The demon army had finished regrouping, a black mass stretching from the front of the fortress to the horizon.
Casares hovered above the ranks, magma flowing slowly over his shell and spouting crimson tongues of flame. Mephisto concealed himself in the void once more and vanished.
Ian glanced up at the sky. The gray canopy looked as though it were draped in filthy cloth.
"Kerrigan."
"I'm here," Kerrigan answered in a low voice.
"I alone am enough for this battle. All of you, fall back."
Kerrigan withdrew instantly without hesitation. Torem instinctively followed, retreating more than a dozen steps, while Tassadar was even more decisive, moving straight to the farthest point.
Ian hovered above the fortress, facing the countless demons with his usual calm expression.
Suddenly, every cold wind across the Tundra World stopped.
The air began to warp, and light began to bend.
His body began to change. His gray mage's robe merged into the darkness, and his golden pupils became two burning points of light suspended at the center of absolute darkness.
The black disk appeared again, just as it had when he arrived, pitch-black and chilling to behold.
But this time was different. Dark gold light spread outward from the edge of the event horizon, ring after ring, like ripples across water. Each ring was wider and brighter than the last.
The instant the black hole event horizon unfolded, it swallowed the entire sky of the Tundra World. The gray canopy vanished.
In its place appeared a sight that made everyone tremble.
Countless rays of light converged from every direction, spiraling along the edge of the event horizon to form blazing arcs.
Distant nebulae were stretched into threads, like shredded silk, slowly revolving beyond the halo.
The air of the Tundra World grew heavy, and breathing became