Chapter 327 Volume V - Chapter 45: All-Consuming Darkness
The darkness just came over me. No... it enveloped the whole street, trapped it in itself.
But I didn't stand still while it was happening. Yes, I might have been stiff. I might have been too strong to fight back. But that didn't mean that I would gladly give my life to someone.
I quickly took out my spear from my bracelet. Before it had even finished materializing, I grabbed it with my right hand and swung it at the figure in front of me. But... something happened that I had never seen or encountered before.
The darkness literally materialized. It stretched like a dough, then hardened and formed a shield, protecting the person in front of me from my spear.
The masked man tilted his head slightly to the side again. Then he simply raised his hand in the air, pulling it gently to the side.
Suddenly, all the darkness that covered the street rippled. It churned as if... enraged.
People's screams entered my ears. They had been silent until this moment, but the jolt, like an earthquake, brought them to their senses.
I gritted my teeth and attacked the figure again as the darkness descended further on us, but as soon as I tried to do so, I felt its eyes on me. It was as if it was several times faster than me... No, it was directly so.
This time my spear did not encounter any shields or obstacles. But... it didn't reach the masked man either. Instead, the man's figure was suddenly enveloped in total darkness, then melted away as if it were a liquid. My spear thus cut the air.
I quickly looked around in case of any attack, to my sides, behind me, above me, and even below me... literally everywhere, but no attack came. On the contrary... a scream once again echoed not far away from me.
I quickly turned toward the scream, readying my spear to strike, but I was frozen in place again.
There was a woman where I was looking. She was right next to the darkness that covered the street. She was punching the dark wall that prevented her from escaping. What she didn't know... was another darkness rising behind her.
Two dark tentacles, like the arms of an octopus, suddenly grabbed her around the waist. Before I could prepare to save her, they squeezed her delicate body like a python snake. I heard the sound of bones crunching, I watched the woman's cries for help quickly fade and disappear in every possible sign of fear.
My hands, my whole body trembled. For the first time in my life, I truly felt so... powerless.
When was the last time someone had instilled such fear in me just by looking at what they were causing? When was the last time I found myself in such a situation? Yes, I had met many strong people and watched them fight, but this... this was different.
Another scream echoed behind me. But this time I couldn't turn around quickly. I turned my head slowly, in fear. My eyes widened again as my grasp on my spear weakened.
I saw black liquid pouring out of an old man's eyes, nose, mouth... out of every pore in his body. His whole body was shaking in pain, it had only taken a few seconds for him to lose his life. Even as his lifeless body slumped to the ground, that black liquid was constantly coming out of his body. Then it evaporated and merged with the darkness itself.
Why is no one still coming...? Isn't this a street in the middle of the city? Where are the police, the soldiers? Is this shell of darkness that surrounds us... is it really so strong that they can't breach it?
That aside... the masked man can do things like this without me even feeling his presence while constantly supporting such a shell?
Bullshit... Bullshit... Bullshit!
"Adrian, come to your senses... please."
The soothing, almost mesmerizing voice in my ears made me feel as if time had stopped for a moment.
Right, I... I had forgotten. But I had my friends with me. Lucia and Sue... I had completely forgotten their existence.
"This is no time to despair. We need to do something before it's our turn."
I slowly turned around. Lucia was looking around, holding a tiny ball of flame in her right hand, which she used to light up the darkness. And Sue, right behind her... she was literally shaking with fear.
Ah... I... why am I so caught up in fear?
I gripped my spear tightly again as I quickly shook my head from side to side.
This is not like me. I may feel helpless, I may be weak, I may realize how much stronger the other person is than me. But... this is not the first time I have been in such situations. Why then did I experience these feelings so intensely?
It must have something to do with the darkness, I thought. Then I looked at the flame burning in the palm of Lucia's hand.
"Do you think you can make the darkness disappear?"
Lucia quickly grasped what I was talking about and shook her head from side to side just as quickly.
"My flame mastery is not very high. Besides... the person in front of us is far too powerful."
Just then, someone in the crowd started screaming again. Tiny little needles of darkness flew through the air, wrapping around his body and gradually tearing him to pieces.
I gritted my teeth, trying not to look at him.
