The Devourer's Dominion

The air changed the moment Aetheron stepped through the glowing doorway.

It wasn't just the temperature or the smell—it was everything.

One second, he was inside the void-like ruins. The next, he was standing in a vast open space, beneath a sky that wasn't a sky at all.

Above him, swirling constellations pulsed like living veins of light, stretching endlessly across a dark expanse. The ground beneath his feet wasn't solid—it was like stepping on ripples of liquid glass, shifting with every move.

Aetheron exhaled, his Dominion humming against his skin. "Okay… this is new."

A sound echoed in the distance.

Aetheron turned sharply, his senses flaring.

Footsteps.

But not just one pair—many.

Shadows flickered across the horizon, their forms shifting unnaturally as they approached. At first, they were formless—like living silhouettes. Then, with each step, they started to become something.

Armor. Blades. Cloaks of mist and smoke.

Aetheron's fingers twitched. He had seen a lot of strange things, but this?

This was different.

The Watchers Arrive

The figures came to a stop.

They stood in a loose semicircle, their presence pressing against the space like an unseen weight. Their faces were hidden behind ancient masks, each carved with intricate patterns that seemed to shift if Aetheron looked at them too long.

One of them stepped forward. Unlike the others, this one carried no weapons—just an air of authority.

Its voice echoed, but not through the air—through his mind.

"You are not supposed to be here."

Aetheron raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? That makes two of us."

The figure tilted its head slightly, studying him.

"Your presence disturbs the balance. You wield what you do not yet understand."

Aetheron clenched his jaw. "If you're talking about the Dominion, get in line. Plenty of people have a problem with that."

The figure didn't react.

Then—

"You seek answers."

Aetheron's fingers twitched, but he didn't deny it.

"Then prove yourself."

The Trial Begins

Aetheron barely had time to process the words before the space around him shifted.

The figures blurred, vanishing like smoke.

Then—

Aetheron was no longer standing.

He was falling.

The sky, the constellations, the glassy ground—all of it twisted and collapsed inward, pulling him into an endless void.

The sensation lasted only a heartbeat—

Then he slammed into something solid.

Aetheron groaned, pushing himself up. He was back in the ruins. Or… something that looked like the ruins. The air was thick, charged with a strange energy.

Then he saw them.

Shadows—twisting figures crawling out of the stone, their forms flickering like candle flames. They had no eyes, no mouths—just shifting darkness in the vague shapes of people.

And they were moving toward him.

The Fight for Clarity

Aetheron didn't wait.

His Dominion flared, crackling through his veins as he launched forward. The first shadow lunged—too fast, too unnatural. He ducked, his footwork sharp, and countered with a burst of energy.

The impact ripped through the creature, shattering it like glass—

But as soon as it broke, another took its place.

Then another.

And another.

Aetheron gritted his teeth. They weren't slowing down. Every time he destroyed one, two more formed from the darkness.

He needed a new approach.

He stopped moving.

Instead of attacking, he let his Dominion expand.

The shadows reacted immediately.

They lunged at him, sensing the surge in power—

But Aetheron wasn't trying to destroy them.

He was absorbing them.

The Revelation

The moment his Dominion touched them, something changed.

The shadows didn't just dissolve—they merged into him. Memories—not his own—flashed through his mind. Visions of battles, of ancient warriors standing where he stood now.

He saw them.

Not just shadows—people.

Each of these figures had once wielded something like his Dominion. Each had walked a similar path. And each had failed.

Aetheron exhaled. His Dominion burned around him, brighter, sharper. The last of the shadows vanished, their energy becoming part of him.

Then—

The ruins cracked.

The illusion shattered.

And he was back.

The Watchers' Judgment

The masked figures stood before him again, unchanged.

The one who had spoken before took a step forward.

"You understand now."

Aetheron's jaw tightened. "I understand that I'm not the first. That others have tried. And that they lost."

The figure inclined its head slightly. "Not all knowledge is given freely. Some must be taken. You have taken what was left behind. But your path is still uncertain."

Aetheron crossed his arms. "So what happens now?"

The figure was silent for a moment.

Then—

"You walk forward."

Aetheron blinked. "That's it? No cryptic warning? No test number two?"

"You have already begun the test. You are still taking it. You will take it until the end."

The space around him began to dissolve again.

The figures faded.

And then—

He was back in the ruins. For real this time.

Veyrin and Lyara were standing nearby, looking around in confusion.

"Aetheron?" Lyara turned toward him. "What the hell just happened?"

Aetheron let out a slow breath. His Dominion was still humming. Still… different.

He looked up at the sky.

And for the first time, he felt like he had just stepped onto something much, much bigger.