Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 171: Fleeting memory

‎In nebulous darkness, a massive figure moved forward.

Inky black tentacles surged forward from his body, binding a smaller figure in place.

‎Morgan groaned, straining against the massive tentacles.

The movement of the gargantuan tentacles rocked the space in which they were currently trapped.

‎"You see, no matter what you do, it’s all futile."

‎His connection with the Void World continued to fluctuate erratically, ebbing and becoming clear in a maddening, continuous paradox.

‎With every step the giant took forward, the ground quaked violently.

‎Harrowing waves of power emanated from the giant’s figure, washing over Morgan in ripples of searing heat.

Morgan bit his tongue, holding back an agonized scream.

He was slowly getting used to the pain, but still...

‎In the distance, the light from Emily’s figure was fading fast.

‎Morgan could feel it. While the sensation was new, he could vaguely sense the movement of the rest of the figures moving in this dark space.

The experience was akin to bringing a different kind of Void World.

At least that’s how he imagined it would feel.

Slowly but surely, he felt the growing numbness.

He was quite sure that Emily had probably experienced the same thing.

For now, he was holding onto his own.

But slowly but surely, he could feel it.

‎His body was slowly succumbing to Azaroth’s power.

‎His own power was ebbing fast.

His thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Every attempt at forming a coherent thought was quickly subdued.

The furious onslaught was steadily ravaging his mind and even his sense of self.

And while his mental state wasn’t in the best condition, his illusory body was in an even worse state.

‎He’d already lost his sight a while back, his eyes destroyed by a storm of the tenebrous tentacles.

The ghastly things stubbornly dug into his flesh with a vice-like grip, constricting his limbs with a crushing grip.

Perhaps if the fight had been a physical one, he’d have already succumbed to the terrible pressure.

Fortunately enough, it was a battle of their wills.

Even in this case, Azaroth held the advantage.

The dastardly piece of concrete was more ancient than Morgan and had therefore had centuries, if not aeons, to forge and shape his tyrannical willpower, but Morgan had a Void World, one with equally ancient beings and equally harrowing entities at that.

And perhaps that was the only reason why he was still alive.

‎Biting back a groan, he strained his head, turning in the direction he sensed Emily’s presence.

‎It was a strange sensation.

‎Despite the loss of his eyes, he could still...see.

‎If you could even call it that.

‎In the sightless world, the world was painted in a myriad of colours.

‎In this dreary, lightless world, everything was painted in varying shades of darkness.

‎"Black, white, and grey," he murmured.

‎Despite the chaos around him, this lightless world felt...almost serene, peaceful.

But basking in it was bound to get him killed.

The others would probably see him collapse, and that would be that.

In the end, he would have failed to honour his words to Lucian.

‎"What a pathetic sight...You really are hopeless, you know that."

‎Morgan turned his head, instinctively searching for the source of the voice.

Even with the loss of his eyes, his hearing still worked just fine

‎"Who’s there?"

‎The voice sighed.

‎" Isn’t it obvious?"

‎A dark figure materialized in the midst of the darkness.

‎Morgan cocked his head in the direction of the sound.

‎"I’ve heard this voice before..."

‎He strained against the dark bindings holding him, gritting his teeth in pain

‎The pressure around his neck was suffocating.

‎His neck felt like it could snap at any moment.

‎"Now definitely isn’t the time for riddles? In case you didn’t notice, I’m kind of in the middle of something here."

‎The figure moved closer, deliberately moving slowly.

‎"In the middle of getting obliterated, do you mean..."

‎Morgan snarled.

‎He could feel the last strands of his consciousness fading.

‎Frankly, there were too many voices in his head recently.

‎It was at the point that perhaps he was becoming a little mad.

‎Who could tell...

‎And to top it off, it usually happened at the most inopportune times.

‎"I really may be losing it..."

‎The faceless figure in his mind chuckled.

‎"You’re not losing it..."

‎The figure shook its head, raising a single finger.

‎" On the contrary, you’re quite sane, very sane in fact..."

‎It stopped cockiitst’s head, then moved closer.

‎" You’re just...unique. I could go as far as saying you’re one of a kind."

‎At this point, his head was slowly succumbing to the pressure of Azaroth’s tentacles.

