An Eldritch Legacy: Sin & Sacrilege

An episode of the shameful past of an Empress...

In the vast distance of a blank void, an endless expanse of darkness and space stretched so infinitely that one could never discern where it began or where it ended—or so it seemed at first.

Far away, in the abyss of nothingness, a city radiated an immense, almost heavenly light, as though it were a celestial body. A radiant sun, a looming star, an ashen moon, the gates of heaven—many names could fit the feeling one would get when gazing upon the sheer majesty of this city, a place that defied all known shapes and sizes.

It seemed as vast as a universe, so immense that it felt as though entire worlds could fit within it. And yet…

A keen observer would soon begin to notice the discrepancies, should they ever awaken from the delusion of its grandeur.

There were no heavenly bodies where they should be—no stars, no sun, no moons, no space—just a blank void. That was, until one realized that the city itself appeared to float, breathing as though it held life, slumbering within the confines of darkness and silence.

Looking closer, one would see creatures moving within the dark void. Some crawled upon it, others ran, and some tore each other apart in a gruesome feast of horror. Strange beings dragged chains that dwarfed worlds across the void as they desperately sought to approach the great city of light. But no matter how they struggled, they could never reach it. They screeched and bellowed in rage each time they failed, their fury echoing through the empty expanse.

It was a gathering of horrors of all kinds and abominations of all shapes, yet they all shared one thing in common—the chains they bore. The clanking of those chains was the only sound that emerged in this void, accompanied by a silent cry of sorrow, so subdued that only under special circumstances could it be heard.

Then, the realization would strike—this was no void at all.

The entire expanse was a singular piece of land, its earth so dark it became indistinguishable from the void itself. And while there was a great mystery hidden within this place, I cannot yet unveil it, for I have cards yet to play. Revealing too much now would only spoil the fun, wouldn't it?

The city stretched for miles that would put entire dimensions to shame, its brilliance so fierce that, from impossible distances away, it resembled a sun, radiating a light so intense that it spilled into the very crevices of space around it. It burned so brightly that the suns of Origin Soil—once revered—paled in comparison, appearing like mere dim lamps against the backdrop of daylight.

Yet, within a small part of this seemingly divine beacon of light resided a race of beings so pure that their very existence exuded radiance.

They were called the Luminaries.

Their bodies appeared sculpted from solid light, their eyes mere orbs of luminescence, and their hair a flowing cascade of brilliance. Nothing about them seemed truly physical, and their aura carried the illusion of nobility and purity. But if Kean were present, he would have been retching his guts out, for the stench of foulness here was so overwhelming that it took physical form unseen.

Disorder was woven into every fiber of their existence, concealed beneath a veil of blinding purity.

How then could the children of this great city not hear the cries of the very light that gave them life?

It was sacrilege in its purest form.

And in this place, a great event was about to unfold.

It all began with the cries of the damned and the laughter of madness, reverberating across the universe as silent, inconspicuous dark stars fell from the heavens that had long since locked their gates.

The largest of the five falling stars plummeted toward this city, and others within the chasm of dark earth.

And just as they appeared, they vanished unseen by even the gods that ruled the city of light—leaving in their wake a scar across the universe, one that would never heal without his hand. It was a festering wound, a rot so putrid that reality itself flickered around it. And yet, those who dwelled within the city of light remained unaware of the horror that had begun to seep into their world.

For the first time since any of the residents of the darkness were born, they felt something other than despair, torment, and grief.

They felt a promise, a chance, at something new, at something momentous, and should they grasp the moment.... the gods would know fear.

----

Within the palace of one of the many empires that ruled this city of light, a shocking scene was unfolding. A woman of tender yet divine beauty was being ravaged in an intense storm of lust and drunken madness.

Her hair, a fierce and untamed gold, shimmered like molten sunlight, as though a fragment of the divine sun spoken of only in the legends gone and forgotten had been placed upon her head, further enhancing her ethereal splendor. It cascaded down to her feet, but now it lay strewn around her in disarray, a golden halo of abandon that accompanied her pain.

Her eyes, a pristine white like the midday sky, held an intensity that suggested power—yet none remained. Her delicate, jade-white skin glittered like polished pearls, soft to the touch, driving the man atop her deeper into his frenzy of lust and passion.

Beneath her left eye, a single mark—shaped like flickering flames—glowed quietly against her skin, a silent testament to her splendor and beauty.

She was the very picture of a goddess descended, and yet, today, she found herself in a most precarious situation.

Pleasure and madness intertwined as they surrendered to the carnal abyss, and yet only one seemed to take pleasure.

The act continued as the divinely beautiful woman screamed in agony with every violent thrust from the beast above her. She screamed, struggling to escape his clutches, and yet it was all futile; she had no strength to fight him off, and she was paying for the consequences.

Her powerful beauty was only that... beauty.

In a world where she could have been the strongest, she had squandered her talent—and now she understood what it truly meant to have everything at her fingertips yet fail to grasp any of it.

Because she had been promised to the emperor, she had forsaken the path of the Pathwalkers in belief she had no reason to fight for anything the world would throw at her, because the emperor would hold the skies above.

All she had to show for her once-mighty heritage was a beauty so radiant that even the gods envied her. And now, she had paid the price.

Her sobs filled the grand chamber, draped in gold and emerald splendor. The walls were lined with lanterns, their flickering flames casting restless shadows that witnessed her ruin, even though the light of day still shone beyond the palace walls.

The woman held despair in her eyes, and just when it seemed that all hope was lost, the doors to her chambers were blasted off their hinges. They flew into the room with violent force as a furious man with a regal bearing stormed in.

But it was a second too late, as the beast of a man above her had never stopped, and the doors shattering had led him to his peak as he shattered within her.

The world froze for Reina.

The figure that had entered carried an intense mane of white and gold, shimmering like divine threads of light. His eyes burned with a furious golden hue, glinting with hints of dazzling white. His chiseled features made him both beautiful and imposing, a god among mortals. A crown forged from frozen light was singed atop his head, like a halo of the divine. He stood at an unnatural height of seven feet, his body exuding power and grace befitting a sovereign.

He wore loose-fitting robes that shifted with his every step, revealing glimpses of his godly physique—muscles sculpted with unnatural grace and splendor. Each fiber of his being radiated power, a testament to his dedication and persistence.

Many would dream of spending even a fleeting moment in his presence. Maidens would forsake their sworn oaths just for the chance to bear his seed, eager to sire heirs for his royal bloodline. Such was the influence he wielded.

But today, that godly visage was contorted in unrestrained fury.

With a swift, decisive motion, he plunged his spear straight through the skull of the man desecrating his wife.

"You bastard!"

The roar shook the palace foundations, and yet no one heard his words, for they were lost within the power and rage within; to say he was furious was an understatement.

Golden blood spilled in torrents of rippling light and majesty, splattering across the chamber like a molten waterfall; unseen to anyone, though, was the corruption within the ichor. Yet the empress did not scream. She remained motionless—broken. A shattered doll.