Strike of Destiny: If I Don't Speak or Act, Do You Really Think I'm Weak?

On the balcony of the Sanctum of Domination, where one could admire the "scenery of The Maw," the two began a shady little transaction.

The three Eternal Sigils in Diakum's hand came from the Firstborn, the Winter Queen, and the Primus. The sigils in Zovaal's possession came from the Sin Sigil Sire Denathrius had given him long ago, as well as the heart-core extracted from the Eternal Arbiter whom Diakum had kicked into shutdown.

In theory, although the Judgment Sigil had originally belonged to the Jailer, it could be considered something Diakum had "given" him.

After all, without his tacit approval, the relic artisan could never have escaped the Veiled Market with that heart-core.

That was a display of "sincerity."

Without that prerequisite, when Diakum arrived in The Maw with the covenant armies, he would not have been greeted by the Jailer, but by an endless tide of Mawsworn troops.

The Jailer clearly understood this as well. Under Diakum's gaze, he took out the heart-core that had once belonged to him.

He said:

"I examined it. There truly are First Ones Runes left by the Attendants of the Gods on my heart as restraints. Those servants of the First Ones feared my return, but I no longer need it.

Compared to the power of Judgment, the power of Domination is more suited to fulfilling my desire to reshape reality. Perhaps I should thank my brother, the Primus, for his painstaking creation."

"But have you never suspected that this was the Primus's plan from the very beginning?"

Diakum asked:

"He said he created the power of Domination to suppress you, yet the power he created is so perfectly suited to combining with the might of the First Ones and reshaping reality. Is it possible that Domination was a 'weapon' the Primus