I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1158: Kryos’s Purpose

Kryos laughed like a madman—behavior not befitting the Origin of Madness even, just pure, shameless, undignified madness. He looked and sounded like one at this point.

Silver blood streaked his teeth as he bared them at Northern.

”You’re all fools! You know NOTHING.”

”Hence the question, Kryos!”

Northern gave him a backhanded slap that sent spit and silver blood spraying from his mouth as his head whipped away.

”What do you want with the Chaos?!”

Kryos looked down, trying to fix his shifted jaw. Then he glared at Northern.

”Isn’t it obvious? Power.”

Northern gave the Origin a disgusted look.

”That you had to murder your son back then and don’t mind doing it now?”

Kryos’s eyes blazed with resolve.

”Despite the power he has, he’s a coward. I was and still am the only one who will do what’s right.”

Northern’s gaze remained still.

”And that would be?”

The resolve in Kryos’s eyes didn’t waver despite his state.

”Burn the world to avenge my wife. You think I was thrown in that prison against my will? Ul, all of them knew nothing. This was the only way for me to enter the remnants of the Echo Realm and destroy their source of feeding.”

Northern scrunched his face, looking at Kryos with slight confusion. But he instantly analyzed what the Origin had just said.

”So you’re saying... you allowed yourself to get imprisoned in the line between Chaos and Peace so you could access the remnant of the Echo Realm... which I presume... is my world. To cut... whose source of feeding?”

Kryos gave him a dark, disappointed look.

”If you cannot reach such conclusions with all I’ve just said, there’s nothing you don’t know about this world.”

Northern was reaching a conclusion actually—it was slightly foreboding to consider, but what Kryos was trying to say was that all of them, right here, right now, served only one purpose: foodstuffs for the Origins.

But how? Was it through death? Was it life itself? Everything they knew about history—which part about it made any sense? Northern’s mind began to race, and as he felt like he was tugging at the borders of what could be the truth, it was beginning to look as if this was knowledge he should back away from.

Because if he continued further, it was going to change everything. Tremendously.

Kryos laughed eerily as he watched Northern’s face.

”You’re already realizing it, aren’t you?”

Northern frowned for a moment and gave the Origin another sharp slap.

”Shut up.”

”Tell me. What happened to your wife? She’s an Origin—what sort of death could have happened to her that was beyond known or expected? I’m guessing she was killed. By whom and why—that’s exactly what I’m asking.”

”I’ll be damned to tell you.”

Northern studied the black marks still spreading over his body.

”Listen, you’re damned already. But you still have your son, and who knows, I could be in the mood and decide to avenge you. The least reasonable thing you can do right now, Kryos, is talk to me.”

He gently placed a hand on the Origin’s shoulder, his voice softening with care.

”I know it’s unexpected and beyond your paygrade of understanding, but this... it’s the truth. You got overpowered by me, beaten black and blue by me—a supposed lower being. Your pride has been ground into the sand, and while that’s so difficult to accept...”

His voice took on an encouraging tone.

”I implore you to move past the worthless limitations of pride that you’ve bound yourself with. Realize this is beyond you. And talk to me. Right now, I’m the most reasonable person you’ll meet in this world—and on your side.”

He scoffed.

”Although I’ll still fry your ass for causing all this mess, no matter how much you try to justify your reasons. But what I’m saying is: open your mouth and talk. My world has suffered too many centuries or millennia of deception for you to stay tight-lipped. Have some compassion, damnit.”

Kryos was silent, but there was something thoughtful about his expression.

After a few beats of silence, he gritted his teeth.

Northern was slightly taken aback.

’Don’t tell me that lame-ass speech worked on him.’

”Anki is not your friend. That boy is my greatest mistake. I never enjoyed killing him, but it was the right thing to do. He’s a man who will do anything, be anything in order to serve his own purpose. He’s willing to lie shamelessly, deceive people, steal, and slaughter thousands—as long as he gets what he wants. He’s a self-serving, shameless being who cannot comprehend the meaning of morality or having limits.

”Andra’s only sin was birthing that child. And he was the reason for her death. My wife had to die because my son enraged the First Origins, and they decided to strike him down. But that wasn’t going to be easy, because as long as Andra was alive, he was never going to be killable. And Anki knew this was the very reason why he went ahead and did what he did.”

Northern looked at the man and asked with a grim tone.

”What did he do?”

