From the vast depths of the underworld, an immeasurable mass of darkness was compressing itself into a single center.
The vortex of pure and elemental darkness condensed under pressure capable of crushing mountains and splitting seas.
From the swirling center, a body formed. First, it was a silhouette taking shape. That shape defined itself until it became a man. Skin black as the abyss shifted into pale, gray skin like that of a corpse. Time-worn black robes materialized over the pallid body. His face was gaunt, as if in the process of decomposition.
In his eyes, there was only a black void with purple dots that gleamed with madness.
That man took one step, then another, venturing into the veil of nothingness itself, while the immense mass of darkness sank into his interior.
During his journey, the entity stopped upon observing an enormous corrupted creature. Its size was titanic, rising hundreds of meters above the ground. It possessed multiple long, sharp legs with long tentacles hanging from its belly.
The creature, a Corrupted, let out a screech, launching one of its legs against the other entity of darkness.
The entity merely raised its hand, catching the creature's leg mid-strike, generating a powerful shockwave that dispersed hundreds of meters of thick fog. However, moments later, the landscape had become enveloped in mist once more.
The creature of darkness looked at the corrupted creature with a wide, demented smile. A long sword made of pure darkness materialized in his hand. With a single but devastating slash, the enormous cursed creature was split in half, its massive body falling divided upon the black rock ground, collapsing some mountain peaks.
The creature of darkness, upon killing the cursed creature, simply continued on its way as the mist of nothingness enveloped its figure.
Its path was stained with the corpses of nightmare creatures.
---
Countless kilometers away, Uriel, who had returned from Twilight, was seated on his throne with a worried expression.
His instinct told him that something was approaching. Even the darkness that was his natural element became more fearful of something. Even enveloped in it, he could feel it.
Something cold and terrifying, and above all, something that was watching him intently.
"Uriel."
Emerging from his inner contemplations, Uriel observed Scarlet, who wore a concerned look.
"Scarlet... what's wrong?"
"That's what I should be asking you. You've been very distracted lately, as if you're worried."
Uriel smiled.
"Me, worried? Not at all. That's your imagination. I'm only concerned because it's September."
"And what does September have to do with the expression you just made?"
"Well... you wouldn't understand, it's a dark time," he said, pouring himself a glass of wine, which he had recently taken quite a liking to drinking.
Scarlet rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, I don't know why I bother worrying."
Uriel looked at Scarlet with bright eyes.
"Do you... worry about me?" he asked.
Scarlet just clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Just a little bit."
"Oh my god. My subordinate worries about me—this calls for a celebration. Hey, Shade, you bastard, come out now! We're going to make an announcement. Scarlet worries about..."
Before he could finish, Scarlet kicked him, sending his body flying across the hall, her face red with embarrassment.
"Hey Scarlet, this is insubordination. You're rebelling—I'll cancel your bonus this week."
"You're not even paying me to begin with!"
Uriel puffed out his cheeks, crossing his arms.
Just as he was about to respond with a sharp remark, the door opened and one of his commanders entered.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked a man in his thirties with brown hair and matching eyes, wearing the standard Shadow Garden suit adapted for a transcendent.
"No, Sebastian. It's just that Scarlet is mean to your boss—she just hit me," he complained.
"I did it because you were being annoying," Scarlet pointed out, as the temperature in the room rose.
Sebastian merely blinked before shaking his head.
"I'm going to cut your pay, Scarlet."
"You don't even pay me."
"Of course I do. Right, Sebastian?"
"I'm sorry, but you haven't paid in months."
"Really, I don't?"
"No," the transcendent replied.
"Hmm. Well, I'll do it tonight. Anyway..." Uriel stood up, brushing off the dust. "What brings you here?"
"Right, I almost forgot... Lord Dark, there's something strange happening," said Sebastian.
Scarlet and Uriel exchanged confused glances.
"How strange?"
"Very. You'd better come see for yourself."
Uriel nodded, following Sebastian. Naturally, Scarlet followed Uriel as his right hand.
The trio left the castle, walking through the streets of Doom, directly to a large chapel that had been remodeled into a medical center where numerous awakened with healing aspects, along with doctors, attended to the wounded.
The trio entered the chapel, climbing to the upper floors until they entered a large room.
Inside the room were multiple beds where a group of awakened lay bandaged, with expressions full of pain.
Some still had considerable but non-lethal wounds, and others were already being healed.
"What the hell? Why are they in this state?" asked Uriel.
"Lord Dark..." said a weak voice.
Uriel stopped by a bed. He summoned his throne and sat down beside the bed where a young man of about twenty lay.
"I'm here... What happened to you?"
"S-sir... we were attacked," said the soldier.
"Attacked? Was it the great clans?"
If the great clans had attacked his soldiers, that would be a problem. It would mean they were close to discovering Doom, and doing so would trigger a conflict he didn't want to deal with at the moment.
Of course, he didn't plan to lose to the great clans in a war, but it would severely delay his plans.
"N-coof, coof... no... it wasn't them, it was something else."
The soldier made a pained expression.
"It moved through the darkness like a hunter. My entire unit was wiped out in an instant... I only managed to see a black sword and hear a sinister laugh."
