The Asura's patience had finally shattered.
The moment golden blood touched its fingers, the sky above the southern badlands went mad.
Lightning fractured the heavens in blinding webs. Thunder roared like the wrath of creation itself. The ground trembled violently as earthquakes ripped across the land, splitting hills and swallowing rivers. The air itself howled, coiling around the Asura in visible spirals of divine fury. The red sky darkened to a bruised purple, as if the world itself recoiled from its anger.
Below, Violkhan stood in the center of the devastation, her body smoking from countless burns. Her red sigils pulsed rapidly, wounds slowly knitting themselves back together as her race's primal regeneration fought to keep her alive. She forced herself upright, breathing hard, a wild grin still plastered on her bloodied face.
The Asura's voice thundered across the broken landscape, laced with cold, divine arrogance.
"I have existed for eons," it declared, six wings flaring with blinding light. "Never once has a mere mortal dared lay their hand upon me. You are nothing but a beast — a remnant of a failed creation that should have been erased long ago. Your defiance is not courage. It is an insult to the very order that sustains all realms."
Its grip tightened on the staff.
"And yet you continue to stand. How utterly pathetic."
Three colossal magic circles materialized in the sky above Violkhan, each one larger than a mountain, spinning with ancient divine runes that burned with holy fire. The pressure they emitted was suffocating — an invisible mountain of divine authority crashing down upon her.
Violkhan's knees buckled instantly. The ground beneath her shattered as she was driven downward with crushing force. Cuts opened across her regenerating body. Her grin faltered for the first time as the overwhelming weight pressed her into the cracked earth.
This… pressure… It's like an entire mountain on my back… I can't… move…
She grit her teeth, muscles bulging as she tried to push herself up. For several agonizing moments, the circles crackled with building lightning, sending chills across her skin. The pressure intensified, forcing her face into the dirt as more wounds tore open across her body.
The Asura looked down at her struggling form, staff raised.
For a brief moment, it considered finishing her properly.
Then its expression hardened with irritation.
Enough. I have wasted too much time on this creature. The Artifact is the priority.
The circles in the sky began to fade. The crushing pressure lifted.
Violkhan slowly rose to her feet, breathing raggedly, confusion and fury mixing on her face.
"What is this?" she snarled, voice hoarse. "Why did you stop? Are you looking down on me?!"
The Asura simply stared at her with cold indifference.
Violkhan clenched her fists, sigils blazing brighter. "There's no turning back now—!"
"No."
The Asura appeared right beside her in an instant, faster than sight. Its palm pressed against her stomach with terrifying calm.
"Be gone."
A point-blank surge of divine force erupted.
Violkhan's eyes widened for a fraction of a second — then she was blasted away at near-light speed. Her body tore through the clouds, through the upper atmosphere, and out into the void of space in a blazing red trail. She crossed the distance between the planet and one of its many moons in mere moments before slamming into its surface with cataclysmic force.
The moon — one of the sixteen orbiting Chaos — shuddered violently as a massive crater exploded across its face. Debris and dust blasted outward into the vacuum, forming a temporary ring of floating rock and ice. The impact was so powerful that visible cracks spiderwebbed across the moon's surface.
Violkhan lay buried deep within the fresh crater, body broken and smoking, red sigils flickering weakly.
The Asura hovered motionless within the blood-red skies of Chaos, six radiant wings spread wide behind its towering form. Divine light flowed from its body in slow waves, illuminating the scarred atmosphere around it while distant storms churned beneath the heavens.
Its glowing white eyes lifted toward the distant moon where Violkhan had been hurled moments earlier. Fragments of shattered stone still drifted through the void from her impact, trailing slowly around the celestial body like scattered ash.
For several seconds, the Asura simply watched in silence.
Then a thought crossed its mind.
What if she survives?
The possibility lingered longer than it should have.
The Vor'Kai were infamous for exactly this kind of absurd resilience. Their bodies adapted through suffering. Their strength evolved through destruction. The more punishment they endured, the more violently they clawed their way back from death itself.
Its gaze narrowed slightly.
If she absorbs this level of damage and survives… she may evolve into something far more troublesome than before.
The Asura remained perfectly calm outwardly, but calculation moved behind its cold expression. It had descended upon Chaos for a singular purpose: to recover the Artifact before it fell into the wrong hands and erase anything capable of threatening the High Order.
Everything else was secondary.
