MTLNOVEL Chapter 91: Prince
The novelty of the flying ship wore off relatively quickly. Traversing through the open air across islands while seeing the sheer magnitude of the chains that held the islands together as well as glimpses of the islands underside was a surreal experience. But you could only see it for so long.
It had been a long few days in which Aldric could not do much outside of strategising his next steps. With no gate near them, he could not return to the waking world.
The ship was currently in the sky below, darkness surrounding them with a sea of stars directly beneath them.
This was perhaps the strangest thing that Aldric saw in his stay at the Chained Isles. It raised many questions and spoke of the omnipotence of the gods.
Strangely though, Aldric felt a familiar pull from his heart pointing towards the abyss below them. It was the same feeling he had received from the [Tesseract] as it pointed him towards the [Mantle of the Underworld].
'Interesting'
He thought while ignoring the feeling. He knew what laid down there.
It was time to get started.
"Here is fine."
Aldric ordered the helmsman. With a nod, the ship floated in the air. Unmoving.
They were roughly five hundred metres below the northern island that the Night Temple was built on and far enough to not be in immediate danger should something occur. They were facing away from the side that the Night Temple was etched on below the island.
"Something is going on in the temple. You can see rocks and debris falling between the main island and the temple. They might be in trouble."
Aldric spoke in a serious tone to everybody present. The Fire Keepers as well as Kai and Effie were huddled around the deck of the ship looking up.
It was clear what the chain of command was. Kai and Effie naturally looked to Aldric to lead, and with Cassie gone, the Fire Keepers looked towards the only other leader on the ship. It seemed that perhaps Cassie had given them instructions beforehand.
CRACK
A large boulder fell into the dark abyss, splintering from the edge of the island.
"Kai, keep your eyes focused to see if anything falls."
He spoke, hinting at who it could be. With Kai's awakened ability, it would be terribly easy for him to discern between humans and rocks.
With a burst of essence, Kai enabled his aspect ability. His green eyes glowing slightly.
A massive shadow traversed between the islands and headed towards the Northern Island.
'It's time.'
"I'm going to head up and investigate. I will be back in ten minutes."
He spoke out. The people around him questioned exactly how he was going to make his way to the surface but didn't voice their concerns. It was not their place to question the Singularity's capabilities.
In the time that he had spent with the Fire Keepers, they were each reminded of how strong Aldric was as well as his character. He did not disappoint the perception that each of them had for him.
Setting the time limit ensured that they would not return for him should Kai find Cassie and Sunny.
Unleashing his aspect ability, Darkness pooled at Aldric's feet. A sudden chill descended onto the surface of the ship.
It was not just a strange cold, but it felt deeper. Faintly reminding those present of a certain sun during the siege. Soul damage.
Everybody witnessed as the black substance shifted and moved as if it was alive. Coalescing towards Aldric's back in the shape of wings. It was a strange sight. Beautiful yet horrific all at once. The wings seemed to be made of liquid at moments while strangely solid at the same time.
They were not ornate; neither were there any feathers making up the wings. Strangely alien, it was more akin to a splat of ink.
Aldric used [Dire Ordinance] to embed his will into the darkness. Directing his desires onto the force.
Kai was too focused, with his head craned towards the Northern Island above, while Effie was utterly speechless.
'Only Saints can do things like this. Is that a transformation?'
She did not voice her questions to not disturb Aldric's concentration. While she knew that Aldric could fashion his darkness into any shape he wanted, she had never seen it be so alive.
In a shimmer of essence, Aldric summoned the one memory that would make his flight infinitely easier. A cloak wrapped around his body as it shifted, forming a set of wings just below his own. Much smaller than his own, [Dark Wing] would aid in maintaining his altitude while his own wings would be the driving force.
Now the young man looked truly demonic, with two sets of wings of varying size
Saturating his body with all the essence that it could bear, Aldric sprinted towards the edge of the ship and jumped off the rail while his wings exploded in movement.
"Did you guys see what I just saw?"
Effie finally spoke.
Silence took over the ship as Aldric's figure became smaller and smaller.
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CRASH
SHUDDER
CRACK
The Northern Island became the scene of a rupture. Two titanic creatures fought in the skies above, like a picture out of myth and legend. A winged bird wreathed in lightning fought against an onyx wyvern, with wings large enough to encompass part of the island in shadow.
It was not just his eyes that were engrossed in the battle between Saints.
His senses felt the shift in the world. As the essence of the dream realm shifted around the two figures. The air rolling over him in waves.
'So this is the threshold between a mortal and a deity. Practically Demi-gods.'
Aldric thought. It was ridiculous to think that these two were once mundane humans. However, instead of feeling any sense of fear or danger, he felt an itch. An itch to reach that stage as soon as he could.
It was not a matter of if but a matter of when.
Walking across fields of lightning and wind, Aldric encased himself in darkness. Muting his presence to the world. This was not a skill that he used often since his first nightmare; however, it was useful in a lot of cases.
For what he was about to do next, he could not be seen.
A figure of black, erased from the world's presence, walked towards the bridge leading to the Night Temple.
STEP
STEP
He could see two small figures running for their lives. A young man and woman.
'So it's there.'
Letting them pass, Aldric walked towards where they came from. Silently crossing the bridge as the world ended around him. Removing his layer of darkness as he walked, his armour covered by the cloak of the [Dark Wing].
He was not here to save the pair. Aldric was traversing the crumbling island on his own accord.
Aldric had thought of this dilemma for years. What would he do against Mordret.
