1E 2920, Utile month, 3rd
Annihilation, Cold Harbor
Sotha Sil walked through waist-deep black water, moving as fast as he could through the darkened halls of the palace. Around him, disgusting gelatinous creatures were frightened and scurried into the reeds; white flames kept emerging, illuminating the upper vault of the hall, and then disappeared; the smell of the hall hit him, and for a moment it was decayed. The smell of death, and then the smell of sweet perfume. He has visited the demon gods in the plane of annihilation several times, and every time, something different is waiting for him.
He knew his purpose and was not disturbed by it all.
Eight illustrious demons awaited him in the half-molten domed chamber.
Azura, the god of twilight;
Boethea, the god of trickery;
Hermaeus Mora, Lord of Knowledge;
Hircine, god of hunting;
Malachath, god of curses;
Merunes Dagon, the god of disaster;
Molag Bal, god of rage;
Sheogorath, the god of madness.
Over their gathering, the sky cast twisted shadows.
***
now.
"Take the stone path in the middle."
Turka's voice came from behind - three stone paths spread out in front of the Red Guards and the others, and disappeared into the endless darkness. And three sentry towers are guarding each one from a high position.
Yin Silan and the others ran away almost out of reflex.
The stone paths are not wide, each one is only about half a meter, and there are no guardrails around them. Yin Silan and the others ran on it staggeringly, praying that their feet would not suddenly slip. But thankfully, they heard the sound of running water. Apparently, there should be an underground river beneath our feet. If they really fell, maybe, maybe, they would have a chance of surviving.
Well, this doesn't comfort Yin Silan and the others.
Following Turka's warning, there was no movement in the dark cave, but anxiety and fear still weighed on them like a mountain.
Everyone was running quickly, but they couldn't hear any sound except their heavy footsteps, the sound of their boots scraping the ground, and the slight sound of running water.
But Turka could feel that his spell was failing - no, it should be said that there was another force trying to awaken Vamer who was trapped in a magical illusion. That's the power of Molag Bal.
The father of vampires was both angry and frightened - she was frightened by Turka Aracano's "Purifying Dragon Roar", which was a majestic power that transcended planes. Even she was burned and her soul was burned by this power. Torn apart; angry, Turka sabotaged his plans one after another - yes, just as Turka could feel the pulse of the Lord of Slavery, Morag Bal also sensed the intentions of the dragonborn from another world.
"Wake up." Her will passed through the barrier set up by the original spirit of creation in Nirn and entered the mind of a believer. "You stupid idiots! The enemy is planning an attack!"
The soul let out a shrill howl and curled up into a ball. He didn't understand why this evil god suddenly came.
Molag Bal lashes the souls of his poor followers with abandon.
The soul that was whipped by her wailed: "Dear master, what kind of enemy is this?"
"No questions!" Morag Bal angrily tore the soul apart, then glued it back together again, over and over again.
The soul screamed in horror, and the few sanity was completely annihilated in this terrible torture.
And when the torture of Lord Annihilation stopped, the soul became a gray mist exuding a disgusting luster and aura. "Take up your weapons, the enemy is trying to destroy the altar. Dig out their hearts and souls, and let their blood flow all over the earth." Molag Bal's terrifying voice spread through the minds of these miserable creatures enslaved by her, Awakening them from the Dragonborn's spell, "You must protect the statue. If you fail, your souls will be tortured for eternity in Cold Harbor!"
Then the demon said slyly, "But I will watch you, your weapons, your teeth and claws will tear them apart, but they will not be able to hurt you!"
In the darkness, hundreds of fallen creatures broke free from Turka's spell and woke up from their deep dreams.
They make excited and frightening sounds.
Lord Annihilation angrily said to the soul tortured by her: "There is a cunning and evil guy among the enemies. He, together with the followers of the hypocritical god, is trying to overthrow my rule. You must stop him!"
"Dear Master, what should I do?" Soul asked mechanically.
"I said, only I can ask questions!" Morag Bal said loudly, and the terrifying power shook the creature's sea of consciousness. She observed carefully and was satisfied to see that this soul had completely turned into a monster under her torture. Evil, crazy, irrational.
