Nightblade (Darkest night)

Chapter 252: Madness

The Zeregran Ranges stretched endlessly toward the horizon.

Jagged black peaks pierced the cloud cover like the fangs of some colossal beast, their snow-capped summits hidden beneath swirling banks of translucent ethereal mist.

The lower slopes were blanketed by ancient trees so old that some of their trunks were wider than houses.

Even among the inhabitants of the Realm, the Zeregran Ranges carried an ominous reputation, and as a result, very few dared to venture there.

"Legend has it that entire expeditions and Travellers have disappeared in these mountains, vanishing without a trace," Valerius murmured.

Morgan threw him a bewildered glance.

"Now that he’s suddenly in a conversational mood, that’s the first thing he says."

The five travelers moved carefully along a narrow mountain path winding between towering cliffs.

Sye led the group from the front, his sharp eyes constantly scanning the terrain ahead.

Morgan followed his lead, constantly surveying the surroundings for threats.

Behind him walked Raven.

The young woman moved silently, her dark cloak blending almost perfectly with the surrounding shadows.

Morgan noted the impeccable movements. Her presence was barely noticeable.

Perhaps it was because she was an assassin from a notable Great House that excelled at stealth. Even while traversing the uneven mountain trail, she seemed impossibly light on her feet.

Valerius followed shortly after with the beautiful woman, his ’Angel’ at his side.

Her presence alone seemed to dampen the hostility of the surrounding environment subtly.

The weather gradually worsened as they climbed higher, eventually giving way to a drizzle.

The sun disappeared behind dark clouds while a chilling wind swept through the mountain passes.

Morgan quietly cursed, tightening his cloak around himself.

"Just what we needed."

Several hours passed in complete silence.

The only sounds he could hear now were wind, distant rockfall, and the steady crunch of boots against frozen stone.

Then suddenly— ’angel’ stopped.

As though something within the world had suddenly shifted that only she could perceive.

Valerius frowned slightly as well, pursing his lips.

Morgan turned, staring intently at the two.

"What is it?"

After a long pause, she spoke quietly.

"...We are not alone."

Morgan’s hand instinctively reached for the blade sheathed on his back.

Sye stopped completely, his gaze narrowing as he scanned the cliffs ahead with renewed intensity. Raven stepped closer, intently scanning their surroundings with an apprehensive look.

Morgan gritted his teeth, staring ahead.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he struggled to calm it down.

He spared Valerius a sideline glance.

The Lord of Moreus, however, looked more annoyed than afraid.

If anything, Sye looked more concerned of the two.

For something to have evaded his keen senses meant the foe, whatever it was, was quite possibly more formidable than he’d anticipated.

Angel’s gaze remained fixed ahead. A distance ahead of them, a long, slanted cliff of black stone rose before them, covered in layers of heath and grass.

It looked unremarkable at first glance, just another stretch of the Zeregran Ranges, but after a few moments, Morgan’s eyes widened slightly.

"Did you feel that?"

With his heightened senses, he immediately perceived the subtle change in the world.

A slight wrongness that he just couldn’t quite put his finger on

The hair on the back of his neck rose.

A split second later, the Blood Reaper blades were in his hand.

"There!"

Raven frowned slightly, shaking her head.

Morgan took a step back.

"There, again!"

Raven slowly drew back as well.

"Quiet, boy!" we’ll 9hissed, staring ahead with intense concentration.

Then—the ground trembled.

Morgan felt it first through his boots, then through his bones. Tremors slowly surged through the ground, imperceptibly at first, then visibly.

Raven’s eyes narrowed in confusion, then widened.

"What the hell—!" She whispered, taking several steps back.

Morgan’s eyes swept across their surroundings warily, all the while feeling the gradual buildup of vibrations within the ground.

"...That’s not an earthquake," he said quietly.

Raven’s gaze flicked downward.

"It’s coming from below us," she added.

Just then, a harrowing pressure descended upon them, bearing down on the group with oppressive strength.

Morgan groaned, grabbing at his head with a pained grimace.

A cacophony of wild screams and insidious hisses resounded in his head, momentarily throwing his thoughts into a chaotic mess.

"Why are you here..."

"What do you seeeeeeek?"

"Dieeeeee!"

"You do not belong here!"

"Unworthy!"

Blood flowed from his nose and mouth, dripping onto the wet earth beneath them in a steady trickle.

Myriad images flitted through his mind, almost as though attempting to ravage his mind completely.

Morgan gasped, dropping to one knee, his vision swimming wildly in a murky whirlpool of nightmarish creatures and harrowing visions.

A short distance away from him, Raven wildly writhed on the ground, her mouth opening in a soundless scream.

In the ominous haze clouds ginhis vision, Morgan vaguely saw Valerius standing a short distance away, staring into the distance with an inscrutable expression.

Valerius exhaled slowly, his golden eyes shimmering with ethereal light.

A moment later, a pulse of brilliant power rippled through the air, pushing back against the ominous presence.

A moment after, Morgan felt the crushing pressure recede.

His mind was suddenly blissfully quiet.

He gasped, coughing several times, then let out a shaky breath.

Staring at the two young scions, he spoke calmly.

"Your mental resilience is even less reassuring than I originally thought."

Angel finally moved.

Slowly, she raised one hand and pointed toward the cliff face.

"There," she said.

A deep grinding sound echoed impossibly through the pass, stone dragging across stone like a large granite vault.

For a few moments, it seemed as though the mountain itself was coming undone.

Then the illusion of the mountain broke.

The entire cliff face was not a cliff, but a door.

Morgan could just barely make out its outline through the tattered mess of thoughts in his mind.

Dust and frost cascaded downward in thick waves, massive slabs of stone slowly came apart, rolling over one another with agonizing slowness.

Angel’s expression tightened slightly.

"I feel it more clearly now," she said.

Morgan somberly glanced at her while helping Raven to her feet.

"Feel what exactly?"

She hesitated for a while, then pointed.

"That."

A moment later, a quiet hiss escaped the mountain.

Then a flood of darkness poured out from within it.