Leviathan/Envy's Story

Darkness drifted over the murky waters like a dense. It grew like an unnatural fog, swirling, churning, and molding into a pillar of smoke that hovered above the shallow sea. The pillar solidified and sprouted tendrils that writhed through the air, and dark limbs and wings molded themselves from them. They hung loosely yet sternly beside a body that hovered above the ground. Two oily black wings unfurled and cast a sinister shadow over Ira. Gnarled curled horns spiraled from his forehead as a gaze that was immeasurably ancient, terrifyingly powerful, and darker than the blackest pit scanned the Circle of Wrath. An aura of insuperable malice, dark hatred, and endless suffering flowed from him like a fountain of death and terror.

"Leviathan." The Emperor called out across the waters with a stern voice that resonated with the echoes of a hundred thousand souls writhing in eternal judgement. "Come forth."

Turgid slime rolled free as a form rose above the miring waters, a face filled with disdain and fury at being rousted from the slumber he had been within for the entirety of the sealing of the Fifth Circle of Hell. A questing of senses, and the rage of the demon prince only rose to tremendous levels, Envy coming free of the muck with an thunderous explosion of motion that hurled nearby damned and sludge across the circle's expanse.

"You dare, pitspawn?!" The thunderous voice of the behemoth sounded, the full profane figure of the monstrous prince Leviathan bared to view. The drake-like heads that sprouted from his bestial body yawned open fanged maws, the rolling sound of their growls an undertone to the baritone anger of the demon. "You and all others were warned that the circle of Wrath was closed, by the impudence of that fool bitch Lucifer!"

Mortal's Doom, the massive claymore he heft free, seemed to keen with lethal intent, power rising from the prince like a crushing aura, the ancient Prince of Envy's strength far more than his brothers by virtue of having survived the longest against the contender's to his throne.

A wicked sneer spread across the shrouded face of The Emperor as he observed the demon lord's tantrum with amusement. He lifted a clawed hand against Leviathan, and a dark rune materialized across his palm. The fabric of reality jerked and wrenched from its anchors and unleashed a powerful debilitating shockwave that barreled towards Leviathan with the strength of a hundred minotaurs.

"Be still, enraged monstrosity." he laughed darkly. "Contain your fury for the war to come..."

"Lucifer..." The Emperor continued. "... Sirad... has departed from the Realm of the Damned. She has fled with her corrupted Bride of Eden to an unknown sanctuary, leaving me the de facto regent of Hell."

"Tell me, Lord Leviathan," he said with a pseudo-mocking tone, "Do you desire the reinstatement of your realm?"

Leviathan set against the rolling wave, and just before it struck, slammed into the mire the crimson blade in hand.

The shockwave parted like a sea, black liquid jetting nearly a mile into the air before boiling to fill the fresh chasm rent in the rock underfoot, while the prince sneered at the so proclaimed Emperor of Hell. Erebuz was nothing more than a mortal in the life of the prince of envy, here and now so little that it was a flicker on the immortal years of Envy's own throne. Baleful eyes regarded the other demon, a sneer curling Leviathan's lip as his tail lashed the waters. The damned in his Circle fled the sight of the awakened to fury Prince, even those underdemons of his glancing nervously at the figure of their master, reminded again of his full ability.

To strike at he who defiled the holy realm of Heaven above?

"My realm, as you see it, remains strong, Erebuz. What more could a fly like you offer me?"

Erebuz remained unfazed by Leviathan's display of power. The boiling waters of Wrath vaporized in the presence of the dark lord. A single brow lifted from The Emperor's forehead at the demon prince's insolence.

"You underestimate me, Leviathan..." he glared at the demon with eyes that reflected ageless malice that transcended the brief flicker of light of Creation. "That can be a fatal mistake... I am far older and far more powerful than you can imagine, Prince of Envy and Wrath. I have seen the birth and death of countless incarnations of Existence. I have learned forbidden knowledge that cannot be spoken without the direst of consequences. I have watched the life bleed out from gods as their gullets were crushed in my fingers!"

