Ryan did not become twisted into Surtr's kin merely because he had gotten too close to a Deity.
Surtr looked at Ryan.
"Do not attempt to touch upon the domain of the Divine Kingdom, mortal."
Surtr regarded Ryan as an existence of equal standing, but that did not mean he was blind enough to mistake Ryan for anything other than flesh and blood.
"Is this a war between the two of you?"
Ryan asked unwillingly, but Surtr ignored him again and focused on devouring this world. The Twilight Kin and Abyss Demons slaughtered one another, perishing together. Ryan had found it interesting at first, but before long, such a grand spectacle became boring.
He sensed the emptiness within the battle. Though the scene was magnificent, it was wholly incapable of stirring the heart or evoking even the slightest emotion.
He attributed it all to the lack of any soul.
Even a battle between three to five hundred humans looked more interesting than this.
"Surtr, are these the only kin you created?"
"They have no soul. They're like a mass of air expanding."
"Human souls were born alongside Deities. No one can create them afterward."
Surtr answered Ryan's question. No Deity could create souls like those of humans.
The slaughter between the Twilight Kin and the Abyss Demons was less a struggle for possession than a joint plundering through battle. Miklagard visibly lost its oceans as lava and dark wastelands covered the sea.
Ryan was like a traveler sitting and watching the sunset, watching this world slowly sink before the active power of a Deity, submerging into the dark depths of shattered void until not even a trace of lingering light remained.
The world's remaining light had nowhere to go. The Planar Gate behind Ryan gave off a faint glow, becoming