The Valley of Screams stretched endlessly, a cursed canyon where even the wind dared not whisper. Jagged rocks jutted out like broken fangs, and a perpetual twilight hung over the abyss. This was the place Nirvaan had been entombed—a prison so ancient and foul it had consumed even the memories of those who built it.
Yet now, the silence was ruptured.
Nirvaan stood at the mouth of the valley, his obsidian hair cascading down his back, his body exuding an aura of dominion. Charred remains of the sarcophagus floated behind him, crumbling into ash. The chains that once sealed him were scattered, melted by his fury.
Before him lay a path paved with blood and betrayal.
He took a step forward. The earth groaned beneath his footfall.
Far above, hidden in the shadow of a floating monastery, eyes watched.
"He's truly returned," whispered a trembling voice inside the sanctum of the Heavenly Ascendants. Elder Myor clenched the prayer beads in his hands, his ancient eyes wide with dread. "We buried him beneath ten thousand seals... How?"
"Does it matter?" Elder Siara snapped, her voice barely masking fear. "If Nirvaan walks again, the Nine Realms will burn."
Back in the valley, Nirvaan raised his hand. The air thickened, space trembling as dark sigils flared on his skin. A single gesture tore open the earth before him—revealing a staircase, long buried, leading into the Nether Shrine.
His sanctuary. His crucible.
Each step downward was a memory, a scar. Whispers echoed through the stone corridors—faint voices from lifetimes past. Here, he had been crowned. Here, he had been betrayed.
A statue stood at the shrine's heart—a goddess with her hand outstretched, carved in Nirvaan's likeness. It had not weathered. No dust clung to it.
It waited.
He placed his hand upon the statue.
"I remember everything now," he whispered. "Every lie, every knife, every coward who smiled while stabbing me in the back."
Power surged from beneath, an ancient seal breaking. The entire valley shuddered.
In distant lands, temples cracked. Blood rivers flowed backward. Beasts bowed in fear.
Nirvaan walked out of the shrine, darkness swirling around him.
"Let them know... The Sovereign of Calamity has awakened."