Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 160: Evolution

From the stories Lucian had heard before, just before a person died, their life apparently flashed before their eyes.

The memories they saw contained their past regrets, as well as thoughts of things they’d not get the chance to do, their aspirations, dreams, and hopes.

But in that moment, Lucian felt nothing.

"It’s actually strange...why don’t I feel... anything?"

Although the feeling was somewhat surprising, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

They’d been reading a fine line between life and death with every day that they sent in Tenebris.

Perhaps living in such a...reckless way had fundamentally changed something in them.

Even now, Talia, Samantha and Emily still struggled, refusing to yield to the insidious power of the veliscera.

And despite the direness of the downhill fight, the three of them were still conscious, their eyes gleaming with the familiar light of battle clarity.

And that was why Lucian felt nothing.

Well, saying that it was nothing wasn’t exactly accurate.

There was one emotion that he felt, a strange one at that.

Gasping for breath, he forced out a grin, his eyes gleaming with a savage light.

If there was anything he felt in this moment, it was a profound sense of amusement.

For some inexplicable reason, the thought that he’d survived all the goodies that Tenebris had offered him up to this point only to end up at a stalemate here was profoundly amusing.

"Damn it....this place is really unfair..."

Getting on one knee, he firmly planted his fist in the ground, pushing through the suffocating agony with sheer mental effort.

He painfully craned his neck, meeting the Veliscera’s gaze above him.

Even now, he could feel the waves of undeniable power radiating off the creature.

The veliscera manipulated the umbralis around them, making it feel like Lucian was trapped in a never-ending mire.

Staring at the ghostly woman towering over him, his smile grew even wider, his face darkening.

"Is this the point where I’m supposed to thrash and beg?"

The Veliscera’s smile faltered for a brief second, its gaze remaining on him.

Kneeling to his position, it gently caressed his face.

The effect was instantaneous.

His legs buckled, his arms trembling slightly. A moment later, the world spun dizzily around him.

" Shit, shit shit!"

Lucian groaned, weakly raising his hand in a weak attempt at swatting the hand away.

" This thing is sapping my strength, the longer it holds me, the more it literally feels like I’m...dying."

The veliscera smiled sweetly, leaning in close to him.

" Why do you resist? Just give in, then all this can end, the pain, the suffering....

The creature was surprisingly human-like, its behaviour, mannerisms and even gestures.

Lucian’s hand trembled slightly, his lips curling into a slight smile.

" Not a chance..."

He weakly gripped the Veliscera’s clawed hand, struggling against its iron grip.

The clawed hand trailed lower, grasping his throat in its deadly embrace.

The veliscera slowly, almost casually lifted him into the air while simultaneously rising to its feet.

In that moment, its features began to change rapidly, a long, serpentine tail growing out of its back.

In the next moment, its back snapped back with a horrifying jolt, its height rapidly increasing within moments.

The beautiful eyes turned reptilian, the pupils shrinking down into twin vertical slits that shone with a cruel light.

A forked tongue darted out of its mouth, tasting the air.

Smiling eerily, the veliscera hissed, slowly licking the side of Lucian’s face.

Lucian shuddered, his entire body trembling violently.

He smirked, holding onto the Veliscera’s arm.

"Have you looked into a mirror recently?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

His face was rapidly turning paler, his eyes turning bloodshot from the immense pressure in his neck. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"I think you should, because it seems to me you’re having an identity crisis, if you get what I mean..."

At his words, the already crushing grip turned vice-like.

His eyes bulged out of their sockets, his veins popping across his skin.

"Oh shit! I just had to run my mouth..."

Lucian’s mouth opened in a soundless scream, the sound echoing through the fog.

In the next moment, a lone veliscera appeared through the veil of fog, carrying Cassius’ unconscious form.

Then Morgan’s eyes snapped open, and in the very next instant, he disappeared

from the spot he was standing.

A profound change immediately washed over the surrounding area.

A strange haze washed over the surrounding area, the darkness itself coming alive, moving and shifting constantly.

The energy slammed into the veliscera with concussive force, pushing them back.

