I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1194: The Crimson Bulwark [part 1]

Northern crawled downward, his limbs shattering rocks as he descended, moving with astonishing speed despite his massive frame.

His molten eyes glowed. His vision was strange—he could see everything in streams of red and heat signatures: the layers of the wall, the terrain, all of it an overlapping gradient between red and yellow. Even as the wall breathed in, he watched it fade to yellow, then breathing out, it surged back to deep red.

And the closer he got to the next layer of the black canyon, the sharper, deeper these heat signatures became. Northern got the feeling he was nearing the reason why the walls could breathe.

He reached the fourth layer finally. To his surprise, there was no other presence, no attack from any smaller beings. There was simply one monster in this layer, and it was up ahead. Northern’s chest tightened. He pressed forward.

The monster was an Abysmal Destroyer based on what he had sensed. And was alone—even a Devilish Behemoth did not stir his premonition this strongly. Which made Northern conclude—in the moment—that monsters’ danger levels affected them more than Drifters oftentimes gave credit for.

It was possible for an Abysmal Destroyer to be essentially stronger than a Devilish Behemoth. But a lot of factors had to play into this possibility.

First, it must be a field type monster. That is, none of this was even possible unless they were all monsters that had existed outside the rift for a very long time. The region of death could simply be seen as a field type dungeon. For all that was known, this place could have existed as long as the Kageyama clan—and the Kageyama clan had existed for at least three hundred years.

Which meant that the monsters here had had so much time on their hands to evolve their danger levels and learn, over and over again. The monsters in the deeper levels had obviously been here for a much longer time. Regardless of their rank, their danger levels proved they’d grown rather dangerous since occupying here.

So Northern couldn’t help but suspect that the monster he was going to meet was going to be certainly smarter, if not stronger, than the one he was currently wearing.

Not that he was going to undo the transformation of the Slag Wyrm. He was looking forward to trying it out too.

’Come to think of it... my Paragon abilities, Essence Manifestation. I don’t have that... but in return, I can copy form and transform into them and can even gain their Essence Manifestation if they have one. I don’t know whether to count that as a loss or as a gain.’

[...]

’If you want to say something, Aoi, just go ahead and say it.’

[I have nothing to say]

[You are 105 meters away from the Crimson Bulwark’s territory]

Northern continued to lumber forward, his body twisting as rocks were crushed beneath the weight of his grip.

[You are 55 meters away from the Crimson Bulwark’s territory]

At this point, the rising and falling of the walls—even the ground—was so pronounced that as he walked over it, it was as though he was climbing a swelling terrain, then descending with each inhalation.

Finally, from a distance, Northern could see the Crimson Bulwark. It was impossible to miss. The head alone was like an outcropping of a mountain. If it didn’t have a crimson overlapping metal plate, and instead had the same black hue of the terrain, it would have completely camouflaged with the rest of the canyon.

The Crimson Bulwark’s head was a mountain of overlapping crimson plates, each one large enough to crush a house. The creature’s body disappeared into the canyon walls—impossible to tell where flesh ended and stone began. Northern could feel the vibrations now, the rhythmic pulse that made the entire canyon breathe.

The Bulwark had no visible eyes. Just sensory slits along its wedge-shaped skull, and a mouth that could swallow Northern’s current form whole.

It didn’t move. Didn’t need to. The ruins were its body, and Northern had just entered its domain.

[Warning: Pressure Presence detected]

The atmospheric pressure doubled instantly. Northern’s serpentine form compressed slightly, his essence expenditure spiking. Even breathing—if wyrms breathed—became taxing.

From the walls, smaller shapes emerged. Stone Devourers—insectoid nightmares with six legs and mandibles that clicked in anticipation. A dozen. Two dozen. More crawling from crevices in the pulsing stone.

[61 Catastrophic Hellions detected: Stone Devourers]

[17 Devilish Maelstroms detected: Crimson Leeches]

The leeches detached from the Bulwark’s hide with wet, sucking sounds. Five-meter slugs of corrosive flesh that left acidic trails as they slithered forward.

’What in the... but there were no monsters—’

[They didn’t exist until now]

’What? Are you saying an Abysmal Destroyer is creating monsters of Hellion and Maelstrom ranks?’

It shouldn’t be possible. But if this monster had existed for two hundred years, it might simply be tapping into the advantages of the Corrupted Domain of the Apex Belial.

’Yes, that has to be it.’

Northern coiled his massive form, molten eyes tracking the vassals. Through his thermal vision, they glowed like beacons against the cooling stone.

The Stone Devourers attacked first.

They swarmed from three directions, mandibles shrieking against his scales as they latched on. Northern felt their teeth trying to pierce his armored hide—felt the pressure increase as they coordinated their assault.

[You’re using Magma Heart]

Heat erupted from Northern’s core. His scales glowed red-hot, then white. The Stone Devourers shrieked and released him, carapaces smoking. Several fell away, twitching. The rest retreated, circling warily.

[You have slain 4 Catastrophic Hellions]

[You have gained 32 talent fragments]

The Crimson Leeches moved slower but more deliberately. They spread across the ground, secreting mucus that hissed and bubbled. Acid pools formed, cutting off escape routes.

Then the Bulwark moved.

Not its body—its territory.

The walls contracted. The canyon floor buckled. Northern felt the stone beneath him shift and crack, trying to destabilize his coiled form. Above, stalactites broke free, raining down like stone spears.

[You’re using Eclipse Step]

Northern vanished and reappeared twenty meters to the left. The stalactites shattered where he’d been. But the Stone Devourers were already there, having predicted the movement through some hive instinct.

They latched onto his tail.

Northern whipped around, his massive body colliding with the canyon wall. Stone Devourers crunched between wyrm scales and rock. More fragments.

[You have slain 6 Catastrophic Hellions]

[You have gained 48 talent fragments]

The Bulwark’s sensory slits focused on him. Northern felt the attention like physical weight.

Then it opened its mouth.

The pull was catastrophic. Northern instantly recognized it—the same gravitational force that had dragged his airship down, then him in his shadow cocoon.

As the creature opened its maw, Northern’s entire hundred-meter form lurched forward, claws scraping furrows in stone as he was dragged toward that serrated gullet. Stone Devourers tumbled past him, pulled into the darkness. The very air compressed, rushing inward with hurricane force.

[You’re using Soul String]

Several invisible threads shot from Northern’s form, piercing through the gravitational well and sinking into the canyon wall behind and around the Bulwark. The threads anchored him, arresting his forward momentum.

But the pull intensified.