On a rocky hilltop, where not a single blade of grass grew, a man knelt upon the earth.

Tears streamed down his face, dragging with them the dirt and dust that clung to his skin. Clear and pure at first, they inexorably darkened into black stains that leapt into the air, falling toward the ground like condemned spirits.

The man scanned the horizon.Before him stretched nothing but dust and sand, standing like monuments to his fate. Beyond the dusty veil choking the sky, he glimpsed distant flickers—stars hanging there to mock him.

He lowered his head, swollen eyes tracing the once-verdant land.

Now the earth lay cracked and parched. Blood-red hues had seeped into the world’s fabric; constellations of bones and iron stretched as far as sight could reach.

“How… Why…” The words slithered from his throat, hissed into the wind.“Our world, our home… now a faded memory.”

“Their sins and debts fell upon us too!” The rage in his voice masked a despair too bitter to name.“No one remains… So I’ll speak to you instead, O sighing wind.”

“Once, they say, this world thrived. Cities pulsed with life; people knew neither hunger nor plague. Or so I’m told—for I’ve known only terror, famine, and suffering since birth. Even I doubt the past’s truth… yet it’s a beautiful lie, a spark of hope in these times.”

The wind swelled abruptly, tearing the coal-black tears from his face.“You seek to comfort me… A tender caress. But no gust can lighten the burden I carry.”

“Where was I… Ah yes—the age when madness and death alone ruled.”

“After The Flickering, the world shattered. Three fragments remained: the Tower of Death, the Scourge of the Living, the ancient Tower of Astubar. Then came the three-headed monstrosity—a deformity birthed by the sky, the Corruptor. Lastly, the kingdoms and empires, freed from mages’ yoke, rekindled old feuds, blind to the twin terrors already decreeing their doom.”

“A crimson chariot rose where the sun once blazed. Blood and death reigned. Petty men, drunk on power and greed, reignited wars—internal, external. Alliances and betrayals became their new liturgy.”

“They gave no thought to dormant threats! No—they rejoiced at slipping their masters’ leash. Their aspirations swelled. Courage and sacrifice were perverted into tools for vile ends, masked as noble causes.”

“We deserved this… Three times we betrayed ourselves. Three times we chose ruin.”The wind howled, hungry for answers.“You ask ‘when’? Very well…”

“First, we betrayed God. We abandoned Him for so-called knowledge and truth. Fools—we believed ourselves their equals, destined to surpass them.” A heavy sigh erupted from him.“Sheer, damned madness. How dared we wear such blindness like a crown?”

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“Second, we raised altars to our own sacrifice. Towers cloaked the world like temples to truth. But from our arrogance’s womb came The Flickering. Tales say the sun died that day. Darkness and stars split the sky. A cursed object fell—a shooting star, mirror of our own damnation.”

“Third… Third, we betrayed our very flesh. When unity was our salvation, we chose slaughter. Divided, we spiraled into war’s vortex.”

“Now you see our stupidity in full. Yet perhaps… this is our nature.”

A thick, smothering silence followed.“Tell me, O listener of winds—of serpentine whispers and thunderous roars—how did mankind act when death’s armies besieged their cities? When deformed horrors rained from the heavens? When their soil turned to sand or writhed as a putrid swamp?”

“You know!”

“Kneeling at abandoned altars—shameful, unworthy.”

“We were spiteful children. We thought ourselves giants, world-bearers. Yet here we kneel.”

“Our first sin’s consequences were slow, unpredictable.”

“No one answered. No aid came. We invited this.”

“I tried to lead, to unite them. But every triumph crumbled to dust.”

“I too knelt. I prayed—oh, how I prayed! But silence prevailed.”

“Years passed. Borders shrank. Cities fell. Fields died.”

“Yet hope lingered—I believed this a divine punishment, that gods would save the penitent.”

“The truth I learned shattered that hope.”

“After endless years… my people’s ancient god appeared.”

“Imagine my awe—I felt exalted, chosen!”

“But joy faded as his words carved into my mind…”

He stood taller than mountains. Antlers crowned his head—majesty incarnate. My own crown paled in comparison.His red-and-gold tunic, unadorned yet battle-worthy, clung to his frame. Beneath it, feline legs hinted at primal speed. Arms like sculpted stone gripped a spear—red shaft, narrow blade of radiant green.

“Lord of War and Disast Trifum. For decades, you chanted my name. I appear but once, for your love was pure. Know this: your world is no more. It’s an egg. Two demigods battle to devour it whole. The Heralds planted their seed here. Now a new god must be born.”

“Heralds? The world… an egg?”

“The Four Heralds—distant yet omnipresent. Pillars of existence, parents of gods. The Eternal Silver Eye of knowledge and madness, the Cloak of Silence the Mute Ignorant, the Crimson Chariot, igniter of wars, forger of iron wills. The Omnipotent Cosmic Egg, embodiment of matter—cataclysm and blessing, unpredictable as storm.”

“They cannot be found—they find you. Your demigods, marked by two Heralds, must consume each other to ascend. I too bore the Chariot’s mark, then devoured my rival, the Disaster’s Green Scion. Only with father and mother can a god be whole.”

“Now you know your fate. My mercy ends.”

So here I kneel before you, Omnipotent One.

I beg not—for pleas would insult you.You who flow in water, ride winds, blaze skies, and sculpt creation.

I seek no salvation. Let your axe sunder this world.Unleash destruction’s crescendo.

Let all be sacrificed to the Green Herald—may the Cyclone of Chaos consume creation itself.