Lucian violently fell to the ground, wildly gasping for air. He greedily gulped lungfuls of air, grasping at the burning claw marks left on his neck.

"Ah...ow... that really hurts. What just happened?"

He turned, his eyes widening slightly at the changes happening

" What the heck? Is this Morgan’s doing?"

The fog around them dissipated, and with its disappearance, a small clearing appeared in the middle of the thick covering.

The three girls swiftly regrouped, pulling Amanda away from the insidious fog.

"Cassius!"

In the earlier commotion, the veliscera carrying the Talented youth had been pushed back, dropping him in the process.

Turning back, Lucian swiftly lunged, grabbing Cassius’s unconscious form and dragging him to safety.

"What is even happening at this point? How is he doing this?"

A wave of energy washed over them, pushing both of them to the ground.

An oppressive pressure pulsed through the surroundings, pushing back the fog even further.

The veliscera screamed, jumping back warily.

Lucian scrutinised them intently, then his eyes widened in shock.

" How is he doing that?"

Because of the veliscera’s fine level of control over umbralis, even hurting them with physical attacks without physically matching their level was difficult.

But when the energy Morgan was wielding touched them, something strange happened.

The veliscera’s translucent skin blistered, then burned.

The creatures wailed in agony, moving away from the clearing, hatefully glaring at the small fogless area.

At the centre of the phenomenon, a dark-haired young man stood, his eyes glowing with eerie golden light.

A veil of energy pulsated around him, the force surreal, fighting for dominance within the thick veil of fog.

In the next moment, the young man trembled slightly, his body subtly spasming.

In the next moment, the golden light in his eyes burned, turning an ethereal white.

Morgan opened his mouth, arching his back in challenge

A guttural roar ripped through his surroundings. White swathes of flames erupted in the clearing, passing harmlessly over the stunned youths.

Lucian stared at Morgan with a strange mixture of shock and horror.

"What the hell?!"

Talia stared at him with an expression of utter shock.

" Is this another of the Thane family’s abilities...how is this even possible?"

It was almost unfathomable that a single Great House could have such power.

The more unbelievable thing was that a mere initiate wielded such abilities; it was simply incomprehensible.

And yet before her very eyes, the incomprehensible was happening.

In this far-off part of Tenebris, the five of them were watching the birth of a monster.

Talia was quite sure that such a feat was unprecedented.

The heir of Thane did not cease to amaze her, with one extraordinary ability after another.

" It’s almost like he’s not...human?"

All around them, the world burned, the fog burned.

The ethereal flames washed over the stunned veliscera, catching a few of the unlucky creatures by surprise.

The unfortunate veliscera were instantly incinerated, their translucent bodies exploding violently.

"Thisssss ccccan’t be..." the veliscera hissed, staring at him in shock and horror.

"This power can only be wielded by the chosen of the Lord of light."

Lucian frowned slightly, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"The Lord of light?"

In the next moment, Morgan burst forward, moving with inhuman speed.

He materialised in front of the moving veliscera, a split second later, his eyes blazing with an inferno of flames.

The very air around him rippled with a searing heat.

He instinctively grasped the blades on his back, hacking through the air with uncanny precision.

Lucian stared at the dark blades in shock, his mouth falling open in surprise.

"Blood Reaper, it’s evolving."

Right before their eyes, the mystic blades began to change.

This was what truly made the blades forged by a master weaponsmith unique.

The weapons possessed an uncanny intelligence particular to them, allowing them to undergo evolution.

This meant even with the growth of the weapons’ wielders, the weapons would not become obsolete; rather, the two would grow together, reaching new heights of power.

In that instant, the Blood Reaper blades absorbed the ethereal flames into their surface, adapting to their fiery state.

The creature reacted fast, leaping back just enough to avoid the touch of the scorching blade.

The creature screeched, jumping back.

"While you may carry his gift, do not overestimate yourself, lightspawn. We are of Velagrew, and you’re nowhere near qualified to challenge us."

Morgan stared the creature coldly, his eyes boring into its own.

Then, in the next moment, chilling laughter reverberated through the air.