The soldier trembled as if remembering it would bring a horrible nightmare.
"Can you remember anything else? Any detail?"
Uriel grew serious. A creature that moved in the darkness like a hunter and used a sword. If it was what he feared, things would get quite ugly.
"T-that thing said something... it said that the darkness is calling it and it was time... to... to settle the score."
Uriel sighed.
Beside him, from his shadow, a figure emerged. A beautiful woman with reddish hair and red eyes, dressed in a black military uniform.
"Brat," said Skadi with a calm expression.
"Skadi, can you heal them all?" Uriel asked in a serious tone.
Skadi was about to retort, annoyed at being asked to use her power to heal the weak. However, upon seeing Uriel's expression, she held back her comment.
Using her healing flames, the soldier's wounds began to close completely, and likewise for the other wounded in the room and the other rooms of the chapel. Within seconds, everyone was at their best once more.
The soldier sighed in relief as the stabbing pain in his body ceased.
Skadi furrowed her brow.
"Hey creature. Those wounds aren't normal—they were caused by something that affects the soul itself."
"Something that affects the soul?" asked Scarlet.
"Yes. It was made with a weapon of pure darkness, a vile and repugnant one. It seems there's a dangerous creature of darkness out there."
Uriel remained silent.
"Scarlet," Uriel said, making the transcendent woman look at him.
"Tell everyone outside Doom to return as quickly as possible."
"Even those in the waking world?"
"No, not them—only those exploring outside Doom," he ordered, standing up.
Scarlet looked at his expression, seeing a look she had rarely seen: a gaze filled with cold fury, a coldness that made her tremble.
She knew that look. That was the look that something big was about to happen.
"I'm going out. I'll be back," Uriel said as he disappeared into a dark corner of the chapel.
Scarlet sighed as she left the chapel to give the order to return. Meanwhile, Skadi simply vanished into the darkness, returning to Uriel's sea of souls, thinking things were about to get interesting.
---
Uriel materialized in the mountains about a hundred kilometers from Doom, directly atop the high peaks.
Since Doom was far from Bastion or Rivergate, it was in its own unique region: a death zone surrounded by large corrupted and fallen nightmare creatures that his subordinates killed to obtain resources for Doom.
Like any other major region in the Dream Realm, Doom had its own day-night cycle. The cycle was like Antarctica's, with several months of sunlight and several months of night sky with the moon high above, and few months of twilight.
Currently, it was the lunar cycle, so the entire region was enveloped in night.
From the top of a mountain, Uriel observed Doom: a massive city of nearly a hundred kilometers, capable of sustaining a population of millions of humans.
From where he stood, it was merely a bright ring contrasting against the night.
Uriel turned, looking toward the mountains, once again feeling that sensation of being watched.
"Hey Uriel, stay alert—there's something strange," Shade said in his mind.
"Where were you?"
"I was asleep, but this gaze woke me up. It's annoying."
"Yeah, I feel it too."
Uriel created two wings of darkness, rising into the air with a flap, covering a great distance until he stopped where he felt a kind of calling.
Landing on a rocky outcrop, he gazed into the deep darkness.
"Come out. I can sense your presence, creature," he said.
Instantly, a hoarse, slow laugh filled the entire place. The darkness grew even deeper than before. From its depths, a human emerged.
Not only did it possess a human appearance, but its nature was entirely different, very similar to his own nature.
It was a true creature of darkness—perhaps even what could be called a void entity given the relationship between the two.
The creature was like a tall, pale man in the midst of decomposing into a corpse, dressed in ragged dark clothing. A sword as black as an abyss was in his hands.
The creature raised its eyes, revealing black eyes with a purple spark.
"Well... well... well..." the creature said in an amused tone.
"So you're the traitor. The one fighting on the side of those pathetic creatures called humanity... doesn't it disgust you to fight alongside them?"
Uriel narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize one of your own kind when you see one?"
"You're a creature of darkness like me," Uriel replied.
The man smiled.
"You could say that. Our nature is similar but different."
"Uriel... Hmm, a peculiar name for a human. One who possesses the flame of desire and is infected by that thing that demon created. Truly, you are something truly abominable."
"You seem to know me."
"Of course I do—we all do."
"May I know your name, creature?" Uriel asked with a slight smile.
"You may call me Jerom. The one who will consume the world in true darkness."
Uriel stood up as his sword materialized in his hand.
"Well, Jerom, I must say you are a threat. So although I have questions, you're too dangerous to let live."
Jerom let out a laugh.
"Well then, I hope you can be interesting."
In an instant, Jerom vanished from Uriel's sight. The next moment, guided only by instinct, Uriel leaped from where he stood.
He saw that where he had been moments before, there was only a massive cut that had split the mountains apart. Uriel let out a tense smile, observing the creature of darkness before him, feeling the enormous weight of its existence crushing him.
Uriel sighed as darkness partially enveloped him.
'This is seriously going to suck.'
With that thought in his head, he launched into the attack. The impact of both weapons generated a shockwave so powerful and devastating that it shook the surrounding mountains.