6 Months Ago
Nightmare Desert, Dream Realm
The heat of the sun was blistering in the desert landscape.
Dell was used to such environments. His own clan's stronghold was located in such an area.
But the heat here was different.
He had long run out of rations and water, and his essence was low surviving harrowing undead spirits that only arose during the night, ready to wage war upon the world.
He had seen caught a glimpse of something shiny in the vast expanse and had slowly approached, dragging his feet with every step.
He lulled over to it, now within striking distance.
A piece of marble jutting out of the stand.
He pressed his hand against it. It was cool to the touch.
[Awakened! Prepare For Your Second Trial]
Present Day
Greenriver Stronghold, Song Clan Territories In East Antarctica
Dell awoke violently.
Where am I?
He looked down. He saw a golem beneath him, holding him above with one hand, while chewing on a severed leg with the other.
Huh.
Dell looked further down. His own right leg was missing.
The crown above Dell's head formed and a pink gemstone took front and centre.
''You bastard!''
An axe memory formed into his hand as he smashed it down into the head.
The stone cracked, and it let go of Dell as he stumbled on the ground.
His leg began to regrow, but not before the golem swung its giant arms down at him.
One hit. Two hit. Then the golem disappeared from his view.
Cho offered Dell a hand, and lifted him up.
''Reyvan, get up! We still need you!''
The golem had been shattered to pieces.
Beyond that, the plain was a mess. Two thousand nightmares creatures were colliding with the front lines of the ground party, causing havoc with their unnatural abilities.
The skies above were pitch black, covered by the clouds. Only lightning illuminated their portion of the battlefield.
The back lines were yet to see anything yet.
Cho's inner circle held tight, so far not suffering any casualties despite the threat of a sea of Fallen.
The battle was still early.
Cho swung his axe madly at creature after creature.
What injury he couldn't dodge or deflect, quickly healing because of his growing fury.
''Bastards! All of you!''
Dell ventured further and further into the enemy lines, leaving the safety of Cho and his cohort, his axe a blindingly fast whirlwind of steel, hacking down wood, stone, flesh and bone.
''You stole that witch from me!''
A rotting wolf the size of a PTV lunged at him, and he threw his hand into it's mouth.
It clenched down. Dell then raised the wolf overhead, and with a furious roar, slammed it into the ground.
His axe quickly followed.
Ripping his arm from the severed wolf's head, he turned around and swung again. And again. And again.
Until all he knew was swinging and healing. Swinging and healing.
The battle had now entered its second stage. Most of the human front line, aside from Cho's inner circle, had been completely torn apart. Fresh defenders stepped forward to take their fallen comrades place. The aura of the Major enveloping the entire force under a unifying unbreakable will. As long as Cho lived, the nightmare creatures could not break their spirits.
Railguns and turrets from the stronghold walls funnelled the horde into one direction, but did not seem to give much effect in terms of damage.
Dell continued his furious onslaught, inching further and further into the horde with every second.
With each strike he took, his essence healed it, using Captain Reyvan's stolen ability.
With each strike he landed, his essence replenished, using his own Aspect's Dormant ability.
Only an unholy combination of abilities could have allowed Dell to venture this deep into the foray.
But that simple balance would not last long.
-----
A being descended from the dark clouds, humanoid in nature.
It's body was pitch black, but stars danced within its form, the starry night sky come to life.
It had no eyes, but it looked towards the human warriors defending their city, then it narrowed in on the gate.
It raised one hand, a sword the size of the heavens emerging from it, it too sharing the same starry night quality, perhaps an extension of itself, and it cut down.
The human army was cut straight down the middle thousands of warriors dying in an instant to the starlight sword.
The tip of the sword came crashing down on the human city's gate, crushing it along with several dozen railguns and turrets.
The starlight sword dissipated.
-----
Dell was stunned out his trance of fury.
The gargantuan blade had spawned to his right and had passed him by.
The resulting shockwave of the weapon, crumbled the earth and sent many of the weaker nightmare creatures hurtling.
As the dust and earth of the shattered plain began to settle, Dell quickly assessed the situation.
The starlit sword came from the sky, crushed defenders of the city, then left.
As he spun with his axe, he assessed the situation.
Cho and his party must have survived, otherwise the will of the ground party would have waned. It continued on relentlessly, unperturbed by the fact that a tenth of their force had disappeared in the span of a few seconds.
The gates were crushed beyond salvation, now all the nightmare creatures needed to do was eliminate the human warriors, and a million mundane civilians would be served to them on a platter.
Dell looked to the skies, trying to find the source of such terror.
A flash of lightning revealed the presence of an ominous figure floating above.
"You can have my vengeance, you fuck!''
Dell had been initially wary of revealing his true aspect, before Cho and the others, as he didn't want to blow his cover.
That was why he had waded so far deep into the horde.
With the minimal light they were getting from the clouds obscuring above, Dell could now go all out.
His crown rotated, a flash of lightning blinded his surroundings, and Dell disappeared.