[Continued From Here]
The portal didn’t open into a path or a clearing.
It tore through the sky itself—suspended high above the foreign realm like a wound bleeding light, its edges crackling with unstable magic.
Then, with a violent snap, Khei had been flung from its maw with ballsitic force before the aperture dissipated entirely.
She slammed into the ground hard— breath crushed from her lungs in a choked gasp. She tumbled once, twice, then crumpled into a heap at the foot of a tree stump— dazed and broken.
“—Ow,” she wheezed, a pathetic understatement for the sharp pain blooming in her chest
She laid there for a moment, every inch of her screaming. Her arms trembled as she tried to push herself upright, fingers digging into the soft, glowing soil. But the effort was futile. A burning pulse echoed through her ribcage—something was definitely broken.
And that’s when the weight hit her.
Not metaphorically, but literally..
The gravity here was overwhelming —double, at least triple that of Edo. It bore down on her with cruel, relentless force, dragging her shoulders toward the earth like iron chains. Her limbs felt laden, heavy, useless. Even the simple act of lifting her head sent lightning bolts through her spine.
She tried to collect herself, but her breath came in ragged gasp—thin and shallow against the arid winds. Every inhale scraped her throat, and every exhale felt like war.
“—Shiiit,” she hissed, blinking sweat from her lashes. The heat clung to her, pouring sweat down her spine in sheets. Her skin itched and her vision flickered at the edges. And then she felt it—trickling warm liquid spilling from the corner of mouth to her chin.
“..that’s..not good.”
Khei pressed her forehead to the scorched soil and exhaled sharply through her nose, trying desperately—to quiet the thing inside. But she could already feel it.
Ulduin stirred.
He writhed like a beast pacing behind a gate, roused by her rage. By her fear, By her pain. He could taste the blood in her mouth and hungered to be freed.
Right here, right now.
“No—” she whispered. Her hands curled into claws, digging trenches into the alien soil. She could feel Ulduin coiling tighter, testing the threshold of her restraint like a predator sniffing a crack in the cage.
“Calm… down.” She rallied in silence. “Just… breathe.”
Agony danced through her nerves as she forced her elbows beneath her, but she pushed through it—inch by inch—until she sat up. Her body was shaking. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears..
But she endured.
And slowly, the storm within her subsided.
Ulduin relented.
For now, at least. But that was enough for Khei to heave a dramatic, raspy sigh of relief. It seemed like her training with Qarinah was paying off after all. Only then, in this instance of calm, did she take a second to look around.
And the world that met her eyes was impossibly vast.
All around her stood trees that resembled towering stalks of polished bone, some veined with silver or glowing from within. Their branches curled upward like cathedral arches, bearing translucent leaves that shimmered between hues of opal, ink, and electric blue— responsive to light and motion.
The grass beneath her glowed like burning amethyst, each blade tall and fine as silk thread, rippling with unnatural luminosity. Each movement she made caused golden spores to drift up from the soil like tiny lanterns, vanishing into nothingness before they ever reached her face..
From the underbrush, strange creatures watched her wallow in confusion—a pack of quadrupeds, sleek and lean, with skin that sparkled like polished obsidian and feathers that looked like fractured glass. They blinked in unison with crystalline eyes that shifted like prisms before they took to the skies above, and vanished before their very eyes.
There, Khei gazed at the emerald auroras rippling through clouds of violet mist. The twin suns—Xelphis and Solara—were closer to this planet's orbit than Ves, which explained the scathing heating. She could see the celestial titans looming at opposite ends of the horizon; locked in an eternal balance and casting warped shadows across the land.
She blinked hard, stunned by the surreal brilliance of it all.
“Well,” she rasped, voice rough but steady, “..at least it’s pretty.”
She wiped the sweat from her brow with a shaking hand and took stock of herself. Her outfit was minimal by design—light, breathable, and easily discarded. A sleeveless wrap bound tightly across her chest, secured by leather straps. Her pants were dark and loose, cropped at the calves and tied with cloth cords. No armor. No ornaments. Nothing sacred. Nothing permanent.
Because if things went wrong… none of it would survive the transformation.
She coughed again—wet, bitter—and winced as her hand drifted to her side. She counted three, maybe four ribs. Cracked at best. Broken at worst.
“Fantastic,” she muttered. “Blistering heat. Crushing gravity. Internal bleeding.” She groaned and leaned back against the trunk of the nearest tree, the bark cool despite the heat, giving her a sliver of shade from the oppressive suns. “Oh yeah… off to a great start.”
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
She let her head rest back against the strange tree, eyes half-lidded as she studied the horizon—trying to ignore the pain stitching through her ribs.
Far ahead, through the undulating haze, lied a silhouette. Monolithic. Nestled atop an obsidian ridge that jutted from the verdant biome like a broken fang. It wasn’t natural—its symmetry too precise, its surface too smooth, too deliberate. It spoke of craftsmanship and skill accumulated over years and years of effort. Khei could see it if she squinted.
“That has to be them.” She muttered to herself.
She spat blood into the grass and pushed off the tree with a low grunt, wobbling a moment before catching herself. She wasn't adjusting to the gravity anytime soon, but she'd probably pass out from pain and fatigue if she just sat around.
“Alright..” she muttered, eyes narrowing. “Let’s go”
And with slow, deliberate steps—Khei began her approach toward the obsidian fortress, the light of twin suns painting her path in shadow and gold.
But she wouldn't make it too far.
She took maybe twenty paces from the tree before the air shifted—subtly at first. The kind of change that prickled at her skin before her instincts could even place the reason. Her steps slowed to a cautious crawl and her muscles tensed up quick.
Something was watching her.
The wind stopped. Even the golden spores that floated like lanterns seemed to halt midair.
Then, from the glimmering underbrush, it emerged.
A creature of bone and sinew, low to the ground and longer than a river barge. Its hide was plated in pale, iridescent scales, reflecting the twin suns with a sickly opal sheen. Its maw was wide—disproportionately so—filled with rows of curved teeth designed not just to puncture but to grind as well. Two vertical slits where eyes should have been pulsed faintly with primal fury.
It prowled around her in silence, coiling its body like a serpent preparing to strike. Khei's turned to face it, body still aching, but her spine straightened with the grim resignation of what was going to happen next.
Her hand twitched. She could already feel Ulduin shift beneath her skin, eager for release. For violence. For blood. But before she could act—the stalking predator was frozen mid-motion, just as it lunged at its prey.
Utterly frozen, as if suspended in time and space. It was as if the world itself had stopped moving.
Khei blinked. Twice.
“What the—?”
Three times before she felt it. A suffocating pressure unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. It wasn't the gravity—this was different. Focused. Singular.
She turned.
From a high branch, a figure now stood where no one had stood moments before. Draped in black robes that shifted like smoke, the stranger wore a porcelain-white mask shaped—its features exaggerated into something demonic and alien. Its eyes, if it had any, were hidden in shadow.
Khei’s heart skipped.
The masked figure raised a single, gloved hand—and pointed directly at her.
That’s when reality buckled around her.
Her limbs froze in response, her lungs locked mid-inhale, even her thoughts dulled at the edges.
She stood there, petrified in her own body like a puppet held by unseen strings. Her body, her voice, even Ulduin's burning fury—everything became quiet. Still.
