Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 158: Ebbing Sigil

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‎Morgan’s desperate shout roused the others, cutting through the silence of the night with startling clarity.

The sleeping youths groggily rolled on the ground, their eyes snapping open in a daze.

‎With a glance, Lucian quickly realized what was happening.

‎"Shit!"

‎Almost simultaneously, the rest of the group quickly sprang to their feet, seemingly moving in slow motion.

With his awakened ability augmenting his perception and reflexes, Morgan was the first to move.

Before any of the rest could even take a step forward, he was already a few feet away from Cassius’ spell-bound form.

" Cassius! Snap out of it!"

Oblivious to his yells, the Takebted reached the ruins’ threshold.

The veliscera intently watched the creek intelligence, their clawed hands reaching out for the unconscious Talented.

‎Morgan blurred forward with uncanny speed, his arm reaching forward to grab Cassius.

" Make it! Come on!"

‎Gritting his teeth, he lunged through the air, grasping at exposed Cassius’ back.

In the next moment, time seemed to slow down to a crawl

Cassius’s foot slowly lifted off the ground, and in the next moment, he was fully across the threshold.

Morgan’s mouth fell open in an expression of horror.

His glowing eyes widened slightly.

" Crap!"

He gritted his teeth, a steely light appearing in his eyes.

A moment later, the Talented boy disappeared through the ruins’ entrance with Morgan following closely behind a few moments later.

Lucian gritted his teeth, swiftly unsheathing his blades.

" I’m going to go after Morgan and Cassius..."

Talia intercepted him, blocking his path.

" And what exactly are you going to do? she asked, staring him down.

" Out of the way, Talia!"

Talia’s eyes hardened, gleaming with a determined light.

"I’m afraid I can’t do that," she said quietly.

" You said it yourself, these Veiliscera are on the same level, if not even more of a threat than the Bretnar king we faced. We also what happened the last time you faced off against such an adversary. Even with your powers and family technique, you’re still not strong enough to take it on, and if these things, let alone a host of them. "

Lucian snarled in frustration, hesitating slightly.

After a few moments of hesitation, he turned back to Talia, his entire demeanor changing before her very eyes.

Talia frowned slightly, her brow wrinkling slightly. Despite the frigid cold and thick cover of mist, small beads of perspiration formed, slowly rolling down her face.

Lucian’s eyes took on an icy quality, his voice turning cold.

" And what is it that you’re suggesting I do, Talia? Leave a friend to die?"

A heartbeat later, his eyes darkened, his skin slowly turning paler. His veins took on a tenebrous colour. His presence suddenly became colder and more menacing.

Talia subconsciously took a step back, brandishing her long blade protectively in front of her.

Lucian observed her calmly, his dark eyes boring into her own.

" Do you think you can stop me as you are now?"

He shifted his blades in front of him, crouching lower.

" I think not..."

" I’ll come with you."

Amanda stepped forward, a small burst of electricity dancing at the tips of her fingers.

"Move side, Talia..."

Around them, the veliscera’s wails continued increasing in a maddening crescendo. The cold became more pronounced, whispers invading their minds with subtle suggestions, at first softly, then maddeningly with increasing intensity.

‎Emily’s gaze shifted outward to the pulsating green sigil that warded off the veliscera.

‎"The sigil...it’s failing..."

The sigils were words of power, inscriptions from the age of knowledge with the uncanny rain of literally crystallizing power.

In a sense, they were small reserves of the immense own welded by the beings in the Age of Knowledge.

The fact that these inscriptions had withstood the test of time was a testament to the power wielded by the Lords and other creatures that stood at the Apex of the age of knowledge.

‎Lucian turned back, his face darkening at the sight of the dimming inscription.

The fact that the veliscera could have such an immensely overflowing effect on the fact.

‎The intricate sigil weakly glowed with a ghostly green light, flickering slightly, its pale light ebbing slowly.

‎The veliscera moved forward, their insidious influence spreading through the sanctuary.

The sigil sputtered weakly, its light dimming further. In the next moment, the two energies violently clashed, sending vivid bolts of electricity hurtling through the air. An energy whirlwind, conjured from the violent clash, ripped through the ruins, forcing the remaining youths a few steps back.

