The Guardian gods

"Lucky," Malzor finally conceded, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. "Because you delivered what you promised, even if the path was... circuitous. I achieved what I sought. But unlucky," he added, his gaze becoming distant, as if looking through Phantom and into the vast expanse of the Abyss itself, "because you revealed how much more there is beyond that ambition. The ceiling I fought so hard to reach is just another floor to beings like your creator, and to the Abyss itself."

He brought one massive clawed hand to his chest. "The fire I felt, the desperate need to rise... it's still here, but it's different now. Quieter. The chase was the essence, perhaps. Now that I've caught it, I see the endlessness of it all." He paused, a long, thoughtful silence stretching between them. "So, you are preparing a stage for your new host. What role do I play in this new act, Phantom?"

Phantom shook his head, Rattan's face betraying no emotion. "I can't tell you what role to play. Be you, Malzor. Follow the words of your new lord, Zarvok."

"All things will fall into place after that." With those cryptic words, Phantom took control of Rattan's new body, launching it into the air. The frozen landscape trailed right behind as he plunged into the abyss portal they came through.

Malzor, left alone in the vast, frozen expanse of the Abyss, let out a deep, rumbling laugh that echoed across the ice. Meeting Phantom had brought a strange sense of peace to his mind, settling the simmering questions of his past ambition and igniting a new, clear purpose. The world looked different from the perspective of a sixth-tier being. He hadn't yet fully consolidated his newfound strength or sifted through the vast inherited knowledge that came with his current stage, but he understood one fundamental truth: this stage meant power.

For now, he accepted his place under a new lord, because he simply couldn't yet picture himself as more. But Malzor knew he possessed the ultimate luxury: time, eternity itself. There would come a time for change, for a new ascension. For now, he was keenly interested in this "stage" Phantom had spoken of, curious about the roles destined to be played.

As Malzor slowly floated down towards the silent, frozen ground, a thought drifted through his ancient mind. "It seems my stage with Phantom is complete," he mused, a faint, almost wistful note in his thought. "I wonder what the ending would have looked like."

He thought as he looked back into the distance where his army was now approaching, his current mission was to secure this area and set up a new frontier to suprise the empire and prevent them form moving recklessly.

As they plunged into the portal, Phantom swapped consciousness, and Rattan instantly took over. His body, which moments ago had soared with newfound power, now felt strangely battered and weakened. A wave of confusion washed over him, but before he could voice it, a message from Phantom resonated within his mind: his current appearance was needed for his next role.

Rattan didn't need it spelled out. He understood. His recent gains, his transformation into a fifth-stage being, the artifact cube—all of it needed to be hidden, camouflaged beneath the guise of a survivor. He stumbled as he pushed himself forward, making his way back towards the Empire. He just needed to pretend long enough, to project the image of a broken but victorious hero, to capture the Empire's attention. He knew they wouldn't be far behind; they would be eagerly awaiting news, desperate for any indication of the battle's outcome. And Rattan, the humble craftsmith, now bearing the skin of a war hero, was ready to deliver.

Deep within the stolen memories of Kaelen, now laid bare by Phantom's extraction, Ikenga and Keles found themselves immersed in a past that held the answers to their pressing questions. Ikenga had demanded these memories, desperate to understand: "How did the goblins become free folk? Where did the mages go? Why was everyone watchful and scared of Vellok?" These weren't questions an enemy would willingly answer; the truth had to be taken by force, as it was with Kaelen.

Content presented by MV|LEMP|YR.

The memories revealed Kaelen as the eldest among his siblings, part of the very first generation of goblins born from "Mother." In their earliest days, they were all treated identically: as lab rats. A strong, primal bond formed among them, forged in shared hardship and the constant need to have each other's backs. Yet, their existence was brutal. Blood was shed, and many were taken, never to return, their absences a stark reminder of the dangers lurking within their confined world. Each time one of them was "pointed at and picked out," a wave of terror washed over the rest, knowing it could easily be their turn tomorrow.

This grim routine persisted until they reached an age where the inherited seed from Mother began to activate. With this awakening came a profound and brutal division that shattered any semblance of equal treatment. Those who awakened their arcane seed were immediately elevated, receiving preferential treatment from the mages. They became squires and apprentices, granted access and privileges previously unimaginable, creating a stark chasm between those with magical potential and those without.

While the magically inclined ascended, individuals like Kaelen, who awakened as knights, found their treatment unchanged—or, in many ways, even worsened. Their newly acquired stronger bodies and regenerative capabilities weren't seen as gifts but as tools for further exploitation. The mages, recognizing this enhanced durability, simply pushed them harder, making good use of their resilience for increasingly dangerous and grueling tasks.

This disparity in treatment fostered a profound shift within the goblin community. Those who awakened as mages, once fellow lab rats and slaves, quickly adopted the cruel ways of their masters. Enamored by their newfound status and power, they seemed to forget their shared history of suffering. Their loyalty shifted entirely towards the mages, and in a perverse display of devotion, they began to choose their own people, fellow goblins as subjects for their experiments. This was their twisted way of showcasing what they had learned and pleasing their masters.

Among this very first batch of magically awakened goblins were two exceptional individuals, both siblings of Kaelen: Vellok and Kairos. Kairos, in particular, would go on to become known as the Emperor.

Vellok and Kairos, due to their exceptional elemental affinities, quickly became favorites among the mages. This was both a blessing and a curse. While it afforded them a degree of protection and privilege, it also drew the obsessive attention of certain high-ranking mages who saw in the goblin siblings a potential shortcut for their own stagnant paths. Ikenga, deeply invested in understanding Vellok's trajectory, focused keenly on the memories detailing the experiments conducted upon him.

The mage who took Vellok under his wing was a sixth-tier light elemental mage. This was a truly rare and potent element, but its very rarity also presented a formidable challenge for the mage's advancement. This particular mage was ancient, around 10,000 years old, yet in all those millennia, his progress had stalled. He'd grown frustrated, his path forward seemingly blocked. Desperate for a breakthrough, he had turned his attention to creatures exhibiting the light element.

For thousands of years, this mage had scoured planet after planet, a relentless quest for such beings. However, finding true light elemental creatures was exceedingly rare, and even when he did, the results were consistently disappointing. The creatures he found offered no discernible value to his research, leaving him no closer to his breakthrough.

It was at this critical juncture, while the ancient light elemental mage was at his wit's end, that the mages collectively made a groundbreaking discovery: the existence of "Angels." These beings of pure light belonged to a civilization as ancient and profound as the very Abyss itself. Unlike demons, who could be lured and trapped with specific rituals and artifacts, angels were elusive, rarely seen or even rumored. Their appearances were almost exclusively limited to summonings performed by devout followers whose religions centered around them or who worshipped "GOD." Just as demons were intrinsically linked to the Abyss, angels were bound to this entity.

Angels could also be contacted by other beings or elements with strong light affinities, due to their inherent connection to the element. However, their extreme sensitivity to light meant they could discern when a being's light was no longer pure. Angels, diametrically opposed to demons, embodied kindness and goodness as their sole purpose.

Upon learning of such a civilization, the old light elemental mage was filled with immense joy and eagerness to study them. He immediately attempted to summon an angel, but to his utter dismay, he made no contact and failed each time. Worse, he felt an unmistakable repulsion from the angels, followed by a chilling warning echoing in his mind: "Disturb them again, and your light will be taken away." This direct threat from beings of pure light underscored the mage's profound impurity and shattered his hopes of easily exploiting angelic power for his own advancement.