Nimroad I, the new Sultan of the Arbiana Sultanate (in case you forgot), was livid. He had been forced to watch as the Arcfiran territories broke off from the greater whole of the Sultanate and declared independence before devolving into civil war. Soon enough, some of the more eastern territories joined suit, and it was only the parts near where the capital was and the Tyrkish region to the north that were within the ability of the military to maintain reasonable control over. Certainly, there were people in the rebelling regions that supported his vision, but they were grossly outnumbered by those who did not, and that, more often than not, resulted in crushing defeats for those who were fanatically devoted to Solinaye.

Worse still, there were those who, while claiming to be devotees of the Golden One, fought against the new regime and its supporters! How anyone could call themselves truly loyal to the One Who Rules Upon High and yet refuse to serve His chosen representative was inconceivable! And yet, every day brought more humiliation, more defeats, and more retreats. Thankfully, the demons of the north, those accursed undead and their mortal slaves, had pulled out of the Arcfiran territories and their fish-snake people had ceased all their raids. This would have given the regime a reprieve, but as if the heavens themselves were mocking them a collection of large metal clouds rained explosives on the Tyrkish Straight’s main defensive position.

In a matter of hours, an entire city was reduced to all but ruins, and the magical protection that kept foes from crossing that point evaporated as if there had never been anything there. The absolute barbarians! That city had stood for over a thousand years and contained marvels of technology, magic, and other knowledge that no one in the world had the ability to replicate, and yet they simply razed it to the ground without a second thought!

Then things got even worse, as a massive creature swam at high speeds through the Tyrkish Straight, pushing so much water aside as it moved that it flooded the coastal settlements to one degree or another. And then, as if to add yet more insults to injury, the creature swam back through the Straight not even a day later, causing even more damage and ending ever more lives!

Finally, as icing on this clusterfuck cake, Darksol began to move troops beyond their own borders and towards the Tyrkish Straight. Things were going from bad to worse to horrifyingly terrible in relatively short order, and of course, the people who had put Nimroad I in his current position were unable to come to a solid consensus as to what to do about it.

Half advocated that they keep their troops stationed all over the remainder of the Sultanate’s lands, those that had not rebelled (yet) in order to secure them. They argued that the Undead would not be able to withstand the light of the heavens and would crumble to dust before even reaching the capital itself. Others insisted that all forces be pulled from garrison duty and from their (failed) incursions into Darksol’s lands.

Nimroad I, of course, was as wishy-washy as a leader could get. He was, at face value, decisive and intelligent, but in reality, he had just been doing as he had been instructed to. He was a puppet in all but name, dancing on the strings of his masters. But now those masers had different ideas on how their puppet should dance, and this was beginning to backfire.

Nimroad I and the Cabinet were in a very sticky situation, and they were not making it any better by being so utterly unable to come to any kind of decision as to what to do about Darksol’s counter-invasion. As the top brass argued inside the palace and Nimroad I sat upon his throne, powerless to do anything to stop his nation from falling apart, a voice seemed to permeate the entire hall. It came from nowhere and everywhere at once, and those that heard it swore that they could hear the voice of their Golden God speaking to them.

“You wish to end the war, don’t you? Then I shall provide. Look for the Gate that shall take you to the beating heart of Darksol. Find the one who sits upon the Ebon Throne and face your fate before the Abominable King.”

The voice faded and all in the hall looked to each other as if to confirm that they, too, heard the voice of God. Their eyes told each other all they needed to know, and immediately the search for this divine ‘Gate’ began.

…

A giant metal man hovered ominously before a much smaller fleshy one. However, the giant tin can who was named Zero Noir was the one who was shaking like a leaf in the wind, not the person seated before him. Zero Noir shuddered as the Abominable King’s eyes opened a crack and his gaze once again sent waves of power surging over the Dungeon Master.

“I’ve completed my task.” Zero Noir stuttered, his abject fear of being given a second, permanent death filling every fiber of his being.

Kain did not respond with words, but Zero Noir could feel Kain’s question without the man himself even moving his lips.

“Yes, they are looking for it.” Zero Noir said, desperately hoping he could be excused. However, Kain was not done. Kain’s gaze rooted Zero Noir in place, and the Dungeon Master felt as though his ruler was waiting for him to ask a question.

“I have to ask. Why give them a backdoor to this place? It makes no sense.”

Kain once again said nothing, but the edges of his mouth slowly curled up and Zero Noir could no longer contain his fear and warped himself back to his control room deep in the Dungeon. Kain was not disappointed with Zero Noir’s flight. In fact, he was mentally applauding the coward for staying before him for as long as he had been able to. Kain’s eyes closed as his mouth relaxed into his resting stoic face as his far sight scanned the front between the Sultanate and his Empire.

Then he switched his over to the capital of the Sultanate, where people were hastily trying to dig up a Dungeon Entrance that Zero Noir had generated halfway into the ground, which had been turned into very hard and very dense stone. Kain wondered just how many different shows, movies, comic books, graphic novels, anime, manga, and more that Zero Noir had consumed as entertainment during his previous life, because Kain recognized the special Dungeon Entrance’s appearance as a Stargate from a show of the same name.

Well, it didn’t matter anyway, so long as the humanoid metal pervert was willing to do what he was told. Kain tried to force himself to smile again, but he lacked much energy to do that. Instead, he went back to his new normal of struggling against his lethargy and gradually rebuilding his ability to move like normal. He was behind his own personal schedule, in that regard, and needed to pick up the pace. He refused to meet his soon-to-be victims without the ability to show them a glimpse of the nightmare that they had brought upon themselves. If anything, their attempt to take this place would be enjoyable to watch, and he was more than happy to let this twisted place give the invaders a good run for their money.