"He is not a creature of this world! According to the agreement of those false gods, creatures that do not belong to Mundus will be exiled! {After the Indras created Nirn, they made an agreement at the Adamantine Tower that the gods could Being killed - Lorkhan and Two Moons are the best examples of this. And for those fickle Daedra, the rules of the Accord cannot apply to them, so they can only be exiled.} So, be careful, All you have to do is banish him!"
Ah, yes. After Molag Bal's last failure, he was also keenly aware of Turka Aracano's weaknesses. The alien dragonborn is very similar in nature to the Daedra in Annihilation. He is a 'non-self', a change, a creation that does not belong to Nirn. Compared with others, a banishment spell can almost cause more fatal consequences.
The soul twinkles. As if to say, I understand.
So Morag Bal left.
This time she became more cautious, and although her hatred of Turka grew, she was also deeply frightened by the secrets and power of Turka Aracano. Morag Bal felt and observed through the soul she destroyed, trying to better understand the secrets of Turka Aracano.
In the darkness, a crouched figure suddenly climbed up from the low stone bed.
Unlike other Vamer, this Vamer wears a robe filled with magical lines and has an obsidian amulet tied around his neck. The body is thin, the limbs are long and pale, making him even weaker than the ordinary Vamer. He grabbed a dead wood staff beside the bed and let out some kind of sharp howl.
Hearing this sound, more Vamo were awakened in the cave.
They howled loudly and shrilly.
"What is this sound?" Half-elf Xi Lang asked tremblingly. He was no coward, but the evil here was frightening. In the darkness, the entire cave was shaking. It was as if some evil was awakening.
Dulan's face turned pale, "I feel it." He looked at Yin Silan. In the dim crypt, the Standal amulet around the Redguard's neck glowed with white light.
"Morag Bal is here!"
"Be careful." The demigod who was following the rear of this adventuring team, which was haunted by fear and anxiety, suddenly said sharply.
Nargis only heard a roar of wind, and a ten-centimetre-thick steel spear—for a crossbow arrow, its size was really astonishing—clinked not far from his feet.
The other two Dwemer crossbow arrows pierced the air, grazed the scalps of the Red Guards, and flew into the darkness.
Nargis felt that all the blood in his body was frozen, and he didn't know whether to continue running forward or stop. The three sentry towers on the three platforms were like demonic shadows, shrouding their heads, exuding a deadly aura.
"Don't stop! Run forward!" Turka's voice came from behind. "Unless you want to be pierced by a steel spear!"
This gave Yin Silan and the others great courage.
Everyone continued to run forward hard.
The guards on the guard tower were obviously aware of the enemy's movements, and they uttered some strange language. This language has some similar pronunciations to the Elvish language of Nirn, but it has many differences due to thousands of years of corruption. Turka could only barely make out a few words - thanks to the knowledge contained in the fragment of Morag Bal's soul.
The guards cocked the Dwemer crossbows on the towers, trying to recalibrate.
"Lingua luminaris!"
Turka's golden vertical boy gradually lit up, and he embraced Nirn's earth bones again. With a powerful spell, the magical aura bloomed in his majestic body, and a bright white lightning suddenly emitted from his palm.
The lightning struck the guard on the first sentry tower quickly, and then rushed to the second sentry tower, and then the third one as if alive. The guard above shivered and fell, with black smoke rising from his body. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur.
Yin Silan and the others looked at him in surprise.
"They're not dead." Turka glanced at him - he had been very careful, the guards were just knocked down and should not be dead - "Probably!" he said irresponsibly.
at the same time--
don't want.
The voice that had been warning him echoed in his ears like a whisper - but no matter how he asked, there was no more response from the voice. As if it was just Turka's hallucination.
Coupled with the laughter and screams that always echoed in his mind like demons, a trace of ominous bloodshot gradually appeared in the depths of Turka's golden eyes.
"Eru varya!" {Quenya, as blessing! }
Turka found that his previous ideas were a bit too simplistic.
While the fragments of the demon's soul brought him pain, it also gave him unimaginable power. In Middle-earth, he had no better way to deal with enemies so far away - he remembered the time when he fought against Smaug. If it weren't for the help of the Western Gods, he might not have been able to make Old Smaug make an eternal vow.
