The Mallory Umbrawyrio landed in White’s palm, and there was, for a second, an absolutely chilling silence.
Not the silence of things simply being quiet, but that of time itself having been forced to a complete halt, and right after,
WHIISHHKRRH...SSSSSSHTTT
A sound that defied explanation echoed out as a formless aura burst from White’s palm where the book had touched.
A massive cyclone of energy bypassed even the ancient halls, disappearing into the farthest upper reaches of the seemingly unending ceiling height.
__________
Outside in the Umbrawyr Kingdom...
Everything seemed to progress at its normal pace, Umbrawyrs going about their day-to-day lives, when all at once, every single one of them paused in their steps as they heard the sound.
Space cracked, clouds folded inward, and lightning crackled across the sky as though the heavens themselves raged against the unnatural phenomenon born from an unknown power.
All eyes instantly turned toward the tallest castle in the kingdom: the Queen’s Palace.
There, just above it, was a massive coiling blackness that resembled a black hole, yet the aura oozing from it was so powerful that it was enough to send even the strongest among them halting in fear.
It was as though their hearts had been forcibly seized beyond their will, and all at once.
DROP!
The sound of knees striking the ground echoed out as millions of Umbrawyrs simultaneously dropped to their knees, bowing toward the Palace.
"The King..."
"The King has been reborn!"
_________
Far, far away, in a galaxy where the stars themselves had long since died, absolute darkness ruled.
Not ordinary darkness born from the absence of light, but a darkness so ancient that light itself had forgotten the path leading into it.
There was absolute, chilling silence, when all of a sudden,
GRRRRUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIP!
The sound of something ancient slowly opening echoed out, and what was revealed was... an eye.
There was nothing else but it alone. No body, no face, no flesh.
Or perhaps the entire body was merely hidden within the ancient darkness that permeated the galaxy.
Yet to think it possessed a body at all was a thought beyond imagination, for that single eye was far beyond ordinary.
Its iris alone spanned hundreds of millions of kilometers, holding ancient, ever-changing runic symbols within its depths.
Staring into it gave the illusion that entire civilizations were being born within its pupil, evolving, reaching the stars, and going extinct without ever realizing that the galaxy they inhabited was merely the eye of a sleeping creature.
Entire civilizations being birthed within its pupil, evolving, and falling extinct without ever realizing that the world not nothing a but a spec in the eyes of a sleeping creature.
Its colossal pupil narrowed, and then,
"At last..."
The voice rumbled through the ancient darkness.
"The Mallory Umbrawyrio has chosen its host..."
"...The Last Dark One."
_________
Far, far away in another galaxy, there sat a throne larger than a star and brighter than the sun.
Sitting upon it was a being for which no word could truly describe its magnitude.
A giant was the closest comparison, but even that was not entirely accurate, for the being possessed a body that held no true boundaries.
Yet the humanoid center frame seated upon the throne could still be seen, and upon it was a face.
A face formless with no features, yet
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The sound of something tearing open echoed out as its glass-like forehead split apart, revealing a single eye that peered through entire galaxies before ultimately locking onto a single world.
Quietly, the golden void beneath the eye began to rotate.
"...The Umbrawyrs have found their heir."
The giant’s voice was soft.
Softer than one would expect, yet the reality around him trembled as though an unbearable weight had been placed upon it.
"The Last King."
Then,
CREAAAAK...GRRUUUUUU...RIIIIIIIIIIP
Noises that would tear mortal ears asunder echoed out as the giant slowly began to rise from its throne...
...for the first time in 3,000 years!
_________
Far, far away at the edge of existence itself was a realm where runic numbers became creatures and the laws of reality shimmered in and out of existence in the shapes of elongated alphanumeric symbols.
A woman floated within it all in silence, her beauty far surpassing mortal understanding.
It wasn’t simply because of her appearance, but because every law of symmetry, proportion, mathematics, and ultimately perfection seemingly originated from her existence.
But truly eye-catching about her was what floated behind her.
A total of four artifacts in the shape of books hovered quietly behind her, while another rested within her hands, her eyes knitted softly together in reading.
Yet all at once, the serene atmosphere was disturbed as her hand reaching to turn the next page, suddenly froze.
Silver irises gazed into infinity before a whisper followed.
"The final bearer."
All of a sudden, the four ancient grimoire-like books behind her began to tremble, not from fear, but from seeming recognition of the aura oozing out to them from the distant galaxy.
The sight of their trembling made the woman smile, a smile that caused inexplicable runic numbers to shift in and out of existence, morphing reality around her in ways incomprehensible to the mortal mind.
"I wonder if he will survive long enough to use its power... talk less of attempting to free each one of you."
giggle.
_________________
Far, far away from the galaxy, in a forbidden ancient abyss, something slept.
Even through the darkness of the unending abyss, its form was immediately clear, yet no records could describe it, and no language possessed words sufficient to define what it truly looked like.
The creature’s body stretched across the entirety of the abyss, spines covered in pitch-black runes oozing with an aura similar to that of dying stars, ribs enclosing reality like clustered dimensions.
Millions of cuts remained closed across its flesh.
Then, all of a sudden, without any noise whatsoever, one of those cuts opened.
Then another.
Then another.
Thousands of them.
Then millions.
Each of them an eye possessing the aura of death, all staring in a single direction.
That singular wave of seemingly supreme aura.
GROOOOOWWWWWLL!
A growl echoed out from the abyss, crossing dimensions and splintering inexplicable cracks through the farthest reaches of reality.
"Took you long enough!"
"....Perish, it shall certainly be for your host, and then... it will begin."
_________
And then... there was him.
Far beyond even those ancient monsters, far beyond galaxies, far beyond dimensions, and seated upon a floating black throne, was a solitary figure.
He looked no different from an ordinary human, small, ordinary, almost inconsequential.
Yet when one looked just down beneath the throne, where the horrific creatures of higher realms that now lay dead beneath his feet...
His eyes were closed, and on his lap rested something impossible to miss.
A sword.
Not sheathed but wrapped instead in a simple yet impeccably neat white garment.
A circular white halo floated above his head, spilling holy light all around, a scene that only further added to the nightmare of the corpse sea beneath him.
There was absolute silence until, slowly, the man’s eyes opened.
Instantly, they tore through space:
A ray of scorching white light piercing into the far distance and carrying an illumination so bright that it seemed as though the sun itself had exploded.
The light continued onward for an unrecorded distance before quietly beginning to fade.
And when it faded completely, the man’s face finally became visible.
Upon it was a grin.
One far from holy, or any good intent whatsoever.
"The final host..."
He whispered.
Then he laughed.
It was a quiet laugh, yet it sounded infinitely more terrifying than any roar could ever be.
In his eyes was realization.
Understanding of the implication behind this reaching wave of energy.
It was unmistakably that of the Ancient Devil Artifact, The Mallory Umbrawyrio, and accompanying it was, of course, the sickening aura of that race.
The Umbrawyrs.
The Mallory Umbrawyrio had never belonged to the Umbrawyrs.
It merely remained bound to them.
But now the book had chosen its final successor.
Its final bearer.
Meaning that once the barrier died, the bond would end, and finally, the ancient devil artifact would become masterless, in other words, free for anyone strong enough to claim it.
His grin widened, and the surrounding sea of corpses began to shake violently.
"I’ve waited for this moment for longer than their race remembers existing."
He whispered, and quietly, his hands tightened around the sword resting upon his lap.
"And now, all I have to do..."
At this point, the grin became monstrous, stretching past his ears and splitting toward the back of his head, the man’s visage quickly changing from angelic into something far beyond demonic.
"...ishhh killgggh him!"