Divon had explained various things to Kraeven as they walked.

Apparently, the world was divided into three realms. Nesrafaar was the source of all light. That light descended would descend into the mortal realm. It would become neutral and form all that made up Discord.

According to Divon, darkness reaches a point in Nar’ Agrun where it is sent back to Nesrafaar, thus continuing the cycle of life and death, but he added that it was just a theory of his.

“Wow,” Kraeven said as he and Divon made their way towards the spire of sin.

“Yep. But something has changed. The mortal world is producing far more darkness than usual.” Divon said.

“How?” Kraeven asked.

“No idea. Something is happening up there and it’s upsetting the balance of things… but it’s ok because after you ascend the throne you can tell those idiots up there to reduce their dark emissions.” Divon said with a smile.

“How do you know all of this?” Kraeven asked.

“Mmm… well, I was born with all the information I needed. It was as though the world gave me what I needed to serve you best.” Divon said gleefully.

“Is that so? Well, I woke up without memories, so… yeah.”

“Ah, that is why I am here. The world must have birthed me near you so that I give you the information you need.” Divon said as something came within sight.

“What is that?” Kraeven asked as his gaze fell upon what could only be called a giant door.

“That, your highness, is the gate that leads into Vanta Fos, the dark citadel,” Divon said.

Kraeven looked up and it looked like the spire of sin was inside the dark citadel.

Also, the darkness that formed the gigantic walls had receded further out into the nothingness.

Kraeven and Divon approached the giant black door.

It was made of a shiny, yet extremely dark material.

Kraeven reached out to touch the door, but a loud sound stopped him.

The ground rumbled, prompting Kraeven and Divon to step away from the door.

Kraeven then noticed two titanic beings rising at opposite sides of the citadel.

They had humongous horns that reached out to the skies. They had thick black fur and black eyes that threatened to absorb the little light that made it to Nar’ Agrun.

They were truly colossal beings.

“What are those?” Kraeven asked, his mouth agape.

“Those are haevrul and I believe that there are only two in existence,” Divon yelled as the rumbling grew louder and louder.

The two titans then fell to their knees with a loud bang that shook the dark realm.

“They are kneeling before their lord,” Divon said as the large door opened.

Kraeven and Divon entered the citadel to find empty streets and homes made from the same material as the gate.

“Behold, the foot of your throne. This is where your people will live, should you choose so.” Divon said as they made their way towards the spire of sin.

The path towards the dark tower was long and involved the climbing of serval stairs, but they eventually made it a platform that revealed a door that they assumed led into the spire.

Kraeven looked around the platform and saw several of what Divon called pulae, lopus and even traeltors roaming around on the large platform.

Some fed on the corpses of their own kind, while others viciously fought each other.

“You said that there are other intelligent beings. Then why have we only seen these violent and mindless ones?” Kraeven asked as he mercilessly kicked away one of the nearby pulae. This sent the pulae flying off the platform and into the abyss.

“It would seem as though intelligent dark beings are hard to come by, but I assure you. They exist.” Divon said as he too kicked away a pulae.

The two cleared the platform of any wondering dark beings before they came across a rather peculiar sight.

Near one of the walls of the spire sat two humanoid bodies. They looked like they were sleeping and so Kraeven approached them, in an attempt to wake them, but he was stopped by what felt like an invisible wall.

“What is going on here?” Kraeven gasped as he touched the invisible wall.

“Those are humans, my lord. It would seem as though they died in battle. But someone or something erected a barrier to protect their bodies.” Divon said.

Kraeven had noticed that he couldn’t feel their life forces, but he had assumed that the barrier was blocking him from doing so.

Kraeven wondered what the humans were like before they died.

Were they intelligent, reasonable beings or mindless, violent barbarians?

“What are humans like?” Kraeven asked as he inspected his surroundings.

“No idea. I just know they exist.” Divon said.

Kraeven then noticed that a metallic object was embedded into the platform.

He reached out to grab it and felt the leather on its hilt, not that he knew what a hilt was.

After grabbing it slightly tighter, Kraeven pulled the object out of the ground revealing more of its metallic self.

Kraeven couldn’t help but feel like it was broken or incomplete.

“Do you know what this is?” Kraeven asked as he waved the object around.

He then felt a change in the environment. He turned to the two human bodies and tried approaching them again, only this time, he succeeded.

He surveyed the two and found several little items next to them.

“Do all humans look like this?” Kraeven asked as he backed away from the two corpses.

“According to my knowledge, yes and no. Yes, all humans have similar forms but they vary in many little ways.” Divon said.

“I see. Then I- we are slightly larger than humans.” Kraeven said after noticing that his arm was almost as big as one of the humans.

Kraeven looked around and saw a mountain of corpses in whichever direction he looked.

“These two must have fought valiantly. So much so that someone or something decided to protect them. I don’t want to be the one who disturbed their peace.” Kraeven said as he inspected the object in his hand.

“This must be a relic the humans use to protect their dead.” Kraeven deduced.

He could sense a strange power within in.

“Mmm… here. Can you feel something?” Kraeven asked as he handed the object to Divon who eyed it intently.

