Lyric had much more to say, but the intense gaze Vyn was giving him silenced him. It frightened him. He turned toward his father instead.
Candence exhaled, nodding his head. "Vyn is right. Let's assess the situation first before deciding to report. As he pointed out, reinforcements would take time."
Only a paragon could arrive in time; anyone else would require an airship, which would take far too long.
Should a paragon arrive from the humans' side, the Vampyros would inevitably respond in kind. The thought made them shudder. It was well known that the cruelty of the Vampyros intensified as they climbed the ranks. The idea of a Vampyros paragon simply "forgetting everything" was impossible to imagine.
If a clash between paragons were to occur here, the entire terrain would be flattened.
It was a recipe for disaster.
It was the last thing Candence wanted to happen, so he killed the thought.
As they left the hall to prepare, Vyn's gaze flashed coldly.
The warriors of Fort Echohelm erupted into a frenzy as word spread like wildfire. Many were beyond frightened, but the thought of abandoning their apex was something none dared to entertain.
The warriors suited up, and in minutes, an army was formed.
Candence gazed at the gathered warriors with a hardened face, already clad in armor as though he were ready for war. Without hesitation, they set out.
He, along with some of the fortress commanders, led the way, leaving the others behind with Vyn to guard the fort in case of any issues.
Meanwhile, as the people of Fort Echohelm raced toward their apex, Atticus himself had no idea what was happening.
Even if he did, it wouldn't have lessened the intensity of his current focus.
As the blinding light around him dimmed, Atticus found himself standing in a darkened world.
He couldn't see, despite his immense mastery of the darkness element. This was a darkness that seemed alive, obscuring everything.
Atticus's arms tightened around the hilt of his sword as he performed a brief inspection of himself.
'You there?'
'Don't tell me you're frightened, Bond… You'd be lost without my brilliance guiding you, wouldn't you?' Ozeroth's laughter rumbled in his mind.
'Don't start.'
Atticus ignored the spirit's ramblings and focused on himself. He quickly checked his abilities and, after noting that everything was intact and functional, felt a wave of relief.
'Thoughts?'
Ozeroth paused for a moment.
'It seems you were transported into a pocket space. You're still in Eldoralth but on another plane. This is power beyond your peak. Be cautious.'
Atticus nodded. Ozeroth was implying that whatever had just occurred was something even paragon-ranked beings, the peak of Eldoralth, could not achieve. This meant a higher existence was at play.
Atticus's guard was raised to its absolute peak. Taking a deep breath, his senses spread out like a wave, trying to analyze his surroundings.
'It looks like a large hall,' he noted as he took a step forward.
Then—
Fwoosh.
A torch near him flared to life, its golden glow pushing back the shadows, illuminating the immediate area.
Then another torch lit up.
And another.
A chain reaction, the light raced down the hallway in both directions, revealing its massive expanse.
Atticus paused, his eyes narrowing as he took it all in. The hallway stretched endlessly ahead, the light revealing a path lined with towering arches and walls filled with ancient symbols and drawings.
At the far end was a large door. Although Atticus's keen eyes could see it, that didn't mean it was close.
'Kilometers away,' Atticus thought.
He took another step forward. He didn't run. He couldn't afford to, not when he had no idea what to expect.
As he walked, his sharp gaze traced the drawings etched into the walls. He still couldn't understand the words, but he focused on the drawings instead.
Minutes passed, or maybe hours. Time felt distorted in the hall. The only certainty was the door drawing closer.
Finally, he reached it.
Every inch of its surface was covered in carvings, spiraling symbols, and jagged lines that seemed to pulse faintly with energy.
Atticus exhaled deeply. His hand hovered near the surface, but he didn't touch it.
The door groaned.
It moved, not by his hand but by some unseen force. A low, grinding sound filled the hall as the massive stone panels parted slowly.
Darkness spilled forth, thick and impenetrable.
Atticus's eyes narrowed. He couldn't see what lay beyond the door. The torches' glow stopped at the threshold, as if the darkness swallowed the light.
'Wish me luck, ' he thought.
Ozeroth scoffed, his voice dry. 'With my greatness, no luck is needed.'
Atticus rolled his eyes, a small smirk appearing on his lips. "Right."
He steadied his breathing, his nerves hardening like steel.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped forward.
The darkness enveloped him completely.
Light flooded his vision.
Atticus's senses spread out like a shockwave, every fiber of his being on high alert.
His mind quickly processed his surroundings.
A vast hall stretched before him, seemingly infinite.
Towering pillars of black stone rose into the void, their surfaces glowing faintly with golden veins that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Above, there was no ceiling, only a pitch-black expanse dotted with countless stars, as though he had stepped into the heart of the cosmos itself. The floor beneath him was smooth and reflective, like obsidian glass, casting faint distortions of the stars above.
Suddenly, the air trembled.
A suffocating force crashed down on him, as though gravity had multiplied. Atticus staggered, his knees nearly buckling. He forced his head up, instincts screaming as his eyes locked onto the center of the hall.
A figure sat cross-legged in the middle of the space.
Still. Silent.
Atticus's breath froze. His blood ran cold.
The man's eyes were closed, yet his presence dominated the room. His form was simple, cloaked in dark, featureless robes that seemed to blend into the void around him. His skin was pale and unblemished, glowing faintly like moonlight.
His aura was overwhelming, an all-consuming weight that made Atticus feel like an insect beneath the gaze of a god.
Atticus couldn't move. Not even a finger.
'What the hell is he?' Atticus's mind raced.
The figure radiated power, raw and unfiltered. But it wasn't just that.
What shocked Atticus the most was the aura surrounding the man.
It wasn't human.
It wasn't any race Atticus had ever encountered in Eldoralth.
Yet, impossibly, it felt like all of them.
The strength of the Vampyros. The void of the Nullites. The brightness of the Evolari…
All of them. Every single race.
Atticus's heart pounded as his mind raced.
Just where did Whisker send him?
But he didn't get a chance to ponder.
The figure's eyes flickered open, and for a fraction of a second, the world stilled.
Then, its voice rumbled.
"Come."