Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 170: Mind battle

‎"Sorcery..."

Even the mere thought of it seemed ridiculous.

But apparently, sorcery was real.

‎Before Sarenus mentioned it, Morgan thought that it was something only found in fantasy books and fiction. But now that Sarenus was mentioning it, the idea didn’t seem so improbable anymore.

‎After all, he was currently standing in an apparently alternate plane to Earth, wielding a Void World and umbralis... he was in no place to talk about improbable things.

‎In the moment he touched the wall, a rush of information flooded his mind.

A strange wave of energy washed over his mind.

It was a feeling akin to drowning.

He tried to speak, but no sound came out.

His thoughts became a jumbled mess, his entire mind going blank.

‎A cacophony of voices struggled for dominance in his mind, each straining to be heard over the din of noise.

‎"Me...me..."

‎"Die, die...DIE!!!"

Vague silhouettes surged in the darkness, moving rapidly towards him.

Morgan tried to move, but then found that his legs wouldn’t move.

He was inexplicably...stuck in place.

The figures moved, drawing closer to him.

‎" Who are you...what are you trying to do..."

This place wasn’t the Void World; on the contrary, it was much different from anything Morgan had ever experienced before.

Everything seemed to be against him.

A raw oppressive presence ground into his mind, draining his strength, trying to beat him into submission.

He groaned, trying to hold onto his sense of being.

‎Morgan shuddered, feeling the overwhelming pressure of the foreign influences in his mind, threatening to take over his body.

Whatever this being was, it was trying to take over his sense of self.

Suddenly, several arms grabbed him, pulling him down, slowly dragging him into the murky ground.

When he screamed, no sound escaped his mouth. The hands were relentless, mercilessly dragging him down, pulling his body apart.

Then he fell.

Morgan fell, and then fell some more, drifting silently through the darkness.

‎A heartbeat later, everything went dark.

The figures around him

‎"Where am I?"

‎Morgan spun around in confusion, scrutinizing the strange place in shock.

‎From the darkness, a deep voice spoke.

‎A the sound of the voice, the darkness moved, changing and slowly shifting.

‎Morgan squinted, taking a step back.

‎"Who are you?"

‎In the next moment, a deep laugh rang out through the darkness.

‎"I see you, child. I can see what you’re trying to do..."

‎Dark figures moved through the darkness, grotesque figures in different shapes and sizes.

‎Morgan instinctively took a step back, shivering slightly.

‎"Sarenus? Kazarax?"

‎"Your pawns won’t help you here...their power meaningless before me."

‎Morgan frowned, subtly reaching for his connection with the Void World.

‎"Who are you?" Morgan asked.

‎" I am Azaroth. I’ve seen kingdoms rise and fall, civilizations vanish, your paltry power is nothing compared to that of your minions."

‎In the midst of the phantoms, Morgan saw a familiar dark-haired girl.

‎" Emily!"

The dark-haired girl slowly turned at the sound of his voice.

"Emily! "

His voice echoed through the dark emptiness of the boundless abyss.

When their eyes met, Morgan recoiled, his mouth falling open in horror.

Emily’s eyes were blank.

The Talented girl was moving like a marionette on strings, her movements taking on an unnatural and doll-like quality.

Morgan turned back in the direction

" What did you do to her?"

Azaroth chuckled, his laughter resonating through the darkness.

"I’ve done nothing to her. All this is her own doing. Right now she’s reliving her own memories...all I did was give her a little push."

In the darkness, a massive figure moved.

It’s oppressive pressure washed over Morgan.

"I am the wall of truth. My makers, you see, were tired of all the war and bloodshed. Senseless fighting, and so they made me. To end it all. To reveal the true nature of these snivelling little creatures to themselves."

Groaning in pain, Morgan knelt, grabbing onto the ground desperately.

"Damn it, Sarenus! Kazarax!"

His connection to the Void World felt faint, and it was ebbing by the moment.

"Void World wielder, it’s been aeons since I encountered one of your kind, a truly dreadful opponent. At the time, I was unprepared. I had never encountered such..

The voice hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"...a being."

Letting out a sigh, the massive figure moved forward, the nebulous darkness shifting around it.

