Chapter 1045 Darkness
Chapter 1045 Darkness
...
Meanwhile, in the skies above the battlefield outside the Night Lord's Crypt...
High General Caius was locked into an intense battle with the skounae Dukes, the Benevolent Darkseeker Malkonen, and the Twin Lunar Blades Duke Noresuga.
At the moment, Caius was pushing back the two skounae Dukes and held a clear advantage over them.
With every wave of his sword, Caius sent over a terrifying wave of the fire element shrouded in a heavy and sharp sword intent that demolished all that fell onto its path.
"My, this human is quite the handful to deal with." The elderly Duke, Malkonen, said as he avoided the wave of flaming sword intent.
BOOM!
"?!" An immense yet concentrated explosion erupted behind Duke Malkonen that caused a scorching heat to engulf his back and send him flying forward.
"Die, human!" Noresuga bellowed as he appeared above Caius with his palm pointed towards the Crimson Dragon Slayer.
Zeut! Zeut!
Out of nowhere, two large metallic discs hummed as they approached Caius from the left and right at blinding speeds.
"I've had enough of this farce!" Caius roared as the mana around him flared up.
The silver blade in his hands transformed as its surface mirrored that of flowing molten lava.
Ding! Ding!
In a flash, Caius deflected the two large discs under Duke Noresuga's control with his sword before sending over a sharp streak of white light from the tip of his blade in Noresuga's direction.
From Noresuga's perspective, this all took place in the same motion, leaving no time for him to react.
Noresuga's eyes widened in shock as the white light rapidly approached his neck with overwhelming killing intent.
Ooooom! Soooou!
Just as the white light was about to separate Noresuga's head from his body, a cloud of dark smoke materialized in front of the Duke in a swirling vortex.
The vortex of dark smoke sucked in the white light from Caius' attack, effectively neutralizing it.
Caius narrowed his eyes as he observed the emergence of the dark smoke and sensed the foul dark aura attached to it.
"It's about time you revealed yourself," Caius said calmly as his gaze was drawn upward to the source of that foul dark aura.
"Humans—always so impudent as if it is carved into their very existence." A voice sounded from above Caius and the skounae Dukes.
This voice was accompanied by a frightening release of energy that suppressed everything in the surroundings and scattered most of the fire element that had been accumulated by Caius' strikes.
Woosh! Woosh!
Despite the wounds inflicted on them by Caius, Duke Malkonen and Duke Noresuga quickly moved to the air just below the new arrival. Then, without pause, the skounae Dukes lowered their heads and kneeled mid-way, showing a great display of respect for the individual before them. But, more than respect, there was a high level of fear that went down all the way to the bones of the skounae Dukes.
"We greet the venerable Night Lord!" The two Dukes said in unison.
The person the two Dukes greeted so respectfully was a woman with a slender and elegant appearance. Her pale blue skin had a slight iridescent quality to it that gave off an otherworldly impression.
She had a pair of piercing black eyes, with black scleras that added to her mysterious and enigmatic look and long flowing white hair cascaded down her back in loose waves.
The extravagant robes she wore seemed to have been crafted using luxurious fabrics and contained an intricate level of design.
This individual was a skounae who stood above all others of their kind with one exception. She was one of only three Night Lords that answered solely to the Night King—the Antumbra of Darkness, Night Lord Xenthula.
NPC Name: Antumbra of Darkness, Night Lord Xenthula(???)
NPC Level: ???
"Venerable Night Lord, this lowly one thanks you for saving my life!" Noresuga said without lifting his head.
"We beg your forgiveness, venerable Night Lord! To have you personally make a move—it is the greatest shame we can bear in this life!" Malkonen stated with a voice full of regret.
Xenthula's looked down with a cold gaze at the Dukes as she reached her hand forward.
The moment she performed this action, Noresuga's and Malkonen's hearts sank as a horrifying chill ran down their spines.
Suddenly, Xenthula paused her hand and withdrew it back to her side.
"How useless. If not for the present circumstances, your lives would have already been forfeited as a result of your failure. Fortunately for the two of you, the success of the resurrection takes priority-"
Boom!