"But I digress..." Erebuz continued. "As the new ruler of Hell, I will unite the Princes under a single banner through bargains or conquest. Once power has been consolidated, we will unleash our legions upon the World of Men. Eventually we will again lay siege to the Blessed Realm. Eden will burn and the Holy Throne will be carved into pieces and be taken as spoils of war. The Kingdom, its beauty, and its pompous agents of light will be cast into darkness and be made into what they despise most." The Emperor sneered.

"We must first unite the princes under a single banner... One way or another. I desire to know where you stand. Remember, Leviathan. My resources and power are vast, and I can grant you whatever your black heart desires in exchange for your loyalty."

"Bring down the heavens, you say?"

A slow, rumbling laughter caressed the corners of the circle, thought the tortured, mirthful sound of the Prince's laughter was hollow, the amusement that touched not one liquid drop of hellfire that ran through the demon's veins. He waved off Erebuz and his offer, turning away to begin to trod once more off into the mires of the Fifth Circle. The sheer fury that radiated from the slowly sinking form was palpable, those damned unfortunate enough to be in his way erupting with hellfire in the Prince's simple presence.

"Come back with a better offer, fly. We all know how well the last time that folly was attempted." A pause, as malevolent eyes turned to find the self-proclaimed emperor of hell, the depths of the utter hatred in those miasmic pools lethal to any lesser creature. "After all, who else but I rent asunder the Gates of Pearl, who struck the first blow of the last war in the faces of Heaven's host, and for what? Plots within plots, the weak of Hell's demons plotting to suckle favor from His hand by offering this plane's most powerful Prince up for the slaughter."

"No, I'll hold my court here in the pits, rather than be ensnared in the webs of these young wretchling demons who dare to call themselves Princes."

The darkness of the Abyss swelled across the realm as Erebuz growled in fury at the prince. His form vanished in a cloud of smoke and rematerialized before Leviathan. The Emperor's shadowy avatar towered from its previous stature. His eyes, which drilled into the demon, burned hotter than the Plegethon or a hundred quasars, and were darker than the emptiest corner of the Void. Two black feathered wings unfurled from the cosmic being, casting a suffocating shadow over the Fifth Circle. Black tar-like sludge bubbled from the swampy waters. It writhed, churned, and swallowed the souls that were unfortunate enough to be caught in the grasp of the living darkness. When they emerged, the souls were horribly mutated husks of shadow, agony, rage, and hunger.

"You are powerful, Leviathan," The Emperor glared down at the prince, "I do not doubt that... but to me you are little more than an ornery child - nay, an insect! You may have broken the gates of the Blessed Realm, but I have laid waste to more incarnations of Heaven than days you have spent marinating in this cesspool like a worm! Do you honestly believe that Hellgate of yours will stand for another moon? Once they finish licking their wounds they will tear it down - if not present a counter attack. You cannot completely destroy their kingdom through direct assault alone... You must bring it down from the inside. We must divide them through deceit, and their internal conflict will tear them apart! I have the power to reopen your realm if you so desire. I have legions that can either swarm your realm like ants or bolster your armies in whatever endeavor you so incline..."

"You do not have to enjoy working with or even give the other so-called princes your loyalty." he continued. "I merely ask for your cooperation if one of them refuses to acknowledge our superiority over their pathetic excuse for kingdoms... I have a plan, Leviathan - one that has worked countless times before. When we're done, the Creator will ask us to destroy both the Mortal and Blessed Realms!" Erebuz sneered. "You are powerful and smart, Lord of Envy. Do not be unwise and refuse this partnership."

"But Erebuz."

The Demon Prince barely inclined his head, and despite the respective sizes between the demons, Leviathan nonetheless gave the impression of looking down on Erebuz. A flick of his hand, more a showmanship than any needed gesture, and the waters of Wrath flamed to a blaze of molten magma, roiling fire that swallowed once again the twisted damned, burning away the corruption not of his Hell and reclaiming the souls that were his to torment. The act of defiance in the face of this...pretender brought a smile to Envy's face, for the sheer demonstration of threat was a declaration of envy of a form.