“Ah yes, light magic. There are particles of light within this relic that are giving it its protective qualities. This must be the work of a skilled human because the light within the relic is aligned in a complex lattice.” Divon said as he handed the relic back to Kraeven.

“Mmm…” Kraeven droned as he raised his free left hand.

He poured a little of his dark energy into it while trying to emulate the form of the relic.

Particles of darkness gathered in his hand in the shape of the relic.

He then aligned the inner particles to reflect the ones he sense inside the relic. After doing that, Kraeven then shoved his version of the relic into the ground where the old one once sat.

The relic then began automatically gathering particles of darkness. The particles then formed a dome around the two humans. The dome then hardened until it looked just like the material the spire was made of.

The done perfectly sealed away the two humans and just like before.

Kraeven then walked away. Divon followed as they entered the spire.

The large door near what Kraeven assumed was the front opened. Kraeven and Divon entered beginning their ascent up the spire of sin.

They passed a large pulae infested chamber and dirty corridors that were lined with all manner of creature, but they eventually arrived at the highest point in the spire.

“Here we are, my lord. The throne room. I believe there should be two saepenar awaiting you.” Divon said as the door slowly opened, revealing a large chamber littered with human corpses and the smell of death.

The only living thing in the chamber was a humanoid creature that paced around the room.

It quickly turned to face Kraeven upon noticing his arrival. It had two fluffy structures on top of its head, pale grey skin, dark exoskeletal structures, pure black eyes and sharp claws.

Divon was about to assume a defensive stance to protect Kraeven, but Kraeven raised his hand, stopping the velzen in his tracks.

“What’s its purpose again,” Kraeven asked as he approached the centre of the chamber where it awaited him.

“It’s duty is to guard the throne of the lords until one such as yourself arrives. Although I’m sure no one else but you could even sit on the throne in the first place…” Divon’s voice trailed off as he spoke.

“I see,” Kraeven said as he stopped about three meters from what Divon called a saepenar.

“Hey, you. Can you speak?” Kraeven asked as he subconsciously charged dark energy throughout his body.

The saepenar reacted by emitting particles of dark magic.

“Mmm…” Kraeven droned. He realized that the way he used magical energy and the way Divon and the saepenar did was way different.

Divon sent dark magic into his limbs to boost his speed and strength.

Kraeven wondered how the saepenar would use its magic.

The saepenar then disappeared from Kraeven’s sight. He would have panicked, but he had picked up the ability to sense the life forces of nearby creatures.

He felt the shift in the air behind him as the saepenar sent a kick in his direction.

Kraeven grabbed the saepenar’s leg and threw it towards the far end of the chamber before following it with all of the strength his legs could muster.

The saepenar hit the black wall with incredible force, but it realized that Kraeven was coming after it, so it quickly got up and lashed out at Kraeven’s face.

Kraeven rolled to the side and tackled it to the ground, where he released some of his power.

This filled the chamber with a soul-shattering amount of darkness.

“So tell me saepenar, are you an intelligent creature or are you a mindless beast?” Kraeven asked as his eyes burnt with excitement.

At this point, Divon had already fallen to his knees and was loudly weeping.

The saepenar’s antennae straightened before it opened its small mouth.

“Please don’t kill me.” The saepenar said before Kraeven got up.

He offered the saepenar a hand and helped it up.

“Don’t worry. I only kill what tries to kill me and although you tried to kill me, you possess intelligence and that is quite rare around here. Killing you would be quite wasteful, right Divon?” Kraeven asked as he turned towards his acquaintance, only to find him sobbing.

“You… are weird,” Kraeven noted as he walked around the room.

“Well… we’re in the throne room. But I don’t see any throne.” Kraeven said.

“Well? Explain why lord Kraeven’s throne is nowhere to be seen saepenar?” Divon hissed.

“Try releasing your power again.” The saepenar suggested as its antennae twitched slightly.

“Ok.” Kraeven let out his power again, only this time he fed it to the spire itself.

A loud noise at the centre of the room prompted Kraeven the others to gather around at the centre.

There, strange runes and symbols began to glow a bright golden yellow as the chamber seemingly rotated, but that didn’t last long as the sound of grinding and crashing filled the chamber.

“Lord Kraeven, the spire wants more of your power as proof that you are its master. The spire itself is connected to Nar' Agrun, so this will link you to the dark realm.

Kraeven took a deep breath before forcing out streams of his power and sending them down the core of the tower.

He made sure to thoroughly empty his reserves and eventually, a slab emerged from the chamber's centre.

It rose upwards and was followed by several others until they formed what looked like a giant chair. Or more accurately, a throne.

Kraeven let out a loud grunt as he felt himself become one with the dark realm.

He then stumbled towards the chamber wall and as though it was obeying his will, the wall silently disintegrated, revealing the dark realm in all its splendour.

The dark ocean Kraeven awoke in had returned to the bottom of Nar' Agrun. This, unfortunately, drowned the dark city of Vanta Fos.

