Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 197: Giant Puzzle

Sanctuaries were vaults of knowledge that had been sealed in the Age of Knowledge. The obscure sanctuaries, in most cases, contained wondrous artifacts and obscure pieces of knowledge.

According to Lucian, there was a chance that they could discover an artifact with the potential to breach the boundary between dimensions in one of these sanctuaries, but no matter how Morgan looked at it, it was a wild goose chase.

The chances of them actually finding something as wondrous as that given were slim to none.

From what they’d encountered in the luminous city, the sanctuaries were often found within temples or remarkably buildings that had been erected by the people of that civilization.

The people who lived in the cities they’d discovered so far seemed to have originated from different places, almost pointing to the existence of several different civilizations unknown to those on Earth.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was one of silent curiosity.

Morgan could feel the stares of Anthony and Brant, the two watching him with rapt attention.

" The sanctuary we’re looking for should be somewhere within this city.

So far all our efforts to find it have been in vain."

Morgan steeled his fingers leaning forward slightly.

"And if something is not in plain sight or hidden, then it’s probably in a completely different place."

Lucian smiled.

" You’re thinking about the inner city, yes?"

Morgan nodded.

"However, this poses a second problem. There appears to spme sort of power shrouding it, an ability that stretches out the space."

Naturally, the Talented had already encountered this problem before Morgan’s arrival.

"Do you have any plan to deal with that" Anthony asked with curious interest.

Morgan shook his head slightly.

" Unfortunately, at the moment there’s nothing that I’ve come up with that could help, but I’m working on it. "

"So if by some chance we manage to get into the city, what then?"

We’ll unlock the sanctuary. It should have a certain sort of key. And then we can all go home."

Anthony frowned slightly, furrowing his brows.

" A key? How do you know? And what is this key supposed to be?"

Morgan frowned slightly, the harrowing memory of how he’d come across the key resurfacing in his mind.

He still remembered Azaroth’s massive figure clearly, looming inevitably in the matrix.

The memory of the tenebrous giant’s lumbering form still sent chills down his spine.

"When we find the sanctuary, you’ll definitely know, it’s quite hard to miss. In the meantime, our main target should be finding a way to the sanctuary itself. As for the key, I already have it. At least I think I do."

Morgan was quite sure of it. At the same time, he also suspected the intricate key was the reason behind the stagnation of his healing.

Azaroth had given him the dreaded thing out of spite so Morgan wouldn’t put it past the hateful entity to find a way of lashing out at him from wherever it was.

With the discussion of finding a way out of Azaroth hitting a dead end, the meeting came to an end.

Looking at the overall mood of the Talented, it was quite subdued.

None of the Talented had openly caused trouble.

Of course, there was Anthony and Brant to thank for that. The other kid, Morgan, had come to know as Jeffrey.

His ability turned out to be flame manipulation at an intricate level with a bit of telekinesis.

By his own estimate, all of them had spent the greater part of a year in Tenebris, and that was without accounting for the flow of time in the obscure dimension.

Of course, the Brotherhood was probably making several attempts to find them, considering the disappearance of several scions, as well as the Takented, but their efforts were probably in vain.

Looking at how Tenebris impaired the powers of Amanda and some of the other Talented, using a seer from the Praesgius wouldn’t yield any significant results, but then again, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how the Brotherhood’s rescue team would be able to find them in this seemingly forsaken place.

The whole ordeal was a nightmare, as real as any he’d ever had. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As Morgan silently moved through the streets, his gaze casually swept over the golden runes embedded in the buildings.

The ability to see them had stayed with him but he still hadn’t been able to test their limits due to his injuries.

Lately, the mysterious symbols had been humming at a much more noticeable frequency, so much so that he’d taken notice.

At times, vivid ripples washed over entire buildings, surging through them with a quiet violence that no one, not even the perceptive Emily, seemed to perceive.

With Kazarax’s knowledge, he was able to deduce that the runes functioned as a darted mechanism of sorts, protecting the city and the people inhabiting it from harm.

At the same time, the same runes worked as a barrier, an access code that barred them from trying to enter the last portion of the city at its centre.

It was quite the dilemma.

After studying them day after day, Morgan believed he’d obtained a solution to the giant puzzle.

He’d stumbled upon their answer one evening.

He’d been standing with Cassius and Kelia atop one of the rooftops nearest to their cozy hideout.

More buildings meant more space and all the Talented present ete free to do with the space they had as they pleased.

Lucian had come up with the ingenious idea of using the electric horns from the moose they killed as a light source, charging them to the point where they continued emitting light for an indefinite period of time.

For some reason, Keila had taken to moving around with Cassius, the two seemingly getting on well together, even though Cassius seemed irritated at times.

The boisterous Talented had even enthusiastically moved in with the small group.

The trio was standing on top of the rooftops watching the distant sky when it happened.

just as the two pale moons appeared.

A wave of vast inescapable darkness washed over the sky, devouring the light in its wake.

No matter how many times he watched the phenomenon it was still breathtaking.

In that moment, it felt like he was witnessing something that could only be perpetrated by a god-like being.

This time, he noticed something different.

A wave of gold light lit up the sky in the wake of the darkness within a force akin to giant shackles being released.

In that moment, something clicked in his mind. Hisceyes widened slightly, a profound sense of understanding washing over him.

With a mental command, a pair of white flanes appeared in the darkness to him.

"My Lord" a deep voice spoke from the darkness.

"Kazarax..."

Morgan paused momentarily then asked.

" What was that?"

The Voidwalkers had gained the ability to see everything Morgan saw through his eyes the more he used the strange ability.

"From what I can tell, the darkness in this place is held back by the same runes that bar you from reaching the innermost part of the city."

"But from what I can tell at the point when the darkness breaks through the seal, the runes are temporarily weakened..."

A faint smile appeared on Morgan’s face.

"Well, that’s certainly interesting. "

" Do you think that’s at the point when the darkness escapes its invisible shackles, you could find a way to temporarily disable the enchantment that stops us from moving forward?"

Using Kazarax’s knowledge, Morgan had been able to do something similar in Azaroth’s matrix.

ThevVoid walker had used the Drayghar’s flames to sunder the grand enchantment that held the matrix together.

Kazarx paused hesitating slightly.

"My Lord, do you think this is a wise decision on your part. Bringing down the barrier would also likely expose you to the influence of the lord of the realm between. I have reason to think that once the barrier goes down he will have access to Azaroth.

Morgan shrugged, smiling faintly.

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

"Of course, I won’t be able to hold it for a very long time due to your own limited power and the immense strain it would place on you."

Morgan moved back from the ledgeand then headed down.

We’ll just have to give it a try.

The next day, Morgan invited Cassius and Lucian to move with him.

After a few moments, Kelia appeared next to them.

" There’s something that I need to check,c,k but I can’t do it alone.

The four of them walked along the expanse of the river.

Morgan kept on watching the run, expecting the point at which the humming would begin. After they neared the wall, the strange phenomenon began.

" What’s the point of this? " Kelia asked skeptically.

"From what I can tell, you’re trying to test their limits of whatever this is."

Morgan threw her a furtive glance and promptly ignored her question.

The two youths behind him remained silent, but also pondered the same thing.

"We’ve tried several different methods but still failed. We launched our abilities at it but nothing worked. "

A thin smile appeared on Morgan’s face.

"Well, that’s because you’re going at it the wrong way."

Kelia came to a stop.

" And what would be the right way?"

Morgan turned and crouched his hands grazing the runes on the ground.

" I guess we’re about to find out."