Envy for the fact that Leviathan need but refuse to provoke anger, rather than the invasion of his own domain to waken a beast to fury. It might not seem it on the surface, but the potential was there.

But when the demon next spoke, his thundering roar would echo throughout Hell in its entire. Waves of liquid flame boiled from his presence at the sound.

"TO SLAY THE MORTAL REALM SLAYS THE DEMONS WHO DRAW FROM IT! SPOUT YOUR PLANS FOR DESTRUCTION TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE FOLLY OF IT, WHO HAS NOT SEEN THE AGONY OF A FOOL DEMON ENOUGH TO TRY IT!" The voice of Leviathan had altered, becoming one of something much larger than he was, and indeed, for a moment it seemed as though the very walls of the Circle of Wrath were the slowly writhing coils of a absolutely titanic creature, the stature of Leviathan seeming to swell to impossibly large sizes. Elder demon he was, the form Leviathan wore was as much a deception as anything he might speak to a foolish mortal to trust him.

The moment passed, and Leviathan appeared no more than he did, and old, wily and powerful demon. "So unless you have a better plan, Erebuz, try elsewhere. And ply your trade on souls belonging to you, or you'll discover that the master of the Fifth and its domain may not be as all appears."

The Emperor's face remained cold as stone as the Lord of Envy raved. When Leviathan uttered his name, every shadow quaked in both terror and reverence at the power invoked by the two syllables. He paid no heed to the fire that engulfed the shadowlings. The All Consuming Darkness was eternal and endless, and its spawn were all expendable. Truly, to a being such as Erebuz, everything was expendable. In the end, everything would return to the empty Void.

At the end of his rant, the Lord of Heresy snorted. His avatar vanished yet again in a cloud of smoke.

"Destruction will come regardless, Leviathan." The Emperor's avatar spoke from across the lake. His ancient eyes studied a bleached skull that rested in his clawed hand. "It is the way of things. It is part of the Cycle. I am merely offering you a part in the Grand Design, but I see that you are every bit as stubborn as your predecessors. I have tried threatening you. I have tried offering you power, knowledge, or anything you desired in exchange for loyalty in the coming war."

"When eternity waits upon your schedule..." he continued, "you will find that you become very patient. I am willing to compromise, Leviathan, and make an agreement. You could be a valuable ally. It would be a shame to have to dispose of you..."

Aeson stepped through the portal of his own design his staff cracking into existence as the harbinger of his arrival to Hell. The staff spun picking up both velocity and speed before the horizontal portal of white appeared above the platform. Aeson floated through it landing on his feet and the staff stopped it's spinning to fall. Aeson caught the weapon smoothly the bottom of the weapon lightly tapping on the ground.

Aeson surveyed the area from beneath his hood taking in the quick laying of the fortifications and the efficiency of the troops before him. He began walking observing the structure of the base and area outside of it the possible dangers they could face within this realm. His treading stopped as he reached the center of the camp once more folding his legs into a cross sitting style but floating in the air as opposed to the ground.

The orb would move towards Aeson quickly, "Master Aeson, I am your Eye of the White Sun! I cannot tell you my power, but use me for what you choose. As you can tell, I do control the portal to the Demiarch Realm. So what do you think?!"

The orb began to float around Aeson, starring at him with it's golden eye. The orb would pulse once and then pulse again, and one the third pulse, a pulse of gold energy flashed around Aeson. This energy would last for a few minutes as the orb was bonding himself to Aeson.

"Master Aeson, cast upon yourself your new garb! We shall garb you in a black base and gold trim. Call upon the White Sun with your design in mind and you shall be blessed! We shall conquer this realm! The beasts of this realm will have no idea what has hit them should they deny our presence here!" The orb cheered.

"Are you ready to conquer Hell and spread the will of the White Sun?" The orb spoke again.