Yet leaving the last living Vor'Kai alive carried unnecessary risk.
The Asura slowly raised its staff toward the moon suspended in the distance.
"Better to erase the final remnant of that cursed race now," it said quietly.
The atmosphere around it changed instantly.
Divine energy erupted outward from the Asura's body in overwhelming waves, flooding the skies with blinding radiance. A colossal golden ring manifested behind its back, massive enough to dwarf entire mountain ranges. Ancient runes rotated slowly along its circumference, glowing brighter with every passing moment while immense arcs of lightning coiled through the heavens around it.
Then six enormous magic circles materialized before the tip of the staff.
Each circle was larger and more intricate than the last, layered with divine symbols and rotating in perfect synchronization. The surrounding space distorted beneath the sheer density of power gathering between them. Lightning crackled violently across the heavens as the energy intensified higher and higher, until even the clouds below began evaporating beneath the heat.
The Asura's voice echoed across the skies of Chaos with absolute authority.
"Authority of Wrath: Celestial Reckoning."
The world turned white.
A colossal beam of divine annihilation erupted from the staff.
The attack dwarfed the moon itself.
It surged across space like the wrath of creation given form, a massive pillar of white-gold destruction that illuminated the entire southern hemisphere of Chaos. Oceans below reflected its light like mirrors while distant continents vanished beneath its glow. The roar alone shook the planet to its core, splitting clouds apart across thousands of miles.
Then the beam struck the moon directly.
The impact was apocalyptic.
The celestial body shattered instantly.
Massive sections of rock and frozen oceans exploded outward into space as the divine energy tore straight through the moon's core. Cracks of blinding light spread across its surface for a fraction of a second before the entire structure collapsed inward and detonated outward simultaneously.
The explosion illuminated the void like a newborn star.
Below, Chaos itself reacted violently.
Tidal waves larger than mountain ranges erupted across entire oceans. Earthquakes ripped through continents. Storm systems spiraled out of control while residual lightning split the skies endlessly across the planet.
Deep within the collapsing remains of the moon, buried beneath endless destruction and drifting debris, Violkhan slowly opened her eyes one final time.
Her body was ruined.
Burns covered nearly every inch of her skin. Blood floated weightlessly around her broken form while her once-blazing sigils flickered weakly like dying embers beneath cracked flesh.
Yet even now… she smiled.
A weak, ragged grin spread across her face as the overwhelming white light consumed the shattered remains of the moon around her.
Not… bad…
Then the divine blast swallowed everything.
The explosion continued expanding through the void until nothing recognizable remained of the moon at all. Only scattered debris and glowing dust drifted silently through space where the celestial body had once existed.
For the briefest moment, deep within the expanding cloud of destruction, a tiny spark of crimson light flickered once.
Then it vanished into darkness.
The Asura lowered its staff slowly.
The colossal magic circles faded from existence one after another while the divine light surrounding its body calmed once more. Its expression returned to perfect stillness, untouched by emotion.
Without another glance toward the remains of the destroyed moon, the Asura turned away.
Its true objective still awaited.
Far below on the surface of Chaos, survivors across the South looked up in horror as one of their moons simply ceased to exist, replaced by a spreading cloud of destruction hanging in the sky like the aftermath of divine wrath.
Deep beneath the shattered remains of Crimson Reach, the underground shelter had fallen into a fragile, trembling silence.
The endless booms and shockwaves that had battered the walls for what felt like eternity had finally stopped. Dust still drifted lazily from cracks in the ceiling while mana lanterns flickered weakly along the stone walls, casting long, unsteady shadows over the exhausted survivors huddled below.
One man near the back spoke first, his voice hoarse and disbelieving.
"…It might be over."
Another survivor immediately snapped toward him, fear overtaking exhaustion.
"You have a death wish if you say things like that."
A woman clutching an injured child against her chest lowered her head slightly before speaking in a trembling whisper.
"It… it really might be over."
The words spread through the shelter like sparks catching dry grass.
People began murmuring to one another in disbelief. Then louder. Hope, fragile and desperate, slowly started creeping back into the room.
"We survived…!"
"We actually made it…!"
Some broke down crying openly. Others laughed weakly through tears while embracing loved ones they had thought they would never see again. A few exhausted voices even attempted to cheer, though the sound came out broken and hollow beneath the weight of everything they had endured.
TaiKhan remained silent through all of it.
