Fragments of the Sargerite Keystone raced through the void. With the help of pure Fel, the soul that had willingly hitched a ride on one of them hadn't vanished into nothing as one might have expected.
Across the endless river of time, Duan Ming witnessed the birth and destruction of stars over and over again. The star-strewn void had amazed him at first, but after countless years of seeing the same scenes repeat, he grew bored and numb.
Gradually, he fell into slumber. He stopped resisting the flow of Fel, and as time passed, his soul nearly merged with the fragment.
But he and this power were not the same kind of thing. Others might not have noticed his presence, but Vihana, a Soul Eater who specialized in the power of souls, detected him at once.
"Awaken, outsider!" Wisps of pale soul energy lifted the fragment into the air, their chilling aura pounding against the sleeper hidden within.
Drawn by the call of one like himself, his spirit instinctively began seeking out the power. Feeling himself move against his will, Duan Ming's consciousness gradually awakened. As his soul came clearly into view, he made his first movement in millions of years.
He opened his eyes...
"Who are you?" Strange attire, a mind not yet fully clear—when Duan Ming saw Vihana, a flood of questions sprang into his mind.
Hearing the soul speak in a language she had never heard, Vihana looked puzzled. Then she shifted her thoughts and communicated with him directly through the power of her soul.
"I am Vihana, a Soul Eater and servant of Lord Sargeras. And you are?" To his surprise, the Eredar demon didn't use the cruel methods she usually employed on other souls. Her words held both reverence and curiosity.
The Sargerite Keystone had been created by the Dark Titan himself. It was a key that opened the gates to other worlds, containing the Dark Titan's purest Fel. Though this was only a fragment, what kind of being was this outsider, to have survived within such power?
"Me?" The other's voice sounded in his mind. This means of communication, completely at odds with his memories, jolted Duan Ming's consciousness to attention.
Where am I?
Memories flashed through his mind like slides, scenes from his past rising to the surface. Duan Ming gradually understood his situation. Looking at the familiar yet strange being before him, his eyes widened in astonishment.
An Eredar demon? The Burning Legion!
While the other was unguarded, lost in his memories, Vihana boldly let her power seep into his soul. As she followed his recollections, she quickly learned where he had come from.
A new world? The master would be overjoyed!
A chilling smile curled Vihana's lips. She stared at the soul before her with her emerald eyes. "Outsider, you've brought precious information. The Legion will surely reward you for your contribution."
"But first, accept my gift!" As soon as she finished speaking, Vihana reached out and grasped at the air. The pale streams of light that had been circling nearby found an outlet and shot toward Duan Ming.
"Ah—!"
Endless soul energy enveloped him in an instant. It was like falling into a school of piranhas: ripping pain tore through his entire body, and Duan Ming let out a bloodcurdling howl that seemed to pierce the heavens!
"The Keystone bears my master's mark, so I can't draw upon its power directly. But now, with you here, I'll claim that power with ease!"
"Let Tyranna, that bitch, rot!"
"I'll be the master of Mardum! I'll become Lord Sargeras's most trusted servant!"
"Hahaha!"
Vihana's frenzied laughter was drowned out by Duan Ming's anguished screams. Before long, pale light filled the darkened space, obscuring everything within.
Pain—an indescribable agony—swallowed Duan Ming in an instant. It was worse than death, a torment beyond imagining!
Vihana's power pierced deep into his flesh like steel needles, stabbing to the bone!
It was like leeches clinging to his body, steadily devouring his soul. As his weakness grew more pronounced, his end drew ever closer...
"Don't even think about resisting my power, mortal!"
"Death is release! The Legion will destroy your world! Join me and witness this glorious feat. It'll be the greatest achievement of your short life!"
The Legion? My world?
In the midst of this unbearable agony, Duan Ming's senses and thoughts grew increasingly muddled. The other's arrogant, deranged laughter writhed through his mind like a maggot beneath the skin, and a deep terror welled up inside him.
The Burning Legion, destruction, release...
He knew these words so well, yet his present ordeal was utterly unfamiliar. Destroy me? Destroy my world? As the pain of his soul being ripped apart consumed him, overwhelming fear surged forth. He seemed to see the villainous organization players had once talked about roaming from world to world, leaving fire and destruction in its wake. He seemed to hear countless living beings screaming and howling amid an endless sea of flames. At last, in that moment, he understood why countless seemingly powerless mortals had fought back against this pain, this merciless tyranny that reason itself could not endure, even at the cost of their lives.
No. Never!
Conscience, fear, pain, pleasure—countless nameless terrors erupted from within, plunging Duan Ming into despair and madness. He flailed his arms and kicked his legs like a madman, trying to escape the chilling power that kept tearing at his soul. But it was all futile. Soul Eaters had spent hundreds of years mastering this craft. How could an ordinary mortal, weak and helpless, possibly resist?
Watching the other flail about without posing any threat, Vihana finally let go of the worry that had lingered in her heart. As the feeble soul screamed, her unrestrained laughter grew more and more raucous. "Hahaha! Resist! Wail! Your pathetic struggle will be a performance for my amusement!"
