“What just happened?” Momo asked, looking at Raúl, who stood still, his thoughts collecting.
“Sos’ul’nuruo happened. He is seemingly the factor that enabled this. He had a similar intellect to my own, I suspect he may have planned this fight to learn of me, and Rancour must have become bold enough to return to his throne upon Umarnak.” Raúl concluded.
“Umarnak?” Momo inquired.
“The home of evil. The origin of all that is wicked and twisted, where the fell beasts have spawned. As it so turns out, neither Rancour, nor Vallum are as young as they have led us to believe. Rancour is older than anyone or anything in existence, as far as David is aware, since he only knew of three that spawned at the beginning of time, including himself.” Raúl explained.
“So they’re even more powerful than what we have imagined?” Momo queried.
“Yes. Umarnak is a place beyond that which is tangible, beyond that which is material. Beyond the fleeting, volatile chronology of time. It is a place that is wicked beyond belief, it is one of three places where the concepts originated, and yes, the concepts that originated from the bellowing pits of Umarnak are those that plague everyone today. Evil, malice and all things passed down from their wicked power were found from there. It is a place no man returns from, there is simply no end to Umarnak, span any possible distance, any amount of time, whether infinite or otherwise, you will never find an end. It is death, for all that is pure.” Raúl replied.
“So he is taking everyone there, to rule? Likely story. I know Rancour, he’s going to assemble an army, and he’ll be back.” Momo asserted.
“Correct. We have no army of our own, as no number of humans will save us from real fell beasts, as we barely survived synthetically created fell. However, I do believe the soul army lead by Dæinvorol may be of aid to us, if we can convince him to join us.” Raúl observed.
“That will not be necessary.” Dæinvorol remarked, revealing himself before Raúl and Momo, now standing at fourteen feet in height, towering over the two, in an armour, similar in make to his original, with a more regal tone.
“I apologise for the lateness of my arrival, however, regaining the connection to my body was fairly difficult.” Dæinvorol explicated.
“What was difficult about it?” Momo inquired.
“Long ago, eons upon eons past from this time, I was cast adrift from my body by my brother Rancour in the second great war, chained to Undalen and never allowed to leave it so long as my body was restricted to the physical world. You changed that Momo, when you removed my restrictions, I became free, hence, when my body perished, I was able to regain it. I owe you a debt for that, and I shall repay it by serving alongside you in the war against Umarnak and The Grand Overseers.” Dæinvorol replied.
“I am grateful for your aid, Dæinvorol.” Momo expressed, as the latter nodded to acknowledge him.
“An open war between Umarnak and the soul army is feasible, yes, but for now I do not believe most of you to be capable of entering Umarnak, let alone fighting in that wretched place. A singular soldier of my army could defeat everyone here. Most here could not even lay siege to a fellen outpost within the timelines, regardless of who commanded it, whether it be a Fellen Lord or Fellen Commander your fate remains the same. With the exception of King Raúl, you will all die.” Dæinvorol grimly explained.
“I’ll go alone to one of these outposts to gauge the Fellen Lords.” Raúl replied.
“I’m coming with you.” Momo interjected.
“Did you not hear Master Dæinvorol? You’ll die.” Raúl warned, his voice filled with both worry and intrigue at the boy’s disregard for danger.
“I’ve had worse. Believe me, if they want to kill me, I’ll make sure to take as many of these wretches with me as I can get my hands on.” Momo declared, to the mild shock of Raúl, who shrugged, beckoning him to follow.
Momo grabbed onto Raúl’s shoulder, as he entered a nearby timeline. The two flew in the vacuum of space, gently floating above what seemed to be a concentrated vortex of evil. The pure feeling of these places could break even the strongest mortals. Most of the elite amongst David’s high command could not stomach the thought of one of these places. Umarnak would be an entirely different place, the true source of evil, not a flickering manifestation.
The two landed at the base of the hill that constituted the place the outpost was. An almost alive growth of natural evil energy, organic matter and incomprehensible technology formed this monstrosity. As the two walked through the outpost to no reception, they found littered corpses of mutilated men. Momo knelt before one of the men, observing his broken body, looking at the scars, mutilations and obvious torture he went through. Feeling his arm, he felt the past, every moment of his torture.
“Multiple Fell took this man. They laughed, even cried in bliss from the pleasure of torturing this man. What depraved beasts are we up against?” Momo asked.
