19-

Chapter 19 – The Call of Darkness

Time flowed like a river—seeping through pain, sliding beneath the heavy curtain of ruin and oblivion. The sky wept countless times, raged even more. Yet the earth remained silent; for every body buried beneath its crust, every memory and every dream, had been sealed with eternal stillness.

The years since V’s last battle had become legend among mortals—yet for the gods, they had transformed into a watchful, tense waiting.

He—the warrior born of darkness, wielder of shadows as blades, the one whose inner chaos could cleave the world in two—now stood atop the fourth tier of power. And the things he had lost at each level… had far exceeded what any man, or god, could understand.

The master of darkness born from ashes was now building a new age.

⸻

V’s new kingdom was built upon shadows. Each stone, each pillar, resembled raw, uncarved obsidian. The night never faded here; as if the sky itself stood in reverence before these lands. To scale its walls was death, even for an army. For surrounding the kingdom was a barrier known as The Lord’s Domain—a living darkness. It whispered into the mind, made fears manifest. It was the reflection of V’s newest power.

And now, that power rested entirely within his reach.

Nightmare… was no longer just a summon. Its shadow had taken form. V now wielded it like a weapon, like a ghost, like a companion. Each time he summoned it, the sky would rip, and screams echoed from between the stars. Nightmare’s body had become semi-liquid, semi-crystalline—gleaming like obsidian, ever-shifting. And it moved in complete unison with V’s will.

His telekinesis had reached a point where it could lift entire palaces. Swords shattered with a glance. Towers crumbled with a thought. His physical strength now rivaled that of an Asgardian god. His fists split the earth. His footsteps made shadows tremble.

But behind this immense power… was a profound void. The loneliness that followed victory rendered even divine might meaningless.

⸻

Elsewhere in the world, tremors had begun.

Names long buried, forgotten by both time and scripture, began to stir. Gods never spoken of in holy texts, deities whose names had faded from even the oldest stone tablets…

1. Rhaem’thar – The Eyeless Lord of Knowledge

From the misty mountains of the East, a god with no eyes rose from beneath the ashes. Prophecies were etched upon his skin. He spoke not with sound, but whispered into the mind. He could bend time, rewrite reality.

And upon awakening, his first word was a mental scream: “V…”

2. Otharys – Goddess of Endless Hunger

She emerged from the deepest trench of the sea, where no light could reach. Otharys, a being with the body of a colossal serpent and the face of a woman. Her chest rose and fell with the tides; each breath shook continents. Her hunger reached even into the void between stars. Her darkness echoed V’s—an answer to a call.

3. Kael’Zorr – The Forgotten Lord of Fire

He walked across volcanic wastelands, forged in pure rage. Eyes of flame pierced the sky. Lava burst with each step. His name burned within the ashes: Kael’Zorr. And he, too, had sensed the rising darkness of V.

4. Seraphineh – The Corrupted Goddess of Mercy

Once the deity of kindness and compassion, Seraphineh awoke from a thousand-year slumber… defiled. Her wings had withered. Her eyes were void. Every touch she offered rewarded life with death. When she felt V’s energy, she whispered only: “Is he one of us?”

These gods had awakened in response to V’s darkness. For shadows were no longer merely fear—they were a summons. As The Lord’s Domain expanded, the world had shifted off balance. And to such calls, gods always answered.

⸻

And on Olympus…

As the roof of the heavens trembled, Zeus—the king of gods—sat upon his grand throne. Lightning strode across his back. The power of the skies trembled in his hands. Around him, even Aphrodite’s beauty paled, and Apollo’s melodies grew silent. But in his eyes now… there was something else: unease.

He gazed downward—toward the lands ruled by shadow.

Toward him—the being who made gods tremble, yet was no god himself.

Toward V.

“A shadow made flesh… dares to command the gods,” he murmured.

Then he took the lightning into his hand. The spark forming at his fingertips seemed to split infinity itself.

“This… is the disturbance of divine balance. And restoring balance falls upon us…”

He placed the lightning gently beside his throne. Yet in his eyes flickered something more than arrogance—there was curiosity, too.

V’s power wasn’t just a threat. To Zeus, it was a challenge.

A new conquest.

He had seen a shadow beyond even his own lightning.

And for the first time… a cold wind blew across the peak of Olympus.