Somnus felt his eyebrows vibrate from that shockwave and its sound was clipping in and out of his hearing range.

[Manifestation Event recorded: MY-214-22]

In the clear skies was a person. He had dark, black hair, and he descended through the air at a slow pace. The very air seemed to s.h.i.+mmer around him. He wore simple black clothes, loose-fitting and plain. Yet his imperious mannerisms instilled a sense of danger in anyone who looked upon him. In his left hand, he held a black orb which was like a miniature sun.

"Malah-Hazai. Oh no..." Gemma said as she recognized the man holding the orb. "Somnus… run!"

The man descending from the sky opened his eyes, and they were entirely black save for the cat-like, gold pupils.

Somnus advanced towards the man who was still quite a distance away.

The man focused his attention on Somnus and spoke in a soft, gentle voice. "I am Malah-Hazai, Herald of Ruin and servant of the Relentless Gears of Extinction. Kneel before m—"

The Herald did not even have a single nanosecond to respond to Somnus's sudden appearance right next to him, and the calamitous kick that followed. The Herald was blasted away by a kick that delivered enough force to cause a blastwave that obliterated the nearby mountain-face. Vapor condensed and became visible as a ring around Somnus, before disappearing.

[Combat mode: Configuration A]

[OPCOM: Recommend output: 8%.]

[Output: 8%]

The Herald collided with the ground, plowing through it like a plane that was shot out of the sky. Seemingly unharmed, the Herald was about to stand up when once more, Somnus appeared over him and pushed the Herald to the ground with his foot.

The halo above Somnus's head looked like a flattened crown as numerous jets of black fire escaped the confines of the ring—like a malfunctioning stellarator reactor. Somnus wondered if that was Aeon's reactor. The blade-like wings behind Somnus were both a flight module and something like a heat-sink, allowing crystallizing, pure mana to leak out. It appeared like tendrils of cyan smoke.

The Herald stared at Somnus and his angry expression did not raise a single red flag in the Herald's mind. Because the Herald didn't know that to provoke the emotion of anger from Somnus was a rare and dangerous thing. The Herald didn't know—could not know—that this "human" was an existence that was synonymous with the apocalypse.

"Kneel before you?" Somnus asked in a flat voice. "Puny lifeform."

Somnus was about to crush the Herald when the Herald disappeared from beneath Somnus's foot. The ground caved in under Somnus, sending a ripple of cracks outwards. Had the Herald not escaped, that could've probably killed him.

Somnus turned just in time to see a crescent of black energy head towards him.

[Deploying Chaos Barrier.]

The wave of energy met an invisible field that seemed to interfere with the magical make-up of the blast of energy. The black energy turned pale, then red, and then vanished.

The Herald stood several meters away from Somnus, holding out the orb ready to unleash another attack. But when the Herald saw his attack fail in such a manner, an expression of fear overcame his features. "What… are you?"

[Releasing Limiters.]

[Mana Reactor: Output stable.]

Mana exploded from the blade-like wings, forming bright and coherent beams. The beams spewed particles of mana.

[Mana crystallization: 84%]

[Recapture failure margin: 4%]

Somnus was overflowing with so much mana from the Reactor—which he a.s.sumed was the halo—that the mana was crystallizing. The wings were a sort of limiter that prevented that from happening, or ultimately expelled the excess like a back-pressure valve. If the mana crystallized within him, he suspected bad things would happen.

Aeon's reactor, systems and defensive measures were so advanced that Somnus could not even understand them. It would take quite a lot of research to fully comprehend the entirety of Aeon's secrets.

However, he was sure of one thing: A Herald did not stand a chance against him.

[Flicker]

Somnus appeared next to the Herald once more. Unlike [Whisperwalk], [Flicker] did not have any of the downsides or limitations. It was teleportation, pure and simple.

The Herald's breath caught and he tried to turn towards Somnus, to direct the energies of his...o...b..at the apocalyptic angel, but Somnus was quicker. Somnus grasped the Herald's...o...b..holding wrist and twisted it until a sickening crunch forced the Herald to release his weapon. The orb fell to the ground and began rolling away, and before it could get very far, Somnus crushed it under his foot.

Black fire exploded from the orb as it was crushed, releasing extreme energies of destruction upon the two. A pillar of black fire formed, reaching all the way into the sky, completely devouring the two.

Then, the Herald flew out of the pillar, bouncing across the ground and tumbling like a kite with its strings cut loose. The Herald was missing an arm.

When the pillar of black fire faded, Somnus stood there in its wake, the Herald's left arm still in his grasp. Black dust was falling off the arm where it was torn off, instead of crimson blood.

Somnus threw the arm away and slowly walked towards the Herald.

"Stay away from me!" the Herald shouted at the top of his voice. It was no longer gentle and smooth. Hubris had been replaced by terror. It was not just the Herald who felt terror. Everyone who remained on the battlefield saw Somnus as something that was terrifying.

Magical circles appeared around the Herald. They were large and entirely black. The symbols began Realizing quickly.

[a.n.a.lyzing pattern.]

[Spell type: Enhancement. Element: Dark.]

"Rewrite," Somnus said before the Herald could even call out the name of the spell. The magic circle shattered.

The Herald's expression twisted into a grimace. Desperation glimmered in his eyes.

More magical circles appeared. This time the circle was much smaller.

[a.n.a.lyzing pattern.]

[Spell type: Fast attack. Element: Darkfire.]

"Rewrite," Somnus uttered.

"Darkfire bolt!" the Herald shouted but the spell would not activate. Harmlessly, it generated an ember of black fire and disappeared.

The Herald began to crawl away from Somnus. "Please save me, master!" the panic in the Herald's voice was easily heard over every other emotion the Herald was feeling.

Finally, Somnus reached the Herald and towered over his p.r.o.ne form. The Herald stopped trying to crawl away.

"Please don't do this…" the Herald begged. "I will swear allegiance to you. I will do whatever you want."

Somnus's anger had faded long ago. What was left in the wake of that emotion was only hatred. Not towards the Herald, specifically, but to all the divinities of this world. They looked down on the mortals, from their false thrones and Somnus just could no longer tolerate such a thing.

What right does a puny creature like this Herald have to look down on Somnus?

"Please, let me live!" The Herald pleaded.

"Request denied," Somnus said. Somnus pointed a finger at the Herald and six magical circles appeared behind Somnus. They filled out so fast they only momentarily flickered into existence.

"Cataclysm Beam," Somnus said and unleashed a beam of energy and completely consumed the Herald and blasted deep into the earth, creating a tunnel large enough to fit five people, standing side by side.

The Herald screamed as the beam eroded his very existence. The scream was filled with pain, terror… and then the scream turned into maddened laughter.

"Oh no," the Herald shouted in between fits of laughter. "Don't kill me. Please. You are so stro—" the Herald couldn't even finish the sentence as he continued laughing.

When the beam faded, the Herald was revealed to be floating above the tunnel. Molten globs of dirt fell off the walls of the tunnel.

The Herald floated to the ground, laughing the entire time. Flakes of black dust began to gather in the air, forming a cyclone where the Herald's arm used to be. When the black dust vanished, the Herald was whole once more, his arm seemingly restored.

The Herald stopped laughing. "As I was saying," the Herald said. "I am Malah-Hazai, the Herald of Ruin. Kneel before me and your death shall be swift."

Somnus narrowed his eyes.

"Oh and uhh…" the Herald said, "Nice... " The Herald made flapping motions with his hands. "Wings."

The Herald snorted.

[Threat level updated. Designation Herald of Ruin. Threat level: 9]