“They come from the source of evil. They are ruthless killers. These men were obviously great warriors, but they had no idea what they had walked into, their technology, their experiences, their numbers. All of it meant nothing. These beasts are beyond them and unfortunately, it looks like no one escaped.” Raúl solemnly concluded, a tinge of disgust and hatred in his usually calm or even egotistical tone.
“We must destroy this outpost, there is nothing more important in this moment. These men didn’t deserve to die, nor do the thousands of civilisations the Fellen have razed over the years. They’ve existed and if we stop this outpost now, and we’ve done something, anything to fight Rancour and honour the bravery of these men.” Momo declared, as Raúl nodded, agreeing with his sentiments.
The two ascended further into the extension of Umarnak, feeling the vile, wicked and torturous pits of despair grow harsher and harsher as they finally lay their eyes on Fellen. A Fellen Commander, A Fellen Lord, and a group of subordinates.
“I’ll take the commander and the Fellen lord. You take the lowers.” Raúl instructed.
“It’ll be my pleasure.” Momo responded, with a glare of glee upon his golden eyes.
As Momo began the fight with the subordinates, Raúl dropped down from the height, appearing before the Fellen lord and his commander.
“Another human.” The Fell gasped, licking his lips. His complexion reflecting a cruel beauty, he was like a man, but even more beautiful, so deceptively so, that if they had not sensed its energy, they would’ve fallen under its spell, their beauty confusing their senses, their minds. Truly finding use of the saying a demon will use beauty to deceive humanity.
“So, fell beasts can take fair forms? I never expected such wickedness to lie behind such immaculate beauty, but I suppose you monstrosities need to hide behind something.” Raúl stated, quite nearly gagging at the thought of such beauty being a cruel and common weapon they would use.
“Of course. We were borne of evil, of malice. Do you truly believe us to not play with our prey, did you not see those beautiful works of art we laid out? I admit the ones on pikes were sloppy work, but recently, there has been much celebration within Umarnak, so we don’t have our usual time to play.” The Fellen Lord explained.
“I am astonished. I truly thought you all would be underwhelming, but I am impressed, you have such disgusting prerogatives for your existence. I almost pity you. Then again, who would pity the liars?” Raúl sarcastically asked, as both fell began circling, their natural disposition to slaughter beginning to catch up to them.
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“You talk a big house for someone so weak, if you’re done talking, I think I’d like a taste of you.” The Fellen Lord communicated.
“Let’s find out if you live up to the ferocious nature I’ve been led to believe of you.” Raúl replied, entering a battle stance.
The two Fell took to their true forms, demonic, monstrous beings coated in flame. Raúl rushed after the Fellen commander, instantly knocking him out with a punch before he could draw his blade, as the Fellen Lord stumbled backwards, shocked at how easily his subordinate was bested. Raúl chased after the Fell, trading strikes with him as he absolutely dominated him in hand to hand, slamming attack after attack over him.
The Fellen lord remained determined. He prepared his stores of evil to create an attack to wipe out Raúl in one singular moment.
“You may be strong, but I have superior power. This fight is just starting!” The Fell yelled in rage, blasting a massive surge of energy toward Raúl, engulfing him as he felt Raúl’s energy subside. The dust began settling, his thoughts gaining clarity, before he felt it, such a presence that he could never forget in his eternal days.
Sanctuary exploded in a short mirage of flames, colours flashing like a cascade of beauty, and as soon as it had come, it faded, back into the normal shape Sanctuary took around Raúl.
“How? How did you survive that? You’re just a… Just a human!” The Fellen Lord exclaimed in terror, much to Raúl’s satisfaction.
“Didn’t expect it right? For some eons aged Fell, I expected you to notice my Spectral Energy fluctuating, that’s what most humans use to fight you, right? But of course, being the cocky monster, you never thought to study your enemy. You could never notice me supressing my Spectral Energy and the look of terror you wear is more than worth letting you live a few minutes longer.” Raúl gleefully proclaimed, wearing a sadistic smile.
“I won’t have this! No filthy, disgraceful human shall ever best me!” The Fell screamed at the top of his lungs, raising his blade, only for his wrist to be caught by Raúl, who snapped it, stealing the blade and slamming an interior coated fist into his spine, instinctively reverting him to his fair form, to which he knelt before Raúl, entirely at his mercy, shaking in fear.
“Y-Y-You can’t! I-I am a free being I-” The Fell beast was silenced, as Raúl placed a finger over his lips, stepping backward.