He sat against the cold stone wall with Miko curled tightly against his side while Renn and Lie stayed close beside them. Lir still had not regained consciousness. TaiKhan stared toward the sealed hatch leading back to the surface, his trembling hands resting loosely against his knees.
We survived…!
The thought brought him no comfort.
Relief refused to come. All he felt was exhaustion and a deep, gnawing fear that this silence was temporary. The battle above had been too monstrous, too overwhelming, to end so suddenly.
Above ground, Crimson Reach no longer resembled a city.
It had become a graveyard of ash and craters.
No buildings remained intact. Towers that had once pierced the heavens now lay scattered across the land like broken spines. The earth itself had been reshaped into a wasteland of molten glass, shattered stone, and smoking impact pits that still radiated heat into the crimson air.
Bodies of fallen Sky warriors littered the ruins in twisted heaps. Their once-radiant armor had dimmed into dull, cracked husks stained by ash and blood. Thick black smoke rose endlessly toward the red sky while the stench of ozone, scorched metal, and burned flesh spread across the dead city.
High above the devastation, the Asura hovered in perfect stillness.
Its six wings remained spread wide behind it, glowing softly against the blood-red heavens. The divine being surveyed the destruction below with cold, emotionless eyes. There was no satisfaction in its expression. No pride. Only the quiet fulfillment of duty carried out without hesitation.
Far beneath the rubble, faint echoes of celebration drifted upward from the underground shelter hidden below the city.
The Asura heard them clearly.
It did not descend to silence them.
Instead, its gaze shifted calmly toward the distant outskirts where its earlier strike had sent Titan crashing miles away.
Far beyond the ruins, within a massive steaming crater carved into the wasteland, Titan lay broken.
His body was covered in burns, shattered flesh, and deep wounds that still bled steadily into the scorched ground beneath him. Blood pooled around his ruined form, mixing with blackened sand and molten glass. One arm bent at a horrific angle while his chest rose unevenly with ragged, wet breaths.
Every inhale sounded painful.
Titan stared weakly upward at the red sky above him, his vision slowly blurring at the edges.
Then a white light appeared overhead.
Titan's exhausted eyes widened slightly.
The Asura descended soundlessly from the sky, hovering just above the edge of the crater while looking down at him with quiet indifference.
Shit…
The Asura slowly extended one hand.
Holy light immediately enveloped Titan's broken body.
The effect was instantaneous.
Burned flesh repaired itself before his eyes. Deep wounds sealed shut. Broken bones snapped back into place with sharp, audible cracks. The pain flooding his body vanished rapidly as divine energy coursed through him like warm fire.
Within moments, Titan's ruined body had been completely restored.
He looked as though he had never fought at all.
Titan stared down at his healed hands in stunned disbelief before slowly forcing himself upright.
"What…" His voice came out rough and unsteady. "What are you doing?"
His eyes narrowed sharply toward the divine being standing above him.
"Why are you healing me?!"
he Asura did not answer immediately.
Instead, it descended fully into the crater.
Its six radiant wings folded inward before dissolving into drifting particles of light. The glowing crown hovering above its head faded away. The ornate staff vanished from its grasp while the divine armor coating its body melted apart into fragments of white energy.
What remained beneath was not the image of a warrior.
It was something far older.
Long silver-white hair flowed softly behind a tall, impossibly beautiful figure clothed in elegant white-and-gold robes. Pale skin reflected the crimson light of the sky like polished marble, while piercing white eyes carried the crushing weight of countless ages.
Without the armor, the Asura no longer resembled a weapon forged for war.
It looked like a being ancient civilizations would have worshipped as a god.
The divine figure regarded Titan silently for several moments, its unreadable gaze calm and impossibly heavy.
And for the first time since the war began, the battlefield felt truly quiet.
Titan stared at the being before him, eyes wide with disbelief.
There was no hostility in the Asura's posture. No visible killing intent. Only calm.
Titan slowly pushed himself to his feet, his muscles still aching despite the healing light that had restored his body moments earlier. His instincts remained sharp, yet every signal screaming danger during their battle had strangely quieted.
This is unexpected, he thought. It heals me. It reveals this appearance. Yet I feel no immediate threat from it. What game is it playing?
The Asura smiled faintly, as though the question itself had already reached it.
"I am not planning anything, Titan," it said softly. "There is nothing left to plan for in this moment. Calm yourself."
