Kev found himself submerged in darkness. Everywhere he looked there was only intense suffocating darkness.
How did he get here? He appeared straight here after disappearing from his car!
'Looks like CrimsonSheWolf was right. Disappearing from Earth doesn't mean death. It means being pulled into another world with everything you have on you at the moment of your disappearance from Earth.'
Although he couldn't see it, he could feel it. His equipment was still there, strapped to his body. From weapons to essentials, he had brought a lot of things with him to the alien space. He had an inkling that this was going to go a long way.
Among the many items he had brought with him to the alien space was a torchlight.
It was stored inside his backpack.
He placed it down, unzipped it, and took the flashlight out. Then he zipped the backpack back up and slung it over his shoulders
Now it was time to turn on the flashlight and see what was hidden in the dark.
Before he could do it, a blue-white light bloomed in the darkness.
If one were to look carefully at it, they would realize it was shaped like a sun.
This sun appeared tens of thousands of miles above Kev, yet burned so intensely it lit up his surroundings in stark, surreal clarity. He saw jagged obsidian formations stretching endlessly in every direction, their glass-like surfaces reflecting the light of the bluish white sun overhead.
CRACK-BOOOOOM!
A thunderous boom rang out.
It came from above.
Kev looked up.
There were no thunderclouds - only a sun buzzing with electric currents, tens of thousands of them!
Kev watched with eyes as wide as saucers as these currents slithered toward one another, twisting together into a colossal lightning serpent as thick as an ancient oak tree.
The moment it formed, it speared downward like a judgment from heaven, giving him no time to think.
It was coming for him with the sole intention of reaping his life.
It moved faster than he could think. How could he dodge it?
This was a freaking death sentence!
Just as all hope was lost.
The darkness shifted.
An incredible scene played out.
From the countless shadows cast by the obsidian under the sun, countless black hands erupted. They came off as small and insignificant when compared to the mighty lightning serpent. But then, in less than a fraction of a second, they merged into one, creating a colossal palm of darkness that could easily eclipse Mount Everest in size and circumference.
It surged upward, rising to meet the lightning serpent head-on.
BOOM!
The black hand slapped the serpent like a death sentence, blasting it into smithereens. Then, it morphed, changing form. It twisted into a barbed arrow of pure darkness. With a sound like the sky splitting in half, it SHOT upward, straight toward the sun.
GAH!
The arrow pierced through the sun, and a deep, guttural grunt echoed through the void.
"Seems like someone is hurt," Kev thought, awed by the fight he had just witnessed.
He couldn't comprehend the forces at play, but he understood one thing:
Someone had just tried to murder him.
And someone else had intervened, saving his life and teaching a lesson to his assailant.
The blinding light of the bluish white sun receded, and as it quickly disappeared from sight, the world fell into darkness again.
Kev's lips stretched back slightly into a small smirk. His assailant had run away after being beaten by his savior!
A shimmering portal opened up in the distance, glowing in a dazzling array of light. Its glow illuminated the path ahead of Kev.
"Take it and leave. This is not a place where a mortal should be for long."
A majestic voice rang in his ears.
It was not hard to guess who it belonged to.
Kev believed it belonged to his savior.
Not only had he protected him from a being beyond his imagination, but he had also provided him with a safe passage out of this seemingly hellish place.
He felt immensely grateful for his help and said, "Thanks for all your help, Honorable One."
"You are welcome."
Immediately after, Kev rushed toward the portal, vanishing into it.
The light of the portal engulfed him, and he vanished from sight
...
A figure, resembling a dried-up corpse, sat upon a grand throne of obsidian and gold. His skin clung tightly to his skeletal frame, cracked and withered like ancient parchment. Hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes gave him the look of something long dead. Yet, when his eyes opened, it became clear he was far from death.
His eyes... they burned with an unfathomable power, a power nothing in the great wide universe could rival!
His gaze cut through the walls of the palace, piercing across an immeasurable distance, staring into the distant void of the universe. His lips parted, yet no sound echoed within the palace. It remained as silent as a tomb. But elsewhere, in the vast and endless expanse, his voice thundered like the wrath of an enraged god.
"Let the Serpent Mother's death serve as a warning to all of you who covet my empire like scavengers circling prey. My domain is not a place where the likes of you can act without consequence!"
In response to the emperor's warning, a sneer voice rose from the depths of the void.
"Emperor, the only thing keeping us at bay is that accursed throne of yours. Without it, you are nothing. Once it is drained of power…"
"You won't even have the chance to gloat."
The withered emperor's lips curled into a faint smirk.
A single word, carrying boundless scorn, left his mouth.
"Ignorant."
His plan was already set in motion. Once it came to fruition, the cloud of doom hanging over his empire would be forever dispelled. If that were to happen, his enemies wouldn't even have the time to struggle. He would crush them before they could grasp the extent of their failure.
"The fate of my empire now lies in your hands, Abyss Dwellers. Do not fail me."
The emperor's eyes closed, and the overwhelming might that had invaded the distant void of space receded swiftly. After a while, it could no longer be felt.