Vevadexus — Cadelon Hole
The moment Kiro touched down, the air tried to kill him.
Ashstorms scoured the impact zone, ripping across the broken stone like claws. The sky above rumbled with the echoes of orbital engines and distant weapons-fire—like gods dragging chains across a dying world.
His landing pod smoldered behind him, half-swallowed by the Cadelon Hole—a kilometer-wide crater that dropped into a scar of unknowable depth.
According to the Naught, the God-Spoken Archive lay buried at its lowest point. Beneath seven strata of failed civilizations. Beneath war-forged catacombs. Beneath death.
Kiro stared into the abyss, gripping the shard the Naught had given him. It pulsed faintly in his palm, like a heart remembering how to beat.
His voice was quiet.
"So this is how it starts."
He stepped forward, and the earth groaned in response.
The descent began.
Vevadexus – Surface: The Ceremonies of War
Far above, under fractured clouds and burning skies, the Thirteen Heirs made their presence known.
Each stood in ritual, surrounded by their retinues and chosen warpriests. The Ascendance Trials had not yet begun—but the traditions, the formalities, the sacred oaths of battle... these could not be skipped.
Heir Ody of Prime Veridan
Dressed in shadowsteel, Ody sat cross-legged before a burning tree of bone. His voice whispered through a psychic link to his warband:
"I will not die here. I will ascend. And if Kiro lives... let him watch."
Princess Dasha of Prime Tethros
Bathed in red oils, she danced with dual swords drawn, slashing the air in memory of her ancestors—each strike a name, each breath a vow:
"Thirteen blades for thirteen thrones. And mine shall be the last unbroken."
Prince Rhagor of Prime Oxxilum
He simply stood atop a colossus, letting the war drums of his world echo across the planet. His words were carved into the air by technomancy:
"This world bends to strength. We will see who breaks."
Each heir marked their territory. Runes lit up across the warzones. Ritual banners were planted in soil soaked with the blood of forgotten kings.
Kargal Empire High Command — In Orbit Above Vevadexus
In the orbiting command station Vigilant Omen, the High Minister of the Crimson Scepter stood before a council of war, each member an artificial intelligence created from the neural patterns of past emperors.
The minister raised his hands, palms lit with radiant glyphs.
"Begin the world-seal. Lock atmospheric exits. No heir may leave until one remains."
"Initiate the witness protocol. Every death must be recorded. Every betrayal archived."
"Let the Trials begin."
Across Vevadexus, alarms sounded.
Barriers rose.
The Great Hunt was live.
Cadelon Hole – Descent Level One
Kiro moved through a world buried in silence.
Massive chains lined the walls—remnants of some forgotten siege that once tried to bind the earth itself. He passed statues of unknown gods, their faces scratched away, their names defaced.
The further he went, the more the shard in his hand pulsed. It pulled him deeper, toward something that was waiting to awaken.
But Kiro was not alone.
Above, shadows watched.
Not heirs.
Not voidlings.
Something else.