Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 196: Dead end

Brant stared at the eerie gruesome cracks marring Morgan’s hand, staring in shock.

"Before coming here, we encountered a strange entity, he said quietly, ootingviiy

I got these injuries fighting it.

What kind of creature was it? The two Talented stared at him curiously, mentally thinking about what sort of creature could inflict such harrowing wounds.

Morgan smiled.

" Well frankly speaking, it’s a creature that inhabited the walls of this place, a creature transcending space and time called Azaroth. Part of its consciousness was trapped in a matrix within this place.

The two Talented stared at him with comically similar looks of disbelief.

" Are you messing with us?"

Staring at the serious looks on the faces of the others he leaned back with a look of disbelief.

"He’s actually serious?!"

Anthony spoke, staring intently at Morgan.

" This creature, did you manage to kill it?"

Morgan grinned, a mischievous light appearing in his eyes.

He shrugged leaning back casually

"Well, I only managed to kill part of it."

What is that supposed to mean? Brant asked with a bewildered expression.

"Well, about that creature could separate its consciousness into several different fragments, and as a result, it was able to exist in several different places and moments in time at the same time."

The more Morgan explained, the more bewildered Brant’s expression became.

"How is that even possible?"

Morgan nonchalantly shrugged, offering him a smile.

"If I had to take a guess, I’d say, it’s the same way any of this is possible. At this point, there’s nothing, that’s too fantastical or impossible to be real."

Brant seemed dazed, his eyes momentarily glazing over as he stared into the distance.

"But how is that even possible?

Talia rolled her eyes then smirked.

" Why is it so hard to believe? You possess paranormal abilities yet you find it hard to believe that a place like this exists. Right now you’re in an entirely different dimension from Earth, and yet you still struggle to come to terms with this?"

We believe that hidden in this place is an artifact that can help us all get back home, but in order to access it, we will all have to work together. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Brant gave him a questioning look.

‎"And how do you suppose we’re going to find it?

‎Just then Emily walked up to them

"Impressive timing," Morgan thought.

He’d learned about how the talented had managed to disarm the Talented girl and subdue her effectively putting her out of commission.

‎ Samantha had quickly recovered her senses with Talia’s help.

After a while Lucian and Talia revealed how they’d been able to see through Kelia’s deception.

As it turned out, because Samantha had been regularly using the mysterious spear, her body had gained an innate affinity for umbralis that was easily detectable by the two assassins.

Then, there was the issue of the spear itself. The mysterious artefacts could attract umbralis towards themselves. In a sense, it was a sort of magnet for umbralis.

Of course, finding out that Samantha’s body was changing was a shock not just to her but even to Emily, Cassius, and Amanda.

The discovery also had several implications.

"We think Samantha has been affected this deeply since she has spent such a long time using the weapon, so much so that her body may have subconsciously discovered how to use umbralis on its own."

While the three Talented were shocked, it also meant with enough exposure, they’d probably gain the ability to use umbralis as well...

Emily threw Anthony and Brant a cold glance then curtly nodded.

Lucian suppressed a smirk, his lips twitching slightly.

" So much for an alliance...",

"Right now we’re underground. We’re directly below another ancient city that also happens to be underground."

Morgan went silent allowing that sink in.

Brant stared at him incredulously, sucking in a breath between his teeth then slowly exhaling.

Even Anthony seemed slightly skeptical at this new piece of news.

"How is that even possible. There’s a moon here, two even. How do you explain the daylight?"

Morgan stared at both of them, his lips curling into a faint smile.

" Actually, if you venture outside of this place you’ll find that the land outside is shrouded in darkness with only those two pale moons for light.

The city above it, instead is illuminated by these strange luminescent gems that constantly emit light."

Lucian chuckled at the expressions on the faces of the two boys.

"We fled the surface because the land, the place where we were, was slowly flooding.

And get this, there was a forest, a forest in the middle of this vast desert, that could move with these giant carnivorous man-eating creatures, Kravenar."

Talia nodded

" I saw them devour one of our own.

She shuddered slightly, a flicker of fear and revulsion flickering through her eyes.

"It was a pretty gruesome sight..."

Brant and Anthony stared at them incredulously in silence.

" Are you making this up?"

Morgan chuckléd then slowly shook his head.

" I wish I were. Part of me wishes this were all just a terrible dream that I could wake up from. But sadly, it’s all too real."

He stared at the two Talented somberly almost pityingly.

"Everything I just said is true, all of it. It’s the whole reason we’re here. Lucian, if you may..."

Lucian moved from the pillar where he stood, drawing closer until he stood beside Morgan.

The two Talented stared at him curiously.

" We believe that somewhere in this city, there’s an artifact that’s hidden that could potentially help us break through the barrier between Tenebris and Earth. Ordinarily, only a maestro and an adssin of a higher rank would bevable to do this but there’sa chance an artifact would be sble to do it. "

" And where would we find such an artifact?" Anthony asked, his brow furrowing in thought.

" In a sanctuary..."

Anthony’s attention turned to Emily.

The dark-haired girl continued talking, elaborating about the things they’d discovered in the Bretnar sanctuary and a bit of the wondrous knowledge they could potentially find in each sanctuary.

"And where would one find one?" Anthony asked, his eyes lighting up with a glimmer of hope

Morgan smiled faintly.

"And there’s the gist of the problem. We haven’t been able to find one here...not yet atleast."