And in that stillness, she heard one word.
One clear amidst the haze.
"Interloper."
---
She didn’t know how much time had passed after that.
A second? An hour? A day?
When sensation returned, it came in waves—first the burn in her lungs, then the throb of her fractured ribs, then the cold bite of metal pressing into her skin.
When she opened her eyes, Khei saw that she was still standing—though, not of her own will. She'd been suspended upright, her entire body wrapped in ancient blackened, metallic cords etched with glowing sigils. From ankle to collarbone, she’d hung there, suspended in the center of a vast stone chamber that reeked of musk, pride and hubris.
The walls towered around her like the inside of a cathedral carved from volcanic obsidian. Strange geometric symbols pulsed faintly from carved channels in the floor. And standing not too far from her were four robed figures, speaking in low, urgent tones.
Their masks—each one styled like a different monster—faced each other in subtle gestures of debate. One mask was horned and jagged, another smooth with a single vertical slit, and the last was porcelain white—broad and fanged. Each mask bore the same motif, but no two were alike.
However, she did recognize the figure who approached her outside.
Khei tried to speak, but her throat felt like it was full of sand. Instead, she just stood there in silence, letting her mind race beneath the stillness. The room vibrated with energy, but none of it made sense. The language was foreign—not words, not sounds. Vibration. Rhythm. Tone.
They were talking, but she couldn’t understand any of it.
Still—she could feel it. They were arguing. Two of the Keioshin moved with sharp, staccato gestures, their vibrations rising in intensity. The third remained still, unwavering. Its mask slowly tilted toward her, as if listening for something more subtle than sound.
Khei stirred, her chains rattled softly as she shifted—and that was enough. The three figures paused mid debate and turned in unison.
They said nothing, but Khei felt their attention like knives at her neck.
“Who are you?” The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. Her voice cracked, raw. She immediately regretted asking—but curiosity had outweighed caution. “...And what is this place?”
But again, the robed figures said nothing in response.
Above them, on a tiered platform carved into the stone like a throne of layered moons, sat three other beings.
These were different.
Their robes shimmered faintly with starlight. Their hoods cast deep shadows where no faces could be seen. They sat in lotus position—motionless. Timeless. As though they had always been—and always would be.
But then—without a word—one of them descended, as if gravity had changed for them alone.
They hovered slowly until they were level with their prisoner's suspended body.
Khei’s eyes locked on the figure. Her throat tightened—but not with fear.
With awe.
This.. being.. its presence was so calming, so serene, that she found it maddening.
Then a tremor passed through her bones. And a voice came soon after. One that made no sound outside of the space between her ears.
“You are not of our calling.. mortal.”
It was like hearing someone relay their thoughts directly into her bones. A truly jarring frequency.
“You arrived here.. by stolen rite. Bearing a name that stains the Aethy’r.”
Another vibration came. this one. Stronger. Sharper.
Khei winced in response. Her jaw clenched, and blood trickled from her lips.
“The Devourer.”
That name pulsed like thunder inside her chest. Ulduin's wrath pulsed through her eyes, crimson and raw like molten iron. But Khei steadied herself moments after.
“..I've come willingly.” Her voice, though hoarse, held. She wasn’t sure they’d understand her tongue—but they did.
The being simply gave no response.
Khei drew a breath before she looked up, straight into the veil of shadow beneath its hood. “I can control him.”
“No. You cannot.”
Judgement.
Khei fell silent, though not of her own accord. It felt as if her voice had been stolen from her.
The three masked figures, still silent, bowed in reverence. Their masks kept their expressions unreadable—but a change had occurred. Even Khei could feel it.
“You were not called. Inteloper.”
The presence continued, less forceful now. Less raw.
"..the fault lies with the one who sent you.”
Khei’s hands balled into trembling fists. And finally, her voice returned.
“No! Judge me. Not her.”
The figure raised a hand and with that gesture—the chains unraveled into streams of dust.
Khei dropped—only to find no floor below her.
And she fell.
And Fell
Into a darkness that never ended.
“Then be judged.”
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
Far ahead, through the undulating haze, lied a silhouette. Monolithic. Nestled atop an obsidian ridge that jutted from the verdant biome like a broken fang. It wasn’t natural—its symmetry too precise, its surface too smooth, too deliberate. It spoke of craftsmanship and skill accumulated over years and years of effort. Khei could see it if she squinted.
“That has to be them.” She muttered to herself.
She spat blood into the grass and pushed off the tree with a low grunt, wobbling a moment before catching herself. She wasn't adjusting to the gravity anytime soon, but she'd probably pass out from pain and fatigue if she just sat around.
“Alright..” she muttered, eyes narrowing. “Let’s go”
And with slow, deliberate steps—Khei began her approach toward the obsidian fortress, the light of twin suns painting her path in shadow and gold.
But she wouldn't make it too far.
She took maybe twenty paces from the tree before the air shifted—subtly at first. The kind of change that prickled at her skin before her instincts could even place the reason. Her steps slowed to a cautious crawl and her muscles tensed up quick.
Something was watching her.
The wind stopped. Even the golden spores that floated like lanterns seemed to halt midair.
Then, from the glimmering underbrush, it emerged.
A creature of bone and sinew, low to the ground and longer than a river barge. Its hide was plated in pale, iridescent scales, reflecting the twin suns with a sickly opal sheen. Its maw was wide—disproportionately so—filled with rows of curved teeth designed not just to puncture but to grind as well. Two vertical slits where eyes should have been pulsed faintly with primal fury.
It prowled around her in silence, coiling its body like a serpent preparing to strike. Khei's turned to face it, body still aching, but her spine straightened with the grim resignation of what was going to happen next.
Her hand twitched. She could already feel Ulduin shift beneath her skin, eager for release. For violence. For blood. But before she could act—the stalking predator was frozen mid-motion, just as it lunged at its prey.
Utterly frozen, as if suspended in time and space. It was as if the world itself had stopped moving.
Khei blinked. Twice.
“What the—?”
Three times before she felt it. A suffocating pressure unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. It wasn't the gravity—this was different. Focused. Singular.
She turned.
From a high branch, a figure now stood where no one had stood moments before. Draped in black robes that shifted like smoke, the stranger wore a porcelain-white mask shaped—its features exaggerated into something demonic and alien. Its eyes, if it had any, were hidden in shadow.
Khei’s heart skipped.
The masked figure raised a single, gloved hand—and pointed directly at her.
That’s when reality buckled around her.
Her limbs froze in response, her lungs locked mid-inhale, even her thoughts dulled at the edges.
She stood there, petrified in her own body like a puppet held by unseen strings. Her body, her voice, even Ulduin's burning fury—everything became quiet. Still.
And in that stillness, she heard one word.
One clear amidst the haze.
"Interloper."
---
She didn’t know how much time had passed after that.
A second? An hour? A day?
When sensation returned, it came in waves—first the burn in her lungs, then the throb of her fractured ribs, then the cold bite of metal pressing into her skin.
When she opened her eyes, Khei saw that she was still standing—though, not of her own will. She'd been suspended upright, her entire body wrapped in ancient blackened, metallic cords etched with glowing sigils. From ankle to collarbone, she’d hung there, suspended in the center of a vast stone chamber that reeked of musk, pride and hubris.
