Malphas

Dionisus struggled against the man's grip, trying to break free. He knew that he was in deep trouble, and that he needed to find a way out of this situation. As he struggled, he noticed something strange about the man's hand. It was covered in feathers, and had talons instead of fingers.

Dionisus was taken aback by the strange sight of the feathered hand with talons. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was this some kind of sick joke? Had he stumbled upon a group of lunatics who thought it was funny to dress up like birds?

But as he looked closer, he realized that this was no joke. The man's eyes had a fierce intensity to them, and his entire body seemed to exude a primal energy that Dionisus couldn't quite put into words.

He knew that he needed to get away from these people as quickly as possible. But where could he go? He was surrounded on all sides by the cultists, who were now closing in on him.

The Observer plunged his hand into Dionisus abdomen, but there was no pain. Instead only a soothing sensation of being close to a divine creature. There was something wrong about the situation, but Dionisus couldnt do anything about it, his body was being overtaken by a pleasurable aura.

He was just about to give in when he saw his father, hiding among the group of cultists. They had changed his father into one of them, he couldnt let that happen to himself.

Dionisus fought to keep his mind clear, forcing himself to focus on his father. He could see the fear and confusion in Griz's eyes, and he knew that he had to do something to help him.

With all the strength he could muster, Dionisus pulled himself away from the Observer's hand. He stumbled backwards, gasping for air, and saw the cultists closing in on him.

From the back of the Observers armor two huge black wings sprouted out. A beak broke through his stone skin and feathers fused together with his armor to look like an abomination. He let out a dreadful cry which reverberated throughout the altar.

After hearing the horrifying scream the cultists began transforming aswell.

As Dionisus looked around, he saw more and more of the villagers changing before his eyes. Their skin darkened and sprouted feathers, their faces elongated into beaks, and their fingers turned into sharp talons. Their bodies contorted and twisted as they transformed into humanoid crow-like creatures.

Their wings were covered in glossy black feathers, and their eyes glowed with an eerie red light. Their caws were harsh and guttural, and their movements were quick and jerky.

Dionisus could feel their gaze upon him, their beady eyes analyzing his every move. He knew that he needed to escape, but the aura that had enveloped him was making it difficult to move.

The transformation seemed to be complete, and the cultists now stood before him as a flock of vicious, winged creatures. Their once-human bodies now twisted and deformed, their faces twisted into malevolent beaks, their eyes filled with a fierce hunger.

The loud wail from before resounded inside Dionisus' mind, pounding his skull from the inside. He felt a sudden urge to just let go and let the soothing sensation transform his body.

But he couldnt let go, not after seeing what happened to the cultists, he wanted to resist it with all his willpower. He pushed aside any pleasurable thought and focused solely on the harsh memories still fresh in his mind. Suddenly, the pleasure was gone.

Dionisus opened his eyes, the ground was exchanged for a viscous liquid. Where the sky was supposed to be there was instead emptyness. Instead of the moon there was a big red eye and a shadow slowly approaching.

The shadow grew bigger the closer it got to Dionisus, revealing itself in the form a crow. It stood before Dionisus and congratulated him, "Thou art the perfect vessal for me, after searching for so long I shall finally be able to cometh into this world"

Dionisus' eyes grew wider. The crow could speak, but more importantly to Dionisus was what he spoke, "What do you mean by vessal, who are you?" the boy questioned. The crow came up to his eye level and said "allow me to show thee."

It dropped to the water and moments later a hill made of the viscous liquid began forming. It took the shape of a humanoid crow but there was something strange about it.

The crow looked majestic, it was enourmous and It had what seemed like infinite eyes forming in patterns on top of his feathers. The crow opened its beak, revealing endless rows of huge teeth. "I am Malphas the greedy one"

Dionisus was confused, he had never heard of any being called Malphas or this greedy one. "I am a deity, one of many. I have been watching thee for quite a long time and thy art the only one which is fit to be mine own prophet." Malphas explained.

Dionisus was speechless, his world was shattered, he thought the gods were dead, afterall this world had turned to chaos. That was his father's theory, he believed that the gods which once protected humanity had died in the hands of something much more evil, the same source which created the Abyssals.

That didnt seem to be the case though as what appeared in front of him didnt look like an Abyssal, in fact, the opposite. Malphas exuded a divine aura as if it was the 'sun' which Dionisus heard from his father's stories and books of the old.

"I need thee. Thy body is unnatural, thou hast already adapted to the cold and the dark as if thee were a nocturnal creature. Besides that you were able to resist my calling. As a recompensation for lending me access to thy world I will grant thee power and will reveal to thee secrets of this world, one by one." Malphas monologued.

Dionisus took a moment to let his brain absorb the information before nodding. He needed all the strength possible if he wanted to survive in the darkest parts of Umbra.