A deep sigh echoed through the marble halls of my temple.
Outside, in the crushing silence of the Void, my physical shell remained adrift. I was hunting—searching for a beast to devour or a path to follow. I had found "worlds," if they could be called that. I had peered into thousands of realms, but each was a mirror of the one I had left: wasted lands, cold rocks, and graveyard spheres where life was an impossibility.
"The 1,000,269th failure," I murmured.
I couldn't even find Earth. The vastness of existence wasn't just large; it was overwhelming. My Reason began to whisper a new directive: If the outer worlds are all dead, make the inner world the reality. As I watched my inner world grow beyond my Temple, becoming more intricate and solid with every passing moment, the idea became seductive. A perfect world. A sovereign's sanctuary where the laws of physics obeyed my Will—where everything obeyed my Will. I smiled at the thought. On Earth, there were myths of creation; the Maker was in the Void, and then light was made for its own sake. Maybe they created "inners" like the one I was building because the Void is simply... boring.
But I wasn't ready to give up yet. I reached out once more, tearing at the fabric of the Void to open another portal. Another attempt to find something... good.
Then, the static hit.
It was a violent wave of power slamming into my rift, causing the frontiers to flicker with a jagged, chaotic interference. It was something unexpected and new, so I let it continue, eager to see what would happen next. My portal screamed. A burst of foreign energy surged through, and something was spat out into the cold nothingness before the rift shut abruptly.
I moved instantly. With my Perception, now sharpened to 30/1,000, I identified the object the moment it touched my portal. When she—because it was a "she"—crossed to this side, I had a bubble waiting for her. I didn't let her touch the Void. My bubble of Will was a pressurized sphere of Essence, designed to provide air for her lungs and gravity to make her feel grounded. I covered its frontier with a cloak of mist so she wouldn't see the immensity of the Void; her mind would surely shatter from the sight of such infinite emptiness. I made the mist produce a soft light, reflecting off me to allow her to see my form. Facing someone directly is always better than talking to a shadow.
She was fascinating. A beautiful woman with hair as black as the blackest night. As she stirred, I realized my violet, predatory form was too much. I began to shift my features back toward a more human template, but I was too slow. Her eyes snapped open, and she had already seen me.
"Is... this hell?" she whispered.
"Hell? No. I don't think so. I haven't seen any demons around here," I replied. Though, she made me wonder if the beasts were actually demons, and if I, too, was becoming one.
"They exist," she snapped. Her caution turned into a brittle spike of energy.
"You think I'm a demon, then?" I asked. She nodded. "Why is that?"
"Vortigen!" she choked out. "He defeated my father, and to punish him, he cast me out through a portal to hell while my father was exhaling his last gasps! I—I have to go back!" She broke into tears. "Send me back!"
"If I did that," I said calmly, "you would likely be killed or sent back to your original destination. Do you want that?"
She froze. "No. You're right. I need an army of my own first. I need power." She looked at me with desperate calculation. "I'll give you anything if you help me avenge my father and kill all those who betrayed us. I will be yours. Help me."
It was unexpected. This vibrant creature was willing to give everything. But my Reason held me back. "I'm not sure I want that. First, tell me... do men grow up to become demons in your world?"
"What? No," she sighed. "Vortigen is not an actual demon. He is... Ah! My apologies."
"Please, explain," I asked.
"Demons come from hell. They are violent and love inflicting pain and suffering on all that is alive. They are grotesque things!" she said. "Vortigen is a man—an evil man my father raised since he was a baby. He taught him the art of the sword and the arcane... and Vortigen stabbed him in the back!"
"And magic? Could you cast a spell for me?" I interrupted her before her pain took over.
"What? I don't think I can... Oh... Let me try..." She looked skeptical but traced an elegant geometry in the air. A spark of golden light ignited into a small, rotating sphere of flame. I watched with my Perception. I didn't see a "spell"; I saw her focusing her Will through the ritual of the casting. Her Will seized a fraction of the Essence I had poured into the bubble, forcing it to shift and compress until it burned.
"That is wonderful!" I applauded. "Are you a powerful sorceress?"
"The Master Magus said that my demigod heritage was the reason I was powerful, but I never felt powerful... I'm just normal. Magic is just... easy," she admitted.
So she was powerful. If magic was this simple for her, what could I do with a Will of 94?
To test it, I reached out and seized her flame. I controlled it easily, turning it into a floating diamond of crystalline light.
"How did you—?" she began, her face a mask of surprise and helplessness.
"Essence and Will," I murmured, playing with my little creation before vanishing it into nothingness. "I would like to see your world. What if I help you, and then you show me your world?"
"Yes. I'll be yours if you help me. Once Vortigen is dead, you can use me as you please. Nothing matters anymore," she said with deep bitterness. For an instant, I saw a reflection of a man in her—a man who had lost all motivation, hope, and dreams. I banished that reflection. I was not that man anymore.
"Good," I said as I opened the portal.
The throne room was visible beyond—bodies sprawled on the floor and a man with a bloodied crown sitting on the throne, his boots near an older, dead man.
"But you said—" she began, trying to stop me, but I was already crossing the threshold.
"What is this?! Aria?!" The man on the throne spat with anger. I concluded this was Vortigen. Eager to complete my part of the deal so we could explore this world, I didn't let him finish. I expanded my Will, reaching that thin space between his neck and shoulders, and ordered it to split.
His head rolled. So easy. It cost me a bit of Vitality, but it was effortless. I turned to see her and smiled.
"All that is weak shall be dev—"
The Essence in the air became chaotic, a powerful Will taking over. Gravity slammed me against the floor, then the ceiling—not hurting me seriously, but stunning me for vital seconds. I was left hanging in the air as spectral chains materialized to bind my limbs. Nine knights—combat-mages—emerged from the shadows, channeling a joint spell. I shattered the chains with physical force, but lightning and fire broke my concentration, and soon I was bound again.
What a fool I am! I raged. How could I think I could come to a world of magic and impose myself as a god with nobody to oppose me? It was foolish. I was foolish.
Through my perception, I saw Aria's bubble break. She fell to her feet and didn't hesitate; she rushed to her father's corpse and drew the rapier—the Akasha Blade. She pierced the closest knight's throat, penetrating his magical protection and sliding with precision through the small gap in his armor.
The spell flickered. It was the opening I needed.
She gave us the opportunity to escape. But I stopped to think: Why run when I can kill them all and drink their essence? Why let them live after these painful instants?
I Willed it. Nine times, I expanded my Will again, reaching my nine targets. With the snap of my fingers, nine heads rolled.
The price was agonizing—a brutal drain on my Vitality that made my vision blur and the "Beast" of violence surge forward, almost taking over completely.
"Hahaha!" I laughed, landing on the floor, hurt but victorious.
"These are just half of his elites!" Aria warned. "More are coming! We have to get out!"
I didn't argue. Through my Perception, I could feel the vibrations of around twenty powerful beings entering the throne room. Aware of my loss of Vitality and the certain defeat approaching if I stayed, I acted. I opened three portals. One for me, one for her, and one for the remains of the most powerful essence I had killed: Vortigen.
My meal.
We fell, leaving the blood-soaked throne behind. We crashed onto the mossy floor of a dark forest, miles from the city, as the portals shut above us.