Whoever was in front of us seemed to enjoy playing games with us. He was doing it slowly, terrorizing the crowd. He would attack only one person at a time and let the others follow him. Like he was carving in everyone's mind the question of whether I would be next.
I paused for a moment, because I realized something else strange.
Why are these people... why aren't they as fearful as they should be? I mean, of course they are, but in a situation like this, with so many people, there should be nothing but chaos. So... why is there no one screaming except those who are being attacked?
The darkness that surrounds us... not only confuses us, it can even play with our emotions... is that it?
This... is becoming even more dangerous than I thought.
"Lucia, throw the biggest fireball you can upward. Don't question, just do it."
Lucia nodded her head, then raised her right hand with the tiny flame and closed her eyes. Without waiting for her, I focused on myself, my mana, and the system, and then... I activated the only ascension skill I had, even if I didn't want to use it again on the very same day.
I felt my hair ripple and fall over my shoulders as the air around me suddenly became warmer. The mana in my body became strange for a moment, even docile. My mind became clear as if to prove that the darkness around us was indeed playing tricks with our emotions and behavior. I took a deep breath as slowly branching patterns appeared on my skin.
Each of the people on the street, frightened, not knowing what to do, turned to me with an expression as if they had forgotten what they were doing and where they were. Not only them but Lucia and Sue seemed surprised too... even shocked.
The darkness around us and the masked man must have felt the same way because he still hadn't chosen a new victim.
Just then, the tiny flame in Lucia's right hand suddenly began to expand. A few seconds ago, I could feel the atmosphere heating up, but this time, it was literally suffocating.
Still, I didn't care too much about it. I reached out into the street, into the mana that had become strange and darkened by that masked man. I murmured coldly to it, just as I had done in that library a few hours ago.
"Be the flame... Be supportive, grow, and burn as much as you can!"
The whole street trembled. The mana in the atmosphere was the cause of this vibration. The reason was... it was literally caught between two choices.
It was the first time I had ever encountered such a thing. It was the first time that the sleeping mana in the atmosphere didn't listen to me when my ascension skill was active. Or rather... it seemed unsure whether it would listen or not. It was a little out of my control because of the masked man's influence, but it wasn't completely not listening to me. So... it was unsure of what to do.
I frowned, raised my hands, and the golden motifs spread across my skin began to glow, and then the same glow slowly enveloped my body and traveled up my arm.
"Light, burn as I said!"
With my second command... everything stilled for a brief moment as if time had frozen. But then, the huge ball of flame, long out of Lucia's control, suddenly glowed more orange than ever.
The mana in the darkness was suddenly directed toward the fireball. In this strange dome-shaped structure, where everywhere I looked I could only see darkness, a brilliant glow appeared as if a new sun had risen.
I felt a sudden sensation rising in my throat, and for a moment, my whole body trembled violently in pain. Blood rose to my throat, filling my mouth with a metallic taste.
"Adrian?!"
At Lucia's worried voice, I deactivated my ascension skill as fast as I could. I felt a little relief as my hair, the golden patterns on my skin, and the glow of the same color receded. Lucia tried to help me from behind, but instead of focusing on her, I looked at the new sun that had risen above us.
That should have been enough to pierce the darkness. After all, I had empowered it with all the atmospheric mana in this area. But... what I saw was different from what I expected it to be.
My eyes widened, and this time... I really froze in place.
"Well, that was interesting... This could be fun!"
The darkness around us suddenly became even more... intense. Everything stirred, black veins appeared even in the air itself. In front of the new sun that was preparing to break through the darkness, a figure appeared, connected to all this darkness itself.
The masked man raised his hand, and with it, all the surrounding darkness descended upon him. It concentrated on his arm without entering his body, and then the masked man calmly held out his hand to what appeared to be no more than a star.
The darkness simply... swallowed the sun. It took less than a second. It only took that long for countless octopus arms, seemingly made of darkness, to envelop it layer by layer. Soon, the dark alley where a new sun had risen... was plunged back into darkness.
The masked man sighed lightly and slowly turned around. Ignoring every single person, he only looked in my direction.
I don't know why, I felt him smile, and even though I couldn't see his face, I could have sworn his lips curved upward... in a strange way.
"You seem interesting. Adrian Caleo, right? I've seen you on the news a couple of times. Can you... entertain me?"
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