Now, a spell has solved something for him that he could not do before.
But isn’t all this without a price?
The more he hugs Earthbone, the stronger his connection to Nirn becomes and the less likely he is to want CHIM. The nature of 'not-self' is reminding him that only by trying to get rid of the shackles of the world can he finally leave this world.
It's a simple truth, isn't it?
But at the same time, he must rely on the power of this world and must have a certain degree of integration with Nirn, otherwise he will also be unable to gain a foothold in this mortal land. Isn't that ironic?
Solini let out a scream and tried to help him. But he was shocked by Turka's majestic and even violent eyes, "Don't be stupid, you can't help me." He shouted. Then he staggered slightly, but ran forward firmly.
The female hunter froze on the spot, heartbroken by the demigod's violent eyes and repulsive attitude. Until her companion took her hand and continued running forward.
They passed the stone path and came to another three-way intersection. Compared with the previous stone corridors, the corridor here is lower. Turka almost had to hang his head to avoid hitting those ceilings.
Turka covered his forehead and panted slightly, "Take the leftmost corridor, which leads directly to the altar of the Lord of Slavery. You must destroy her idol before all the evil creatures captured by Morag Bal wake up."
"Aren't you with us?" Nargis asked immediately.
"If you want to successfully complete this plan, someone must stop the enemy here." Turka looked at the others seriously, his shadow stretched long under the light ball of magic light, almost covering the shadow when they came. The road until it fell into the darkness that they could not see through. "Molag Bal can feel my presence, but for some reason, she can only exert her will through her evil minions! Therefore, only if I attract her full attention here can you successfully enter The altar of her evil.”
This was unexpected by others.
But if you think about it seriously, it makes sense.
Vaguely, they seemed to hear rustling footsteps coming from the depths of the cave, and the enemy was attacking. Yin Slaan made a prompt decision, "Be careful." He said, and the Redguard looked at Turka with determined eyes, "May the light still shine on you in the darkest and evil place!" Then he took the lead towards the road leading to Morag. The corridor to the altar of Baal.
Half-elf Xi Lang paused, bowed respectfully to the demigod, and followed.
The ascetic prayed in a low voice, nodded, and followed closely.
The huntress wanted to say something else, but was dragged into the darkness by the assassin.
Watching the light gradually disappear, and listening to their footsteps gradually disappearing, Turka's bright golden eyes flickered a few times in the darkness, and he turned to look at the road he came from and the other two corridors.
He was like a god, guarding in front of the third corridor in awe.
In the dark, invisible Dwemer ruins, except for the slow but powerful heartbeat of Turka Aracano, there was no sound. Something seemed to be moving in the darkness.
Turka knew that the enemy was planning the first wave of attacks.
These fallen snow elves were supposed to be killers in the darkness. They are light on their feet and sensitive to hearing. Faint sounds can be heard coming from the cave far away. Moreover, they are familiar with the terrain and know where is the best place for an ambush.
However, due to the coercion and servitude of Molag Bal, they abandoned the most powerful side of their race and became angry and frantic. Choose the stupid front against Turka.
Like a tide, they jumped out, ran out, and stumbled out of the various stone corridors, pushing one by one, one on top of the other, throwing stones and shooting arrows at Turka - a blind creature who knows why. He can actually shoot arrows, it's just that the game is not scientific - Turka suddenly complained about a certain RPG game at an inappropriate time.
This couldn't help but make Turka feel a little bit laughable. Memories from long ago come to mind.
But soon, this untimely memory faded into nothingness. Turka quickly embraced the great flame, letting the vast power of creation flow throughout his body.
"ventus fierce!"
A vigorous and powerful voice sounded like thunder. Turka Aracano first used a strong wind technique to blow away stones and arrows all over the sky, and then quickly pressed the ground with his left hand.
"Nova Frost!"
With at least a master-level destructive spell, the terrifying cold air condensed on the earth instantly, and spread extremely quickly to the darkness further away.
Turka stood up and looked with satisfaction at his masterpiece - a huge cave filled with all kinds of ice sculptures with snarling teeth, frightened faces, and strange shapes. The originally hot and solid air became visibly chilly to the naked eye.