The walls towered around her like the inside of a cathedral carved from volcanic obsidian. Strange geometric symbols pulsed faintly from carved channels in the floor. And standing not too far from her were four robed figures, speaking in low, urgent tones.
Their masks—each one styled like a different monster—faced each other in subtle gestures of debate. One mask was horned and jagged, another smooth with a single vertical slit, and the last was porcelain white—broad and fanged. Each mask bore the same motif, but no two were alike.
However, she did recognize the figure who approached her outside.
Khei tried to speak, but her throat felt like it was full of sand. Instead, she just stood there in silence, letting her mind race beneath the stillness. The room vibrated with energy, but none of it made sense. The language was foreign—not words, not sounds. Vibration. Rhythm. Tone.
They were talking, but she couldn’t understand any of it.
Still—she could feel it. They were arguing. Two of the Keioshin moved with sharp, staccato gestures, their vibrations rising in intensity. The third remained still, unwavering. Its mask slowly tilted toward her, as if listening for something more subtle than sound.
Khei stirred, her chains rattled softly as she shifted—and that was enough. The three figures paused mid debate and turned in unison.
They said nothing, but Khei felt their attention like knives at her neck.
“Who are you?” The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. Her voice cracked, raw. She immediately regretted asking—but curiosity had outweighed caution. “...And what is this place?”
But again, the robed figures said nothing in response.
Above them, on a tiered platform carved into the stone like a throne of layered moons, sat three other beings.
These were different.
Their robes shimmered faintly with starlight. Their hoods cast deep shadows where no faces could be seen. They sat in lotus position—motionless. Timeless. As though they had always been—and always would be.
But then—without a word—one of them descended, as if gravity had changed for them alone.
They hovered slowly until they were level with their prisoner's suspended body.
Khei’s eyes locked on the figure. Her throat tightened—but not with fear.
With awe.
This.. being.. its presence was so calming, so serene, that she found it maddening.
Then a tremor passed through her bones. And a voice came soon after. One that made no sound outside of the space between her ears.
“You are not of our calling.. mortal.”
It was like hearing someone relay their thoughts directly into her bones. A truly jarring frequency.
“You arrived here.. by stolen rite. Bearing a name that stains the Aethy’r.”
Another vibration came. this one. Stronger. Sharper.
Khei winced in response. Her jaw clenched, and blood trickled from her lips.
“The Devourer.”
That name pulsed like thunder inside her chest. Ulduin's wrath pulsed through her eyes, crimson and raw like molten iron. But Khei steadied herself moments after.
“..I've come willingly.” Her voice, though hoarse, held. She wasn’t sure they’d understand her tongue—but they did.
The being simply gave no response.
Khei drew a breath before she looked up, straight into the veil of shadow beneath its hood. “I can control him.”
“No. You cannot.”
Judgement.
Khei fell silent, though not of her own accord. It felt as if her voice had been stolen from her.
The three masked figures, still silent, bowed in reverence. Their masks kept their expressions unreadable—but a change had occurred. Even Khei could feel it.
“You were not called. Inteloper.”
The presence continued, less forceful now. Less raw.
"..the fault lies with the one who sent you.”
Khei’s hands balled into trembling fists. And finally, her voice returned.
“No! Judge me. Not her.”
The figure raised a hand and with that gesture—the chains unraveled into streams of dust.
Khei dropped—only to find no floor below her.
And she fell.
And Fell
Into a darkness that never ended.
“Then be judged.”
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
She fell.
But there was no sensation of descent—no wind clawing at her face, no air to scream through, no ground rushing to greet her. Only a void. An utter absence of everything. The robed figures had vanished, leaving her to plunge into this silent, formless abyss.
She fell..
For hours? Seconds? Days? Again, time dissolved.. There was no color, no sound. Only cold. A creeping cold that wormed its way into her marrow, numbing her thoughts and her breath until even her sense of self began to fray. It was as if she were submerged in a boundless sea, crushed beneath its immeasurable weight.
And then—
Light.
But not the warm kind. Not sunlight. It was sterile. Celestial.
She landed softly—though she had no memory of stopping.
Her bare feet met something solid, yet unreal—like polished stone forged from memory. The void contracted, folding inward like an immense eye narrowing upon her. And within that narrowing, suspended in the curve of nothingness, stood the robed figure.
Now she saw it fully—and what lurked beneath its robes froze her breath in her chest. A towering being, humanoid only in shape, distinctly post-organic. Its body gleamed like obsidian alloyed with darkened platinum, every surface flawless and inhuman. From its head sprouted a twisted crown of tendrils, writhing like a nest of serpents eternally disturbed.
Its face was smooth—a mirrored mask that betrayed no expression, only reflection. She glimpsed her own face upon it, before the image twisted—warped—into what could be. In that moment, two futures unfurled before her, clear as visions imposed upon reality itself.
The first vision ignited.
A new version of herself stepped forth from molten shadow—taller, regal, cloaked in flowing obsidian garments etched with the sigil of the Onyx Conclave. Her eyes burned like dying stars—immense, cold, absolute. Beneath her heel, Ulduin seethed, symbolically leashed in the shadows behind her. His colossal form bowed under her dominion.
Worlds bent to her whim. Civilizations trembled and submitted. Balance was imposed by her decree. Where ruin once reigned, order was restored.
But she was alone.
No laughter. No warmth. No softness left in her voice. Her movements were mechanical—ritual performed without joy or pain. The girl was gone. Only the instrument remained. Power incarnate—and nothing more.
Khei’s jaw tightened. She stepped back, breath unsteady, her stomach coiled in silent defiance.
Then—
The vision screamed, ripping itself apart like film torn mid-reel.
Now Khei saw herself running through Edo; Her clothes clean, her voice light. She was laughing beside someone, their face obscured by haze—but there was warmth. Family. In this vision she had refused the Conclave's burden. Refused godhood.
But soon—there was fire.
The sky shattered, and oceans boiled beneath it. The Horsemen descended like iron titans. And from her body, Ulduin erupted—no longer bound by flesh or influence.
And once free, he consumed. Not just the world—everything. Like a plague of gluttony, wrath and entropy made manifest. But Ulduin was not how she had seen him before—not just the hulking horror hidden inside her soul.
He was colossal, wreathed in a churning veil of fire and doom. A continent-sized engine of cosmic consumption, dragging starlight into his maw like thread through a needle.
Khei's eyes widened as she watched herself weep—before she too was burned, devoured, and vanished soon after..
And through the chaos, as the noise settled, the voice returned.
“Choose”
Its words were not spoken, but imposed directly into her soul. The visions bled away, leaving her once more within the cathedral-like chamber where she had first been chained. But now—she stood freely. Unbound. The creature loomed before her, its alien form fully revealed, its robes discarded like old skin
“Choose mortal,” The being pressed again—closer now. “We have seen your paths; now make your purpose before us clear.”
Silence pulsed between them, harsh and cold like arctic thunder. “..martyrdom, or annihilation.”
The pressure nearly brought her to her knees. Khei took a breath, as if she'd been denied the luxury longer than she deemed possible before she responded to the alien creature.
“..no.”