‎A frigid cold spread throughout the interior of the ruin that was their temporary sanctuary.

"I’ll have to side with Lucian on this, is Talia?" Emily spoke, staring at the blonde-haired scion intently.

" The sigil is slowly failing...staying here means certain death..."

Letting out a sigh, a determined look appeared on her face, her lips curling into a faint smile.

"If this is it, I’d rather spend the last moments of my life fighting rather than hiding..."

" And I’ll go with Emily," Samantha said, stepping.p.."

Lucian smirked, brandishing his smaller blades.

" Looks like it’s four against one, Talia...Move aside..."

Talia glared at the four of them, grinding her teeth in frustration.

In the distance, a panicked shout abruptly drew their attention away from the standstill.

" That’s Morgan! Let’s go..."

****

" This is a very bad idea."

This was the first thought that ran through Morgan’s mind the moment he crossed the threshold.

The familiar ruin quickly disappeared in the distance, leaving him surrounded by a veil of endless fog.

To their credit, the velisvera moved extremely fast. So fast in fact that Morgsn could barely keep up either the frenetic speed of their movements.

Cassius’ form rapidly disappeared into the distance.

The Talented was unconscious, his body floating eerily in the air in a disturbingly similar fashion to a corpse being carried, except this one would be in an invisible casket.

" Damn it, Cassius!"

Blindly following the veliscera was a foolhardy move, suicidal even.

But forsake inexplicable reasons, heddecided to go after the biological type, Talented.

"I really hope I don’t regret this."

Morgan bit back the maddening urge to scream in frustration.

A few moments later, the veliscera’s fleeting forms began appearing in the mist around him.

The translucent wraith let out guttural, frenzied wails, their ghostly claws reaching through the mist for him.

" Sarenus!"

" Well, this is quite the messy situation..."

Morgan gritted his teethh dashing forward. Despite running only a few meters, his lungs burned painfully, s running for air.

The nauseating feeling felt was akin to drowning.

Morgangaspeds d his vision momentarily turning blurry.

" What’s happening to me?"

" The veliscera, they’re sapping your life energy."

Morgan’s eyes widened slightly, then narrowed.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Sarenus let out a low chuckle.

"Killing all of them should do the trick."

Morgan fought back the urge to roll his eyes.

" And how exactly do you expect me to kill ancient eldritch horrors several times stronger than meHonestlyestl,y you can’t. At least not on your own. Fortunately for you, you happen to have an ally who’s far more powerful than these pesky little...what did you call them, right...eldritch horrors."

Morgan frowned slightly.

"And how exactly are you supposed to help me out in this situation? You said that I could only use a small fraction of your power."

Sarenus tutted.

"Well, that was before the attack in the realm between. Right n,ow I think that you are capable of mastering much more of my abilities."

An awkward silence ensued.

"Why do I get the feeling that there’s something that you’re not telling me?"

Sarenus let out an amused chuckle.

" Quite intuitive, aren’t you? Well, I’d expect nothing less from a Void World Wielder."

" There’s another way we can overcome this predicament. "

And how would that be?"

"The reason the Veliscera are so powerful right now is because of the influence of the Velagrew’s realm. From what I can make out, they have found a way to extend that influence here.

" A minuscul,e insignificant bit of influence. Normally, there’s no way assassins of your caliber would even be able to stand a chance in this situation, but fortunately enough, you have a unique advantage."

"And what would that be?" Morgan asked in curiosity.

You’re a Void World Wielder. And while you’re not yet at that level, you can exert a bit of the influence of your Void World on the outside world."

Sarenus manifested in his shadowy form, his presence pushing the fog away. The white embers in his eyes burned fiercely, the ghostly flames piercing through the darkness.

" This should allow me to wield a portion of my abilities here."

The fog around him suddenly grew thicker.

" Cassius!"

The ghostly pillars suddenly seemed even more distant, their ghostly green light slowly fading in the darkness. The fog felt more oppressive, the air becoming thinner.

" You must hurry, " Sarenus said with a bit of urgency in his voice.

"It seems the veliscera have sensed my presenc,e and they probably know that doesn’t bode well for them. They’ll be coming for you..."

In the next moment, a vague figure crashed into Morgan, sending him flying into the distance with a startled shout.

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