The chapel is silent, save for the crackling of candlelight and the rhythmic murmurs of prayer. They kneel before you, your faithful, their heads bowed in reverence. Among them is King Henry I himself, the leader of the great Kingdom of Astoria. You, for the first time, are meant to be honoured by his presence. A gift from Divine Cassiopeia herself. They see a holy man in you. A shepherd. A savior.
But you are none of those things.
The Dark One’s will slithers through your thoughts, pressing against your ribs like a second heartbeat. The time for patience has passed. The Last Battle must begin. And it begins with you.
You rise from the altar, your shadow stretching long against the stone walls. The flock looks up, eyes filled with devotion. Trust. You step forward, the weight of your title heavy on your shoulders. Inquisitor Dantalion. A name built on lies.
The Dark One does not speak, but His presence coils tighter, satisfied. The hunger gnaws at you, insatiable, unrelenting.
Your faithful do not understand. Not yet. But they will.
You have been given a command. And you will obey.
Uegg has been visited by The Dark One while delivering a sermon, he must slaughter King Henry and everyone within the chapel or be considered a traitor to the Dark.
Don’t peek unless your curious to see if he killed King Henry and a bunch of people in the chapel teehee
He’d done well in this little game of his. Decades passed, and here he was, with a king gazing up at him with reverence and devotion. A few in this small crowd have already given their souls in exchange for a wish, wishes that they assumed were going to the One God they worshipped. It was a slight, of course, having to deceive to gain the worship he was entitled to, but it was one he could forgive. When they were burning in trenches of fire beneath his throne of twisted souls, they’d learn, like all those he preyed upon, that there was no greater power for them to worship than Uegg.
The souls he claimed were his. The power he wielded was his. As a devil, and one who amassed an army of those he inflicted with his deceit, Uegg had a wide berth to conduct himself as he pleased, but what happens when a darker entity comes to call? He has no memory of his mortal life or who he was before the Abyss twisted his soul into something unrecognizable, but even in his darkfriend days he resented the pull of the Dark One. Why should he be beholden to anyone? The pain he inflicted then wasn’t his fault, and neither was the pain he inflicted now. He owed nothing to no one, which is why coiling he felt around his being like the snake he embodied irritated him so.
There was no hiding it from his flock either. Mid sentence, Dantalion goes silent, looking out towards the small crowd but not seeing them per se. He saw through them, as if for the first time letting his mask slip and revealing they were nothing to him. His expression contorted into on Dantalion never wore, one that dripped with malice and disdain. He’d always been above them, his exalted status given by the Divine and the One God Himself maintaining a distance between Dantalion and others in the Vangaurd of the Light, but he’d always been a holy man. He’d never actually looked down on them, not until that moment.
He was conflicted in a way, having no real interest in the Last Battle but instead the holy war he envisioned in his mind. Wholesale destruction was never his style, and even in the Abyss, he was quite meticulous about the suffering he wrought on the demons and devils ranked lower than him. Someone who thrived on tricks and schemes had to be. That's why he found mortals to be so entertaining, dividing themselves into groups and picking at one another for the most petty reasons. Religion, class, ability, even something as inconsequential as species; they clung to their divisions so tightly that he could create conflict that consumed countless lives with only a little pushing and, in some cases, a poorly worded wish. Astoria and Lysara were at odds, and he had put the pieces in place so perfectly that one spark would be all it took to ignite a righteous inferno across the continent. The best part? The aggressors would’ve believed they marched with divine intention. How delicious it would’ve been to see how much suffering the Vanguard would spread all in the name of piety. How many souls would cry out for a god beneath the weight of their light? How many more victims would their efforts create, victims desperate enough to lend their wishes to the first smiling face who appeared before them?
Uegg needed more time, just a little more, and his endgame would be brought to fruition. He was greedy and selfish in that way. Even though many Vanguard members and Astorian citizens were already marked for the Dark due to how willingly they believed in a man who presented as being blessed by their god, expanding his army was never the goal. He had more waiting for him beneath his throne than he’d ever gain in a century. What he most wanted was entertainment, and quite frankly? There was nothing entertaining about the prospect of this realm being blanketed by the Dark. True believers were delicious because they held onto faith even against all reason. He loved to exploit that and savor it on his tongue as they sold their souls to him unwittingly, but how would he satisfy himself in a land bathed by absolute darkness where hope got snuffed out before it had a chance to burn?
“So be it,” he spits, not resuming his sermon but instead closing his eyes with his head bowed. Murmurs filled the air as they wondered what was wrong with him. They felt starved for his words, yearning for him to finish. His mind had clearly drifted elsewhere, but to where they could only speculate. They were before him in humility, wearing simple, nondescript garb as instructed, and yet Dantalion was withholding his benediction? Why? “This is a complete waste of my time. Devotion cannot be complete with selfish desires in your heart. You were to come to this chapel, leaving all but your love of the One God outside, and yet I’m expected to deliver you his blessings? I can see it so clearly now: none of you are worthy. Your souls are impure. If you want to walk in His Light, you must unburden yourselves of your guilt. Of your sin. Confess.”
