Shadow of the Abyss

Following the horrid shrieks that shook the old walls of the cathedral of light, humming across the blood-stained stone, the Heralds of Astaroth charged at the Dawnbreakers that gleamed a dim light beneath the night. They clashed. Heralds with their vile talons slash at shields while morningstars, spears, and swords pierce and slash into flesh.

Even so, the Heralds continued forward, ignoring the thick, clotted blood spewing from out of their severed arms and legs.

As if possessed by the foulest of demons, they clawed forward, biting, slashing, and casting with every fiber of their being. The Heralds felt no pain. Or rather, the pain was their pleasure. For each limb and eye they lost, the greater their ferocity became.

And slowly, the Dawnbreaker, the Paladins of the Eternal Heavens, began to dwindle in numbers. Those who bore the Iron Mask were falling, their bodies being torn apart, shredded to bits of flesh.

Blood painted the walls and grass over the bailey until all that was left was destruction and wretched screams of those pleading not to die, of those caught up in battle.

Chaos had descended on the battlefield.

Eyeing the Sword of the King, Varquess, with darkness in her eyes, Amilia slid her gaze to the approaching Raven. Ready to destroy it, she paused as words echoed from its mouth, startling her.

"It's me," Altair's voice echoed from out of the ravens. It flapped its wings, landing on her shoulder. Still, Amilia was cautious, employing a spell of protection to herself, just in case. "You've got to get out of here."

"What?" Amilia cried.

"We've lost this city," Altair informed her, his voice like cold hard ice. "We're abandoning it. I've got the recruits."

Amilia felt the walls around her crumbling. They'd spent so much time building this city.

"What the fuck are you still standing there for… LEAVE!!!" Altair snapped when a presence so domineering came like a great flood. The Raven dropped to the ground dead, turning into embers.

When Amilia turned towards the skies, she saw Varquess gripping his golden saber, which seemed to gleam the brilliance of dawn, so bright it shone, she nearly felt blinded.

As if she was staring at the great sun above the Sword of the King's head, the skies seemed to illuminate a gold that made her heart sink into despair. Seven Greatswords came from the Heavens like vicious bolts that struck the earth, seething destruction wherever it struck.

The earth began thrashing, howling, weeping like a living creature. Structures that stood for hundreds of thousands of years seemed to crumble and shatter, turning to dust in the blink of an eye at the shared shockwave that came.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~

Heralds, Soldiers of Sepith, and citizens alike imploded into a red mist that whipped over the golden skies, swept away by the vicious winds that felt like a great many swords carving through those strong enough to withstand the shockwave.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half of Forwin was vaporized. From the Wall to the great mountains that stood behind Forwin, towering over the realm for millions of years, it was wiped away. Turned to dust before the Sword of the King.

"Hells…" cried Amilia, looking up at the folding heavens that seemed to have been split apart. She watched clouds nearly twenty miles long recede into themselves. Only half of the cathedral remained, but what stood was mere rubble.

"Altair said run!" Amilia shouted, glaring at Fat Mike. "He said abandon Forwin! RUN!"

The earth still trembled in remembrance of the strike as Varquess's mighty laugh thundered like that of the gods. "No one is running anywhere!"

Fat Mike calmly glanced at Edwin's blank stare, whose manor had been caught in the blast, and then Varquess. "That's not up to you…' He said, opening his palm to the Great Heavens. "Heed my call, oh mighty Sky of Olympus!"

***

"Come on!" Kirr barked, dragging Alyssa away, while Jorm pulled at Nia's arm, leading them towards the Wall. Behind them, some fifty recruits from the Imperial Forces followed. Dressed in nightgowns, running barefooted across the harsh streets of Forwin.

When it came like a blanket of dawn, a blade came from the great skies of the heavens, blinding them in a baptism of gold.

He appeared, smiling before the great light of the dawn. Zagreus drew his bastard sword from his back, lunging past Kirr and Jorm like a great flash of light, cleaving his sword over the shockwave prepared to wither them to a smear on the streets.

And from his blade, it came, like a ghoulish cry of the underworld, a sword arc so profound it seemed to challenge even the gods, clashed against the mighty shockwave. His sword stroke parted the wave as it came barreling around Altair's shadows, causing untold wreckage.

Neither Kirr nor Jorm, much less Talia or Aurora, looked back as they pushed their bodies well past their physical limits.

On a mission directly from their Master, they didn't seek to stop and ask who protected them. Not that they needed to, as Zagreus caught up to them with a silly smile on his face.

