Kingdom Come

The All Mighty was an utterly mystifying being. He wasn't the God that was preached in the human's religions, nor did he even remotely resemble the Gods from any ancient texts on Earth... or from any civilization. An existence so transcendent, that not even the most Divine auspex has been able to confirm with their own eyes. It was not so much a God, but the natural order of all, the law of existence, you could never see it, but you could always feel its presence. The All Mighty has never intervened with any aspect of the universe, never has it materialized into the mortal realm... it never did... and it never should have. But just once... something prompted the response of God. The origin of creation is unknown, but the universe without a doubt was created. The All Mighty intricately generated each and every galaxy, carefully formed the base genetic structure and evolution of every civilization. It designed everything to its content, and conjured a guardian race called Godkind, to oversee its creation. The Supreme being was beyond nigh omnipotence, boundlessly Omniscient and wholly omnipresent. The absolution of its power was unquestionable... but even God couldn't prevent the inevitable causality of creation. With the existence of the Angels and Auspex of Godkind, came the formation of the Theurgy. With the coalescence of the universe, spawned a more sinister, mirror plane of existence known as the Inverse. Since the Theurgy were not creations of God but just causal effects of Its power, they did not wield the Divine blessings that Godkind could use. But these demons were persistent and they had all the time in the world. Through eons of evolution, the Theurgy managed to enter the Inverse, tapping into all of its elements, weaponizing its destructive potential. And so they set forth, unleashing their newfound power in all its fury, Godkind was not prepared for an assault of this capacity at all. Angels were cut down like simple beasts, the Auspexs' Divine abilities harmlessly bounced off the advancing Theurgy. Their angelic powers were not meant to destroy, and so the defenseless guardians of creation were cast into the abyss. They didn't understand it, it wasn't clear what line was crossed or at what point their actions were considered heinous enough to draw out the All Mighty... but it did. Every Theurgy within the galaxy was instantly destroyed before God even formed its aura. Just the intent of the Entity, erased a third of the demons from existence. In a bright flash of light it withdrew from the mortal realm just as fast as it appeared. In order to avoid further consequences, the All Mighty did not replenish the guardian race, but gave the few dozen that remained, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. They were no longer robotic emissaries of God, but now had the ability to think and thus, making them subject to evolution. The All Mighty also placed a barrier between the original dimension, and the Inverse. Effectively cutting off the mirror plane from the mortal one, and by proxy cutting off the Theurgy. However, there is no barrier that can permanently bar an entire dimension, there were too many variables that could not be controlled. Entropy, causality, time, and just a few thousand years later that wall would start to wither...

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Lambridge was in a state of chaos, the streets were flooding with distressed villagers, men stormed the town squares demanding that the King come out to address the situation. Some leaders screamed for answers, followed by a slew of obscenities, which incited a wave of chants and jeers from the crowd. Worried mothers clutched their children tightly by their waist, their eyes full of fear and confusion as they waited patiently for the King to make his appearance. The scene unfolding in Lambridge was most likely also happening in all kingdoms across the Seas. The people's reaction was understandable, such a unanimous and sudden shift of power, towards a strange person whom they've never known. They were essentially asked to surrender their Monarchy over to an unfathomably strong individual. They didn't understand it yet, but Kingston would soon be introduced as the first War Power of humanity. The man waited impatiently in the palace, his unkempt raven black hair was hastily slicked back, strands of hair falling around his temples. A pair of dark ink eyes gazed outside the balcony, where all the townspeople had gathered. Sensing the man's discontent King Engeram frantically bowed his head, before he could speak, Kingston wordlessly held up his hand. "Spare me the formalities Engeram, just get your people in order." The King's grey hair was messy and his face looked exhausted and weary, even for an old man. "Y-yes." He reluctantly nodded before bowing once more and made his way to the stage. Just before making his appearance he brushed the long strands of hair on his face aside, and straightened his back, putting on the guise of a confident and untroubled Ruler addressing their nation. Kingston watched closely as the King stuck up his arm to silence the crowd. The roaring clamor was reduced to whispers and muted taunts, even though they had been told that the King was forfeiting his throne they remained silent and listened intently. "My people, we have entered an age of great power... and with great power comes great change." His proud grey eyes loftily scanned over the spectators, "The discovery of the mirror dimension gave humanity staggering amounts of power, and caused our kingdom to thrive and flourish in these times." A wave of hushed murmurs rippled through the crowd. "But we would be fools to ignore the abuse and monopolization of soul essence..." Inside the palace Kingston wore an amused smirk on his face. 'Soul Essence' They couldn't even begin to grasp the true nature of the mirror world, it was so, so much more complex than any of them could comprehend. The existence of this dimension was discovered a century ago, at first the power it emitted was modest. Mostly used to boost the economy of the kingdom, spurring agricultural growth and giving miners increased stamina and strength. But over the years the connection between the mortal realm and the mirror plane catapulted, for reasons unknown to the humans, they were gradually gaining access to an entire universe of untapped energy. Kingston only caught a glimpse of this dimension, he theorized that because his mirrored soul, the one that existed simultaneously with his real one, was more intimately connected with him, he was granted much, much more power than anyone else... as far as he knew. The brief vision didn't help him much, it was as if his brain was unable to process the things he was seeing. His eyes saw, but they couldn't place anything together, there were objects, but he couldn't make out the shapes. Engeram was interrupted when the townsquare erupted into fits of jeering and not very kind chants about the King. He'd waited long enough, he gave the old man a chance to rein in his people but it seemed that it wouldn't be possible. Letting out an annoyed sigh Kingston bounced off the chair and strode over to the balcony. His sudden movements caught the attention of the two royal guards standing behind Engeram. "Halt." One of them said sternly. "His Majesty had an agreement with Sir Kingston that you would allow him to explain the situation to his people." He hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of what was going on, the citizens of Lambridge were too focused on what would happen to their own kingdom to care about what is happening beyond them. He let the knights stop him, they were only doing their job after all, but he could only listen to this ignorance for so long, "I think you misunderstand our relationship." His eyes bored into the guards', "His Highness has already relinquished his rule. He has no power over me. But in truth I have no interest in the throne, and I would have Engeram continue to act as King. This is my act of kindness." The air shifted and suddenly they felt an enormous weight, pressing down on their shoulders, "But do not mistake my compassion for weakness." His relaxed expression molded into an irritated sneer, there was absolutely no time to try and appease a whole nation, things were moving and they were moving fast. 