"Ah a helper. This may help make keeping communications up a bit easier. The preparations are coming along nicely for now. But do not underestimate an enemy so easily. Many leaders have done so and fallen for what they would believe to be an easy victory to a foe." Aesons own robes simply changed color to the black and gold trim. His appearance didn't matter much to him and he was more comfortable with this style of garb.

"I would like scouts sent out and get back to us with what they find. If we find no opposition then we can surely begin setting up other portals and bases throughout and have a good supply network running along with patrols. If they do find something they can't handle do not have them engage have them simply relay the information back to me and I will deal with the situation. No sense is throwing men to die." Aeson continued his robes finishing the color change as he continued his sitting cross legged position.

"I'll form a group of four and bring an Arachnid through. We can send out in twenty minutes. I'll go give the order and return momentarily. We know the general idea of this slice of Hell, so we'll launch for the Fourth Circle where the next base will go." The orb spoke to Aeson.

The orb would the shoot off to the Commanding Deminaughts to give the orders of what was to be done. It didn't take long for the orders to be gave. Once the orb began to fly away from the three Deminaughts, one would shout at the closest Demiarchal grunt soldiers known as a Degrue. Following the order, the Degrue would rush through the vortex. The other Deminaughts would go an find their version of Spec. Ops., known as a Viper Squad.

The four beings who would be going on the scouting mission would go to what was for now, their Armory. One would arm with a BN-Sc7f(Bio Nuclear - Sniper Class 7 Rifle). Two would arm with CS-Bc4r(Cerenium Shell-Battle Class 4 Rifle), which was high power, accuracy, and larger clip capabilities, but short range. The fourth being would take a CS-Ac22r(Cerenium Shell-Assault Class 22 Rifle), which was a semi-automatic two round burst rifle that could view and shoot up to 300 yards.

They would then take four rods, being about one foot in length and the width of a dime. They would slide these rods into their vests , reinforcing it to take higher amounts of damage from magic based attacks. They would then all go to a hidden vault in the armory and each grab a small glass vial and a type of syringe. They would then jab the glass with the syringe and suck the quarter inch of metallic blue substance into it. They would then take this syringe and insert it into their neck. The syringe was a laser tip instead of metallic, allowing it to break through their stone skin.

Once they were done, they would grab one more vial each and place them in a small container, no bigger than an Altoids can. The canister would then latch itself shut and create a compression inside the box, protecting the vials. They would then grab their bags and other equipment right before exiting out of the armory.

As they were exiting the armory, the Arachnid would be exiting the vortex. It stood around fourteen feet in height, had eight legs, and the capability to carry four beings. The orb would meet with the bunch as they all converged at the Deminaughts office. They would all go over the plans, and within minutes the Viper Squad would be off in their Arachnid.

The orb returned to Aeson, "Their mech is a stealth mech. It is amphibious, has twelve gears, fast, a mediocre armor. It also has the capability to carry bombs or gas canisters. As you can see, they are loaded with only two missiles. They could be compared to Tony Stark's, Jehovah Missile. Very destructive, but the likeliness of killing a beast like the one that lurks here, not likely. But! What could really hurt this beast is the mineral we've been mining here. It is a black rock of some type. It possesses what we are going to call the 'Hell Compound'. We could possibly begin mixing this 'Hell Compound' into the ammunition outside of the Bio-Nuclear powered. Anyways, I need to be with those soldiers. You should begin shifting the lands to your liking's. Maybe a powerful range of mountains with this black stone it calls ground. This is your realm...I expect when I return this land will be to your standard. As a bonus, when it is where it needs to be, you and I can begin creating our Project."

To invade on a realm not your own was arrogance. To invade on a realm and think that you could remain without being noticed was ignorance, and foolish.

The Lord of the Ira level was indeed aware of this incursion, indeed, the Circle of Wrath itself was a poor place to settle, if one wished to remain hidden. For in addition to the population of the circle, the ever warring sinners of wrath constantly fighting in the muck, the depressed lurked beneath the murky waters that filled the circle, and their eyes were all too open. Indeed, it was little time at all before the ruler of this section of Hell was made aware and actively watching his interlopers.