"That...thing was a truly frightening for, for in the end it spared me, allowed me to continue my work."

Azaroth laughed, the terrible sound of it echoing through space.

The ground trembled, then split, a powerful quake following in the wake of his power.

Morgan gasped, stumbling back in shock.

In the darkness, Emily’s translucent body shone with light.

In the next moment, the dark phantoms slowly surrounded her, then drew her into their midst, obscuring her from sight.

"Emily!"

Once more, Morgan felt powerless.

Despite thinking he’d frown strongly, in the end, it still wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t fair.

He almost laughed out of spite at the unfairness of it all.

In that moment, the memory of a black, faceless mask appeared in his mind.

The accursedarstro that had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

Morgan felt rage well up within him. Pure unbridled rage and hatred, white hot and overflowing, begging for a release

" You, bastard..."

" At long last, you accept it..." Azaroth said somberly.

"This is your truth. This is who you are...embrace it."

Another memory resurfaced.

In this one, he watched his mum get murdered again...then again and then again.

Morgan roared, lashing out blindly at the illusory foes in his mind.

" That is who you are..."

Back in the outside world, Morgan’s body was similarly stuck to the tenebrous battlement.

The pulsating lines on the walls were rhythmically glowing with an increased intensity, converging at the point where Morgan stood.

In the next moment, Morgan groaned, his brows furrowing in pain.

He’d become strangely unresponsive from the time he’d touched the accursed wall.

Every effort to rouse him from the strange state of unconsciousness had been in vain.

Lucian grimaced, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"What do we do now?" Talia asked wearily, plopping down on the ground.

Lucian ignored her, his eyes remaining fixed on the two youths stuck on the wall.

Samantha hesitantly reached out, tapping his shoulder.

Despite honing her combat skills over the last couple of weeks, her mind wasn’t yet adapted enough to the ruthless nature of the world she had fallen into.

" We should help them..." she said quietly

Lucian inwardly rolled his eyes.

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head.

"No, not yet. For now, we wait."

The five youths stared at the unmoving figures in silence.

The silence said it all. While they were not exactly sure how or when, for now, the best course of action was to simply wait.

" I’m trusting you on this, Morgan."

In the next moment, Morgan opened his mouth and let out an agonized scream, his back arching over in agony.

Lucian leapt back in surprise, his eyes widening in shock

" What is happening right now..."

Talia sprang to her feet, instinctively drawing her blade.

" What is happening to them?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lucian frantically shook his head, warily eyeing her weapon.

" I have no idea, Captain Obvious..."

" Well, whatever it is, he seems to be in a great deal of pain," Cassius murmured.

A split second later, Emily screamed as well, the darkness in her eyes receding.

In the next moment, her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

The whole group watched in horror.

"I hate this...this feeling of helplessness...," Talia bit out, brandishing her blade.

" You and me," Lucian whispered, you and me.

Back in the nebulous darkness, Morgan grasped onto his connection with the Void.

The memories plaguing his mind slowly faded, then vanished entirely.

"I’ve told you before, your minions cannot help you here, Void World wielder. I have seen your kindness before. In this place, I alone am supreme."

Morgan grimaced, his face contorting in pain.

"For a wall, you talk too much. And for a wall that’s apparently called the Wall of truth, the lies that you spout are incredulous."

Another wave of oppressive pressure slammed into him, buckling his knees.

Morgan groaned, enduring it with sheer will and struggling to his feet.

Morgan laughed, then sniggered, struggling up.

"I’m not a revenge-driven brat who can’t get his act together, that’s all I see in your so-called truth. No, no...no..."

Grinning in amusement, he smiled.

"You see, that’s a very simplistic way of thinking, Azaroth. Besides, is that even your real name?"

At the wall, blood slowly began seeping out of his nose, the flames in his eyes growing even brighter.

His connection with the Void that had been weak became clearer.

" I’ll admit, you’re very powerful," he rasped.

" In fact, you might even be more powerful than Kazarax, and that’s saying something."

Adjusting his stance, Morgan grinned.

"But you know what, that hasn’t stopped me from getting what I want before, and neither will it this time. At the end of the day, you’re just a forgotten relic from bygone times. "

Azaroth sniggered, his voice dripping with amusement.

"Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?"

‎