The journey into the Spirit World was a silent affair as Gregory arrived at the eting point designated by his fellow Monarchs.
Accompanied by his most powerful bond who had facilitated his entry into the dinsion, Gregory, having ordered his subordinate to wait at the foot of the mountain, made his way to the mountain peak where a cave stood, silent, waiting.
From within, a pair of serpentine eyes erged, gazing directly at Gregory and leaving him listless for a mont.
This was a Spirit on par with the Witch of Fables, not a being to be treated lightly.
Gregory didn’t hesitate to bow, paying homage to the Spirit.
The eyes seed to acknowledge his greetings as they slowly blinked before closing once again.
The next mont, the scenery changed and Gregory found himself at the foot of a plum blossom tree with his fellow Monarchs in attendance, save for one.
"You called for a eting yet turned out to be the last one to arrive," Beatrice comnted at the side. "You’d best have a good reason for doing so, Greg."
"I agree and be fast about it." Lucas intoned. "I planned to launch an attack on a human city before your urgent ssage arrived."
Usually the aggressive one, Gregory seed quite tad today as he intoned. "Sierra is dead."
Silence followed as the Monarchs exchanged looks with one another.
They had been so caught up in their respective tasks that they were unaware or it was just that they didn’t care despite knowing.
But there was a need to care.
"What killed her?" Vorigan inquired, his hoarse voice breaking the abounding silence.
Gregory shook his head. "No idea. But I’ve tried to reach out to those back at the Highlands. I was t with darkness and nothing else."
"I tried to do so as well. t with a similar result." Lafayette confessed, earning a pointed look from Vorigan.
"And you said nothing?"
"Does it matter?" Lafayette inquired like it didn’t.
In truth, the Monarchs, despite being kindred in the march to reclaim Ra’as, were also rivals as they sought to rule over each other.
It was a case of survival of the fittest and though they weren’t going to attack each other under current circumstances, it didn’t an they would mourn a fallen Monarch.
Lafayette has only reached out to his n back at the Highlands as he’d planned on claiming Sierra’s territory for himself before the others found out.
Unfortunately, he’d failed.
"Sothing is happening at ho." Gregory pointed out plainly, unwilling to engage Lafayette in pointless banter.
Moldark inquired. "Liliana?"
"No, much more than that. We might have to consider withdrawing." Gregory remarked, earning surprised looks from his brethren.
He understood the sentint as he had been at the forefront of the invasion since the Blood Feast began, wracking up more victories than all others.
Silence persisted for a ti before Vorigan broke it, intoning softly. "The disgusting sll of the Abyss lingers in the air. Those Abyssals are trying to use the war to their advantage. We cannot rule over a land tainted by that twisted place."
"The Empire is weakened, we are closer to victory than ever before. I say we complete the fight before doing anything else." Lucas remarked, unwilling to abandon the war at such a critical stage.
Taking a deep breath, Beatrice remarked. "So of my n turned into trees, twisted monstrosities that had no right existing on our plane."
"The Abyss is making its move." Vorigan pointedly said. "The air is twisted and it won’t be long before even the aether would no longer reject the monstrosities existing within that place. We will fall back."
"You are no master of mine, I shall choose what I want." Lucas spat coldly, his gaze filled with a desire to fight.
Then, the most talkative of the bunch who had remained conspicuously silent so far, spoke up. "You are tainted, brother."
Lucas paused before glancing at Maxius who had spoken.
"What do you an?" Lucas inquired with a deep frown.
Maxius tapped the side of his head. "Your mind, I can detect miasma about it. Miasma from the Abyss."
"... What?" Lucas could hardly believe his ears.
But he couldn’t discard Maxius’ comnt as the latter was a Psionic, the one of only two Psionics that persisted amongst the Monarchs, the other being the deceased Sierra.
"There is a problem, brethren. I fear that the Abyss has sunk its teeth far deeper than we thought." Vorigan remarked, a grim expression marking his visage.
***
It was unexpected.
Never had there been a ti when Aragon had been brought to its knees.
Not against the Beast Tides, not against the Empire, and not even against the taint that once tried to destroy the Wandering Forest.
But at this mont, to his greatest horror, Alejandro watched as his people collapsed by the dozens, screaming their asses off as they clawed at their faces with reckless abandon, attempting to get rid of whatever plagued their minds.
But it wasn’t just whatever... no, it was more than that.
It was the Abyss and it was trying to destroy the minds of his people.
Alejandro groaned even as he struggled to fight back the despair working it’s into his heart.
He trembled as he felt the cries of his people more deeply than anyone else.
That was the thing about being the Rey.
He served as the focal point of the network that allowed the Beastn to serve as one mind.
Which ant, everything they felt, everything they thought... it all fell to him.
Alejandro struggled to stay sane as he dropped to his knees and looked above.
In that mont, his third eye which allowed him to see through all illusions saw it, hidden just above the clouds.
It hadn’t always been there though he couldn’t deny that a bloody miasma had covered the sky since the First Night.
This ti, however, there was more
It was a being, one that seed to be birthed from the very miasma that filled the Abyss.
An incredibly large, red-skinned, barely humanoid female with four arms, two of which were perpetually clasped as though in prayer while the other two had knife-shaped claws protruding from the knuckles.
She possessed a skull-like face with faint traces of bloodied flesh with a spiked halo made of congealed blood atop her head. A serpentine tail persisted from the waist down with dragon wings protruding from her waist.
Alejandro saw her and his mind imdiately fractured.
She seed to have sensed his gaze as she looked in his direction and... smiled.
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