The two guards shrank away from his glare, stumbling away from the King's terrace. The War Power could hear the mass of people clearly now as he neared the stage. His Majesty was still trying to bring order to the unruly mob. Suddenly the roaring crowd was silenced, but it wasn't because of their King's pleas. Engeram whirled around, his face paled, his strong, royal facade crumbled as the pristine white and gold curtains behind him flipped open. "Kingston." He swallowed. "The people-" Without saying a word he walked past the old man, before reaching the edge of the balcony he turned around, "Your Highness, understand that I do not need the cooperation of this Kingdom. The people who live here mean nothing to the world. By giving them a chance to align themselves with me… I am doing you all a mercy." The loud rioting dwindled down into curious droning amongst each other as they all looked at Kingston. Some regarded him with animosity, some with curiosity, anticipation, hostility but above all... 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓. The most intimately felt emotion, that was engraved deep inside of every single living creature that has ever roamed this planet. It was the universal language of man and beast alike. The sixth sense of an animal, the struggle not to be seen as prey, the eternal fear of humans, the struggle to not 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 one. Although they did not know who this man was, or where he came from, the prey always recognizes the predator. The atmosphere among the crowd was palpable, even the guards stopped pushing against the people and turned towards Kingston. Not even the Magian Royal Elite, the King's personal death regiment, could keep their eyes off the man that stood in front of the King. "People of Lambridge, I do not seek to usurp the King's throne, and I care not for your petty politics." His voice was level and it seemed to carry more authority than the King himself. "At this moment, the nations across the sea are experiencing exactly what you are... only more violently." A few scattered murmurs arose from the crowd, but fell silent as the man continued. "I dislike long speeches so I will tell you only this. I am here for your protection and I am the only one who can be." As the words left his mouth he turned around and promptly left the balcony, behind him he heard exactly what he expected. The people all seemed to echo each other, 'We don't need your protection' 'Who do you think you are' 'You're not our king' "Those dogs didn't listen to a single word I said- Oh?" Before he could finish a beam of dark crimson red energy tore through the curtains towards Kingston. The man simply waved the blast away and stepped forward, "I didn't expect this, I always thought the King's personal mutts were naive children but I didn't think them to be ill tempered loose cannons." The comment was directed to nobody in particular but King Engeram who had taken cover from the attack shot up on his feet, his eyes were wild and he stuttered as his mouth struggled to string together any words. A young blonde male blinked into view in front of Kingston, and without any hesitation or exchanging of words he resumed his assault. His fists were embalmed in a dark red aura as he threw strikes faster than a novice magian user could see. But the War Power casually wove around every attack, dully slipping in taunts, "It's like you people refuse to use your heads, I made it adamantly clear that I have no interest in your kingdom." The boy's face became more strained as he continued to hit nothing but air. The onslaught ensued for longer than he cared to keep track of, until a girl appeared next to the two men. Both of them stared at her quizzically as she shuffled her feet forward. Her silvery brows were knit in a frustrated frown and her eyes were closed in concentration, as she walked closer she lost her footing and stumbled, nearly face planting between the two fighting. The blonde boy lunged forward to catch her, "Isolda!" The girl groggily pulled herself up, her chalky white eyes now open and staring at Kingston in wonder, "I- I couldn't stop him." Her voice was more monotonous than surprised, like she was reading a book aloud. "What do you mean? You're saying that you were not able to restrain his power? You must be mistaken, Isolda, you're the most powerful Riftwalker in this continent." The boy spun his head back towards Kingston his eyes glowed with anger but he was reluctant to attack, had he finally realized the gap in their ability? Just for a moment his eyes darted towards the elderly man who was their king, cowering behind two equally terrified guards. But what intrigued the blonde so, was not that they were afraid, but that they were afraid of Kingston. The man who stood before him, he could see him clearly now. He was tall, he had the physique of a regular footsoldier, he looked young but what drew most of his attention were the eyes. Those bottomless ink black orbs, it was as if he was looking into nothingness, void, nullity, something about his gaze drew out a primal instinct from his body. It made every strand of hair on his arms stiffen, his legs were aching to pounce as far away as possible from this man. It was then that he realized this wasn't a fight, he was being spared. His hand drifted away from the hilt of his sword, since when was the last time he admitted defeat, much less surrendered a duel. Just then he could feel the life essence of his comrades bound towards him. The two mages shot out from behind the blonde, as if they were hiding in his shadow this entire time, their speed was impressive. If it were anyone else surely they would not stand a chance. But Kingston sighed blankly and raised his arm. Jutting his middle and index fingers outward like he was making a peace sign except it was anything but. "I've wasted enough time haven't I." Pressing the two fingers together he flicked his hand downwards, "𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻."