern adapted in ten moves and the Chaos Prince was finding it difficult to land hits.

A third Northern caught the Titan Breaking technique head-on. The vibrational resonance was designed to shatter anything—but Northern’s body was too dense, too fundamentally solid. The vibrations dispersed harmlessly.

[Full Impact has been Activated]

And then Northern returned the impact with all its accumulated force, shattering that version’s sternum.

The sorcery-wielding Chaos Princes launched their attacks—Void Lances, Reality Tears, Existence Erasure Beams.

[Absolute Lock has been Activated]

[You cannot Lock a powerful concept]

[But Channel Pathways can be locked]

’Just do it!’

Mid-fight this version of the Chaos Prince suddenly found it difficult to fill his attacks with void essence and strengthen his body.

[Redirection has been Activated]

He sent the attacks back at their casters. Three Chaos Princes were forced to dodge their own sorcery.

The weapon-wielding versions swarmed from all sides, their techniques flawless. Sword strikes that could cut space. Spear thrusts that ignored distance. Chain techniques that bound space itself.

But Northern and his clones moved with terrible efficiency.

[Phantom Strike has been Activated]

[Refraction has been Activated]

[Light Strike has been Activated]

Each Northern became a whirlwind of counters. Attacks came from impossible angles, struck at light speed, phased through defenses.

The Chaos Prince with the void sword found his blade caught mid-swing, then watched in horror as Northern’s counter-strike shattered his jaw.

The spear-wielder’s thrust was redirected, his own weapon driven through his shoulder.

The chain-master’s bindings were severed by invisible soul threads before they could constrict.

One by one, the seventeen Chaos Princes were being dismantled.

The original—if there even was an original anymore—watched with growing desperation as his quantum states collapsed under Northern’s assault.

His voice trembled as he saw another version of himself fall.

”How? How are you countering everything?”

Northern’s voice came from all of his clones at once, creating an eerie stereo effect.

”Oh, c’mon, don’t look so dismayed. We’re just getting started.”