Brushing aside the thick curtain of vines, Valroth stepped into the cave's entrance, where darkness swallowed all but the struggling rays of light that dared to intrude. Only he could see what lay beyond the gloom—a vast cavern, hollowed out as if an entire mountain had been carved away, large enough to shelter a whole civilization. The floor was layered with dried leaves and brittle grass, while thick vines above wove a tangled canopy, forming a massive web where several figures lay resting.
A man bearing a torch led the way, but the winds howling through the cave snuffed the flame out time and again. Valroth and his companions pressed forward into the abyss, their flickering firelight casting brief glimpses of the silent figures lining the cavern walls. Hollow-eyed, unmoving, they watched the newcomers with eerie stillness, their expressions void of life, as if their souls had long since withered away.
They passed through a narrow passage barely wide enough for a single body. Then, a sudden glow met them at the end of the tunnel—a searing, unwavering fire. The torchbearer halted at the threshold, bowing deeply to the woman inside before retreating without a word.
The chamber was another cavern within the cave, a hollowed sanctum where a crude stone table stood at the center. Upon it, a brilliant, unrelenting flame burned without fuel, its crimson embers licking the air as if alive.
Valroth's gaze sharpened, his eyes locking onto the woman standing beside the fire.
"This is Asmodeus's heart."
A delicate smile played on her lips. "No need to be alarmed," she said, voice smooth as silk. "This is the last gift HE left us—a fire that will never die, so we may continue to exist."
She turned slightly, inclining her head toward Aeris. "I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Selene."
Valroth watched her carefully. There was something off about her smile, something unsettling in the way she regarded him with an almost sorrowful gaze. He took a step forward.
"If HE told you we would come, then surely he told you why we are here. So, will you tell me?"
Selene's smile deepened, but her eyes carried the weight of a long-buried grief. "Of course. The sole reason I still draw breath is to deliver HIS message."
She hesitated, remembering a conversation whispered in the depths of the night, a moment of realization that chilled her more than the cavern's eternal darkness. How cruel it was that humanity's last hope had to be placed in the hands of another race.
"If you are ready to hear it."
For humanity had committed an unforgivable sin.
The Upper World had once decreed that all humans must be eradicated. Yet, not all agreed with this judgment—HE included. Instead, a prison world was crafted, a realm to contain humanity rather than destroy it outright.
But those who had wished for their extinction did not surrender so easily. In secret, they created new races to torment and slaughter humans, ensuring their numbers never flourished. Their goal was absolute annihilation. And then, they devised The Book—a divine script that dictated the fate of this world. The final page of The Book would herald its end, erasing both this realm and all who remained within it.
To ensure its narrative was carried out without deviation, The Upper World created the Annunaki. They were supposed to remember everything, to enforce The Book's prophecy and guide the world to its ultimate destruction. Yet, something went wrong.
When the Annunaki were cast into this world, their memories were stripped away.
Without their knowledge, they could not fulfill their purpose. The Upper World abandoned them, leaving them to wander, to live, to die.
But the Annunaki were part of The Book. And so, when the first of their kind perished, his soul was pulled into the script itself. And there, in the depths of its pages, he rewrote his own fate—bringing himself back to life.
With The Book's power in his grasp, he easily conquered this world.
The Upper World took notice. They realized that the Annunaki possessed the ability to alter The Book's contents. They sent warriors to retrieve the first Annunaki, reclaiming him before he could do any further damage. But the others remained hidden, lost in this world. The Upper World could not find them—only when they, too, died and were pulled into The Book could they be captured.
Selene exhaled shakily, looking at Valroth with newfound gravity. "HE opposed humanity's extinction. But even he knew that The Book would reach its final page. And when that happens, both humanity and this world will cease to exist."
Her voice trembled. Her fists clenched at her sides as she fought against the weight of despair. She had been chosen to deliver this truth, but she did not know why. And she feared that what she had to say next would shatter any illusions they had left.
The fire dimmed. The air grew heavy.
Valroth narrowed his eyes, sensing a shift in the atmosphere. He turned to Selene, suspecting some trickery—only to find her staring in awe, not at him, but at something beyond him. Something divine.
He followed her gaze.
Aeris stood frozen, golden light coursing beneath her skin. Her pupils, empty and distant, burned with an unnatural brilliance. In a single blink, her raven-black hair turned stark white, her irises shifting to a piercing crimson.
Nyssara.
The killing intent in her gaze was suffocating. It fixed on Selene with the force of a thousand unspoken deaths, ready to rip her apart.
But then, just as suddenly, she collapsed.
Her spear clattered to the ground as she grasped at her own head in agony. White strands darkened back to black. Fingers trembled as they reached for the collar around her throat, then for the hem of Valroth's robe.
She lifted her face to him, tears streaking her cheeks.
Through the raw pain, through the battle raging within her own soul, one thing remained unshaken—the silent plea in her eyes, the desperate need to prove herself. To show him that she was still his most obedient pet.
Valroth stared down at her, watching as the golden light faded. He took in her anguish, her defiance, and the way her body fought against itself. And in the depths of his mind, satisfaction stirred.
A blinding radiance, brighter than the sun at its zenith, flashed before his vision, forcing him to hold his breath. A sacred light, untouched, untouchable.
And in that moment, he was pulled back to the day he had become Asmodeus.
He had torn his own flesh asunder, blood-red wings unfurling into the abyss. Strength unlike any before surged through his being. With a single beat, he ascended, leaving his old existence behind.
Those who had once looked at him with reverence had grown cold, their gazes now mirrors of his own unfeeling stare.
A still lake reflected his image back at him. A face he no longer recognized.
There had been someone in his heart once. But he could no longer remember them.
All he remembered was a necklace, sinking beneath the waves on a day long forgotten.
Aeris wept as she drove her spear into his chest.
"Stay strong for me."
And he heard his own voice whispering the words back to her.