She retorted, her voice calm but cutting— as if no effort or thought went into her decision. “I won't choose between obedience and extinction. Fuck that. And fuck you.”
She clenched her fists, her voice quivering under the impossible weight, but her resolve never wavered. “I choose neither.”
The being’s tendrils twitched. It chittered—a rasping, guttural sound not meant for mortal ears. Though eyeless, Khei could feel its focus narrow upon her like a blade pressed to her throat.
“Petulence.” The word was uttered like a curse. “Ignorance.”
The silence returned—thicker than before—until one of the masked sentinels finally stirred. Rising from its kneel like an executioner answering a silent signal. The Alien said to Khei a single word before it vanished.
“Unworthy”
Before it vanished from the culling floor, leaving Khei alone with the approaching figure, cloaked in Onyx colored robes, veiled behind a truly haunting mask.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
But there was no sensation of descent—no wind clawing at her face, no air to scream through, no ground rushing to greet her. Only a void. An utter absence of everything. The robed figures had vanished, leaving her to plunge into this silent, formless abyss.
She fell..
For hours? Seconds? Days? Again, time dissolved.. There was no color, no sound. Only cold. A creeping cold that wormed its way into her marrow, numbing her thoughts and her breath until even her sense of self began to fray. It was as if she were submerged in a boundless sea, crushed beneath its immeasurable weight.
And then—
Light.
But not the warm kind. Not sunlight. It was sterile. Celestial.
She landed softly—though she had no memory of stopping.
Her bare feet met something solid, yet unreal—like polished stone forged from memory. The void contracted, folding inward like an immense eye narrowing upon her. And within that narrowing, suspended in the curve of nothingness, stood the robed figure.
Now she saw it fully—and what lurked beneath its robes froze her breath in her chest. A towering being, humanoid only in shape, distinctly post-organic. Its body gleamed like obsidian alloyed with darkened platinum, every surface flawless and inhuman. From its head sprouted a twisted crown of tendrils, writhing like a nest of serpents eternally disturbed.
Its face was smooth—a mirrored mask that betrayed no expression, only reflection. She glimpsed her own face upon it, before the image twisted—warped—into what could be. In that moment, two futures unfurled before her, clear as visions imposed upon reality itself.
The first vision ignited.
A new version of herself stepped forth from molten shadow—taller, regal, cloaked in flowing obsidian garments etched with the sigil of the Onyx Conclave. Her eyes burned like dying stars—immense, cold, absolute. Beneath her heel, Ulduin seethed, symbolically leashed in the shadows behind her. His colossal form bowed under her dominion.
Worlds bent to her whim. Civilizations trembled and submitted. Balance was imposed by her decree. Where ruin once reigned, order was restored.
But she was alone.
No laughter. No warmth. No softness left in her voice. Her movements were mechanical—ritual performed without joy or pain. The girl was gone. Only the instrument remained. Power incarnate—and nothing more.
Khei’s jaw tightened. She stepped back, breath unsteady, her stomach coiled in silent defiance.
Then—
The vision screamed, ripping itself apart like film torn mid-reel.
Now Khei saw herself running through Edo; Her clothes clean, her voice light. She was laughing beside someone, their face obscured by haze—but there was warmth. Family. In this vision she had refused the Conclave's burden. Refused godhood.
But soon—there was fire.
The sky shattered, and oceans boiled beneath it. The Horsemen descended like iron titans. And from her body, Ulduin erupted—no longer bound by flesh or influence.
And once free, he consumed. Not just the world—everything. Like a plague of gluttony, wrath and entropy made manifest. But Ulduin was not how she had seen him before—not just the hulking horror hidden inside her soul.
He was colossal, wreathed in a churning veil of fire and doom. A continent-sized engine of cosmic consumption, dragging starlight into his maw like thread through a needle.
Khei's eyes widened as she watched herself weep—before she too was burned, devoured, and vanished soon after..
And through the chaos, as the noise settled, the voice returned.
“Choose”
Its words were not spoken, but imposed directly into her soul. The visions bled away, leaving her once more within the cathedral-like chamber where she had first been chained. But now—she stood freely. Unbound. The creature loomed before her, its alien form fully revealed, its robes discarded like old skin
“Choose mortal,” The being pressed again—closer now. “We have seen your paths; now make your purpose before us clear.”
Silence pulsed between them, harsh and cold like arctic thunder. “..martyrdom, or annihilation.”
The pressure nearly brought her to her knees. Khei took a breath, as if she'd been denied the luxury longer than she deemed possible before she responded to the alien creature.
“..no.”
She retorted, her voice calm but cutting— as if no effort or thought went into her decision. “I won't choose between obedience and extinction. Fuck that. And fuck you.”
She clenched her fists, her voice quivering under the impossible weight, but her resolve never wavered. “I choose neither.”
The being’s tendrils twitched. It chittered—a rasping, guttural sound not meant for mortal ears. Though eyeless, Khei could feel its focus narrow upon her like a blade pressed to her throat.
“Petulence.” The word was uttered like a curse. “Ignorance.”
The silence returned—thicker than before—until one of the masked sentinels finally stirred. Rising from its kneel like an executioner answering a silent signal. The Alien said to Khei a single word before it vanished.
“Unworthy”
Before it vanished from the culling floor, leaving Khei alone with the approaching figure, cloaked in Onyx colored robes, veiled behind a truly haunting mask.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
The moment hung in suffocating silence as one of the robed, masked figured strode forward across the polished stone of the culling floor and stopped at its center. Before his opponent.
With a measured grace, he removed his mask and allowed the ceremonial robes to fall from his shoulders, the heavy fabric hanging at his waist—revealing his form beneath
Khei's breath hitched in her throat—
He was frighteningly alien. Nearly nine feet of sculpted might—his body a haunting fusion of petrified wood and sinew, as if a living tree had been carved into the image of a warrior. The sinewy musculature flexed beneath the hardened texture of his hide, moving with unnatural fluidity for something that appeared carved from wood. His flesh bore the color of ashen bone, the hue of ancient bark long stripped of life, yet humming faintly with untamed energy.
Embedded at the center of his elongated, crown-like head sat a single vertical eye—humming with latent power. And surrounding it were four narrower eyes buried within the hardened grooves of his face, scanning Khei with unblinking focus. From his head rose branching, antler-like horns, each adorned with golden rings that swayed faintly with his every motion, chiming like distant bells
This was Va'korr.
The oldest, and perhaps the most feared of the Onyx Conclave's “Cosmic Gavels”; The Keioshin—Avatars of Destruction.
The voice of tendril bearing alien thundered from the Tribunal's seat high above, speaking with finality:
“Behold, the instrument of your destruction.”
Khei’s stance instinctively shifted. Her bare feet slid apart over the obsidian floor, knees bending slightly. Her breathing slowed, teeth clenched as she felt Ulduin stir within her—coiling, hungry, responding to the pulse of violence in the air.
Khei's stance shifted instinctively, teeth clenched. “...fuuck,” she hissed beneath her breath. “..and i thought the last one was ugly..”
She said as her fingers curled into trembling fists; She was trying her best to maintain her calm. Her focus. But Ulduin stirred at the promise of bloodshed. And the pain rippling from her cracked her ribs, was growing worse by the second. But her eyes never left Va’korr’s towering form.