At that moment, Northern glanced from the corner of his eye—Chaos Prince was flying towards them with the might of a hurricane, his expression grim. He was so far away that no being had such magnificent eyes that could’ve seen the look on his face except Northern.

Northern swung his hand.

[Wind Manipulation has been used]

The Chaos Prince met an even greater hurricane that would keep him busy for a while.

And Northern looked at the Origin of Madness.

”Answer me. What did he do?”

Kryos’s eyes became distant, looking past Northern into memories that still burned like fresh wounds.

”He went to them directly. To the First Origins.”

Northern’s expression shifted to confusion.

”Why would he—”

”Because my son was arrogant enough to believe he could negotiate with beings who had weaponized their own Mother.”

Kryos’s laugh was bitter, hollow.

”He thought he could convince them that the corruption was spreading beyond their control. That they needed to work together to contain it before it consumed everything.”

The Origin’s silver blood dripped slowly from his mouth as he continued.

”Anki walked into the First Throne—a feat that should have been impossible—and stood before the council of First Origins. He told them what they’d done to the Void was killing all of existence. He offered them his research, his experiments, everything he’d learned about containing the corruption.”

Kryos’s face twisted with something between rage and grief.

”And you know what they did? They laughed. The Origin of the Sun told him that mortals and half-breeds didn’t get to question their methods. That the Void was their weapon, their creation, and if it destroyed everything, that was still their right to wield it.”

Northern felt his stomach turn.

”Then Ul spoke.”

Kryos’s voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

”She was the worst of them. Sweet, gentle Ul—the Origin of Prosperity and Reflection. She told Anki that his concerns were noted but ultimately irrelevant. That the system was working as intended. That the mortal world’s essence was flowing perfectly to sustain them.

”She thanked him for his concern. Then she told him to leave before they decided he was a threat.”

Northern could see where this was going, but he needed to hear it.

”What did Anki do?”

”What do you think?”

Kryos’s eyes blazed.

”He refused to leave. He told them he’d stolen the corrupted Void from their domain specifically because they couldn’t be trusted with it. That he would contain it within himself if necessary, study it, master it—and never return it to beings who’d already proven they’d destroy existence itself to maintain their power.”

Kryos laughed again, that terrible, broken sound.

”My son sealed his mother’s fate with those words. The moment he admitted he’d stolen their weapon and would never give it back—that was it. They couldn’t kill him while Andra lived, so...”

The Origin’s voice cracked.

”So they made an example. They wanted Anki to watch. They dragged Andra before their council and they... they unmade her. Not killed—unmade. They pulled her essence apart piece by piece while my son was held in place by the Origin of the Sun’s binding. They made him watch his mother dissolve into nothing while she screamed his name.”

Northern felt his blood run cold.

”The last thing Andra said was ’I forgive you.’”

Kryos’s shoulders shook.

”She forgave him. Even as she died because of his arrogance, his self-righteousness, his absolute certainty that he knew better than everyone else—she forgave him.

”That’s when I understood what my son really was. Not a savior. Not even a villain. Just a fool who thought the universe would bend to his will because his intentions were good. He gambled with his mother’s life and lost. And somehow, he still believed he was right.”

Kryos looked directly at Northern, and for the first time, there was something other than madness in his eyes—something that might have been grief, or rage, or both twisted together.

”So yes, I killed him. I devoured him. I took his power and his knowledge because someone had to actually do something instead of playing researcher while the world burned. Anki wanted to save the corrupted Void, save the Origins, save everyone. I just want to burn it all down and make them feel what I felt when I watched Andra die.”

The Origin’s voice became quiet, almost gentle.

”My wife died calling out for our son. The First Origins murdered her to get to him. And he knew they would. He knew, and he went anyway, because he thought he was clever enough to talk his way out. That’s what I can’t forgive.”

Northern stood in silence, processing the weight of what he’d just heard.

Finally, he spoke:

”So the Chaos Prince knew his mother would die if he confronted the First Origins. He went anyway. And now you’re trying to destroy the entire feeding system to avenge her.”

”Yes.”

”Even though destroying the system means killing everyone in the mortal world. Including your son, who’s apparently alive again somehow.”

Kryos’s smile was sharp and broken.

”Oh, Anki’s been ’alive’ in various forms for a while now. That’s what happens when you fragment your consciousness across ten Plague Kings as insurance. My son planned for betrayal from everyone except his own arrogance.”

The Origin’s eyes glinted with something dangerous.

”And yes, I’ll kill him again if necessary. This time, I’ll make sure there’s nothing left to regenerate.”