His form was massive, yet passed unseen, deep within the lake formed from the Styx that flooded his realm. Leviathan, the monstrous Demon Prince of Envy, thought on this event, and elected merely to wait.

He would allow these fools to enter his domain. He would allow them to think it ripe for the taking, absent a master. But when they had entered his lair and found themselves immersed...

He would end them.

The orb would shiver in a sense, and gold energy would pulse from it, "Master Aeson, they've made their presence. One is horrifically powerful, and the other, it is hard to fully feel. Maybe you should begin figuring out how to open that Void from the other location?"

The Arachnid with soldiers had taken off into the depths of the murky land, out to discover new paths and section surrounding this Hell. Yes, they were loaded with a highly destructive missiles and soldiers, but even they knew, in Hell, there was always something bigger and badder than them.

Dark whispers drifted through the air as the mortals tread further into the realm. Voices, dripping with hate and malice, sowed the seeds of despair, betrayal, paranoia, and madness within the hearts and minds that yielded to their sensual touch. Thousands of sickly yellow eyes materialized in the constricting darkness. The skittering of claws and pattering of feet resonated with a dull echo through the dense fog.

Then they were upon them.

The shadows lashed out at the soldiers. Black hands adorned with razor-sharp claws stretched out from the ground and slashed at legs, tank treads, and whatever they could reach. They crawled out of the darkness and swarmed the mortals like ants. Though their stature and strength were little more than that of children, and they attacked with the cunning of mindless beasts, their numbers were like a flood - and they fought with the agility of enraged bobcats. Periodically they would collapse into flat shadows and lash out again from behind their targets.

"What curious insects wander into the spider's web?" whispered a voice amidst the darkness. "What brave and foolish sheep venture into the wolf's den? Come forth, mortals, and amuse me with your finite struggles for dominance. Conquer the darkness within yourselves, survive the horrors of Wrath, and come before the gates of the City of the Damned. I will show you true power."

A humanoid shape rose from the flood of shadowlings. Its muscular body was covered in a smoking coal black skin. Two pairs of small azure wings, one on its back and another on its arms, and a pair of purple-and-black fiery orbs beneath its feet, held the being aloft above the masses. The being's torso was marred by a jagged hole that went straight through its chest where its heart once was. A long bladed tail swished behind it while its hands gripped an enormous scalloped blue-bladed sword covered in runes. Long horns protruded from the top of the being's head while glowing yellow eyes glared down at the soldiers with cold calculating fury before it charged at the closest soldier with a vicious sweep of its sword.

Aeson who was still hovering as the shadow abominations appeared and began their assault on the troops currently in the encampment. He did not know of the scouting team or of any others that may be affected by this but it did put confusion into the men. He took his time to lower once more to the ground to be standing his staff still held in the air. His foot kicked away one of the small shadow creatures swiftly before slamming the butt end of the staff on the ground. A white flash flared out as white flames flashed out in a three hundred sixty degree circle pulsing over the encampment. It left his troops unharmed but licked at the shadows with intensity.

The man turned to face the other creature that was slaughtering one of the troops or in the process of it. Aeson swiftly raised his hand the magic circle with a twelve inch diameter appeared in front of his outstretched palm. a beam of solid white light shot out with a blue helix twisting around them. The blast intended to pierce the dark of this being and then bind the man with the helix of blue energy. The shot was considerably fast with no need for an incantation or hand movements as Aeson had accepted this new power.

As one, the warring damned within the demesne of Ira faltered in their combat, silence descending over them like a veil as they turned towards the scene caused by the interlopers. The multitude of eyes that now fell on them was legion, tens, hundreds of millions of condemned sinners bowing to the will of the Lord Leviathan. The pressure of such a regard was...

Unsettling. Vast.