“Listen, I didn’t come here to fight you,” she said glancing around the chamber, her voice rising with bitter defiance, “Any of you. I came because I was told you could help me.”
Va’korr’s head tilted ever so slightly, the golden rings swaying like pendulums. “There is no helping you.”
His voice came low—deep and deliberate, like stone grinding against stone. “The Devourer slumbers within you,” he continued, his baritone carrying the crushing weight of inevitability. “And no being in this cosmos can bend the will of a Primordial."
He said as his gnarled fingers found the hilt of the katana sheathed at his hip. “I do not relish this task, mortal. But purpose binds us both.”
His words held no anger, no arrogance, no hatred—only the grim resolve of one who had long surrendered to duty.
“Put to rest any delusion contrary to this—you are nothing more than a vessel. An Acheron; a living tomb conceived to detain that which should not exist. I fear your life was forfeit long ago..”
“Yeah.. you don't know me..” She retorted, her eyes narrowing to slits as her fury flared. Pain lanced her side, but she embraced it, feeding the fire inside her. “Trust me—you're making a serious mistake. Don't let your master get you killed today..”
The two faced one another now, silent and still like two opposing storms gathered at the edge of oblivion. Only the echoing sound of Khei’s faint panting filled the empty chamber as the battle line was drawn.
“I'd prefer to just talk,” she offered once more, voice almost casual beneath the pressure. “Hell, I'm happy to just leave if that's an option.”
“It is not.” Va’korr noted plainly. “Your very existence threatens the integrity of the cosmos. It is the duty of the Keioshin to preserve that balance. And it is my duty to destroy you.”
With slow, ritualistic grace, he drew his blade — its polished edge catching the pale, sterile light of the chamber. “This weapon was forged for this very purpose; tempered by celestial flame and cooled in the apathy of the void. This blade will drink his immortal blood, and cleave the Devourer from this realm.”
Khei let out a long dramatic sigh, smirking as she spat definitely on the ground between them. “Oh yeah? Well, I guess we're done talking so.. How about you give it your best shot?”
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
With a measured grace, he removed his mask and allowed the ceremonial robes to fall from his shoulders, the heavy fabric hanging at his waist—revealing his form beneath
Khei's breath hitched in her throat—
He was frighteningly alien. Nearly nine feet of sculpted might—his body a haunting fusion of petrified wood and sinew, as if a living tree had been carved into the image of a warrior. The sinewy musculature flexed beneath the hardened texture of his hide, moving with unnatural fluidity for something that appeared carved from wood. His flesh bore the color of ashen bone, the hue of ancient bark long stripped of life, yet humming faintly with untamed energy.
Embedded at the center of his elongated, crown-like head sat a single vertical eye—humming with latent power. And surrounding it were four narrower eyes buried within the hardened grooves of his face, scanning Khei with unblinking focus. From his head rose branching, antler-like horns, each adorned with golden rings that swayed faintly with his every motion, chiming like distant bells
This was Va'korr.
The oldest, and perhaps the most feared of the Onyx Conclave's “Cosmic Gavels”; The Keioshin—Avatars of Destruction.
The voice of tendril bearing alien thundered from the Tribunal's seat high above, speaking with finality:
“Behold, the instrument of your destruction.”
Khei’s stance instinctively shifted. Her bare feet slid apart over the obsidian floor, knees bending slightly. Her breathing slowed, teeth clenched as she felt Ulduin stir within her—coiling, hungry, responding to the pulse of violence in the air.
Khei's stance shifted instinctively, teeth clenched. “...fuuck,” she hissed beneath her breath. “..and i thought the last one was ugly..”
She said as her fingers curled into trembling fists; She was trying her best to maintain her calm. Her focus. But Ulduin stirred at the promise of bloodshed. And the pain rippling from her cracked her ribs, was growing worse by the second. But her eyes never left Va’korr’s towering form.
“Listen, I didn’t come here to fight you,” she said glancing around the chamber, her voice rising with bitter defiance, “Any of you. I came because I was told you could help me.”
Va’korr’s head tilted ever so slightly, the golden rings swaying like pendulums. “There is no helping you.”
His voice came low—deep and deliberate, like stone grinding against stone. “The Devourer slumbers within you,” he continued, his baritone carrying the crushing weight of inevitability. “And no being in this cosmos can bend the will of a Primordial."
He said as his gnarled fingers found the hilt of the katana sheathed at his hip. “I do not relish this task, mortal. But purpose binds us both.”
His words held no anger, no arrogance, no hatred—only the grim resolve of one who had long surrendered to duty.
“Put to rest any delusion contrary to this—you are nothing more than a vessel. An Acheron; a living tomb conceived to detain that which should not exist. I fear your life was forfeit long ago..”
“Yeah.. you don't know me..” She retorted, her eyes narrowing to slits as her fury flared. Pain lanced her side, but she embraced it, feeding the fire inside her. “Trust me—you're making a serious mistake. Don't let your master get you killed today..”
The two faced one another now, silent and still like two opposing storms gathered at the edge of oblivion. Only the echoing sound of Khei’s faint panting filled the empty chamber as the battle line was drawn.
“I'd prefer to just talk,” she offered once more, voice almost casual beneath the pressure. “Hell, I'm happy to just leave if that's an option.”
“It is not.” Va’korr noted plainly. “Your very existence threatens the integrity of the cosmos. It is the duty of the Keioshin to preserve that balance. And it is my duty to destroy you.”
With slow, ritualistic grace, he drew his blade — its polished edge catching the pale, sterile light of the chamber. “This weapon was forged for this very purpose; tempered by celestial flame and cooled in the apathy of the void. This blade will drink his immortal blood, and cleave the Devourer from this realm.”
Khei let out a long dramatic sigh, smirking as she spat definitely on the ground between them. “Oh yeah? Well, I guess we're done talking so.. How about you give it your best shot?”
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 100%
——---——— ——---———
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
The air thickened as the final words left Khei’s lips, leaving only the quiet pulse of inevitability.
Then, Va’korr moved.
Faster than something his size should be able to move. His colossal form became a blur of ashen blue—his blade an extension of his wrath.
Khei never saw the attack itself. No mortal could've. Her foe gave no warning, no flash of steel—only the sudden tremor of death barreling toward her. She barely felt the blade cleave into her abdomen, a horizontal strike, intended to separate her torso from her legs in one fell swoop.
But it didn't.
Instead, the force behind it launched her body wildly into the walls of the chamber, casting clouds of marble and dust upon the battlefield. But Va’korr was not satisfied.
His blade had struck true—yet something had resisted.
At the moment of impact, Khei's flesh had not yielded like mortal flesh. As if it had become something far denser—older, just before she was cut.
She lay buried beneath slabs of stone and obsidian. Still. Silent. A corpse beneath the rubble. No being, mortal or otherwise, could have survived a strike from his blade, but Va’korr persisted.
Relentless, he steadied his grip, and vanished without a trace—reappearing above her premature grave with his blade raised high over his head. Its edge erupted with a fervent golden hue before he brought it crashing down upon his foe like a celestial hammer. Just as he had done a million times before.
This should have been the killing blow—a fitting end for the Devourer and his vessel. But Ulduin would not go quietly..
