Volume 2 Teaser: Valeria: Dominion of Shadows
Somewhere far from the smoking remains of the battlefield…
A place where light forgets how to exist.
Where time twists and groans like an old wound that never healed.
Two figures stand amid a shifting void. One, cloaked in regal shadow — tall, unmistakably human. The other… indescribable.
Its form flickers between shapes: wings of bone, eyes with no sockets, a halo made of screaming mouths. A Varnok — but unlike any seen before. Not just sentient. Ancient. Sovereign.
Arkzen stands before it, arms crossed behind his back, calm as ever.
"It's done," he says. "The Origin-tier one was sufficient to shake the balance. Just enough to distract them… especially him."
The being tilts its head, dozens of slitted eyes blinking in sync.
"Your gambit was… effective," it speaks in a voice like collapsing mountains. "But you risk too much. The boy ascended."
Arkzen smiles thinly.
"Exactly as planned. Origin was the threshold we needed someone to cross. Now, the gate can respond."
A silence hangs — not empty, but full of something oppressive. A presence watching from just beyond the folds of reality.
"You played your role well," the Varnok croons. "As one of them. Humanity never suspected you were ours."
Arkzen turns, his eyes glowing faintly now — not from magic… but something far deeper.
"Let them enjoy their victory," he says coldly. "The pieces are aligned. The boy will think the war is over."
"But soon… he'll learn what's been stirring beneath the foundations of the world."
As Arkzen and the being fade into the darkness, something vast stirs behind them. A wall of teeth, or maybe stars. A form so immense it cannot be perceived.
Unseen. Unnamed.
The real war hasn't begun.