Mordret was a threat to anybody that caught his eye. Whenever Aldric would think of his future and the people that would be a part of it, the prince was always in the camp of 'enemy'. Because he knew, at some point, they would clash.
So why would he, as a gardener, allow a small weed to grow into a corrupted forest of death? With the chance he has now, he could easily nip this future danger in the bud.
'You were always going to die, Mordret. It was just a matter of when.'
He concluded. Knowing of the terror he caused in his second nightmare, and knowing of the horrific acts he did as a transcendent, it was a no brainer. A body-snatching cockroach that would not die.
Raising his right hand and peering at his ring finger, a lot of focus etched his face. A pure white marble ring with a black shard embedded on top. Dropping his right hand to his side, a black mass erupted onto the ground like a tidal wave.
SPLAT
The flow of darkness was never-ending. All without stressing Aldric's reserves one bit.
[The Dark Sea's Covenant] was a memory that required a small amount of essence to maintain. With its [Seal] enchantment, Aldric had periodically filled the small ring with an abundance of darkness whenever he could afford to. In the case of emergencies or moments like this.
Stopping the flow with a tug on his essence, Aldric released one quarter of the darkness that he kept in reserves. It was here that he exerted his will onto the darkness.
In a large drain of essence, Aldric ordered the large body to complete a complex task.
Since awakening and receiving [Dire Ordnance], the young man had experimented endlessly to figure out the limits of his new ability. As a whole, the laws of his ability were that the more complex an intent he applied to his darkness, the bigger the essence drain would be. With many orders being flat-out impossible.
Another rule that he discovered was that it was more draining on his essence and his mental strength if he were to disperse his intent over separate bodies of darkness. Hence why he began to exert his will before shaping it.
Closing his eyes, a burst of intent left his body. The body of darkness shifting slightly. He made sure to simplify his intent as much as he could.
His awakened ability did not function much from direct thoughts or words but rather from feelings. Feelings of what he wanted to achieve and how much he desired it.
Isn't that the hallmark of ability? To bring your desires into reality.
It was a feeling akin to 'find and cover every reflective surface,' while he thought of outside the Night Temple.
In any other place, this would have been an utter waste of time and energy with the sheer abundance of reflective surfaces that could exist; however, the Night Temple was perfect. Clan Valor had long made sure that there was nothing reflective on the island or near the temple. At least one would think.
This tedious task was to ensure that his opponent could not venture out of their designated battle area. Knowing how cunning the prince was, Aldric did not hold back at all.
The swarm was perhaps the linchpin of his entire plan, the making of a robust prison.
[Tenebrous Control] allowed him to easily manipulate the body of darkness into a swarm of small flies. Indistinguishable from regular flies at a distance, the swarm of thousands hovered around him, and in the next instance, they were gone. Dispersing around the bridge and into the Night Temple.
The swarm descended onto the ground in front of and around the temple, disappearing as soon as they landed.
Summoning Bael from his soul sea, the wraith stepped out of his darkness like a demon summoned from hell.
"You know what to do. Release it slowly and gradually after I walk in."
He spoke as he finished crossing the spiral bridge and met the entrance of the temple. The Night Temple was in shambles. With both gates broken and shards of glass littering the floor. Shards that were now fully pitch black.
'This is the moment.'
He thought, entering the temple.
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"Sunny! Where are you?"
A lone figure walked past the broken gates of the Night Temple as they shouted.
Adorned in a black cloak, only a head of curly hair was visible.
"Cassie?"
The voice shouted again.
CRACK
The sound of thunder ruptured the air.
Unbeknownst to any being in the temple, an army of black dots worked to devour every reflection around them.
"Damnit, you two! Where the hell did you guys go?"
Fear bleeding out of their voice. Strangely, however, the dim lights that lit up the temple seemed to be decreasing in strength. As if something was covering them. From the windows to the large gate, any light was gradually diminishing.
The figure began to search around the hall, investigating the utterly wrecked area. Though strangely, the figure seemed to be unaffected by the lack of light.
"That's a nice box; don't mind if I do."
The figure spoke out as they studied a special box that was used to seal a wretched being. Placing the box into a much larger stone chest, the figure continued.
Beside the box, a singular shard of glass sat.
"How are we going to challenge the second nightmare if Sunny and Cassie are missing?"
In the instance that those words left the figure's mouth, a strange light entered the person's eyes. With their eyes hazed, their body was still.
Right as the hall was engulfed in darkness.
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Aldric awoke in his soul sea. Anchoring himself against the unexpected pull into his soul sea, he heard a voice.
"Wow! Is the spell giving out divine aspects like candy?"
The voice sounded exasperated in a playful manner. However, the voice itself screamed cunning and dangerous to anyone that listened.
Turning his back, a foreign figure stood there.
The figure was tall and slender, with pale skin and raven-black hair. He seemed to be in his twenties, older than Kai and Effie by a couple of years. His face was sharp and thin. His most striking feature, though, were his eyes, which didn't seem to possess a color of their own, and instead reflected the world back on itself like two pools of liquid silver.
But in Aldric's soul sea, they reflected nothing but darkness littered with a sky of stars.
Mordret.
The Prince of Nothing had arrived.
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Thanks for reading.
Mordret is here people. How will this confrontation go?
aadi_raj: It just shows how realistic his characters are. How you can relate but also detest their actions.
kobe_bryan_2265: I don't have a patreon. Would you recommend it?
Iago_Farias_796: I'll try sort something out for his image.
Till the next one.