The Patriarch's response was a shriek of pure rage.
His form dissolved into a murder of crows—hundreds of them, each one a fragment of his essence. They swarmed Northern from every direction, a black cloud of talons and beaks and death energy.
Each crow could attack independently. Each one shared the collective's awareness. Destroy one, and the others continue. Destroy a hundred, and he'd reform from the survivors.
'Distributed consciousness,' Northern thought, watching the black wave descend. 'Like a hive mind, but more elegant.'
"That's actually clever," he admitted aloud. "Distributed consciousness. No single point of failure."
The murder descended, blotting out what little light remained in the Dark Depths.
Northern raised both hands.
[You're using Sun's Legacy - Sola Nova]
A supernova-level detonation of pure solar fury erupted from Northern's body—a perfect sphere of annihilation expanding outward at impossible speed. The light was blinding. The heat was absolute.