Just then, the floor cracked open and a massive clawed hand erupted from beneath the stone, catching Va’korr’s descending blade mid-strike. The impact detonated with enough force to splinter the chamber floor beneath them, and sent new fractures lancing outward like jagged lightning.
What emerged soon after was nearly ten feet of hulking, vascular might. Limbs thick as pillars wrapped in alabaster flesh, with fingers ending in talon-like claws. His jaw was an exhibit of fangs and teeth designed to tear and maim rather than speech. With a face distorted into an eldritch mask of hunger and fury.
He howled.. a devilish, monstrous howl. And then..
With a grinding twist of impossible force, he wrenched Va’korr’s arm aside by twisting his grip around the Katana and retaliated with a punch from his free hand that detonated into the Keioshin’s ribcage like a battering ram.
Va’korr’s massive frame was lifted off his feet in a blur, hurled backward like a broken statue. He crashed through one of the towering obsidian pillars that encircled the chamber, the black monolith shattering into glittering fragments as he skidded across the stone floor, trenches gouged deep beneath his heels as he re-centered himself.
His breathing remained steady—controlled.
“At last..” He said as his vertical eye dilated and focused. “You show yourself.”
The true battle had begun, and the first true blow of the bout had landed.
The imprint of Ulduin’s fist was carved into his chest, but his bark-like flesh was already knitting itself back together, glowing faintly as ancient energies worked to mend the wound. He would mend in moments. He paid it no mind. All of his attention was fixated on the seething celestial before him.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 90%
——---——— ——---———
Then, Va’korr moved.
Faster than something his size should be able to move. His colossal form became a blur of ashen blue—his blade an extension of his wrath.
Khei never saw the attack itself. No mortal could've. Her foe gave no warning, no flash of steel—only the sudden tremor of death barreling toward her. She barely felt the blade cleave into her abdomen, a horizontal strike, intended to separate her torso from her legs in one fell swoop.
But it didn't.
Instead, the force behind it launched her body wildly into the walls of the chamber, casting clouds of marble and dust upon the battlefield. But Va’korr was not satisfied.
His blade had struck true—yet something had resisted.
At the moment of impact, Khei's flesh had not yielded like mortal flesh. As if it had become something far denser—older, just before she was cut.
She lay buried beneath slabs of stone and obsidian. Still. Silent. A corpse beneath the rubble. No being, mortal or otherwise, could have survived a strike from his blade, but Va’korr persisted.
Relentless, he steadied his grip, and vanished without a trace—reappearing above her premature grave with his blade raised high over his head. Its edge erupted with a fervent golden hue before he brought it crashing down upon his foe like a celestial hammer. Just as he had done a million times before.
This should have been the killing blow—a fitting end for the Devourer and his vessel. But Ulduin would not go quietly..
Just then, the floor cracked open and a massive clawed hand erupted from beneath the stone, catching Va’korr’s descending blade mid-strike. The impact detonated with enough force to splinter the chamber floor beneath them, and sent new fractures lancing outward like jagged lightning.
What emerged soon after was nearly ten feet of hulking, vascular might. Limbs thick as pillars wrapped in alabaster flesh, with fingers ending in talon-like claws. His jaw was an exhibit of fangs and teeth designed to tear and maim rather than speech. With a face distorted into an eldritch mask of hunger and fury.
He howled.. a devilish, monstrous howl. And then..
With a grinding twist of impossible force, he wrenched Va’korr’s arm aside by twisting his grip around the Katana and retaliated with a punch from his free hand that detonated into the Keioshin’s ribcage like a battering ram.
Va’korr’s massive frame was lifted off his feet in a blur, hurled backward like a broken statue. He crashed through one of the towering obsidian pillars that encircled the chamber, the black monolith shattering into glittering fragments as he skidded across the stone floor, trenches gouged deep beneath his heels as he re-centered himself.
His breathing remained steady—controlled.
“At last..” He said as his vertical eye dilated and focused. “You show yourself.”
The true battle had begun, and the first true blow of the bout had landed.
The imprint of Ulduin’s fist was carved into his chest, but his bark-like flesh was already knitting itself back together, glowing faintly as ancient energies worked to mend the wound. He would mend in moments. He paid it no mind. All of his attention was fixated on the seething celestial before him.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 90%
——---——— ——---———
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
The dust had barely settled when Va’korr surged forward.
His body blurred through the fractured air, four arms now unfurled from his midsection—two for defense, two for offense. He spun his blade into a reverse grip, its glowing edge trailing arcs of molten light as the Keioshin closed the distance in less than a heartbeat.
Ulduin met him in kind.
The Devourer’s roar never sounded louder than it did today—the sheer impact of his charge shook the walls of the chamber like thunder. He launched forward, talons raking across the floor, carving molten grooves into the stone beneath him.
Then they collided.
Va’korr struck first— His blade slashing in a wide arc aimed to sever Ulduin’s left arm at the shoulder. But the blade met resistance again. The edge bit into alabaster hide but failed to pass through. The crimson veins beneath Ulduin’s flesh pulsed in retaliation, and the wound sealed before the blade could even finish its arc.
Ulduin retaliated with a backhand that shattered the winds.
Va’korr parried with one of his arms and twisted mid-air, redirecting with a sweep of his lower arms, catching Ulduin’s follow-up strike against the bracers lining his forearms. The impact sent a wave of force surging outward—columns cracked, the far wall split. But the Keioshin did not yield.
He spun low, sweeping Ulduin’s legs from beneath him with a scything kick—impossibly fast for someone so massive. Ulduin stumbled and his knee the ground hard enough to crater it— the impact spiderwebbing through the obsidian floor. But even grounded, Ulduin was ferocious.
His arm lunged out and grabbed Va’korr by the waist and slammed him into the ground spine-first. And before the echo of the impact faded, Ulduin was atop him, fists raining down like meteor strikes. Each blow forced stone to explode upward in clouds of dust and debris, and forced Va’korr deeper into a hole.
Boom. Boom. BOOOOM.
Va’korr caught one of the strikes, locking Ulduin’s wrist in a vice-grip with all four of his hands. Then his third eye opened.
The slit in the center of his forehead glowed like a sun before a lance of raw, focused force erupted from it and slammed point-blank into Ulduin’s chest.
The Devourer was hurled backward like a comet and sent crashing through pillars, floor, and stone alike—buried beneath the collapsed edge of the culling floor, miles of debris caving in behind him.
Silence returned to the crumbling sanctum—a cold, trembling silence.
Va’korr stood, slowly. Smoke trailed from the center of his brow where the beam had fired. His skin smoldered with damage now—veins of blackened, crumbling bark running through his left shoulder, ribs, and flank. The first true wounds of the bout.
He looked toward the ruin where Ulduin had vanished—his vertical eye narrowing.
“So be it, Devourer,” he said beneath his breath.
“Let us test the weight of fate.”
Then he leapt—vaulting high into the air, descending like a meteor toward the shattered chasm where Ulduin stirred, ready to drive his cosmic blade downward with all the fury of the heavens.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 70%
——---——— ——---———
His body blurred through the fractured air, four arms now unfurled from his midsection—two for defense, two for offense. He spun his blade into a reverse grip, its glowing edge trailing arcs of molten light as the Keioshin closed the distance in less than a heartbeat.