Roar—!
Pale soul energy became a storm. Its sound, like the howling of ghosts, gradually drowned out Duan Ming's screams.
With a casual flick of Vihana's finger, an even stronger tearing sensation struck Duan Ming. He felt as if he were about to be ripped into countless pieces, and let out a terrifying scream that he himself could hardly believe.
There was a way out after all. As Duan Ming endured this unspeakable torture, he happened to see the fragment hanging above his head. Even amid the pale storm of souls, the Keystone fragment still shone with brilliant emerald light—steady and calm, as if it stood apart from the world. It was like a solitary lighthouse standing firm by the sea, a beam of light, a ray of hope that pierced the darkness...
Like a drowning man grabbing at a lifeline, Duan Ming reached for the fragment without a second thought.
At that instant, his heart-wrenching screams stopped. Emerald light rose slowly at the center of the white storm, growing purer and brighter by the moment. Seeing this, Vihana's brow furrowed. Then her face filled with disbelief.
This power—no!
Boom—!
A thunderous explosion burst through the darkened space, crashing wildly against the enclosed walls. The sound nearly ruptured Vihana's eardrums. The next moment, a storm of emerald flames surged up, unstoppable.
Whoosh!
A flash of green, brighter than anything before it, tore through the chaotic Fel storm. A slender figure soared out of the explosion and reached the Soul Eater in an instant.
With lightning speed, the figure reached out and seized Vihana by the throat. Before she could react, he lifted her into the air.
Watching the one who had just tortured him struggle in his grasp, mouth wide as she let out muffled whimpers, Duan Ming felt an overwhelming rush of satisfaction at her desperate pleas for mercy.
"You want this power so badly?" His twisted grin looked all the more deranged in the firelight. His hoarse voice sounded like a chorus of men and beasts. Wrapped in green flames, Duan Ming was so changed that even his own mother might not have recognized him. He spoke with scorn, then slowly raised his right hand. Emerald light swirled around it, gradually gathering into a green crystal, as if he were holding up a light bulb.
At the same time, green light covered his whole body. Even his once-black eyes were veiled in an emerald glow.
Fel—chaotic beyond measure, and incomparably powerful!
He had actually merged the Keystone fragment with his soul? How was that possible?!
"You want it?" Duan Ming paid no heed to her eyes, bulging as if they might pop out, nor to her head shaking like a rattle. Enveloped in Fel, he drew back his right hand, gripping the Keystone, and wound up for a punch.
"Then I'll give it to you!"
With a roar, Duan Ming's right hand, holding the fragment, left a streak of green light as it slammed into Vihana's abdomen.
Splurt!
A sound like cloth tearing, magnified a hundredfold, suddenly rang through the space.
Green blood, redolent of demons, gushed out like a fountain and soon pooled into a small stream beneath them. With a single punch, he had pierced straight through Vihana's armor and body!
With her throat clamped shut, the Eredar could only make a dry, meaningless growl. She clutched Duan Ming's wrist, desperately trying to resist his overwhelming strength, while her hoofed legs kicked wildly in the air. She gave herself over shamelessly to the despair of death and destruction.
But just as before, when Duan Ming had been at her mercy, it was all futile.
As Vihana's movements grew weaker and weaker, Duan Ming's grin widened. A strange, primal craving welled up in the depths of his mind. He tightened his grip on the fragment, tearing at the scorching flesh between his fingers.
The moment that thought formed in his mind, the emerald light between his fingers shone brighter. Like ink dropped into clear water, it soon spread across his arm and Vihana's body.
Then, the moment Fel touched the demon's blood, it seemed to get a shot of adrenaline. It leapt joyfully onto Vihana's abdomen.
Thin green lines appeared across her body and quickly spread. Though they were as unnerving as earthworms or little snakes, Duan Ming's emerald eyes filled with an ever deeper intoxication and satisfaction.
Fel was a chaotic power. It could feed itself by consuming and sacrificing. Its flames could set entire worlds ablaze, let alone flesh, let alone souls...
"Ah—!"
The green lines soon covered Vihana's entire body. The agony striking deep into her soul finally broke through the restraint on her throat, and she let out a shrill, desperate scream.
But that only made Duan Ming even more delighted!
Her scream had barely begun when endless emerald flames swallowed Vihana completely. Like dragons unleashed from their reins, they joyfully surged back into Duan Ming's body.
They caused him no pain. On the contrary, it was like a starving, dying man finally getting a full meal. He could clearly feel his strength growing fuller, his soul growing more substantial, and his primal cravings and desires being sated with pleasure.
Feeling a consciousness that had lost the power to resist enter his mind, Duan Ming showed no mercy. He swallowed it whole. He devoured the Soul Eater's shattered soul, then gradually absorbed and assimilated her memories and knowledge.
From the torture he had just endured to the surge in his power, life's sudden turns left him dazed. But he quickly came to his senses.
There was no time to stand around in a daze. He still hadn't escaped danger.
Before you continue