Dance With Darkness And Light - Chapter 29 The Labyrinth Ii

Bazuul had already wasted two hours in this maze within the mountain yet; he hadn’t found anything of value or challenge so far.

As for Ran, Bazuul didn’t think about him anymore. It had already been an hour, and he was sure that his corpse had already turned cold. Well, at least his body wasn’t the only one lying there. Kun and Yun would keep him company.

He raced through the cave-system, creeping within the shadows. To his luck, he wasn’t traveling by foot. Because if he traveled at this tempo, it would be quite risky. Even more so if one considered the dim lighting, marshland, and bog underfoot, also, for some time now, deadly lightning traps had also become a constant. Within other paths he traveled, many corpses lay around those traps, but none piqued his interests.

Bazuul was eager to find two individuals; both of them had earned themselves the right to be taught a lesson by him. For one, his third brother Karon, and the second would, of course, be Hugo Dias. The latter was too arrogant for his own good, Bazuul felt he had to beat him to a pulp. Karon, on the other hand, his false pride and arrogance coupled with his cowardice could become troublesome for Bazuul’s newfound home, the kingdom of Ralun. It was necessary to…well, also beat him to a pulp.

The path in front of him kept on twisting and turning but suddenly stopped as he passed the next corner and a vast open space unfolded itself. In contrast to the maze-like paths, this area was rather well lit. Below him, he could make out people standing further away in front of some sort of platform. A sort of stone grave was on top of it.

He closed in on them as he flowed through the shadows of a naturally formed column.

To his surprise, among the people there were also a couple of ralunians, such as Tarek Rashad, Shu Huang and of course, his brother Karon. Out of the three remaining commoners he took with him all seemed injured. In fact, apart from Tarek, most ralunians did look like they had been through a couple of battles.

Hylion Luminair was also there, but his little sister wasn’t with him this time. He currently seemed to be in the process of attempting to open the grave. Bazuul didn’t bother with that for now and lightly chuckled out of the darkness, “Aaah brother, contrary to your companions you look completely fine! I bet you hid well behind them, just like you did before the first trial began!”

Everyone became alert the moment they heard the chilling chuckle reverberate but were unable to determine from where it came from. Most of them, after all was said and done, started to relax for a bit. They didn’t hide behind someone, and the voice didn’t sound familiar.

Bazuul fell out of the shadows like a drop of ink and landed on the ground with a splash before standing up. This left the onlookers shocked. Never before had they seen something like this. Before they could think more about it though, the figure started to walk toward them, and it seemed this person was here to cause trouble.

Finally, they could clearly see who it was. Bazuul Ylvazad from Ralun, the brat with the overbearingly strong talents. That would mean that the brother he was talking about would be the fat prince to their side. Once they realized this, the assemblage of people made some space and prepared to watch a good show.

Karon could clearly feel the excited gazes from the people around him. Even more so, he could feel the intention with which his little brother came here. He asked whilst almost stuttering, “Little Zuul, what is the meaning of this?”

Bazuul snickered slightly, “Well, I told you didn’t I? Back at our eldest brother’s dinner, I told you I would make you squeal like a pig!”

“Bu…but” Karon stuttered, but soon his meaty throat trembled in anger, and he roared, “BAZUUL, HOW ARE YOU TALK” before he could finish his sentence Bazuul appeared in front of him, jumped up and unleashed a powerful cross chop right on his face. Karon landed on his butt, disoriented and wailing in pain when he could suddenly feel himself being carried back up by the hair. He opened his eyes and right in front of him were two orbs of amber looking back. Unable to react with his still befuddled mind a hard fist landed on his face, and he exclaimed in pain.

“Where is it you get your false pride from huh?!” Bazuul asked as he kept punching into his face. Even Hylion got distracted by the commotion beneath and looked toward them. “How can you call yourself a prince and hide like a coward when others make fun of your little brother?!” He asked again as he kept on punching his face. Karon’s already fat face had grown double the size from the swelling by now. Hylion’s complexion paled as he saw another prince being punched to dust while truly squealing like a pig. It reminded him of his oldest sisters “scolding” when he did wrong. After five more minutes of loving brotherly beatings, Karon’s consciousness faded and his body slumped. Bazuul let go of him, and Karon fell on the floor like a sack of rice.