Titan exhaled through his nose and forced the tension from his shoulders. The crater around them still steamed from the devastation. Molten cracks spread through the blackened earth while distant thunder rolled beneath the red skies of Chaos.
It healed me for a reason, Titan thought. This conversation comes with a price attached to it. But listening costs me nothing… not yet.
The Asura turned away from him and looked toward the distant horizon, where pillars of smoke still rose from the ruins of Crimson Reach. Its hands folded calmly behind its back while the wind stirred its long, silver-white hair.
When it spoke again, its voice carried the quiet weight of something ancient beyond mortal understanding.
"It was never like this in the beginning," the Asura said. "The Sky Palace was not born as an instrument of conquest or extermination. We were guardians. Shepherds. We guided young civilizations through their infancy and protected realms from forces capable of unraveling existence itself."
Its white eyes drifted toward the burning skies above.
"In those ancient ages, mortals looked upon us with hope rather than fear. Entire worlds flourished beneath our protection. Dragons once flew beside us as equals, not enemies. Order and chaos existed in balance, and for a time… the harmony we built was beautiful."
The wind passed quietly through the crater.
Titan remained silent, listening carefully.
"For eons, I held my station as an Asura," it continued. "Among the High Order, each role carried purpose. Swords eliminated threats before they could spread. Hammers crushed resistance when peace failed. Shields defended innocent worlds from extinction. We Asuras existed to judge. To correct the imbalance before it consumes entire civilizations."
Its voice never rose. That calmness somehow made the words heavier.
"It was never cruelty. It was a necessity. Without order, chaos devours everything eventually. Without guidance, civilizations collapse beneath their own greed, fear, and endless hunger for power."
Titan clenched his fists slowly at his sides.
The Asura did not sound arrogant. It sounded certain.
That certainty unsettled him more than rage ever could.
"I have watched countless generations rise and vanish into dust," the Asura said quietly. "I have seen noble kingdoms decay into tyranny within a handful of centuries. I have seen tyrants give birth to unexpected hope. The cycle repeated endlessly across thousands of realms."
Its gaze lowered slightly.
"Until the cycle itself began to break."
For the first time since the conversation began, something colder entered its voice.
"We lost our Commander. The balance fractured. Then the Dark Haven offered us a path forward… one we could not refuse if we wished to survive what was coming."
The atmosphere around the crater seemed heavier after those words.
Titan's eyes narrowed faintly.
The Asura turned back toward him fully.
"Now we walk a far narrower road than before. Mercy has become a luxury we can no longer afford. Judgment is the only tool left capable of preserving what remains."
Its white eyes locked onto his.
"The Artifact you stole is not merely a weapon, Titan. It is not a relic meant for mortals to wield freely. It is a seed. A remnant of the old order itself. It carries the power to awaken bonds and forces that were intentionally severed long ago."
The wind intensified around them, carrying ash through the crater.
"If the Artifact is activated improperly, rebellion will spread far beyond the South. Not only against the Sky Palace, but against the powers operating silently behind countless worlds. The Dark Haven will respond. Entire civilizations will burn. The fragile stability preserving these realms will collapse, and chaos will flood into existence once more."
The Asura's expression remained calm, though something almost sorrowful lingered beneath it now.
"I do not hate you, Titan. I do not hate the South. I take no pleasure in what has happened here today."
Its gaze drifted briefly toward the distant smoke of Crimson Reach.
"But your actions threaten everything we have sacrificed to preserve. Hand over the Artifact. Return it willingly, and the suffering can end here. Continue down this path, and you will lose everything you seek to protect."
Silence settled between them.
Titan stood motionless while the weight of the Asura's words pressed against his mind.
This thing was not a mindless destroyer. That was what made it dangerous. It genuinely believed itself righteous.
Somewhere across endless centuries, a protector had become something else entirely. Duty had hardened into control. Mercy had been buried beneath necessity so many times that the difference between salvation and tyranny no longer seemed to matter to it.
The Asura spoke of balance while cities burned beneath its wings.
It spoke of peace while standing atop mass graves.
And somehow… it still believed itself merciful.
The wind howled through the steaming crater as the two figures faced one another beneath the blood-red sky.
Titan finally spoke, his voice was rough from exhaustion yet steady beneath the weight of everything surrounding them.