Ulduin met him in kind.
The Devourer’s roar never sounded louder than it did today—the sheer impact of his charge shook the walls of the chamber like thunder. He launched forward, talons raking across the floor, carving molten grooves into the stone beneath him.
Then they collided.
Va’korr struck first— His blade slashing in a wide arc aimed to sever Ulduin’s left arm at the shoulder. But the blade met resistance again. The edge bit into alabaster hide but failed to pass through. The crimson veins beneath Ulduin’s flesh pulsed in retaliation, and the wound sealed before the blade could even finish its arc.
Ulduin retaliated with a backhand that shattered the winds.
Va’korr parried with one of his arms and twisted mid-air, redirecting with a sweep of his lower arms, catching Ulduin’s follow-up strike against the bracers lining his forearms. The impact sent a wave of force surging outward—columns cracked, the far wall split. But the Keioshin did not yield.
He spun low, sweeping Ulduin’s legs from beneath him with a scything kick—impossibly fast for someone so massive. Ulduin stumbled and his knee the ground hard enough to crater it— the impact spiderwebbing through the obsidian floor. But even grounded, Ulduin was ferocious.
His arm lunged out and grabbed Va’korr by the waist and slammed him into the ground spine-first. And before the echo of the impact faded, Ulduin was atop him, fists raining down like meteor strikes. Each blow forced stone to explode upward in clouds of dust and debris, and forced Va’korr deeper into a hole.
Boom. Boom. BOOOOM.
Va’korr caught one of the strikes, locking Ulduin’s wrist in a vice-grip with all four of his hands. Then his third eye opened.
The slit in the center of his forehead glowed like a sun before a lance of raw, focused force erupted from it and slammed point-blank into Ulduin’s chest.
The Devourer was hurled backward like a comet and sent crashing through pillars, floor, and stone alike—buried beneath the collapsed edge of the culling floor, miles of debris caving in behind him.
Silence returned to the crumbling sanctum—a cold, trembling silence.
Va’korr stood, slowly. Smoke trailed from the center of his brow where the beam had fired. His skin smoldered with damage now—veins of blackened, crumbling bark running through his left shoulder, ribs, and flank. The first true wounds of the bout.
He looked toward the ruin where Ulduin had vanished—his vertical eye narrowing.
“So be it, Devourer,” he said beneath his breath.
“Let us test the weight of fate.”
Then he leapt—vaulting high into the air, descending like a meteor toward the shattered chasm where Ulduin stirred, ready to drive his cosmic blade downward with all the fury of the heavens.
——---——— ——---———
Current Energy Level: 70%
——---——— ——---———
Re: Ash and Aether; Planet Ragn’hr
The battle had waged for what felt like hours.
Blows that could level continents had been exchanged again and again. Each strike of Va'korr's blade collided with Ulduin's monstrous fists, shaking the chamber with celestial impacts. The chamber—once a pristine monument of obsidian monoliths and sacred stone—was now reduced to ruin. Shattered pillars. Gaping fissures in the floor. Craters etched from sheer force.
Va'korr moved like a god of war—each step measured, each strike deliberate. His centuries of mastery were evident in the way he countered, flowed, and repositioned. He was a storm of skill—impossible technique wrapped in brutal efficiency.
But even still, he was being pushed back.
Ulduin, the Devourer, had shown no signs of fatigue. In fact, his strength seemed to grow with each second—his alabaster frame blistered with glowing red veins that pulsed brighter with every blow exchanged. He didn’t speak. He didn’t bleed. He simply fought—groaned. Roared. Just primal instinct made flesh.
There was no finesse behind the Devourer's form—only terrifying efficiency. Crude. Relentless. Brutal. Every strike was a declaration of doom. And while Va’korr outclassed the beast in tact and discipline, Ulduin was not a foe that could be bested in attrition. He was a tide that would never recede.
He would not be outlasted.
“Gyuh!!” Va’korr grunted as he moved his blade to deflect another blow, only to have his entire arm shattered from the sheer force behind Ulduin's fist.
He was driven backward, his heels ripping trenches into the surface of the temple as he struggled to gather his footing.
"You falter, Va'korr."
It was then that Va’korr could hear the voice of the Tribunal spoken directly into his mind. They saw him, battered and half-crippled, and saw his value as to them waining significantly. “The Keioshin do not falter. They do not fail.”
"You have been called.. Destroy it—now." The voices seemed to surround him—accosting him within the conforts of his mind and from every angle inside. But Va’korr did not hesitate. With two fingers, he performed an Ava that revealed a searing glyph burned into the center of his chest; a unique pattern of black that bolstered his power nearly a thousand fold in an instant.
This was the source of every Keioshin's divine power.
The Sigil of Ruin.. It pulsed along his bark like skin with a blistering black-and-gold light.
Then instantly, a field of colorless death exploded from his being. And it was incredibly volatile; it caused stone to wither, caused energy to unravel and distort. Even the very air began to twist and groan as Va’korr straightened his stance, and regained his composure.
Ulduin paused—only for a moment—as the space around Va’korr rippled. Reality was bending.. Even gravity seemed to tremble in submission. Slowly, Va’korr’s form levitated slightly as his feet no longer obeyed physical law. He had begun to transcend.
Now unbound by inertia, Va’korr blurred with speed and grace beyond measure. He moved like an extension of the cosmos itself—his strikes coming from impossible angles, his will folding reality around his blade.
He landed a dozen blows, each one echoing like TNT against Ulduin’s frame.
And still—the Devourer stood.
Snarling.
Burning.
Enduring.
Va’korr's blade flayed flesh and blood from his foe with ease—moving so fast he became wind itself, only more deadly.. Sentient, and relentless. But the Devourer would not succumb.
His muscles wept crimson, but with each strike he endured, they tightened. Strengthened, hardened until Va’korr's cosmic steel met resistance.
!!KLAAANGG!!
The frequency was akin to steel clashing against something harder.. and bouncing off.
Ulduin seized the opportunity—he grabbed Va’korr by the throat and slammed his body into the floor. The stone surface beneath them erupted upward, sending oscillating shockwaves that buckled the chamber. He pinned the warrior with a single foot, reared back his monstrous fist, and struck him again.. and again.. and again.
The temple floor splintered beneath them, nearly collapsed beneath the force of his Ulduin's wrath. And his assault persisted until the light behind Va’korr's alien eyes went dim. Only then, when his foe could barely move, did Ulduin sharpen his bloodied fingers until his hand emulated a dagger.
He drew back once more for the killing blow, but then—he stopped.
His frame pulsed. His face twitched. Something within the mountain of muscle and destruction... shifted.
Ulduin convulsed once—then twice—before his monstrous shape began to fold inward.
The crimson veins dimmed.. His alabaster flesh retracted.
And from that horrorshow stepped Khei—human once more, trembling and bruised, but very much herself. Very much human.
The Tribunal stirred above, their minds colliding in silent council:
(("..it..relents?”))
((“..an impossibility. There is no known force that can abate The Devourer's wrath.. A Primordial can not be quelled.”))
((“..and yet..”))
Suddenly, one of them called out—their voice only heard through Khei’s still reeling mind.
“..why?”
