Into the abyss, once more

Azrael woke up to the warm sun rays hitting his eyes, illuminating the interior of his small cave. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he quickly grabbed his sword and headed out to hunt for food. He had been feeling incredibly hungry since the day before but was too exhausted to find anything to eat.

As he walked through the forest in search of a beast to satisfy his hunger, he noticed that it was taking much longer than usual to find any prey. Most of the beasts that had previously roamed around his cave had fled, leaving Azrael to walk for what felt like hours until he finally stumbled upon a deer.

With his sword at the ready, Azrael swiftly killed the deer, barely noticing any dark ki growth from the killing. He took the deer and started a fire not too far from his cave, hanging the deer to roast as he waited.

While the deer cooked, Azrael decided to practice all the techniques from the book at once. He knew he no longer had access to the Watchers gate, so time was of the essence. He felt that practicing everything simultaneously would be the most efficient use of his time.

Azrael pushed himself to his limits, going in and out of the first god form quickly several times, feeling greatly fatigued and exhausted by the effort. He collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and trying to regain his composure. As he sat there, he noticed the delicious aroma of the roasted deer and quickly got up to check on it.

Using his sword, he cut pieces of the deer and began to quickly tear through the hot meat as if he were invulnerable to the heat. As he stuffed his face with food, he felt his head starting to throb and his body weakening, slowly going numb. His heart raced as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.

"Is this the god forms backlash?" Azrael asked himself, trying to regain his composure. "No, this feels different," he muttered before collapsing to the floor, the last thing he remembered being the sound of his own voice echoing through the forest as he lost consciousness.

Azrael found himself once more in the desolate void, devoid of light and sound. He was alone, but for the oppressive weight of the dark slumber punishing him. His lips moved, trying to call out for help, but no sound escaped him. He was trapped, floating in nothingness.

He called out Mortimer's name, hoping that he would hear him, but there was no response. All that surrounded Azrael was pain, death, and the inescapable inevitability of it all.

Time passed, or perhaps it didn't - in that void, it was impossible to tell. Azrael lost count of the number of lives he saw come and go. The repeated cycle of death and pain left him feeling shattered and hopeless. He blamed himself for his situation, regretting his pursuit of power instead of seeking a way to escape the dark slumber.

Each time he witnessed a life begin, Azrael felt a flicker of joy and hope which the life felt, only to have it snuffed out by terror and destruction. With each cycle, his sense of terror grew greater, and the weight of it threatened to crush him.

Azrael found himself wishing for many things - for death, for never having been created, and for the curse of the dark slumber to be lifted from him. But wishes were futile in that abyss, and Azrael knew it. The terror continued unabated, and he was helpless to stop it.

As Azrael endured, he failed to realise that there was one aspect of the dark slumber that he had not cared considered before - the rise in dark ki that accompanied the terror and death he witnessed.

The dark slumber was the fail-safe mechanism built by the former - to increase dark ki when it fell dangerously low. Compared to the former god of death, Azrael's dark ki was infinitely below dangerously low.

Azrael's eyes slowly opened as the sun shone on his face. He lay there for a moment, not uttering a word, before standing up and walking to the river of the waterfall to splash water on his face.

Looking into the water, with dead emotionless eyes, he saw that his short dark hair had become white and long. Using a piece of cloth cut from his clothes, he tied his hair back before sitting back down on the ground to meditate.

As he did, he immediately noticed a great rise in his dark ki along with the grand and terrifying aura that came from the dark slumber. He took a deep breath as he suppressed it.

*Ten months later*

A wolf rushed at Azrael, but he was unbothered by its attempt as he easily evaded it, catching it by the head and plunging his hands into its body before dragging out its heart.

The giant lion watched as Azrael decapitated wolf after wolf, the ground turning red with their blood. The lion had seen enough and was ready to attack. As it charged at Azrael, he simply turned and raised his hands which were covered in eternal flame towards it. "I'll get to you," Azrael said with a wave of his hand, sending the giant lion flying under the control of his telekinesis.

The lion crashed into the trees, snapping them as it went. A wolf took advantage of the distraction to try and sneak up on Azrael, but he was not caught off guard. He quickly turned around, catching the wolf and smashing its head into the ground.

Azrael looked towards the trees and saw many beasts approaching him in great numbers. He pointed two fingers towards them, saying, "You couldn't even make me draw my sword." His fingertips glowed as a grey light compressed on their edge. "You're all insufficient," Azrael said as a beam shot from his fingertips, decimating all the trees in its path and all the beasts within it.

Azrael took a long sigh, his face showing he was unimpressed and unfazed by the battle. But then he felt it, the aura that made his blood boil, the one that had watched him since he entered this forest. It dared Azrael to approach it. "Finally, a challenge," Azrael said.