"The earth was still convulsing as if the land itself had absorbed the burden of their fight and shuddered in response. The air stank of smoke and raw energy, heavy and oppressive. Alex Mercer stood upon charred ground, his battered body a constant reminder that they were not safe yet. And beside him stood Helena, who clutched her blade. Her knuckles were pale above the hilt. Their wounds told of a battle narrowly won, but of a war that had only now begun."In the distance, the Warden's monstrous form loomed, flickering like an unstable flame. His once-imposing presence wavered, but his eyes still burned with fury two stars carved from the void itself. Yet something had shifted. The arrival of the Herald had disrupted the abyssal order."Herald: (commanding) "Stand down, Warden. Your time is over.""The cloaked figure's voice was a blade slicing through the oppressive darkness. Her aura radiated a silvery brilliance, defiant against the creeping shadows. As she advanced, even the Ward

The earth shook beneath them, the thrum of ancient power heavy in the air. The blinding light that had burst forth from the depths of the Nexus now swelled like a storm on the rise. Alex's heart pounded, every muscle tensed for combat. Helena stood beside him, her breath shallow and focused. The Herald stood calmly before the light, unflinching.Helena: (sharp, alert) "This is bad. This isn't some guardian we can fight off with brute force."Alex: (gritted teeth) "It's coming for us, isn't it?"The shapes within the white light twisted, monstrous and impossible. They moved in patterns too complex for mortal eyes to follow. A nightmare born of ancient memory. And it had chosen them for its next meal. The Nexus was alive.Herald: (calm, but with an undercurrent of urgency) "This is not just any task. The creatures coming are survivors of the First Fallen. Stripped of both shape and definition long ago in the Nexus they have been given. Now they will reclaim whatever was taken, and there

Silence. An overwhelming, suffocating silence. Alex's mind was adrift in a sea of darkness, his consciousness tethered to nothing, lost within the very essence of the Nexus itself. The rush of hellfire and shadows had consumed him, and now… he felt nothing. No pain, no power, no breath. But there was something something far off in the distance. A glimmer of light, faint but persistent, like a thread of hope in an abyss. Alex reached for it, his mind struggling to surface from the depths of the darkness. He didn't know how much time had passed, but the oppressive weight of the Nexus pressed harder the longer he lingered in this void.Alex: (weak, struggling) "What. happened.?"The voice was a stranger's voice, far off. He had no idea how long it had been since he'd spoken aloud or even where he was. The might of the Nexus still thundered through his system, but it was. dimmed. Faded. Shadows seemed to coalesce and draw closer, their whispers indistinct, like nothing he could make out.

The tremors beneath their feet grew more intense, shaking the very foundations of the Nexus. Alex could feel it something immense, something ancient, stirring in the dark depths of this forsaken realm. The ground cracked and groaned, as if the very earth itself was fighting against the forces that had been unleashed. It was coming. And it was coming for him.Helena's breath quickens as she compulsively casts her gaze to the side, seeking to identify the cause of all that upset. The Herald stood perfectly still, dark eyes forming at the edges as her hands clenched at her sides, bracing for what was surely worse than what they'd experienced so far.Helena: (worried, frightened) "What in God's name is that? What's coming?The Herald’s gaze fixed on Alex, her lips pressed tightly together. She didn’t answer right away. She didn’t need to. The answer was already apparent. Whatever was approaching, it was far more than any of them had bargained for.Herald: (quiet, deadly calm) “You’ve unle

The world shattered. Alex felt the very fabric of existence unraveling around him. The ground cracked open like the earth itself was breathing its last, and the sky above twisted into a swirling vortex of raw energy. Every nerve in his body screamed in agony as the Titan's blow landed, sending him hurtling through a chasm of unimaginable power.No sense of direction, no idea where he was. He had the sensation that he was falling forever through some bottomless void. The Nexus heat burned at his skin, and the cold talons of the Titan's blow clawed his soul. He felt light and broken, and yet, a part of him refused to relinquish the grasp. He resisted the pull of the darkness into which he might be swallowed alive.Alex: (gasping, strained) "No… no… I won't fall…"Narrator: His words could hardly be heard as the storm swept them away. But fire burned within him, such a flame as never had yet. He was not yet done. He could not be. Not all that he had suffered. Not everything that hung in