And the speed it was executed was appalling. The wrathful, the victims alike. Figures ankle, knee, waist, chest, and neck deep in the foul waters of the Circle, compelled as one by a force that could exert its will over such a number. And that figure began to make himself known, a boiling turbulence in the water as the entity rose from the depths of the mire. At first, the spines and spires of his form broke the churning muck like blades, horns breaching the surface as liquid steamed from their surfaces, boiling away from the raw power of this demon rising. His thickly muscled, armored body heaved as he strode from the darkness below, glyphs of blasphemy and sin etched into his flesh like badges of honor, a palpable gravitas of malevolence and raw evil streaming from him like a descending pressure. His torso and foremost portion was unexpectedly mundane, little more than human with daemonic features, yet as he came forward, his mammoth figure rose ever higher, the centaurian features and the hellish heads of this beast of Hell came into view, eyes glowing like lambent hellfyre, smoke and brimstone roiling from slowly panting, fanged maws like airborne poison.

Claws that could splay across a truck rose and slashed into the water, the scale of this beast, this Leviathan was simply...titanic. Rising to a height of nearly twelve meters, the end of his bladed, fell tail slashing through the water nearly thirty meters back, the master of this circle, the Prince of Envy, towered like a nightmare come to life. As the waters of the Styx dripped from his form, his aura, his presence, merely grew until it was like a choking weight falling on to the shoulders, the condemned of his domain moaning and bowing to his dark majesty. In his right hand, he held a blade fully nine meters in length, burning with an essence of raw destruction that seemed to burn the toxic air around it, its edges flickering with a wickedly chaotic dark fire. His legions of lessers boiled in the lakes around him, clinging to the rotted spires that pierced the ocean of his circle. Envy had been unveiled, and Wrath was assembled.

A sneer curled his lip, giving way to a brutal smirk as he looked down upon these fools who stood in the heart of his kingdom. His voice sounded like the thunder of an earthquake, deeply reverberating to be felt in the bones as audibly as it was heard with the earths, echoing across the circle and beyond like muted thunder.

"Of all of Hell, you choose the Circle that was barred. The domain of Wrath, of the risen anger of the damned. My kingdom, my estate. Leviathan greets you, ambitious mortals. Envy incarnate looks upon you now, and judges."

"You have been found wanting." The sword rose in his hand, the blade Mortalis Fatum, Mortal Doom in the common tongue. It burned like an umbral star, it's shadowy radiance flaring with titanic brilliance before he swept it in a broad arch for the ridge under their feet, power blossoming like a tidal wave of annihilation, an incandescent burst of energy and sin ripped through with chaos. The released crescent moon of power ripped through the air like a hellspawned scythe, striking the base of the island like a god's hammer, chewing through the base and erupting as though a nuclear bomb. The detonation would erupt the solid stone like glass, the blast from expanding hundreds of meters in every direction of swirling daemonic energy unleashed by a Prince of Hell, an original Fallen from the War in Heaven.

The invaders had chosen poorly, to so invade the realm of such a mighty foe. Leviathan's power was absolutely monstrous, and his unleashed power was horrifically the result of a merely casual stroke of his blade.

Despite being surprised by these black creatures with their shadowy figures, the Demiarchals were quick to respond. Being built of stone, from another mortal realm beyond the mortal realm of this Hell, and lead by beings with power who grasp fear by the neck and rips it's throat out, they would not fall as a fleshly mortal would. There was no sway in their faith to the White Sun. The voices would ring, but they would only fuel faith and why they were there.

The Demiarchals would begin bringing their stones fist, weapons, feet, and anything they could, to the shadowy bodies with a force that would break through a mortal mans rib cage and lift him with a spine curled around their knuckles. This force would easily rip through these shadowy creatures. The damage was kept to a minimal.

One of the Deminaughts would laugh and yell out over the combat, "Do they really think that they could poison us with their cowardly darkness? They might be able to overcome us, but they will never break our faith! Let's fuck these little ugly things up!"

It wasn't too long after these words that a loud sound of steel on stone erupted. From the location of this sound, a light began to glow, growing brighter and brighter. The soldier that had been struck, as will all soldiers who dealt death blows, would emit a bright, golden light, that would grow brighter and brighter as the soldier's body would fracture and fall apart, turning to dust. The light was the light of the White Sun, carrying the soul from the Hell back through the mortal realm, where it could pass to the Demiarch Realm and ascend to the White Sun.

