It was the sands that first rose. The sandstorm, birthed by violent winds, plunged into unsettling calm.
Then, bare moments after the wall was struck, the storm surged again—but this time, it was something twisted and malevolent. The sands churned as if alive, radiating crimson light in their depths while their surface darkened, writhing and convulsing like molecules of existence tearing themselves apart and fusing back together in a single breath.
It was pure, visible embodiment of madness. Sickening to watch as it clawed into the sky and tumbled toward the forest—a bestial sandstorm that towered across the world, piercing the clouds and blackening them.
As the twisted sandstorm surged forward, the wall followed. The madness spread across the vast wall of Luinngard at lightning speed.
Then the wall stood up. Literally.
It tore itself from the ground, hardened bricks corroding into something obsidian and menacing, multiplying and dropping to the ground like drool from a monstrous entity.
A knight was standing near the wall—he was the last of those positioned to evacuate the people living close to it.
He wasn’t aware of what had struck the wall; all he knew was that a massive shudder had run across the entire land and made him fall. As he tried to stand, the wall began to rise too, pulling itself from its foundation and dripping black viscous liquid that looked like corroded metal.
As the liquid dropped, it moved with terrifying speed. The knight’s brows, embedded in his helmet, furrowed. He spun and tried to run, but the viscous liquid shot skyward and landed on him, instantly sinking into his armor.
He stopped mid-run and screamed in agony, his widened eyes turning black as crimson light blazed from within. His skin turned obsidian, his height swelled, and he instantly transformed into a towering, grotesque monster wielding a long, twisted sword of steel and black flesh, along with an oversized shield.
The creature instantly leaped, covering tremendous distance in that single bound. It landed on a building’s roof, crushing it to rubble.
Knights nearby instantly began to regroup, barking commands as they unsheathed their swords and engaged the monster—but they were hurled back like broken dolls.
Meanwhile, more of the moving obsidian viscous things crawled across the ground, spreading into the distance in vast amounts.
The wall itself lumbered forward, making people widen their eyes in horror.
The Tower Master and Knight Commander, who were near the Hall of Trials where the Emperor had locked himself for months since his last appearance, stared from where they stood with terror etched on their faces.
The shadow of the wall fell across the entire land as it grew higher, slowly stretching across the sky to encompass them all.
***
Northern’s mind collapsed once again as he was struck by the Origin. The damned bastard had tried to hit him directly with madness this time. But Northern had long since developed resistance to that.
His mind blacked out for a moment. In that instant, Northern felt his brain cells surge at terrible speed, attacking that single spawn of madness.
But it wasn’t just his brain cells—it was Omniform. Apparently, his body had continued growing. No—to be more accurate, Omniform was still spreading across his entire body. It was taking time, slow but progressive.
Northern felt a throbbing headache as he opened his eyes. He barely cracked them open when Kryos descended upon him. It was fast—he lost sight of the Origin for a moment and felt as though he’d been struck by a mountain.
He crashed into the ground, sending forth a shockwave that razed the entire forest in a single instant.
Much worse, the black and crimson ominous storm surged toward him with a hollow cry.
But a winged man suddenly appeared in front of the storm. Northern barely identified the Chaos Prince and allowed himself to look away from that approaching assault.
However, Kryos dropped to the ground with tremendous force and slowly walked toward him.
"You fragile creatures drape yourselves in virtue, yet your every breath reeks of self-interest. You raise monuments not to honor the skies, but to echo your own names through time. You clothe greed as ambition, cowardice as faith, and vanity as love. Even your prayers are bargains—pleas wrapped in demands, offerings meant only to purchase favor.
"You swarm across realms like parasites, devouring, claiming, hoarding—then you dare call yourselves righteous. Tell me, when have you ever sought goodness for its own sake? You worship nothing but the hollow idol of yourselves, then wonder why the divine regards you with contempt."
Northern slowly rose from the stone rubble, pushing a large slab away with ease—yet it flew meters.
He chuckled even as he staggered.
"Hey pal, all that thunder and brimstone—what is this, a vendetta against mankind? Bit cliché, don’t you think?"
Northern straightened, blood dripping from his temple and forehead, slowly trickling over his eyes.
But so far, he hadn’t received any fatal wounds. Strangely enough, he felt quite energetic. He still had that slight throbbing headache as his brain cells fought the madness Kryos had attacked him with.
"Cliché? Insolent insect, you dare call the voice of eternity cliché? You split my flesh and think it makes us equals? You mistake a wound for weakness. All you’ve done is prove the depth of your arrogance. Know this—every drop of my blood is worth more than the sum of your entire kind, and I will make you choke on the blasphemy of drawing it."
Northern laughed.
"Wow... that really struck a nerve, huh—"
His words were cut short as Kryos vanished at staggering speed. Northern followed suit, vanishing and flashing across the razed forest toward the twisted storm the Chaos Prince was currently fighting.
He laughed and screamed at Kryos as he soared through the air.
"You bleed once and suddenly your legs don’t carry you like they used to. What’s wrong, Origin—out of breath? Come on! I’ve had mortals chase me faster than this!"
Kryos responded with a demented laughter that echoed from across all corners.
"Out of breath? My breath births tempests of delirium! You think this is my limit? I will grind your bones until even memory refuses you!"