Northern's clones could do almost everything he could, except one simple thing.
Speech.
On several occasions, he had tried, but had never been able to get a clone to speak. They were just like empty vessels that mirrored him and carried his commands.
Even though speech was incapable of commands, they did not show any slight signs of capability of action that diverted away from anything under his command.
Essentially, they were clones to the bitter end of their soulless vessels. Things that couldn't exist without Northern and existed only to mirror him.
While Northern could tell from where he was that the lady was talking to his clone, he felt no need to respond. If not, he would have brought his consciousness back to his main body.
However, just as he decided against it, an explosion of snow shook the order of the entire caravan. The consciousness of his clone in his body could have handled it.
But Northern could feel the strain that was being placed on it from having to move in his own body alone. Letting the clone control his body would wear it out quickly, and therefore not be able to maintain his own body.
As a result, Northern's consciousness would be forcibly pulled to his body and he would be left with no clone in the estate.
Just as Northern's consciousness returned, a creature lunged towards them. He had arrived a little bit too late to abruptly swing his hand, let alone summon a weapon.
Luckily, soone was beside him.
A terrifying sound of tal reverberated in his ears as sparks flew in front of the figure that jumped before him.
He could vaguely get a glimpse of what had attacked both of them. But he saw a white chitinous tentacle, like a centipede of sorts, pull back, shaking slowly in the air as it did.
In that mont of motion, less than a second or so, sothing blurred and flew forward, slamming into the girl. She careened into him, both of them tumbled away and spinning across the snow expanse. Their flight ended with bone-jarring brutality against the twisted bark of a massive, gnarled tree nearly twenty ters away.
Dazed, Northern groaned, clutching his pounding head. His vision swam, but as he staggered upright, clarity returned—and with it, a sickening realization.
The creature was already halfway across the clearing, each step a streak of inhuman speed. It moved with an eerie precision, its body unnervingly fluid, as though every motion was calculated to close the distance in seconds.
Northern's breath hitched as the thing launched itself into a power leap, hurtling toward him with terrifying velocity.
This ti, he could see it clearly. The abomination was an unholy fusion of flesh and exoskeleton. Its grotesque humanoid form was encased in pale, segnted chitin that reflected the faint light like polished bone.
What made it even more horrifying was the grotesque centipede fused to the back of its head, its endless legs twitching and undulating with a rhythm that seed almost hypnotic.
Northern brandished his sword, already summoned monts before he flew away.
As the creature neared him, soone spiraled into the air between them, her voice tearing the air with breathless urgency.
"Take cover behind that tree. I'll protect you!"
Northern grimaced.
'Do you want to die that badly?'
Ignorant of his thought, the lady pushed herself forward, gritting her teeth. She t the creature with a terrifying clash, swift enough to parry the extra limb that plunged down on her.
But for a mont, she left herself open. The creature's eyes glinted with a wicked light as if it also made the sa observation as Northern did-its hand already flying towards her belly.
Surprisingly, she made an unusual maneuver and twisted away, the blow slightly grazing her side. But her evasion ca at a cost.
Her sudden movent left her vulnerable to the creature's other limbs-a grotesque ensemble of one extra arm, two legs, and the writhing centipede that seed to revel in her
peril.
The creature's second arm lashed out. She reacted, her blade flashing as she deflected the strike, though the force sent her staggering back.
In that instant, the centipede's segnted body curled, quivering in anticipation before it shot toward her with blinding speed.
Her eyes widened as a pale realization struck.
'I'm going to die...'
Northern frowned, his gaze narrowing. And then, in a burst of blue light, he vanished.
The centipede was sent reeling into the air, as sparks of light flew from the impact with Northern's blade. The creature staggered from the force of the strike, its extra limb flailing uselessly.
"Are you a fool? Why didn't you use your abilities?"
Northern barked, his voice sharp with anger.
The woman stared at the masked boy who now stood between her and certain death. His grip on her cloak was firm, his presence steady. For a mont, her blank expression softened into one of dawning realization.
She whispered, almost disbelieving.
"You saved ."
Northern released his grip, pushing her back as he turned to face the creature before snapping
at her.
"Stay out of the way if you're not going to take this seriously. You think catastrophic hellions can be fought off with just your combat skills?"
Her lips parted, but the words that ca were quiet, almost resigned.
"But... that's all I have."
He did not wait to hear her. In a flash, he darted forward, closing the gap between himself and the recovering creature. The centipede tentacle reared back and lunged toward him, its writhing body striking like a whip.
But Northern was faster. The invisible blade of the Illusioned Hefter swept through the air, its ethereal edge severing the centipede cleanly at one of its segnts.
A portion of the centipede's body fell to the ground, convulsing violently as purple blood spilled in a sickening stream.
His eyes shined for a mont. He didn't exactly expect a neat and easy cut after he felt how hard the creature's chitin was at the first strike.
The creature, now enraged, hurled itself at Northern in a desperate, reckless charge. Though it lacked a face, its fury was palpable.
Northern remained composed. He anticipated the move before it began. The gap between his sword and the creature's head closed in an instant. His eyes glinted for a mont as he saw the segnt joining the creature's arm to its shoulder.
He aid for that part. Smartly and cleanly swiping down on its shoulder. The creature lost an
arm as it lunged towards Northern.
This caused its balance to falter.
Northern, taking sharp advantage of the mont, slamd a kick into the creature's chest, sending it flying away. Now closer to the rest of the caravan locked in battles of their own.
He landed on the sliding body of the monster and twisted his invisible blade into the segnt that divided its torso. The blade sank in with a sickening squelch, and more so as he twisted it. The creature's body convulsed slightly, pooling with purple ichor as its life ca to a
dilapidating end.
The girl stood motionless, watching in stunned silence. Her emotions were a tangled ss- shock, confusion, awe, embarrassnt, and admiration all fought for dominance.
Her face beca a canvas of conflicting expressions, each one struggling to define what she felt in that mont.
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