I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1356: You’ve Really Gone And Done It

Northern smiled as Colak spoke. The Empire’s power had genuinely surprised him. It had never crossed his mind that they would have not just one Luminary, but five.

That certainly changed things.

Northern trusted his abilities and knew precisely how powerful he was. But facing five Luminaries would take its toll, and he was doomed if they decided to gangbang him all at once.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible, he wasn’t alone. He had dependable allies who would continue to grow, and he knew he could count on them to be instrumental in an all-out battle against the Empire.

He was simply so used to doing everything himself that he found himself wondering if he could hold his own against five Luminaries simultaneously. Moreover, he wanted to test his new limits.

’Am I being too confident? I haven’t even fought one, and here I am thinking of fighting five.’

Northern wouldn’t lie to himself. He felt a twinge of something almost like disappointment at the thought of leaving his comrades to deal with the others. Bairan and Revant, for example, should each be able to handle one Luminary. Lord and Abyss Tyrant should be capable of dealing with Luminaries as well, or at least multiple Paragons but where was the fun in that?

’But... all of them have changed so much now. It’s necessary to know what they’re capable of, so I don’t underestimate their individual power.’

Northern inhaled and halted his thoughts. He was enjoying this a little too much.

He sighed and gave Colak a blithe look.

”Well then, that’ll be all. You can go.”

Colak blinked. ”What?” He stuttered, ”You really are going to let me go?”

Northern folded his arms behind his back.

”I gave my word, didn’t I?”

Colak looked down, trying to mask his confusion.

”Indeed... you did.”

Northern nodded. ”So you can leave. You’ve provided me with the help I needed.” He turned away without another glance.

Colak stood there watching, his thoughts churning.

’No, something is wrong... very wrong. Why would he just let me go like that? Because he gave his word?’

He watched Northern’s back recede deeper into the forest, heading toward the dark fog.

’He could have killed me. Is he not worried about me telling the others about this development? Is there something I’m missing...’ Colak’s eyes widened. ’Could it be that he’s exhausted?’ He glanced at the carnage around him. ’A killing of this scale, it can’t have been merciful on his essence. And Lotus Bloom must have been draining what was left... is it really right to leave?’

If this young Paragon had truly exhausted himself killing three thousand soldiers, Colak would be missing one hell of a chance to eliminate someone who was going to be a thorn in the Empire’s side for years to come.

But he was also a sensible man. Even if Northern was exhausted, was he suited to defeat a Paragon?

’I have a level of training and experience that no one else does... I can do this.’ He glanced around at the bodies of his fallen men. ’And I don’t deserve to return. It’s a shame I cannot bear. I might as well die trying.’

He settled into a low stance, pushing his weight forward, coiled for explosive movement. Both hands rested on one side of his body, one wrapped around his sword handle, the other gripping the sheath itself.

Then he vanished, leaving only a flutter of black feathers where he’d stood.

Northern, drawing closer to the fog, stopped and sighed. ”Why do humans never listen?”

The young man materialized behind him, sword erupting with violet flames. Both blade and fire trailed down in a brutal arc, aimed to cleave Northern from shoulder to torso.

Northern simply spun and blocked the strike with his leg.

The kick guided the blade down, turning Colak’s hands with it. Before the soldier could adjust, Northern’s other leg rose with impossible speed and slammed into his jaw.

Colak’s world became sound and sensation. The crack of impact, the whistle of air, trees splintering against his back in rapid succession, each collision jarring through his spine. He couldn’t track anything, couldn’t orient himself against the force that hurled him like debris.

He crashed through something that gave way with a wet crack, then something else that didn’t give at all.

When he finally stopped, he lay in a crater of his own making, chunks of bark and splinters settling around him like snow. His ears rang and copper flooded his mouth. He couldn’t feel his legs for a long, terrible moment before the pain arrived all at once, white-hot and paralyzing.

His eyes opened to a canopy of broken branches overhead, the sky visible through gaps he’d torn in the forest. He turned his head, slowly, and saw the path of destruction stretching back the way he’d come. Rows of trees sheared clean at the trunk, their upper halves scattered across the forest floor, still settling, leaves drifting down. A furrow carved through the undergrowth where his body had gouged the earth before the final impact.

It looked like a siege weapon had misfired.

’One kick,’ he thought, the words forming sluggishly through the fog of pain. ’One kick did this.’

He’d been a soldier for thirty-two years. He’d trained with Paragons, fought in campaigns, survived encounters that had killed men half his age. He knew combat and knew power.

He had never seen anything like that.

The Paragon hadn’t even looked concerned. Hadn’t shifted his weight or braced or channeled visible essence. He’d simply moved, and Colak had become a projectile. The gap between them wasn’t a matter of skill or experience. It was categorical. A difference in kind, not degree.

’He was never exhausted,’ Colak realized something he wished he had earlier and a cold sensation settled in his chest. ’He let me go because I was never a threat.’

His back screamed with a pain that made breathing difficult. He tried to move, and something deep in his spine shifted with a grinding sensation that sent black spots swimming across his vision. He froze instantly, teeth clenched, sweat beading on his forehead despite the cold.

If he pushed further, his back would break completely. He might never walk again.

He lay there in the crater, surrounded by the wreckage of trees and his own hubris, and waited. For what, he didn’t know. Death, perhaps. Or rescue that would never come, because everyone who might have rescued him was already dead by the same hand that had broken him.

’Gracious stars, what have I done to myself?’

His body lifted.

The sensation was wrong, deeply wrong. His limbs moved without his command. His torso straightened despite the agony it caused. Colak looked around frantically, but there was nothing to see, no visible force, no chains or bindings. He simply rose, pulled upward by something he couldn’t perceive or resist.

He hung in the air for a single moment, suspended above the crater like a puppet with tangled strings.

Then he rocketed forward.

The forest blurred past him. Wind tore at his face. The pain in his back became a distant scream, overwhelmed by the sheer wrongness of being moved like cargo. He caught a glimpse of Northern ahead, standing casually at the tree line, one hand raised.

Colak slammed to a halt in the young man’s grip, fingers clenched around his throat. Northern fixed him with a bleak gaze, utterly devoid of hope or mercy or anything human at all.

”You’ve really gone and done it now, haven’t you?”