Kraeven wondered what had happened to the haevrul, but just as he had that thought, the world rumbled and the Haevrul, whom Kraeven remembered were on their knees stood up.

Kraeven then noticed that they were bound to chains and they were holding onto something.

Kraeven was about to wonder what it was they were holding before they started lifting something.

“They’re lifting the citadel!” Divon exclaimed.

Kraeven then noticed that the haevrul were indeed raising the citadel to the point where it sat above the dark ocean.

But something that Kraeven hadn’t seen before was the multitude of paths that led out of the citadel.

They look like roads that led to nowhere in particular.

“Behold, your kingdom,” Divon said as he fell to his knees.

The saepenar also knelt as Kraeven surveyed his domain-

Wait a minute! Kraeven thought.

“Hey Divon, didn’t we agree that you’d be the king?” Kraeven asked as he walked towards the throne.

“I would never. You are the rightful ruler of Nar' Agrun.” Divon said as Kraeven sat on the throne.

He could feel it. The dark realm.

He also noticed something.

“Mmm… that dark ocean we woke up in has a lot of unborn creatures. According to the spire, I can summon the hoards of darkness at will, but why would I want to do that?” Kraeven asked.

“Well, you are the ruler of this realm so you can do whatever you want,” Divon said as Kraeven continuously released waves of his power.

They echoed throughout Nar' Agrun and with every ping, the dark realm updated Kraeven on its every aspect.

“There is a prophecy.” The saepenar said. It along with Divon were slowly becoming accustomed to Kraeven’s power.

“Oh?” Kraeven wondered out loud.

“Yes. You are to restore balance to the world by ascending to Discord and reducing the increasing amount of darkness being produced by the mortals up there.” The saepenar said.

“Ooh, yes! That would be an easy task for one such as yourself, no doubt.” Divon said.

“Mmm… restore balance to the world… what happens if I don’t?”

“Well… nothing to us as we live in Nar' Agrun, but the mortal and Nesrafaar will surely suffer as more and more darkness constitutes existence.” The saepenar explained.

“So for balance to be maintained, we need to find and exterminate the source of the extra darkness… sounds simple enough, but still… Divon, the way I see it, we can save the world or let the world be engulfed by darkness. The problem is I have no attachment to this world. Aside from you, Divon, I care about absolutely nothing else.” Kraeven said as he rubbed his chin.

“Your words bring me great joy, Lord Kraeven. Uh- may I suggest something?” Divon asked.

“Sure.”

“I understand your reasoning when you say that you find no value in the world. However, this may be because your experience is limited.” Divon said as he walked towards the window Kraeven had made.

“Continue.” Kraeven prompted.

“Why don’t you explore all three realms and if you still see no value in the world after that, we let the darkness consume it. But, if you enjoy yourself in all three realms, then we save the world.” Divon suggested as he looked out into the black nothingness that was Nar' Agrun.

“That sounds… good. It sounds quite fun actually. I’m getting rather excited.” Kraeven said as he got off his throne.

“So, how do you suggest we explore Nar' Agrun since we are already here?” Kraeven asked as he stretched his limbs.

He then stared at the saepenar for a moment.

It had a very unique and hard exoskeleton.

Kraeven sent dark magic to his skin until a solid layer coated his body.

He then condensed it until it hardened, forming a glorious dark armour that was light and rather comfortable.

“We could do as the spire instructed and form an army,” Divon suggested.

“Mmm… ok. But before any of that, could you punch me? I want to see how strong my new skin is.” Kraeven said as he opened his arms.

Divon’s gaze fell on Kraeven’s new form.

“But-"

“Just do it.” Kraeven insisted.

Divon channelled dark energy into all of his limbs.

If he was going to punch his lord, then he was going to do it with all the strength his body could muster.

Kraeven could feel the incredible amount of magical energy flowing through Divon, but for some reason, it was an exciting experience for Kraeven.

He wanted to know how much power Divon had. It was an animalistic urge, a desire to see who was stronger than who.

Divon then flashed forward and punched Kraeven in his newly armoured chest.

A loud explosion echoed throughout the spire as Kraeven grunted in pain.

Large cracks were visible throughout his armour.

Divon stepped back before falling to his knees.

“I’m sorry, I thought-"

“It’s fine! No- this is perfect. You and I are possibly the strongest creatures in Nar' Agrun, right? Then why don’t you and I test any of those who want a place in our army? Yes! But before any of that, come at me again.” Kraeven said with a bright smile as his armour repaired itself. He had been pouring darkness into it ever since and with each batch of magic the armour received, it got better and stronger.

“Your highness, may I partake in this battle?” The saepenar asked.

“Sure. What is your name? If we’re going to spar, then I’d like to know your name.” Kraeven said as he playfully swung the relic in his right hand.

“I have no name.” The saepenar said, prompting Kraeven to pace around her.

“Mmm… you’re quite pleasing to look at. You’re strong… relatively. Ah, yes. Taeana.” Kraeven announced loudly.

“Beautiful!” Divon exclaimed as the saepenar’s antennae twitched in what Kraeven assumed was a happy manner.

“Now come. I’d like to gauge the limits of our power.”