Khei was barely present enough to truly register the voice, let alone make sense of the words. Her gaze was slowly drawn from her defeated opponent to the towering staircase, where the Tribunal surveyed the battle.
“..why do you relent?” The question was soft on her ears, but she could make out every syllable.
“..to prove.. a point.” She hissed through gritted teeth.
Again, the Tribunal conferred;
(("A being of such power, bound by a mortal will? This should not be..”))
(("...Should they be destroyed?"))
Their minds fell silent, weighing potential and possibility against cosmic annihilation.
(("No."))
Va’korr stirred below, coughing blood at the foot of his now five foot tall foe. His body was broken, and to them, his purpose was fulfilled.
"Va’korr."
Their voice, once a private lull, now boomed from all directions like a collective of angered gods.
"You have been judged.”
With a blinding lance of telekinetic force, Va’korr was vanquished—his form atomized by the Tribunal without ceremony or sentiment.
Khei collapsed soon after. Her limbs gave way, her body trembling with exhaustion and ache. But before she could hit the floor, a robed Keioshin caught her. Their faces were masked, their aura unreadable. They had stood silent in the shadows through the trial and had drawn her conclusion from what they'd seen.
But despite their preconceived notions.. despite the emotions involved with watching one of their allies struck down, They said nothing. The robed figure simply took Khei into their arms and turned to the Tribunal.
And with a nod of assent to his superiors, the two of them vanished into smoke.
Blows that could level continents had been exchanged again and again. Each strike of Va'korr's blade collided with Ulduin's monstrous fists, shaking the chamber with celestial impacts. The chamber—once a pristine monument of obsidian monoliths and sacred stone—was now reduced to ruin. Shattered pillars. Gaping fissures in the floor. Craters etched from sheer force.
Va'korr moved like a god of war—each step measured, each strike deliberate. His centuries of mastery were evident in the way he countered, flowed, and repositioned. He was a storm of skill—impossible technique wrapped in brutal efficiency.
But even still, he was being pushed back.
Ulduin, the Devourer, had shown no signs of fatigue. In fact, his strength seemed to grow with each second—his alabaster frame blistered with glowing red veins that pulsed brighter with every blow exchanged. He didn’t speak. He didn’t bleed. He simply fought—groaned. Roared. Just primal instinct made flesh.
There was no finesse behind the Devourer's form—only terrifying efficiency. Crude. Relentless. Brutal. Every strike was a declaration of doom. And while Va’korr outclassed the beast in tact and discipline, Ulduin was not a foe that could be bested in attrition. He was a tide that would never recede.
He would not be outlasted.
“Gyuh!!” Va’korr grunted as he moved his blade to deflect another blow, only to have his entire arm shattered from the sheer force behind Ulduin's fist.
He was driven backward, his heels ripping trenches into the surface of the temple as he struggled to gather his footing.
"You falter, Va'korr."
It was then that Va’korr could hear the voice of the Tribunal spoken directly into his mind. They saw him, battered and half-crippled, and saw his value as to them waining significantly. “The Keioshin do not falter. They do not fail.”
"You have been called.. Destroy it—now." The voices seemed to surround him—accosting him within the conforts of his mind and from every angle inside. But Va’korr did not hesitate. With two fingers, he performed an Ava that revealed a searing glyph burned into the center of his chest; a unique pattern of black that bolstered his power nearly a thousand fold in an instant.
This was the source of every Keioshin's divine power.
The Sigil of Ruin.. It pulsed along his bark like skin with a blistering black-and-gold light.
Then instantly, a field of colorless death exploded from his being. And it was incredibly volatile; it caused stone to wither, caused energy to unravel and distort. Even the very air began to twist and groan as Va’korr straightened his stance, and regained his composure.
Ulduin paused—only for a moment—as the space around Va’korr rippled. Reality was bending.. Even gravity seemed to tremble in submission. Slowly, Va’korr’s form levitated slightly as his feet no longer obeyed physical law. He had begun to transcend.
Now unbound by inertia, Va’korr blurred with speed and grace beyond measure. He moved like an extension of the cosmos itself—his strikes coming from impossible angles, his will folding reality around his blade.
He landed a dozen blows, each one echoing like TNT against Ulduin’s frame.
And still—the Devourer stood.
Snarling.
Burning.
Enduring.
Va’korr's blade flayed flesh and blood from his foe with ease—moving so fast he became wind itself, only more deadly.. Sentient, and relentless. But the Devourer would not succumb.
His muscles wept crimson, but with each strike he endured, they tightened. Strengthened, hardened until Va’korr's cosmic steel met resistance.
!!KLAAANGG!!
The frequency was akin to steel clashing against something harder.. and bouncing off.
Ulduin seized the opportunity—he grabbed Va’korr by the throat and slammed his body into the floor. The stone surface beneath them erupted upward, sending oscillating shockwaves that buckled the chamber. He pinned the warrior with a single foot, reared back his monstrous fist, and struck him again.. and again.. and again.
The temple floor splintered beneath them, nearly collapsed beneath the force of his Ulduin's wrath. And his assault persisted until the light behind Va’korr's alien eyes went dim. Only then, when his foe could barely move, did Ulduin sharpen his bloodied fingers until his hand emulated a dagger.
He drew back once more for the killing blow, but then—he stopped.
His frame pulsed. His face twitched. Something within the mountain of muscle and destruction... shifted.
Ulduin convulsed once—then twice—before his monstrous shape began to fold inward.
The crimson veins dimmed.. His alabaster flesh retracted.
And from that horrorshow stepped Khei—human once more, trembling and bruised, but very much herself. Very much human.
The Tribunal stirred above, their minds colliding in silent council:
(("..it..relents?”))
((“..an impossibility. There is no known force that can abate The Devourer's wrath.. A Primordial can not be quelled.”))
((“..and yet..”))
Suddenly, one of them called out—their voice only heard through Khei’s still reeling mind.
“..why?”
Khei was barely present enough to truly register the voice, let alone make sense of the words. Her gaze was slowly drawn from her defeated opponent to the towering staircase, where the Tribunal surveyed the battle.
“..why do you relent?” The question was soft on her ears, but she could make out every syllable.
“..to prove.. a point.” She hissed through gritted teeth.
Again, the Tribunal conferred;
(("A being of such power, bound by a mortal will? This should not be..”))
(("...Should they be destroyed?"))
Their minds fell silent, weighing potential and possibility against cosmic annihilation.
(("No."))
Va’korr stirred below, coughing blood at the foot of his now five foot tall foe. His body was broken, and to them, his purpose was fulfilled.
"Va’korr."
Their voice, once a private lull, now boomed from all directions like a collective of angered gods.
"You have been judged.”
With a blinding lance of telekinetic force, Va’korr was vanquished—his form atomized by the Tribunal without ceremony or sentiment.
Khei collapsed soon after. Her limbs gave way, her body trembling with exhaustion and ache. But before she could hit the floor, a robed Keioshin caught her. Their faces were masked, their aura unreadable. They had stood silent in the shadows through the trial and had drawn her conclusion from what they'd seen.
But despite their preconceived notions.. despite the emotions involved with watching one of their allies struck down, They said nothing. The robed figure simply took Khei into their arms and turned to the Tribunal.
And with a nod of assent to his superiors, the two of them vanished into smoke.
The team