These beings where chaotic, and would do things that a Just Light would not do. This light from the soldiers would glow and cast beams of light across the circle as they ascended, which would definitely put a hurting on the powers of darkness and weaken the land it consisted of. Initially, it wouldn't, but the more Demiarchals destroyed, the brighter the circle would become. Best of all, just as the shadows, the Demiarchal's were pushing through the vortex by this point the the quick efforts of the military communications.

The orb's pulsing, golden glow, was emitting brighter and brighter from the moment the shadowlings made their presence. This energy was emitting a powerful essence of light, very comparable to a Holy Light, but not quite. This light would extend seven feet in all directions of the orb, but at one point it had a higher focus. The orb was a celestial, just as the Leviathan was. This was his battle, as Aeson would handle the other on the ground.

The Leviathan had revealed it's full form, and the orb knew that there was no diplomacy with a being who's evil was a hair shy of Lucipher's. The words that were spoken were of no interest to the orb, knowing that no beast of evil would ever cast full judgement upon it. The beast would swing it's blade, casting out a wave of destruction in the direction of the orb, but it would be cut shy of it's target.

The orb would release a golden beam of this light, burning the darkness, causing it to curl back from the light like withering, curling roots. This beam would strike directly in the center of the Leviathan's attack and explode, matching the Leviathan's attack from tip to tip. This would create an explosion that would give a mighty blow back of energy and winds, sending the murky waters and any small portions of lands into the air.

The orb would keep it's bulk of light surrounding it, ready to unleash another wave of light upon the darkness. Although this orb could not directly attack a mortal being, this creature was no mortal, and was one of the reasons he was in this realm. Dominance was not the goal, Freewill was their goal, and it was to be cast on this realm from the darkest stretches of Hell, to the golden step's of Heaven's Throne.

The orb would speak in an omnipresent voice, "Spawn of Evil, you shall flee this land and your soul shall be no more. The Light of the White Sun is upon you! Fear your fear!"

All the while, the more Demiarchals being killed, the more light would be cast upon the land. This battle was not to be fought with swords and guns, but by the power's of good and evil. The battle had begun, and the weapons of Good and Evil were emerging. This battle was stretching far beyond this circle into the mortal realm, but it was just beginning, and at the front doors of Evil.

A deep chortle reverberated through the darkness as an immeasurable will narrowed its focus upon the battle that waged upon the prison grounds of the damned. The shadowlings disintegrated with relative ease when struck and their essence retreated into the pools of darkness from whence they came.

"We will snuff out every last light, smother every breath from every mouth, and stop the beating of every heart." the Voice echoed into the minds of the mortals. "You will never escape the darkness. It flocks to you. Always. You forget, sons of Man, that the brighter the light you emit... the darker the shadows you cast!"

And it was so.

As light filled the mire, the shadows grew murkier, thicker, and darker. Bestial roars erupted from the abyssal depths as great orbs of writhing darkness charged at the Demiarchals like cannonballs. The front of the orbs split open like giant toothy maws while the same soulless yellow eyes as the shadowlings burned on their faces. Three thick, black, and blue tentacles sprouted out of the Darkballs' bodies. They teleported across the battlefield and ravaged their foes with vicious bites like oversized bear traps.

Numerous Invisibles charged alongside their more feral cousins with broadswords held high. They would, occasionally, disassemble into a ring of purple and black flames that would surround a target before erupting in dark energy - burning both body and soul.

"Do you feel the darkness around you?" the Voice whispered as the shadow creatures battered at their ranks with ruthless ferocity. "Do you feel it's torturous path through your mouth and your eyes until it eats away inside you...? Tell me how it feels... You bring the light, but it betrays you. It knows you are unworthy of its toxic gleam. At the bottom of the ocean even light must die... Give in to your fear, for hope is an illusion and trust is your weakness..."