"Sup! I'm Zag."

***

The shockwave that had struck Altair and his party had been a small one. The earth had begun writhing beneath his feet, shaking back and forth like the sea's, while the ceiling crackled, dwindling with stones, repelled by his almighty resistance. He looked back to the rubble that had come like a flash, blocking the path that they'd come out from.

"Bloody Monster," Altair cursed, sensing the power that hummed through the air. He ignored it and darted after the Iron Maidens.

[Ding]

Startled, both Altair and Reina stopped alerting the Iron Maidens and Dawnbreakers.

[Mission Update]

[Mission: Kill Aria Silvermane before her Rites or defend Aria Silvermane until her Rites are complete.]

Reward: Shard of Chaos

"Oh shit," Altair cursed, trying to connect to whatever Raven might still be alive, but there was none. They'd all perished either from Varquess's presence or the shockwave that followed after his sword struck.

He glanced at Aria, sleeping in Liana's arms, with a heart that had so many questions to them, especially when he lost all his leverage over Cedric. If everyone received the same message, which had been highly likely, then they'd all want to kill her, Altair believed.

"Come on," Reina pulled him along. "We can't keep still."

Through passageways, they ran, sinking into the foulest waters of the sewer that smelt more vile than a public latrine; they ran for hours upon hours. Feeling the shaking of Forwin being torn apart, shredded away when a dreadful pressure descended.

Despite being outside the city walls, Altair looked up with horror, seeing something that made his bones turn to water and his heart to ice.

"Give it back~" Returned the ghoulish wails.

Sweat slithered down his brow, following the taste of brimstone on his tongue.

"A devil," Reina whispered, with flecks of scarlet tainting the gold of her eyes. "They've summoned a devil of the Nine Hells."

'BALLAD OF THE SKIES!"

Hearing the echoes of Fat Mike thunder through the sewers, Altair felt his heart drop, and without hesitation, he snatched Liana up with Aria; opening his Kings Doman, he flickered forward, ignoring the numbing of his legs, he whipped past the Iron Maidens and Dawnbreakers alike, shrieking ahead with Reina by his side when it arrived.

Divinity fluttered through Heaven and Earth, pressuring the realm; it turned the winds into a baptism of fire. Mana blazed like the crackling of a storm, gathering from out of the void.

A bolt of lightning came, connecting the skies to the earth. So blinding it was, it seared away the eyes of all who glimpsed it, tore at the Heavens and Hells, releasing a sound so loud it began to peel the flesh from bone and tore apart Forwin until all that was left was an abyss of unending depths.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~

Reina, Altair, and Liana were pulled from the underground into an unknown forest as a shockwave blanked the realm. The earth shattered with the movement of tectonic plates writhing beneath the surface of the realms. Molted rocks erupted, reaching nearly four hundred feet in the air, bathing the land in a festival of fire.

Barreling through trees that snapped like twigs before the sheer force of their moving bodies, they skidded across the earth like a stone on water. Tumbling and rolling until they couldn't anymore.

Altair coughed up a mouthful of blood, dazed and weak, his legs nearly peeled of flesh. Reina was no different… but Liana. When Altair saw Liana, he winced as she stood impaled on a tree branch.

Bubbling blood from out of her mouth, she looked down at Altair, her pale eyes misty as she spoke.

"Pr…ote..ct… Protect…" Her words faded as her body fell limp.

The Prince cursed, staggering up on his bloodied feet, and looked down at Aria, whose right arm seemed to have been twisted into an odd angle. But aside from that, she was fine, to his relief.

"What madness," Altair cursed, looking in Forwin's direction. There was nothing left… Nothing but a cator so large light could not reach its depths. He hurried over to Liana, opening his palm as he pulled at her soul with his [Fallen Necromancy], and watched as her body dwindled into dust.

"We're alive," Reina whispered, still shaking with the ache of her battered body. She coughed up bits of blood into her palm, and she wryly smiled. " Our first home… is gone."

Altair closed his eyes, finding the strength to clench his fist. "Yeah…" He whispered back. "But we'll make a new one."

"I will hope so, Lord Altair Snow."

Startled, Altair whirled to the voice, eyeing the man whose eyes seemed as red as a river of blood.

"Who are you?"

The Stranger grinned. " I am Thanatos, of the Underwold. Her Majesty Tenebrae has sent me to be one of your bannermen." He bowed curtly. "I greet you, Young Master of the Eternal Night."

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