"You see Morgan, this is but one compartment of your mind. Right now you’re here talking with me, but there’s a part of you confronting Azaroth right now, even as we’re having this conversation."

The figure laughed throwing his head back.

" And you know what? It gets better..."

The figure crept closer.

" I’m sure you’ve felt it... heard it..."

The figure whispered ever so silently.

" Your friends, you can hear them, what they’re saying, you know what they’re doing..."

Chuckling in seeming amusement, the figure murmured.

" Your mind is a thing of wonder, is it not..."

.He turned away, focusing on Emily’s distant form.

"...after all, the human mind can only bear so much strain before eventually collapsing under the burden."

The figure took a step back, twirling around.

"And that’s what make you exceptional. It is what you unique. A Void World wielder, with this wondrous ability..."

The figure sat back, shaking it’s head slightly.

" And yet even now, you’re holding back..."

‎Only a tiny wisp remained of Emily’s light.

‎In that moment of utter desperation, a memory surfaced.

‎" I know...I remember where I’ve heard your voice before..."

‎The image of a gruff, muscular mcomesome to mind.

‎"Frederick..."

‎That was it. He’d heard the same voice back then, when he’d sparred with Frederick for the first time.

‎Back then, even though it had merely been a sparring sessions, it felt like he was going to die.

‎Ans while he’d been in similar situations since then, it had been the first time he’d utilized his newly learned skills.

‎But even then, the gap in experience had been too wide.

‎’I almost lost that fight..."

‎The dark figure laughed humorlessly.

‎"Except you didn’t. You can’t afford to lose this either. If you do..."

The figure shook it’s head, crouching down in front of his kneeling form.

‎His entire body was slowly coming undone.

" What do you suggest I do?"

The figure scoffed.

"Win."

Morgan squinted, peering through the darkness around the mysterious figure’s face.

" Who are you?’

The figure laughed once more.

" Like I said before, it’s quite obvious."

In the next moment,it reached out, you hing his forehead.

Morgan gasped his eyes widening in surprise.

In the next moment, brilliant white flames ignited in his eyes.

A wave of power surged through him rekindling his connection with the Void World for a brief instant.

It was all he needed.

The figure disintegrated, dissolving into a wave of darkness.

The darkness around him surged forward, pooping into one gigantic mass.

A cold wind blew stirred into existence by the surge of power.

In the next instant, the space around him strained violently, then groaned, emitting an inhuman sound.

Morgan instinctively reached out with his mind grabbing onto his connection with the Spirit Void.

"Come forth..."

An exquisite pain flared through his chest rocking his entire being.

He gasped grabbing his chest, basking in the agony of what was unfolding within him.

Just as it had appeared, the pain disappeared.

The flames in Morgan’s eyes burned even brighter, his form becoming even more pronounced.

In the next moment, the illusory space where he stood transformed, expanding outward, slowly at first then violently.

Dark plains flowed from the Void world overrunning the illusory space.

Azaroth roared in fury.

Yielding to his command, the darkness moved.

Dark tenebrous tentacles and chains lunged forward, spiralling through the darkness.

A split second later, they froze held in place by an unseen force.

In the stillness that followed, the dark space rippled.

An inky black figure rose through the darkness approaching Morgan’s kneeling form.

The tentacles around him quivered then slowly came undone, their terrible strength waning in the face of the mysterious force.

Morgan slowly rose to his feet, feeling his connection with the Void World growing stronger.

He stared at the unfolding phenomenon with wide eyes.

"This..."

The other answered him.

" ...is an invasion."

Azaroth roared once more, the sound of his raising furious waves of energy.

Morgan smiled.

"You are me..."

The other being smiled perfectly mirroring his expression.

"I am you..."

Morgan’s eyes healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, reigniting with brilliant white flames.

In the next moment, the two sides of his consciousness drew together and then merged with a resounding flash of light.

" This can’t be..." Azaroth muttered, stopping in his tracks.

With the fusion, a palpable change occurred.

In the dark space, a massive rift spawned sundering the previously dark space.

‎A heartbeat later, a multitude of star-spawned, ned brought light to the lightless world for the first time in aeons.

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