Even though – to the people around – it seemed like he was disappointed in his brother, the truth was he didn’t care. Karon was a political enemy so to speak. At least his second and third brother considered him one. Since this was the case, Bazuul would use any small matter to beat on both Karon and Aurelius. No matter what.

The onlookers felt amused but also a little cold. Luckily they didn’t have such a brother themselves many thought. Bazuul turned toward them and then asked what this grave like thing was all about.

Shu Huang walked toward Bazuul with the intention of explaining but a voice traveled down from above. “This is not a grave! It’s one of many relics left behind by the lord of the human race! You, as a prince, should have already heard about the “Will of Noxae.” That’s what is inside. These vaults are very hard to open, and no one really knows what is inside since each chest holds something different.” Hylion said from above as he looked down on the rest. He seemed composed, but his words held a particular touch of aloofness in them.

Noxae Dei presumably was the savior and creator of the human race. Legends said he had found the spark of humanity by chance, and eventually managed to form human bodies out of the darkness. Thus creating the first humans. Thousands of years ago, when the demon race rose from the depths of the earth and invaded their homeland, Noxae protected and led the survivors of the human race east, toward the realm of Ytolan.

The mighty empires of Agatha had fallen, and so had the glory of the human race, but their lord had made sure that a seed remained for the future.

“Noxae?! If I remember correctly nox means night in Latin. So to open it, one would most likely have to use the attribute of darkness.” Bazuul thought, then he looked toward Hylion and inquisitively said. “Well, although I’m aware that you hold the attribute of darkness within you, how about this little brother here gives it a try?”

“Little brother? Darkness?” Hylion thought for a second. He laughed and said, “Right, you are indeed younger than me, your previous display of let’s say, tender brotherly compassion reminded me too much of my eldest sister. Sure, go ahead! I don’t seem to be able to open it.”

Bazuul nodded and went up to the stairs of the platform toward the will of Noxae. As he reached the top and stood beside Hylion, he said, “How am I reminding you of Elanar? She is a well-behaved and kind girl!”

Hylion almost choked for a second as he thought, “Well behaved and kind?! Sure, but that can turn into something else within seconds.” Afterward one of his brows arched as he inspected the prince in front of him that was even younger than himself.

Bazuul didn’t bother with the inspecting look Hylion gave him and stepped forward. First, he walked around the relic and examined it thoroughly. It was designed with intricate lines that composed an abstract form of a tree and had twelve black jades embedded on it for what seemed to be apples.

He touched the relic and could feel it’s even surface that had endured centuries of decay. Hylion seemed perplexed as to why he wouldn’t use his energy to push it open. Instead, he stood there admiring the craftwork. After a while, Bazuul sat down cross-legged in front of it and started meditating with his mind focused on it.

While channeling the energies of the dark element into the relic Bazuul made out barely recognizable whispers. Not knowing where they came from, he kept on going on with his meditation. Slowly but surely, these whispers became louder and started overlapping each other. Most seemed to entice, one felt like a warning, but he could not make out the words.

Something within him seemed to explode, and his head had started feeling dizzy. Suddenly he was partially in his inner world, and he could see the dark entity that came into being from his own pains, yell at him. Yet, he was still not able to make out the words and only saw the distressed look on his face.

Then, all of a sudden, he was back in the physical plane and back to meditating on the relic in front of him. Befuddled about this he opened his eyes breathed in profoundly before exhaling and refocused his mind. He channeled the essence of darkness and enveloped himself and the relic in it. Then he slowly cast the darkness into the beads of black jade that hung like apples on the tree ornament. One jade bead slowly started glowing in a purple hue. Ever so slightly the glow grew in intensity and reached its apex. The second bead followed minutes later. There was the sound of movement on the relic, like the friction created when two stones ground on each other.

Meanwhile, Hylion had his eyes fixed on both Bazuul and the relic. He wasn’t able to make it glow. On the other hand, he also didn’t have the idea to use the attribute of darkness to open it. The others below the platform were unable to see what was happening but could clearly hear the rumbling up above.

Bazuul could feel a sort of resistance coming from the relic. It slowly invaded his mind with Bazuul unaware of its intention. He wasn’t the kind to care about things like that. So he let his guard down and let the dark energy enter. Its purpose became apparent the second it entered. The objective of this energy was to play tricks on his mind, slowly engulfing him in visions of his failures.