“I’m going to give you a choice. Impale yourself upon your own sword, plunge it into your heart and kill yourself, making sure that all three portions of you are destroyed, or, alternatively, I will replicate what you did to the humans, but you will find, we humans are so, so creative. What’ll it be?” Raúl inquired, his sadistic, pleasure filled smile striking the Fell beast, as he dropped the sword at its feet.
Raúl watched with satisfaction as the Fell took its own life, feeling a sense of vindication for the uncountable numbers of humans he had mutilated and tortured. Raúl ripped its head off, placing it upon a spike, as he began taking the humans to their origins, to pay his respects to the brave men who faced death with a smile.
Momo clashed with the Fell, blocking all four’s attempts to break through his guard. He heard a noise behind him, as the senior officer of the Fell stabbed Momo through the spine, repeatedly stabbing him before Momo punched him away. Momo regenerated his wounds, noticing there was a far easier way to win the fight.
“Spectral Dominion: Locus of the Fallen Star.” Momo chanted, as he created multiple mirages before standing before the beasts once more.
“So you slightly increased your power, how interesting. I must say, removing my resistances and doubling your power won’t save you, you’re still far weaker than me.” The Fell confidently stated.
“I’m only gauging your power, if I had wanted, you’d be dead.” Momo confidently replied.
“Likely story. You’re going to die here, and we’ll enjoy torturing you.” The Fell declared, blasting Momo with a series of energy spheres and beams, to which Momo effortlessly blocked and weaved, re-engaging the Fell in blade to blade, striking high twice, kicking him in the ribs and launching slashes across his body.
Momo entered Black Form, to the Fell’s surprise, as he instinctively entering his true form, losing his fair form and becoming far stronger than even Purple Form. The Fell instantly blitzed Momo, cutting him from multiple angles, and finally stabbing him through the heart, as Momo fell to his knees.
“What a disappointment. I’ll make sure to take my time with you.” The Fell declared.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Momo stated, as he disappeared, appearing behind The Fell.
“You’re full of surprises huh?” The Fell jeered.
“I told you; I’m only gauging your power. What’s your name?” Momo asked blankly.
“Dagor Malakh. I am a first generation Fellen, and I am among those who watched the rise of Ukor the Destroyer.” Dagor replied confidently.
“I see. Let’s continue.” Momo ordered, as he entered Purple Form, charging toward Dagor and trading strikes with him, as he sent slashes at the Fell.
Momo ducked under a cleave toward his head, stabbing through Dagor’s abdomen and cutting through it, as the other Fell returned to fight him, now all within their true forms.
Momo punched Dagor across the face, freezing in place as he felt the weight of his memories rush over him, as the latter slashed him across the chest, throwing him backward.
“You heartless bastard. Did you feel anything for those men? Did you ever regret it? Mutilating those men, torturing them, YOU MONSTER! Answer me!” Momo screamed, rage building within himself.
“Why would I? You humans are so weak, so easy to control. You’re all lesser beings, and anything I do is entirely justified. What are you going to do? Cry? Scream? Try to run? You’re nothing. I hope you take a good look into my memories, because you’ll end up just like them. Broken and alone.” Dagor proclaimed, pure malice in his voice.
Momo begun trembling uncontrollably, his rage building, like some ancient, predispositioned hatred had overcome his body. Momo’s screaming began building, his voice cracking with violent cries of rage as he was overcome by the true power of his namesake. Momo’s hair became a dark red, as his eyes matched it, his body overflowed with Spectral Energy, as red flames engulfed him, eclipsing the power of all the Fellen combined, violently shaking the universe in a beautiful explosion of dark red flames.
It can’t be. Those eyes, they’re his! The great bane of Fellen kind, it’s impossible. Is he, could he be? A descendant of Faemarr Elric? Dagor thought, terrified of the prospect.
“What’s your name?” Dagor asked, a tremor in his voice.
“I am Momo Elric.” Momo answered, staring the terrified Dagor in the eyes.
Dagor attempted to move, but was paralysed by fear. Momo instantly appeared behind him, impaling him upon his blade, cleaving him apart. The other four Fell could not comprehend what they had just seen. Dagor the Ravager, bane of this universe, destroying untold civilisations, bringing desolation to universes at a time, cut apart like some training post, an object, that Momo had no use for. The Elric fear had returned, in all its glory.
Momo instantly cut the four apart, running through the entire outpost and killing the thousands of fell stationed there with no care, or difficulty.
Reaching the surface once more, he helped King Raúl return the bodies of the men to their homes, to be buried and their lives honoured. The beginning of the Third Great War, could be felt upon the bones of existence, the Immoran and Elric clans united once more, their heirs turned upon Rancour.