In secret chambers across the Empires, rulers met in fear.
The Drakon Imperium:
High Queen Silhara paced, golden eyes narrowed.
"He shouldn't be alive. The seal was crafted by gods."
"Then it seems the gods lied," her adviser muttered.
"No," she whispered. "They feared him. And lied to us all."
—
The Azure Federation:
A scryer bled from the eyes as her vision ended. She collapsed, whispering:
"He's… not whole yet. He walks incomplete."
—
Back in the Wastes, Vaeren stood before a ruined monument: a broken statue, once crafted in his honor.
He remembered it all.
The betrayal.
The chaining.
The divine spears driven through his soul by the so-called Pantheon.
His fists clenched.
"You feared me," he said aloud.
"So you bound me in time itself."
He stepped forward. The monument cracked beneath him.
"But time bends to me now."
And the world shuddered.