"You speak of the old days as if they were noble," he said. "I know the Sky Palace once guided and protected the realms. I know you chose to serve the Dark Haven because you believed there was no other way to survive. But unleashing dragons upon entire civilizations was never justice. It was never balanced. Millions died beneath their rule. Entire bloodlines were enslaved. Generations grew up knowing nothing except fear, sacrifice, and chains beneath claws and flame. You call that maintaining order?"
The Asura listened without interruption. Its expression remained calm and unreadable, but the silence around it felt heavier now, as though the memories Titan dragged into the open carried a weight even immortals struggled to ignore.
Titan stepped forward slowly, fists tightening at his sides.
"Life was already cruel enough without your interference. The very worlds you once swore to protect became prisons because of the choices you made. You allowed monsters to rule over innocent people for thousands of years. How many lives were sacrificed just so the Sky Palace could preserve its precious balance?"
For a long moment, the Asura said nothing.
Its white eyes drifted toward the ruined horizon beyond the crater, as though it were staring through centuries of history unfolding all at once. When it finally spoke, its voice carried neither anger nor defensiveness. Only exhaustion.
"You are right… and you are wrong."
A faint wind stirred its silver-white hair.
"The dragons were cruel. Their nature has always been rooted in dominance, conquest, and fire. But after the Great War three thousand years ago, when the Dragon King fell, the balance of existence collapsed alongside him. His four generals remained alive, yet they were broken, leaderless, and consumed by their own ruin. The Dark Haven approached us during that time. They offered the dragons purpose, and they offered us survival."
The Asura lowered its gaze slightly.
"In exchange, the surviving generals were allowed to rule over the regions of Chaos beneath our supervision. We bound them. We assigned them territories. We believed structure could contain their worst impulses. It was never kindness, Titan. It was desperation. The Sky Palace had already begun to weaken, and the Dark Haven stood above powers we could no longer oppose. We accepted their terms because the alternative was annihilation."
Its eyes returned to Titan.
"And in doing so… we preserved what little order remained."
The wind howled softly through the crater as the Asura continued.
"For two thousand years, the dragons ruled. The South suffered most beneath Vyragon the Ravager. When you and Lady Phoenix rose against him, alongside the vampires and the scattered remnants of resistance, we witnessed something we had not seen in centuries."
A faint pause followed.
"Hope."
For the first time, the Asura's voice carried the faintest trace of emotion.
"You proved that one of the Calamities could fall. You showed the people that fear was not absolute. Part of us celebrated your victory."
Its gaze darkened slightly.
"But another part of us feared what would follow. If one region could rebel successfully, the others would rise soon after. Chaos would spread across every realm beneath our watch. Wars would erupt endlessly. Countless civilizations would burn in the conflict between rebellion and suppression. So we made an example of you. We spared the South, but we took you away as a warning to the rest of the world."
Its voice softened.
"Do not challenge the order again."
Titan's jaw tightened.
The Asura continued quietly.
"You escaped. You stole the Artifact. That single act forced our hand. The South was destroyed not because we hated its people, but because we could not allow the spark you created to become an inferno that consumed every realm connected to Chaos."
Its white eyes held his steadily.
"Lives were lost because of what you chose to do, Titan. Cities burned. Families vanished. Entire generations died in this war. All so the greater balance could endure."
Titan stared at the being before him, anger burning steadily behind his eyes.
"And what balance is worth that price?"
His voice rose for the first time.
"You speak of protecting civilizations while allowing monsters to rule them. You call yourselves guardians, yet you became jailers long ago. The Sky Palace you describe... the one that truly protected worlds... would never have accepted this nightmare."
He stepped closer.
"I fight because I want to restore what was lost before the Dragon King's time. Before fear replaced hope. Before entire worlds were taught to kneel beneath terror."
The Asura fell silent again.
This time, something shifted behind its perfect composure.
A faint flicker of pain crossed its expression, subtle enough that most would have missed it entirely. Titan's words had reached something ancient buried beneath thousands of years of obedience and compromise. For a brief moment, the Asura no longer resembled an untouchable executor of divine order. It resembled a weary being remembering a brighter age it had failed to preserve.
The wind moved heavily between them.
"You speak of restoration," the Asura said quietly. "But some things cannot be restored once they are broken. Time moves only forward. Entire ages have died since the world you remember disappeared."
Its gaze sharpened.
"The question is not whether your intentions are noble. The question is whether you are willing to destroy everything that remains to chase a dream that may no longer exist."
Titan exhaled slowly.