Everything from the words he used and the tone of his voice was alarming to the flock. They looked at him with bewilderment and then absolute fear as he drew his sword and pulled his visor over his eyes. “Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow. In their blood the Maker's will is written!” As he speaks his benediction, his sword bursts into “divine flame” right before their very eyes, but as he points it toward the kneeling group in the chapel, the fire begins to die. “What further proof do you need? The One God’s eye is upon you now, and he hates how you reject him. Even a king is not above the most basic tenets of worship. If you want your soul to be closer to His Light, for your being to be enraptured by his will, then you need to make Him believe it. Here and now. Repent for your shortcomings.” His voice carried with it a commanding, sinister aura that boomed within the chapel walls. Whether out of reverence or fear, he saw every head bow before him, their prayers murmured out beneath whispered breath. The sight pleased him, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy the hunger that gripped him as willed by the Dark One. Uegg was not a devil who served by nature. He’d grown arrogant in the Abyss after spending countless amounts of time looking down on his lessers, however his vanity made the prospect of having his position detracted in any way untenable. The idea of someone else taking what was his filled him with fury, fury that bled into his next words.
“I will only take the most devoted followers with me into the Light’s embrace. If your desire is to have your souls welcomed by His warmth, then He needs to hear it from on high. Do you pray for forgiveness? Do you submit to his will? Do you wish to be his eternal servants? Answer now or leave my presence for good!” he demanded. Of course, there were some who were doubtful as his corruption aura spread, making their tongues hesitate, but human minds were so susceptible to suggestion. Most in his flock answered as they should have, “I pray for forgiveness, I submit to His will, I wish to be His eternal servant…” For them, such a confession felt like a weight lifted off their souls. An enrapturing warmth radiated from the point of Dantalion’s sword, making them feel safe. If the flame was igniting once more, then surely they would have earned the approval of the One God.
Some kept their heads down in prayer, others lifted to bask in His glory, but regardless, a stream of Abyssal fire shot out from where Dantalion stood, engulfing them in hellfire before anyone knew what was happening. Chaos erupted in the chapel as those who fell for his scheme and those who resisted alike reacted to the sudden fire burning all around them. Those the fire did not touch were subsequently cut down, for Dantalion was an experienced crusader turned inquisitor. He knew how to kill and wasted no movement. For some, the last thing they saw was a blinding sword swinging their way. For others, the fire that melted their flesh off their bodies burned through all their senses, making the blinding pain the last thing they could perceive. Uegg gave no special consideration to how they died, he simply satisfied the hunger the Dark One spurned. And, even though it went against his manipulative nature, such blatant violence felt good.
Cutting mortals through in single blows, stepping on their burning bodies as they melted into puddles, even reaching out to crush a skull or two beneath his grip so he could hear their final pleas before their heads popped satisfied Uegg in a way that he had never experienced before. As he stood in the middle of the burning chapel, fueling his fire to the point where even the stone constructing it began to melt, Uegg reveled in the malevolence he just spread. The final souls he claimed from within the Vanguard would make excellent playthings when he returned to the Abyss. He had a special plan for the King Henry’s soul too, once it managed to climb out of the fiery trenches after a few millennia of suffering a fool’s punishment.
He let the inferno bathe him and as he did, between the heat and the ash that swirled around him, his white armor lost his divine glow. For decades, he used Dantalion Althais as a mask. Bound by personal tenets that helped conceal the truth of his being, Uegg realized that he had probably broken the most crucial one: Inspire the Vanguard. Members of the faith militant had been slaughtered that night. Such a blow would have repercussions. Faith would be weakened as the realization that a devil had been amongst their numbers for years would undoubtedly reach Silverlight before long. The Vanguard's resolve would lessen as they question their purpose, a purpose that Dantalion had been pushing them along for quite some time. He performed this act selfishly, giving up nothing but his long-lasting game in the process of fulfilling the One God’s command for his own sake. An oath was broken, an oath that had given him great power and access to exploit, and the intense heat and scorched human byproduct stained his holy armor black. No longer would he be a source of inspiration for a religious body. The Vanguard of the Light would need to consider this Dantalion’s resignation.
Uegg remained until the site would be unrecognizable as a chapel. Everything had been burned to ash, and the surrounding land was forever corrupted by his aura. This patch of Astorian earth would be eternally scarred. Nothing would ever grow here, and those who lingered too long would be plagued by uncurable illness, insurmountable misfortune, or even death. No remains would be recovered, no proof of what happened to be found, nothing but assumptions of the worse for their now missing King, but once Dantalion could not be located he figured their small, simple minds would begin to piece together the truth. His only regret would be that he couldn’t bear witness to the discovery and see hope transform into despair before his very eyes. Oh well, he needed to get on with a new game.
If the Last Battle was upon this realm and he was to lead the charge as a general in the Dark One’s army, then he needed a lieutenant who could be sufficiently brutal. While his reasons for choosing the one he did had nothing to do with the Dark One at the time of their meeting, he knew his best and most favored option would put any other darkfriend to shame. That included that pesky little interloping soul-thief who had Kalamar’s unique stench leaking out of his every orifice. How amusing it would be to pit them against one another and watch the other devil accept that Uegg’s palate had been superior all along. The thought put some pep into his step as he left Astoria behind for now. He had preparations to tend to, all in the name of forcing the devotion of the one mortal who never failed to entertain. Ryujin was stubborn and stupid, which made him fun to torture in little ways while he enjoyed his fabricated freedom. But those days were over. Uegg refused to step fully into the Dark alone, which meant he had to destroy everything Ryujin held dear, starting with that gaudy ship he loved so much. There was only space in the pirate’s life for Uegg, and he’d love the devil who made him without question or be sent to the Abyss ahead of the Last Battle. Ryujin had no other options. If he wanted to live his life as a free man, he should’ve protected his soul better. Uegg saw the truth as it had always been: Ryujin was his the moment the words “I wish” left his lips.
“My sweet sweet Ryu, I’m coming for you…”