Nobilis of War novel Chapter 45

A cloud of black smoke came towards Darren. He instinctively summoned his sword and blade internal force to defend himself from the attack. However, the power of the black smoke was proven to be too strong for him to handle as he felt sharp pinpricks of pain as the black smoke penetrated his body.

'This is not good. Am I going to die?'

he wondered, feeling desperate.

A few moments later, Darren felt a sensation inside his head. The black smoke was flowing to his head through the meridians.

'What? The smoke has been assimilated?'

Somehow, Darren was certain that the mysterious stone in his head was responsible for this.

'It is not only able to assimilate talent and spiritual energy but also this eerie black smoke? Just what in the world is this stone in my head?' he thought curiously.

Darren was pleased about this new discovery.

However, after he had fully absorbed the black smoke, he felt a strange ominous power course through him. A deep, dark, aggressive feeling took over.

In the instances that he had assimilated talent or spiritual energy, he had never felt something quite like the one he just felt.

As Darren examined his surroundings, he slowly started to notice that dozens of people around him were now lying on the ground. He soon realized that some of the bodies were already desiccating mummified corpses while some were letting out deafening cries of pain. It was like a horrifying scene straight out of hell.

Several guys who were madly dashing towards the wall suddenly caught Darren's eye. The wall they were heading for had a cave and inside it were a dozen panic-stricken young men.

Just near the edge of the cave about a few meters away from the entrance, there were stone structures with glowing golden runes that acted like some sort of force field preventing the black smoke from reaching the cave.

Seeing that the cave seemed to be the only safe place to hide, Darren rushed towards it as well.

'The black smoke isn't able to harm me because I somehow have the power to assimilate it. But if the fiends nearby or whatever it is inside the bronze casket were to find me, they would most likely attack me and I would be as good as dead.'

At that thought, Darren quickened his pace towards the wall.

In front of him, a group of several people led by Dalton had already reached the cave. Just as they were about to enter, a man who stood guard at the entrance waved his sword, attacking them.

"Go away!" he said scornfully.

The power that was released from the sword forced all of the men to stagger backwards into the black smoke, turning them into dried up corpses except Dalton.

He wielded his blade and withstood the attack. It was evident that he was able to match the man's power.

"You're quite strong," the man remarked. "Let him in, Steve," someone called out from the inside.

After witnessing the strength Dalton had displayed, the people inside the cave seemed to have come to an agreement and allowed him to join them.

By this point, Darren and the others had also reached the entrance to the cave. But just as Darren was about to enter, he was halted by the same man.

"Beat it, loser! You're not welcome here," Steve disdainfully said.

"Look, it's best to give up your thoughts on getting inside this cave. Now, do us elites a favor and be that monster's food!"

Without any warning, Steve swung his sword at Darren to stop him from entering the cave.

He hastily took a few steps backwards to dodge the blow.

The rest of the people who had also swarmed to the cave, however, were not as lucky as Darren. Some of them ended up being the black smoke's prey while some had been cut in half by the sword light.

Darren stood aside to take a good look at the cave and saw that there was still enough space inside to accommodate at least twenty more people.

'Damn these greedy bastards. Hogging this cave and just watching the rest of the weaklings die; how despicable, ' Darren indignantly thought.

Subsequently, wisps of black smoke swept towards Darren, but this time, he didn't feel any pain as it penetrated him.

All of a sudden, the bronze coffin shook violently and a formidable power dashed towards Darren.

"Crap! They found me!" he sneered as he narrowed his eyes.

Several fiends that were idling by near the coffin glowered at Darren with their blood red eyes.

They moved at such an alarming speed that they reached Darren in just a blink of an eye.

Realizing that his life was in grave danger, Darren ran back towards the cave as fast as he could.

Steve's face instantly furrowed in anger as soon as he saw Darren returning. He reached for his sword, ready to teach the intruder another lesson.

Darren gathered his internal force, getting ready to fend off the upcoming blow. But before any of them made a move, Dalton appeared behind Steve, wearing a sinister smirk. Not a moment later, he struck Steve on the back, catching him off guard. He was thrown into the air and fell hard on the ground over thirty meters away from the entrance of the cave.

"You... You baseless scum!" Steve screamed with apparent resentment in his eyes. Within seconds, a gust of black smoke penetrated his body, devouring him and leaving him as a dried up corpse.

Darren took the chance to rush into the cave.

The fiends which were pursuing him howled and dashed towards the cave, not planning to let Darren go. They collided with the golden runes and were instantly obliterated, vanishing into thin air.

'These scripts are so powerful. They must have been created by some magnificently talented cultivator, ' Darren thought, feeling relieved.

"You could have just stayed outside and faced the slim chance of staying alive. What a pity! You've made the wrong choice and you will pay for it; I'll make you regret your decision to barge in here!" Dalton declared with a menacing smile plastered on his face.

A voice from the back suddenly interrupted him. "Why did you attack Steve and let him be devoured by the black smoke?" a young man asked, interrogating Dalton.

The man was sitting at the back of the cave, cultivating with his eyes closed.

Dalton's face immediately fell. When he entered the cave, he detected that Steve was at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm. He initially thought that once he killed him, he would assume his role as their leader. However, to his surprise, he also sensed that the man who just spoke was a fairly strong cultivator of the ninth stage as well.

"I did it for everyone's sake. Once whatever is inside the casket eats enough people, we would be able to escape from being eaten. I would advise you to stay out of this," Dalton warned.

A scowl washed over the man's face and he opened his eyes. He had deep-set eyes that seemed as if they could see through a person's soul. He studied Dalton with furrowed brows. A few tense moments later, he shook his head and closed his eyes again. He took no further notice of Dalton and went back to cultivating.

'Looks like this guy is not going to get in my way. I'm in charge now. Man, that was easy, ' Dalton thought, overjoyed.

"You there! Go guard the entrance and make sure none of those losers come in," Dalton ordered, pointing at a man who was at the seventh stage of Spirit Realm.

"And why should I listen to you?" the man countered.

"You're asking why? Alright, I'll tell you why!" Dalton menacingly said with a wretched smirk.

He disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared in front of the man. With just one punch, he sent the man flying out of the cave. The man was instantly wrapped up in a cloud of black smoke and suffered the same fate as everyone else who got devoured by it.

"Ha-ha! I'm in charge now, got that? Anyone who refuses my order will die!" Dalton smugly declared.

Now fully aware that Dalton was a ruthless and powerful cultivator, the rest of them did not say one more word against him.

"Boy, you're a good runner, aren't you? You little bastard." Dalton leered at Darren as he walked up to him. "I'm going to make you regret that you're alive. Kneel before me!" he demanded.

He then released a strong internal force and proceeded to beat down Darren.

Gritting his teeth, Darren activated all his internal force to fend off the attack.

"Kneel down, you piece of shit!" Dalton cried out as he released more pressure into his attack.

"Screw you!" Darren defiantly said. The internal force flowed violently inside him and materialized into a sword and a blade. The rays of light that came out of them just barely missed Dalton.

Dalton hissed. "Damn it! It seems like you're so eager to get yourself killed!" he bellowed, ferocity and fury written all over his face.

With a wave of his blade, an enormous power came out of it and dashed towards Darren.

"Rest assured, little bastard, I will not kill you immediately. I'm going to chop you off little by little to make you suffer. First, your arms, and then, your legs..." He roared with laughter, with face twisted in a look of madness.

Suddenly, Darren felt that the strange ominous power from earlier had returned, surging through his body, threatening to come out. It rapidly swelled up in his meridians and fused with the sword and blade internal force.