NOVPUB
Chapter 293: 293
Keles kept her eyes on the sky, her brow furrowed. "It’s growing stronger, isn’t it?" she asked, her voice tense but composed.
Ikenga gave a sharp nod, his gaze still fixed on the pulsating eye. "Yes. The energy it’s drawing from the city is feeding it. Whatever’s controlling it is using the city’s magic to amplify its reach."
The carriage thundered on, the creature now moving at an unbelievable speed, cutting through the landscape like a shadow. With Keles’ blessing, they exited the city the same way they had entered.
Only the distant flicker of torches marked the frantic movements of the guards, now far behind them.
Vaegur, hands gripping the reins tightly, glanced back nervously. "Are we far enough yet?"
Ikenga tilted his head slightly, feeling the gradual lessening of the divine energy being drained from his curse. "Not yet," he said, though there was a hint of relief in his tone. "But soon."
As they passed into the outskirts, away from prying eyes and the magic-laden city, the massive eye in the sky began to waver. Its glow dimmed slightly, and its sentience flickered like a flame in the wind.
The beam of light that had swept over the streets searching for them faltered, as if the connection between the controller and the eye was weakening.
Keles exhaled slowly, sensing the shift. "We’ve bought ourselves some time."
Ikenga nodded, though his eyes remained wary. "For now. But whoever or whatever is behind that eye... they’ll be searching for us. We’ll need to avoid cities or any gatherings."
"They seem more than ready to face any threat. Looks like Zarvok and the other demons will have a hard time taking this world," Keles remarked, glancing at Ikenga as he looked back at the city, now just a dot of light in the distance.
Ikenga grinned as he opened his hand, revealing a small figure of a ratman, constructed from purple light, moving as though it were mimicking the actions of the real ratman.
A table grew in between Keles and Ikenga as he placed the construct on the table, the construct turned into purple dust as it penetrated into the table soon like a mirror, the sight seen by the ratman was exposed to the two gods.
"Zarvok has his own problem, meanwhile we already have our own answers" Ikenga said as he chuckled while looking down at the table.
Soon the view shown on the table began turning dark, soon it was complete darkness. Ikenga grabbed the darkness as it grew in size, he placed the darkness where the carriage door was supposed to be.
Standing up Ikenga extended a hand to his sister "Our journey will be boring for a while, why don’t you take atrip down the memory lane of our found flaw"
Keles eyed the darkness forming at the carriage door, her curiosity piqued as Ikenga extended his hand to her. "A trip down memory lane, you say?" she mused, her lips curling into a smirk. "You’ve always had a flair for the dramatic, brother."
Taking his hand, she rose from her seat and glanced at the shifting portal, now swirling with the dark, dense energy that Ikenga had conjured from the wererat’s mind. She could already sense the deep-rooted pain and subjugation embedded in the memory of the enslaved creatures, a world of forgotten horrors now ripe for their exploitation.
"Very well," Keles said, stepping closer to the door, her gaze sharpening. "Let’s see what secrets lie beneath the surface of this... flaw."
Together, they stepped through the portal of darkness. The sensation was immediate—a cold, suffocating pull as the fabric of reality shifted around them. When the darkness lifted, they found themselves standing in a dimly lit tunnel, dank and lined with ancient stones. The air was thick with the stench of decay and filth, and the faint scurrying of unseen creatures echoed from the shadows.
Keles wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Charming place," she muttered, her voice laced with sarcasm. "This must be where the ratmen are kept."
Ikenga, his expression unreadable, pointed ahead. "More than that, this is the birthplace of their servitude." The tunnel stretched on, and as they ventured deeper, flickers of light began to dance on the walls.
While Ikenga and Keles were exploring, back at the city where they just left. A blue portal opened up, a goblin the size of a normal human walked out holding onto a mage staff.
The goblin looked young with a serious look on his face as he looked around the area. It tapped its staff on the ground, with it at the center small ripple on Invisible energy spread out like it was searching for something.
The goblin mage found nothing as it frowned as it began looking around but soon it stopped as around him, blue portals opened up.
As the blue portals opened and the goblin mages stepped out, their presence was immediately felt in the air, thick with the pulsing of arcane energy. Each mage, whether young or old, moved with purpose, their eyes scanning the city and the surroundings for any trace of the disturbance.
The lead goblin, the one who had first emerged, tapped his staff again, this time harder, sending out another ripple of energy that swept through the streets like an invisible wave. His frown deepened. "Nothing... but there was something here," he muttered, his voice low and dangerous.
One of the older goblins, his skin lined with scars and wrinkles, looked out of place with the other goblins, around its waist was a dried corpse of what seemed like a baby fetus.
He took a deep breath like it was trying to smell something pleasant with its eyes closed. "Curse but well hidden" The goblin so entranced with the scent fell to the ground like a dog as it took a deep breath.
Almost like he was tickled the goblin fell to the ground but soon its expression turned to annoyance. The curse was too well hidden, he could only grab hold of the lingering scent yet it was dispersing quickly.
This goblin unlike other mages was well versed in curses, it has been his long life work. It was proud of his work when it comes to curses but right now in front of it.
It felt like there was a mountain in front of it that it can never cross. Compared to the smell of curses around him, this one left behind was almost divine.
"Divine!" the old goblin suddenly stood up "Yes, even the best curse mages could only hope to replicate this scent yet never truly achieve it"
"A god was here" the old goblin spoke out, catching the attention of the other mages around.
The old goblin’s sudden outburst caused the other mages to stop what they were doing and turn toward him, their eyes narrowing in suspicion and curiosity. They all knew the elder was no ordinary goblin. His knowledge of curses and the dark arts surpassed their own, but hearing him mention the presence of a god sent a ripple of unease through the group.
The lead goblin mage, the young one who had first appeared through the portal, stepped forward, his staff glowing with a faint blue light. "A god? Here? Impossible. There haven’t been gods in this realm for centuries." His voice was cold and skeptical, but there was a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
The older goblin’s chuckle turned into a low, rasping laugh as he continued to breathe heavily from his encounter with the lingering curse. "You children wouldn’t recognize divinity if it slapped you in the face," he muttered, his voice dripping with condescension. "But I have tasted a similar presence before—long ago. It’s faint now, almost gone, but there’s no mistaking it. A god was here, and a curse was left behind... none of us could hope to understand it’s purpose"
The younger mage’s grip on his staff tightened, the glow from its tip dimming slightly as he processed the old goblin’s words. His frown deepened, eyes narrowing. "If a god was here," he began slowly, "what were they doing? And where are they now?"
The old goblin gave a careless shrug, but his eyes gleamed with admiration—and envy. "That’s the question, isn’t it? They’ve hidden their trail well, clever gods that they are. But the scent of divinity lingers. We may not be able to follow it directly... but we know that something divine has meddled in our domain." He grinned, his jagged teeth glinting in the dim light. "I say we inform the council. They’ll want to know about this."
As the goblin mages gathered to discuss their next move, the world beyond stirred with far more troubling developments.
Back in the world of Nana, chaos brewed in the aftermath of the gods’ decision. The message, sent swiftly to the demigods, had caused an uproar. They were to ascend, to take on their divine roles in a world that still resented their presence. Many of them were far from pleased, for the timing couldn’t have been worse.