As Xenthula was in the middle of speaking, a scorching wave of heat exploded where she and the two Dukes were located, creating a widespread cloud of smoke.
The next moment, the smoke generated by the explosion began to halt its expansion as it was all pulled to a single point.
Woosh!
In a blink of an eye, the cloud of smoke vanished. At the same time, a small vortex of the same dark clouds that saved Noresuga earlier could be seen hovering above the palm of the Night Lord's hand.
"You seem to be in a rush to welcome death with open arms, High General," Xenthula stated coldly as her gaze locked onto Caius.
A transparent sphere of dark energy encompassed Xenthula along with the two Dukes that protected them from Caius' strike just now.
Xenthula clenched her hand into a fist as the dark cloud dispersed and the transparent sphere shattered.
"Absurd. I shall be the one sending you to join your fellow Night Lord." Caius stated as the intensity of the fire element within his sword rose severalfold.
"Then, let us find out—whether your words stem from confidence or arrogance," Xenthula said as she extended her right arm into the air.
As she did so, a small object appeared at the center of her chest. The object was a silver cross wrapped in black chains no bigger than one's hand. The object had incredibly intricate design patterns of unknown origins carved onto its surface and emitted a horrifying aura that made one feel the natural instinct to retreat before it.
Caius' expression turned serious when his gaze landed on the item called forth by the Night Lord Xenthula.
At the same time, a mysterious darkness materialized in the sky above the battlefield, completely blocking out all light from the sun above. This darkness continued to spread until a gigantic dome of dark clouds encompassed the entirety of the battlefield around the Night Lord's Crypt.
"Nightly Descent: World of Darkness," Xenthula uttered as the last of the light within the dome of darkness disappeared.
...
On the battlefield below, following the abrupt emergence of the dome of darkness, chaos quickly ensued among the allied forces.
"Light! We need light magic!" One of the War Brigade Captains by the name of Roland, shouted.
"Captain, light magic isn't working!" One of the allied force members said in a panicked tone.
"The light talismans we were given are also no good!" Another called out.
"I can't see anything! 8th Squadron, don't stray too far!"
"Ahhhhh!"
"We're under attack!"
"Hey, watch where you're casting! You almost hit me!"
"It's no use! It's too dark!"
As the situation rapidly started to deteriorate, Roland furrowed his brows as his thoughts raced.
"This is a mess...! How can we regroup if light magic and talismans are ineffective-" Roland said to himself.
Swoosh!
"?!" Out of nowhere, a pair of glowing eyes rushed past Roland as a deep wound appeared on his torso.
"You've finally set foot into our world, humans! Don't plan on leaving alive! Ahahahaha!" An eerie voice echoed in the darkness.
"Skounae scum...!" Roland growled under his breath.
He then shouted, "Everyone, fall back! We need to regroup!"
Roland's situation was not unique. All throughout the battlefield, similar situations unfolded as the allied forces were being overtaken by the skounae.
The skounae were a race that thrived in the darkness, which is why the allied forces attacked while there was still light out. However, now that the dome of darkness had appeared, the time window the allied forces thought they possessed had suddenly shrunk. And, since they were already outnumbered, to begin with, the allied forces had been thrown into a tough spot.
...
A few moments ago, in the depths of the Night Lord's Crypt...
〈System Alert: The Time Limit for the quest «Hidden Guardian of the Mortal Realm» has been modified.〉
'It changed?'
Without halting his movement, Izroth opened his system interface as he calmly evaded one of the incoming attacks from the shadahi before launching a counterattack with his sword.
Bang!
Izroth cut cleanly across the shadahi's torso with great force and sent it tumbling backward as he quickly glanced over the new time limit for the quest.
'This... How troublesome.'
Quest Name: Hidden Guardian of the Mortal Realm
Recommended Level: ???
Recommended Party Size: N/A
Quest Rank: SSS
Quest Objective: An important event is occurring that will decide how the scale of balance tips in the Mortal Realm. You must do whatever is in your power to stop the scales from tipping against the Mortal Realm itself.
Time Limit: 1 day -> 15 Minutes
0/1 Prevent the full revival of the «Antumbra of Decay, Night Lord Zarolas».
...
Special Note: This quest will be automatically accepted. This quest cannot be shared.