“Overlord Deathven, we need to talk.”
Skotadision was a vastly powerful Voidborn, but not for the normal reasons. Yes, Skotadision did rule over a huge number of other Voidborns, yes, he was the leader of a gigantic Voidborn cult, but most Voidborns that ruled over gigantic cults were themselves gigantic, and mostly hid themselves away in the darkness, deep within vast fortresses and maze-like castles.
In fact, Skotadision was a public figure. Most folks who knew about him also knew what he looked like. Admittedly, he did look like a rather standard Voidborn at a glance. What made Skotadision different though was two main things. Firstly, there wasn’t a shred of gold on him. He was black and silver, and he had a tail. A cat-like tail, as well as small cat ears somewhere near his antlers. But also, Skotadision was also rather small. Sure, 4m tall wasn’t that tiny, it was plenty big enough, but compared to other Voidborns in charge of large cults? Skotadision was minute.
The second reason was much more complicated. Skotadision was the leader of the Vast Voids. The Vast Voids were the only official Voidborn cult that was directly allied with Deathven. And they provided a huge amount of protection not just to Deathven and the local sectors, Deathven Sectors Alpha through Epsilon, but to the local Life Goddess and Time Drake alliances and the local less affiliated Voidborns too. The Vast Voids were powerful, required peacekeepers. And they followed Skotadision’s every command.
And because of this power, Skotadision could speak to Deathven whenever he needed to. He rarely had a desire to do so though. There were no needs. Deathven did his work, Skotadision did his work, they rarely needed to interact. But there was something bothering Skotadision, something he had picked up from whispers from other cults, and he needed to discuss it with Deathven.
“What is the problem, Skotadision?” Deathven asked. He had just finished up a meeting with some of his ally Lifean’s servants, and was free to talk. They both knew not to interrupt each other and their vast duties.
“May we talk in absolute private?”
Deathven nodded, then snapped his fingers. He and Skotadision appeared inside his deep, dark chamber, lit with floating candles. “Please, take a seat.”
Skotadision did as he was told, sitting down on a nearby summoned throne, watching as Deathven sat down in his own overly elegant chair.
“Is something wrong?” Deathven asked.
“Not… wrong…” Skotadision took a moment to settle down. “May I ask, Deathven, have you heard of the Rainbow Ruin?”
Deathven thought to himself, then thought for a rather long time, combing through his memories for a mention of such an odd thing. “Um… No, I have not. What is the Rainbow Ruin?”
“Well… Many large Voidborn cults, including the edges of the Vast Voids, believe in… almost like a prophecy, but more like a prediction, and that prediction is called the Rainbow Ruin. The believe is that nine broken, twisted beings, all representing the colours of the rainbow, all monsters in their own way, as well as white and black, will come together and rain ruin across… well, it is not exactly clear, but it is believed that the Chrysem Eternatum and their allied cults would be wiped out during such an event.”
“And you believe this prophecy?”
“I… I do, yes. Because I was originally a Plated Voidborn. The prophesy is most common among the Chrysem Eternatum, the Silver Ancients, Skotum Asimenum and their sub-cults, but even some Xataran cults believe it, and there is definitely a large population of the Vast Voids who also believes it.”
“And… why would these beings want to wipe out a powerful and dangerous Voidborn alliance?” Deathven tutted. “If this was a threat to the Vast Voids, I would offer my care, but the Chrysem Eternatum and the Alliance of Blackened Gold, they are considered by many to be monsters themselves. Why should I be concerned?”
“Because parts of the Rainbow have already manifested. In some cases, the Rainbow was silenced. In others, the Rainbow runs amok. The prophecy overall is that the Colours come together and form the Rainbow, but there are utterances that the Colours exist on their own and act on their own before the prophecy unfolds proper. I have been… listening in to Plated utterances, and they believe parts of the Rainbow are coming together.”
“Yes, but what ARE the Colours?” Deathven was confused now. “There are very few beings capable of taking on large, competent cults. You are suggesting that seven-”
“Nine.”
“… Nine beings are capable of taking down the Alliance of Blackened Gold?”
“Yes.”
Deathven tutted. “That is insane.”
“Would it be insane if I said that you know of the one Colour that is believed to be permanently contained? The Alliance of Blackened Gold has killed plenty of potential Colours in the past. I know, I assisted them, I was part of those cults. However, I always believed that, with the Black Colour permanently sealed away, the Rainbow could never form. Others have thought otherwise. And now, with the appearance of the Yellow Colour, working for you directly, there are… concerns.”
“Are you… are you talking about Everlord? And little Deathbringer?”
“Oh. You named it…” Skotadision grunted. “According to Plated utterances, many of the Colours are now active, under the control of Deathven. As far as we can tell, White, Yellow and Green are part of Deathven, while Orange and Red are active separately, and Black has been contained.”
Deathven fell silent, thinking to himself again. But he quickly went back to tutting. “Well, I have no idea who most of those are. There are only two Amalgam Hybrid Decay Lords, and they only fit… yellow and green, I think. And even then, I have kept them far, far away from anywhere where they could be a threat. Assuming they are a threat and this prophecy of yours is not nonsense.”
“You literally have Yellow working for you directly.”
“So? It is so I can keep an eye on the little thing. Really, as powerful as Deathbringer is, he is not a threat to any of the major cults in any way, and has in fact been very beneficial to Voidborns under my influence. As for the other… colours… you have clearly found more Mimics than we have, but at the same time, nothing of note has happened since your supposed belief that these beings are present. I think the whole prophecy is ludicrous.”
Skotadision hissed back. “You may believe that, but I believe otherwise.”
Deathven was unbothered. “Well, if you find these other Amalgam Mimics, send them my way. But clearly, the ones we do know about, I have dealt with already, for other, not-stupid reasons, so you do not need to worry about them.”
Skotadision sighed. He knew he wasn’t getting anywhere, and, worse, Deathven was right, those he was aware of were currently contained and kept far, far away from both the Vast Voids and the larger cults. “Very well. But if we sense more of them, I will want them dealt with.”
“I am already doing that. You are worrying over nothing.”
“Understandable. Have a good day, Deathven.”
With that, Skotadision disappeared in a puff of smoke, not letting Deathven speak further.
“Hmph. Silly Voidborns…” Deathven tutted to himself. “Worrying over something as silly as a rainbow.”