I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1161: Born Again

Northern suddenly paused mid-conversation, causing Kryos to look at him strangely.

”What?”

A shadow fell across Northern’s face as he felt Revant’s dwindling consciousness.

Revant was first a result of his cloning talent before being bound through the void. So Northern had a vague suspicion that all his summons created using his clones were still accessible to him.

But he couldn’t feel them vividly and couldn’t feed them essence like he used to. Northern’s expression turned cold, and the next moment he vanished.

As he disappeared from before Kryos, the shadows beyond Revant rose and Northern tore through them, rushing toward Revant.

Revant had collapsed face-down on the ground, a gaping hole punched through his black drape, the fabric soaked with blood.

Northern’s eyes trembled as he turned and pulled Revant upright.

”No, no, no, no, no, no.”

Revant stared at Northern with those dark, hollow eyes—pure disdain radiating from them.

”You incompetent landlord... what are you...”

He coughed blood.

Northern’s frown deepened, dark and dangerous.

”Don’t talk. Don’t do anything. I can heal you.”

Revant slapped his hand away and roared.

”WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”

He coughed up an alarming amount of blood. Fascinating that with such a massive hole in his stomach, he could still cling to life. But his time was running out.

[May I make a suggestion]

’I know. I’ll heal him with Infinite Iteration.’

[Yes, but the result is uncertain due to the void’s influence]

’Ah. Right... Now that the void is corrupted, that suddenly sounds far more dangerous than I thought. What do you suggest?’

[Form can be created by analysis and copy. Echo can be created by defeat and death. Endless and Omniform are woven to create each echo. While still maintaining their past abilities, they’re imbued with the capacity to grow, evolve—even without Advanced Fusion and Recursive Generation.]

Northern’s jaw clenched as understanding crashed through him. His hands, still reaching for Revant, trembled—not with fear, but with the crushing weight of the choice.

Revant’s hollow eyes narrowed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

”You need to... leave... that bastard... is plotting something.”

Northern’s grip on Revant loosened. The mask—that flimsy fiction of reluctance—was nowhere to be found. Instead, his face showed pure, razor-sharp calculation. Knowing he could fix Revant brought comfort, but it didn’t ease the fact that he’d have to watch him die. Worse—kill him.

Revant coughed, more blood spilling.

”You incompetent bastard. Stop... staring at me like that. Like I’m already—”

”Dead? You are. You just don’t know it yet.”

Revant tried to laugh, but it came out as a wet, rattling wheeze.

”I’m tougher than I look. I’m the... leave! Dammit!”

Northern spoke in a simple tone. No performance in his words. No reluctance.

”I can’t leave. You belong to me. And I don’t let what’s mine stay broken.”

Northern raised his hand. Seeing it made Revant frown even in his dying state.

”...Hell... no.”

Northern, expression cold, drove his hand into Revant’s throat, pushing deeper. The Tyrant stared at Northern with cold, hateful fury, as though his eyes were clawing at life with the sole passion of destroying him.

”I’m sorry.”

Northern muttered as he watched Revant’s last breath leave.

He withdrew his hand slowly, blood dripping from his fingers as Revant’s body went limp. The hollow eyes that had burned with such hatred now stared at nothing—empty and still.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then Northern felt a pull.

This wasn’t like copying a form. This was different. Deeper. More intimate.

His Shingan activated involuntarily, the demon eye flaring to life as it analyzed the corpse before him. But this time, it wasn’t just scanning structure and abilities. It was reading the essence of his soul, the signature of death, the echo of what Revant had been.

[Analysis Complete]

[Tyrant of Despair - Haemal]

[Soul Signature: Void Entity]

[Cause of Death: Master’s Hand]

[Echo Creation Initiated...]

Northern watched as dark threads—not physical, but visible only to his perception—began weaving themselves from Revant’s corpse. They spiraled upward like smoke, coalescing into something between solid and ethereal.

Then he felt a subtle hum, like something waking within him. Hungry.

[SOUL FORGE ACTIVE]

[Storing defeated entity...]

[Blueprint acquired: Tyranny of Despair]

[Endless Integration beginning...]

The threads condensed, pulled into Northern’s chest where the Soul Forge resided. He could feel it—like swallowing something massive, something that didn’t quite fit. His essence churned, his soul stretching to accommodate this new weight.

And then.

[Echo Created: Haemel, Tyrant of Despair]

[Variants Generated: 2]

Haemel (Original): Despair Aura, Void Corruption, Tyrant’s Will

Haemel Prime (Variant 1): Enhanced Despair Manipulation, Emotional Hemorrhage

Hollow King (Variant 2): Absolute Nullification Aura, Existential Dread

Northern exhaled slowly.

The corpse before him began dissolving into black ash, scattering into nothingness as if it had never existed. The Soul Forge had consumed every trace.

Now came the part he wasn’t looking forward to.

He closed his eyes and reached into the forge.

Inside the Soul Forge, a vast gray expanse stretched endlessly. The 5km² space felt larger than it should, distorted by the weight of what it contained.

And there, standing in the center of the emptiness, was Revant—or Haemel, as the Aoi had addressed him.

Northern was curious why Revant was addressed as Haemel, but he had a vague suspicion. Echonization had likely realized Revant’s true nature, something that existed far deeper than his abilities could currently grasp.

Haemel looked exactly as he had moments before death—black drape soaked in blood, hollow eyes burning with cold fury. But now he was whole. No wound in his stomach. No blood dripping from his mouth.

He stared down at his feet for a few moments, frozen, then slowly raised his head to meet Northern’s gaze, his eyes trembling with a turbulent pool of emotions that worried Northern.

”Revant?”

The moment their eyes locked, he moved.

Faster than Northern expected.

Revant’s fist slammed into Northern’s jaw, sending him skidding backward across the gray ground. The impact echoed through the Soul Forge, rippling across the empty space like a stone thrown into still water.

”YOU BASTARD!”

Revant’s voice was a roar, laced with despair so thick it felt like the air itself was drowning. His aura of despair exploded outward, and Northern felt it immediately.

A crushing weight on his chest. A whisper in his mind telling him everything was hopeless. That nothing mattered. That he should just surrender.

Northern gritted his teeth and stood, grinning.

’Crap. This bastard’s grown tenfold more powerful.’