The Villain's Story - Chapter 748 748: Nocumbra.

“What is it like?”

Alan asked, whenever the name of the world of shadows was mentioned, he felt something within stir. Furthermore, he was cautious of that world, where the Supreme of Shadows lived.

Kulak, Supreme of Shadows and Lanesha’s older brother, but that was it. He didn’t know anything else about the illusive supreme. He was never even present in the memories of the previous iterations.

Valus was there, Ariel was there, Lanesha was obviously there, But he was never there. Never. Alan knew nothing about Kulak, and his world.

What powers did he have? What kind of dragon was he? What was his home world like? What was his role? What about his personality?

Nothing, he knew nothing which may not have made him as afraid as he was of Valus, but it did irk him quite a bit.

“Nocumbra? It’s a… special world. It’s cold, dark, and let’s say, unique.”

“Unique as in?”

“It’s less of a world, and more of a realm. Like the abyss and Celestia. Therefore, it has its own special abilities. You’ll be in for a surprise when you go there. There are a few cities there, and you may have to drop by one for the trip to the world of Darkness.”

“Huh?”

“Just know this, Alan. You will be the safest there.”

Alan looked confused, as Lanesha elaborated.

“The eyes are a reflection of the soul, When one looks at them, gazes deep into them, the soul becomes clear. But the shadow is a manifestation of the soul.”

He turned his head to the side, unaware where she was going with her words. She approached him and placed her delicate hand on his chin, caressing it.

“My brother may look vicious, but he is kind. And he will never, never hurt you, the moment he sees your eyes, you are the safest in Nocumbra. Nothing there will ever defy the Lord of Shadows after all.”

And with those words, he was gone from the palace. All of a sudden, his vision changed and he was back on the platform. Azmakul had arrived long before, and most of the party was fast asleep.

Almost everyone who had gone into the trial was still asleep. Sabrina had woken up and was just sitting mindlessly by the fire.

“I have to learn that.”

The technique which Lanesha used, he was certain spatial magic was involved, but he had no clue how it worked. It was a kind of teleportation, that he was sure of. Nevertheless, the fact that according to Lanesha he would be the ‘safest’ in Nocumbra did bring his heart at ease.

As much as it could when one was dealing with an illusive supreme.

“The portal will be ready in a few minutes, My prince.”

He looked towards Azmakul, who appeared to be drawing a magic circle on the ground with his bare finger. He was carving it into the platform itself.

‘…’

That was still the body of a supreme, a dead supreme that was trying endlessly to revive himself but still… Alan sometimes forgot Azmakul was apparently supreme once as well.

‘Already?’

It couldn’t be helped, they had spent a lot of time on this planet. While he was sad at leaving Lanekia, a planet that was so comfortable for him, he knew everyone else was barely hanging by. The cold was getting to them, no matter how much they didn’t show it. The cold was welcoming to him, but not to everyone else.

Piling it up with the stress from the trial, leaving this planet would be the first things on their mind. Alan sighed, and went over towards the fire, or to Sabrina.

He didn’t have anything to say, he just wanted some company until the portal was ready. He sat next to her, as they watched the fire burn.

There was silence among them, peaceful silence, only the sounds of Azmakul carving the platform, Maxwell examining some strange items and Alice packing everything in the spatial rings.

Sabrina broke the silence, however, with an exasperated sigh.

She stretched her body and exclaimed.

“I can’t believe we actually killed that thing!”

Alan smirked, he couldn’t believe it too. The fragment of Kizmal was dead, it was dead at last… It may have taken everyone down with it, but it didn’t have the ability to revive like them.

“Yeah, the bastard is finally dead.”

She laughed after she heard the resentment in Alan’s voice. Everyone hated it to the bone.

“It’s kind of wild.”

She rested her arms and head on her knees and gazed at the fire.

“I got a year older here, learned a lot of magic, rune scribing, sorcery, true names and blah blah blah, yet we haven’t even spent a lot of time here. Only a few months back on Earth. I still don’t know what everyone is doing back there, I should ask Maxwell.”

“If you want, we can go back.”

He could easily make a portal back to Earth, and he felt everyone needed a break. But surprisingly, Sabrina disagreed.

“I’d like to finish everything first. Besides, nothing to do on Earth anyway. I’d take my chances learning new stuff here than celebrate my belated birthday back there.”

At that, Alan froze for a moment, processing her words.

“What’s wrong?”

She asked, noticing his stoic face. Alan didn’t hear her.

Silently, he accessed his inventory and frantically searched for an item.

He forgot she had spent a year training… while for him, it was only a few days she had grown older! She was older than him in human years, but that wasn’t the main concern.

“I knew it’s somewhere!”

Alan didn’t find what he was looking for in his inventory, so he continued his desperate search in his spatial rings, all the while Sabrina appeared incredibly confused.

“What are you looking for?”

She moved closer, and Alan finally found it, he recovered it from his spatial rings with a smile on his face and presented a ruby necklace to Sabrina.

“BIRTHDAY GIFT!”

He yelled in triumph.