The roar of anguish and pain failed to echo across the entire base, the sound waves being mostly absorbed by the lead-lined walls. However, the strange, flameless explosion that followed, that shook the base to its core, shattering deep foundations, collapsing pathways and damaging walls behind repair. The explosion also allowed a second roar, a roar of anger and hatred, to echo through the base properly.
No one had really seen what had happened. The Decayons were winning this surprise battle, but the ruler of the Voidborn cult, the Shimmering Prince, he proved to be a far stronger entity than expected. While the flaming Decayon had held his own for a long time, there were only so many golden spears he could destroy or dodge. One spear pierced the Decayon’s stomach, and the Shimmering Prince pinned the Decayon to the ground.
With their leader down, the Shimmering Prince had expected the Decayons to retreat. The exact opposite happened. Something dark and shadowy dragged the flaming Decayon away, seemingly teleporting them to safety, but the Shimmering Prince didn’t have a chance to celebrate or even really react. That was when that roar echoed through the main hall and when the explosion rocked the entire base.
The Shimmering Prince took a moment to pick himself up and inspect his now ruined surroundings. The Decayons all seemed confused as well, but they were at least standing. The same couldn’t be said about the Shimmering Prince’s underlings. Those who hadn’t been damaged and sent to the respawn areas were now being torn apart by… by the stranger that had started all of this.
At least, that was what it looked like at a glance. The stranger had appeared as a Voidborn, and had cruelly lied in order to help the Decayons break in. The stranger had also gleefully joined in on the destruction of so many Voidborns, but it had seemed to disappear briefly, about halfway through the battle, taking on a different form and flying off in the distance.
Suddenly, the Shimmering Prince realised that something was wrong. He had worked out why the stranger had disappeared. The stranger had worked out where the Shimmering Ruiners’ respawn areas were and had deactivated them. Or destroyed them. The Shimmering Prince wasn’t sure either way, but it meant that his minions were no longer capable of respawning and were dying for real.
It didn’t really matter though as something colossal threw the Shimmering Prince from the centre of his grand hall, all the way to and through his throne. And through the wall behind it. The stranger had returned and was the source of the agonised roars. It had also targetted the Shimmering Prince and was now charging towards him, pausing only briefly to destroy any Voidborns that tried to stop it.
“Eiste prodotistis pros ton odikon sas!” the Shimmering Prince hissed as he picked himself up, before switching to a language the stranger probably better understood. “You are a traitor to your kin! Why have you attacked us?”
“YOU HURT HIM!”
The stranger’s words were distorted and hollow. The stranger’s body was also distorted and hollow. It wasn’t a Voidborn any more. It wasn’t a Decayon. It was something in between all types. Also, the stranger was seriously threatening and hurting the Shimmering Prince.
Despite the chaos, the Decayons were starting to clean things up. Most of the Shimmering Ruiners were either dead, dying or now trying to flee, desperate to get away before they were damaged too badly and unable to respawn. The Shimmering Prince noticed his fleeing subjects and wanted to become enraged, but he didn’t have a chance to. His focus was on the stranger that had started this calamity and caused this vast betrayal.
“You are doing all of this because of some furry animals?” the Shimmering Prince tutted. “They are beasts. They deserve suffering.”
The stranger barely answered, instead repeating the words “YOU HURT HIM!” but with more anger and spit. While the Shimmering Prince wanted to try and regroup, to get his soldiers to fight back, he just wasn’t getting that chance. Worse, the Decayons had managed to release and save most of the Shimmering Ruiners’ prisoners, and some of those prisoners were now assisting the Decayons in taking on the few remaining Voidborns who hadn’t fled yet.
“Are you even there, stranger?”
This time, the stranger didn’t answer at all. Instead, it grew larger, more heavily armoured and, worse, it was hungry. It was all mouth and claws. And before the Shimmering Prince could make any more snide remarks, that massive mouth stretched out, wide and full of teeth. In a single bite, the Shimmering Prince was decapitated, and his body was swiftly dissolved in blood and bile.
With the death of the cult leader, the stranger suddenly seemed lost. It looked around, trying to find something to do, something to attack, but it didn’t know what to do. The Decayons, aware that the battle was won, were all helping find and free the last of the prisoners, then disappearing and returning to safety. But the stranger remained where it was.
Eventually though, a little purple Decayon pulled itself out of a shadow and approached the stranger.
“Arkay, are you hurt?”
“He… he was… he was hurt…”
“I know.”
“I failed.”
“You did not fail. Deathven took him away the moment he was hurt. He is being healed up as we speak. You cannot do everything though.”
“I bad.”
“You are not bad. You are just hurt too.”
The stranger glanced around, sniffing to itself.
“I sorry.”
The purple Decayon put a hand on the stranger’s side. “It is alright. You did good. The fluffy kitties were saved. No one important was killed. He is fine. You can come back now.”
Another sniff. The stranger looked down at the Decayon, then sighed. As it did so, it began to shrink down. Before long, it was smaller than the Decayon. Not even two meters tall.
“I don’t know if I have the energy to blow this place up like he asked…”
“That is fine. We can get someone else to do it. The place is basically destroyed anyway. Do you want to go back now, get yourself healed up and get some rest?”
The stranger hesitated, then nodded. After a few moments, the stranger started crying, and fell into the Decayon’s arms.
“I want to go and see Retvik.”
“Then we shall do that. Come on, Arkay. Let us leave this mess.”
Litvir hugged Arkay tightly, then tapped on a tracking device on his belt. With a quiet beep, the last two Decayons were teleported to safety, leaving the now ruined Voidborn base behind.