A dark chuckle escaped Bazuul, one that resembled the laugh of someone that had drunk too much. Bit by bit the chuckle evolved into a loud, almost maniacal laughter that reverberated in this area within the mountain. Hylion was startled by this, while the others below had similar expressions on them but remained unaware of what was happening. Before they could adjust themselves to this creepy laughter, everything turned silent again. It created an eerie atmosphere among those below when suddenly a voice rose.

“So, is that what your goal is? To make me crumble and fold with visions of past failures?” Bazuul once again laughed out loud. “Then come on, show me what you’ve got!” Through the anger by being reminded of past losses he poured more and more dark essence into the relic. This essence now engulfed Bazuul and the relic completely creating winds of energy. Instantly three other beads started to glow. Even Hylion that stood meters away had to back off for a bit since the whispers also started to invade his mind, seemingly piercing his brain.

Hylion stood there looking in astonishment at this sight in front of him. He didn’t think the magical attribute of darkness would be the key, but the effect shown on the relic proved this. He wasn’t even aware the jade beads would start glowing, but he could now see eight purple hues through the dark essence enveloping both the relic and Bazuul.

As the eighth bead started glowing progress on opening the relic stagnated. Bazuul could feel the will’s attacks increasing, piercing his brain so much so, that blood started flowing out of his nose. He chuckled like a little devil and said, “Awww, is this your last resort? I can feel your defenses slowly breaking!” Unsure whether he could make use of the light of the moon he stalled this idea in the beginning. Now that he was unable to advance further he actually did think he should use it. Still having his eyes closed he lightly whispered “Cascading Light” as he channeled the moon in his inner world, before opening his eyes.

Inside the storm of dark essence, two orbs of silvery light bore toward the relic. “Show me your will, god!” He said proudly. The word “god” actually held a hint of disdain. “Show me everything!” He yelled all of a sudden. The people below felt a cold tingling down their back. This had been going on for almost an hour now, and they wondered how long this young prince could hold on.

Even Bazuul, for the first time since entering this world, felt that this was quite difficult. The consumption of energy through maintaining both the essence of moonlight and darkness was tremendous, to say the least.

Chaotic visions different from the ones before entered his mind. This time it seemed to be moments of Noxae’s life from back when he created the relics. The broken images didn’t show a lot, but he could still make out some concerning emotions from Noxae as he lived through these memories.

Bazuul snickered lightly and pushed on further. Out of the tide of whispers came a screeching scream and instantly two more beads lit up.

The more Bazuul pushed the more memories flooded his mind. After a while though, he started wondering if these emotions, especially toward humanity, were emotions their creator, a savior to them, would hold within himself. Through all the images only one time could he feel a minuscule amount of remorse. Bazuul wasn’t aware of who the person was, but Noxae had stabbed the person in the back, killing him. Then, he turned toward the female; this part of the memory seemed damaged or broken as the female was blurry. Yet, the feeling of exhilaration and excitement Noxae felt as he tortured her to death, made it clear what kind of individual he was.

On second thought, Bazuul wasn’t going to judge. Who knows, maybe the crimes committed, perhaps the pain that came from those crimes triggered this sort of enjoyment in him.

“Enough already! Break!!” Bazuul roared with unyielding determination. Standing up and still channeling both energies he slowly walked toward the relic. The eleventh bead started glowing slightly, and the whole platform began shaking. A minute later, without much resistance, the twelfth bead glowed. The entire top of the relic started showing cracks before breaking completely. Out of the relic, an ominous glow flowed out. As he reached the relic and looked inside he saw a single page laying there glowing slightly. On the page stood [Chapter 2: Sonata of the Night].

Bazuul put it into his storage ring before even taking his hand out, to make sure Hylion wouldn’t see.

He sat down and finally breathed out. This whole ordeal drained him almost completely. His body felt weak, sweat poured out of him, and his head hurt so much that a high pitched beeping sound rang in his ears.

Above the relic, a formless shadow manifested looking at Bazuul. At least that’s how it felt to him since this figure seemingly had no eyes. It started talking, but behind his voice lingered countless other whispers.

“You child, have sinned against the Lord, you are dangerous! I shall end your life now!