The weight of countless deaths pressed against him, but his voice remained steady.
"I know what my escape caused. I know people died because of me. Those lives will follow me for the rest of my existence."
His expression hardened with quiet resolve.
"But I'm not fighting for revenge. I'm trying to fix this world. The Sky Palace still has power. You still have influence. It is not too late for you to choose something different—"
"The Sky Palace cannot help you."
The interruption was gentle, yet absolute.
The Asura stepped forward slowly, its ancient white eyes fixed upon him.
"We simply cannot."
Its voice carried the weight of helplessness far older than Titan could fully comprehend.
"And if even we cannot stand against them… what possible chance do you believe you have against the Dark Haven?"
Titan remained silent.
The Asura continued.
"I know how strong you are becoming. Your potential may one day rival even an Asura. But the Dark Haven exists beyond powers you can currently imagine. To oppose them, you would need strength greater than every Asura, greater than the entire Sky Palace, greater than the combined might of countless realms."
Its gaze darkened faintly.
"And even then… it would still not be enough."
The crater fell silent.
"The Dark Haven is…"
The sentence died unfinished.
The Asura lowered its head slightly, releasing a quiet sigh burdened by centuries of fear and resignation.
"I understand your intentions, Titan. A part of me even admires them. But this is where your path ends. There is nothing more you can accomplish by continuing forward."
Titan said nothing. The weight of those words settled heavily over the crater like gathering storm clouds.
The Asura's expression softened once more.
"This much is mercy from me. I do not wish to destroy more lives than necessary. There are still survivors remaining in the South. Let that be enough."
It stepped closer still.
"Please… do not force my hand further. There is no being in this world, or above it, capable of challenging the Dark Haven."
A long silence followed.
Only the wind moved through the crater, carrying ash and dust across the ruined land.
Then another voice entered the silence.
"Ah… so that's how it is."
The calmness in those words cut through the atmosphere sharper than any blade.
Both Titan and the Asura turned immediately.
A figure stood at the edge of the crater.
Long crimson hair swayed gently beneath the red skies of Chaos. Golden eyes glowed with quiet, terrifying intensity beneath strands of drifting hair. Black-and-crimson armor covered his body in elegant overlapping layers, reinforced plates shifting subtly like living scales. A dark cape flowed behind him with unnatural movement, as though the wind itself obeyed his presence.
Nothing about him was loud. Nothing about him needed to be. His existence alone dominated the entire battlefield.
Indura.
This was something older. Something complete.
The True Self had arrived.
The moment their eyes landed on him, the same thought slammed into both Titan and the Asura simultaneously with overwhelming clarity.
Dragon King!
The Asura reacted instantly.
Holy light erupted violently around its body as it leapt backward across the crater. Divine armor materialized over its form in blazing layers while six radiant wings burst outward behind it. Its staff appeared instantly within its grasp as enormous rings of divine power rotated into existence behind its back.
The air trembled.
"Authority of—"
It never finished.
A transparent red sphere expanded outward from Indura's body with terrifying calmness.
The domain spread across the entire crater in a perfect circle, smooth and absolute like reality itself, submitting to a higher authority. The instant it touched them, both Titan and the Asura crashed violently onto their knees.
The impact shattered the ground beneath them.
Cracks exploded across the crater floor while an invisible force pressed down upon every part of their existence at once.
The pressure was unbearable. It was not simple gravity.
It was dominion.
An authority so absolute that their bodies instinctively submitted before their minds could even process what was happening. The Asura's divine armor flickered violently as its radiant wings trembled uncontrollably beneath the crushing force. Titan's massive frame shook as veins bulged across his body, blood spilling from his nose while he struggled desperately just to lift his head.
Neither of them could speak. Neither of them could think clearly.
Their foreheads were forced downward toward the shattered earth as their bodies trembled uncontrollably beneath the overwhelming pressure. Cold sweat mixed with blood while something primal clawed its way through their minds.
Fear.
Not ordinary fear. The ancient instinctive terror prey feels when standing before something infinitely above itself in the food chain.
Indura stood motionless at the center of the crimson domain.
The wind bent around him. The atmosphere itself seemed unwilling to touch him directly.
His golden eyes looked down upon the kneeling figures with calm indifference, carrying the weight of an existence that had once ruled entire ages through sheer overwhelming supremacy alone.
Then he spoke. His voice was low, deep, and impossibly final.
"How noisy."