Elsewhere.
The storm howled like a living thing.
Snow lashed sideways across a wide, frozen plateau, carried by winds strong enough to tear breath from lungs. Lightning split the sky again and again, white and violet veins ripping through low, churning clouds. Far above the storm, two moons hung dim and distant, barely visible through the snow.
At the center of the plateau, five men knelt in the ice, wrists bound, clothes soaked through and stiff with frost and water.
Their screams were nearly torn away by the wind as blue flames consumed them ,unnatural fire that burned without melting the snow beneath their knees.
The smell of scorched flesh was getting blown away.
Around them stood twenty-five cultists, boots half-buried in snow, black and blue robes snapping violently in the wind.
Their faces were hidden beneath hoods crusted with ice, hands outstretched as blue fire poured from their palms, feeding the execution.
Their chant barely held together against the storm.
"Oh great goddess Ember
Accept our devotion." They chanted , over and over again.
Lightning struck nearby.
The thunder shook the ground.
Out of nowhere , a cultist screamed , breaking the prayer chant.
She collapsed forward as a purple blade tore clean through her , blood steaming as it splashed onto the snow. Her blue flame flickered and died instantly.
The chanting shattered.
A figure stood where the lightning had struck, the teenager was wrapped in a dark cloak that did not move with the wind.
Beneath his hood, two eyes glowed violet, cutting through the whiteout like stars.
In his hand, a blade of condensed purple energy hummed softly, its edge crackling faintly with power.
Before anyone could react, he was gone.
He reappeared behind another cultist.
Lightning flashed.
A head rolled across the ice, leaving a red trail that froze almost instantly.
Panic erupted.
"DEFEND THE RITUAL!" someone shouted. "IN THE NAME OF EMBER YOU WILL DIE HERETIC."
Blue fire surged upward in a desperate wall, but the wind tore at it, twisting the flames sideways.
The figure stepped forward, hand stretched out , the blue fire recoiled, guttering as he passed through, refusing to touch him. "Your god has no authority over my fate."
His hood was blown off , revealing his face to the attacker.
The cultist fell to his knees, stuttering in fear."The.. The god slayer.." he cried, voice breaking.
The title vanished into the air.
The warrior moved again.
Purple light flared with every strike, he was precise and merciless. Bodies fell one after another, staining the snow dark beneath the storm.
The last cultist turned to flee.
A bolt of lightning struck behind him.
For a frozen instant , the world went white.
And in that blinding flash, the silhouette behind him casted a shadow.
Massive wings unfurled against the storm, spanning impossibly wide. A horned head loomed above him, jaws open in a silent roar, lightning crawling along its outline like veins of fire.
The cultist screamed.
The light vanished.
The purple blade pierced his chest, and he collapsed into the snow, lifeless.
The storm continued to rage snow continued to fall, settling over blood and ash alike.
The Immortal Warrior turned towards the five men that were still burning.
Their bodies knelt where the ritual had left them, blue fire clinging stubbornly to flesh even as life had already faded. Their suffering lingered.
His expression did not change, but something passed through his hollow eye.
He raised his sword.
The purple blade hummed louder now, light gathering along its edge, condensing until the air around it trembled. Lightning cracked overhead, answering the surge as if the storm recognized the technique.
"Drakonic Slash."he exhaled.
He swung once.
The motion was calm and controlled , it seemed gentle compared to the massacre that just happened.
A crescent of violet light tore forward, screaming through the storm. It passed cleanly through the kneeling figures in an instant.
The blue flames extinguished mid-flicker.
Five heads fell free in perfect unison, striking the snow before the bodies collapsed moments later, finally still.
The purple slash continued onward, carving a glowing line through the storm before dissipating into sparks that vanished against the snow.
Silence returned.
The wind howled.
The Immortal Warrior lowered his blade, the glow fading until only faint embers remained along its edge.
The blade dematerialized and the dark-skinned teenager put his hood back on , his locks rubbing against his face.