Once more, it was like Loimos was flung across great distances, through time and space itself, which wasn't quite wrong, but neither was it right as this was all conjured up through memories, the undead did not know if it had been intentional on Audit's part, but it felt as though he had been thrown into the memories of this world itself and was being pulled around by opposing forces.
One wanting to get him in one alternative past specifically, whilst the other seemingly trying to take him on a tour of the real past, the latter had the upper hand right now, having him bar witness to many events relating to the undead empire.
At first, King Nitok had no crown, no true authority, he was alone and death was at its weakest, gathering allies was difficult, undeads were few and far between, this a time during which the holy was still a bane to the undead, deities of the dead were but mere agents aiding in the cycle that benefitted life…
The empire was closer to a ragtag group of bandits than anything at the time, even with a mage as powerful as King Nitok at its head, but one event completely upset the balance of power on Viridis, being heavily reliant on holy power and the divine at that time, when the Defiler Of The Holy rose in a small nation not that far from the continent, everything changed, at first, that figure had been nothing known outside of the borders of this small land at first, but as the heretical flames engulfed it, a hero appeared and apparently defeated the defiler, and yet, it was by this action that the great silence followed.
The fire of heresy trapped within had turned out to be more than a mere power source, and like a star, it shot up through the skies and found its place in the cosmos, releasing intense force in the process, severing the ties the divine realm held with the rest of the world, doing what the defiler had always wished for and forcefully pushed the influence of the gods away, leading to a great setback for all believers, the churches were thrown in disarray then.
And this only worsened as the defilers of the holy, taking on the moniker of the late progenitor of heretical fire, in the remnants of the battle between the heretic and hero, they found traces of the fire and let it consume them, and some managed to survive its touch.
Hardly comparable to the group that Loimos had encountered himself, as these had wielded a much purer form of the orange flame, they laid waste to the already weakened churches, inciting a short-lived war that left both sides as mere shadows of their former selves, and it was in this deluge of violence and bloodshed that King Nitok stepped into prominence.
The dead rose from the battlefields and in the confusion of it all, a lesser nation was devastated by the undead and taken as theirs, Nitok became king for real, and with the churches already in a sorry state, they could not push back hard enough against this new threat allowing it to grow for years before a true resistance could be put up.
Countless heroes and champions were born amongst the living, wielding ways of power different from the holy, but at the same time, heroes and champions also appeared amongst the ranks of death.
Loimos saw it all, the chaos of the first war on life, serving as a breeding ground for warriors of great renown.
Deep Crawler, Vwoldtnir, amongst the very first naturally spawned undeads as death grew denser, and the first ghoul of his kind- Granted a spirit of death, he collapsed major cities of the living by merely digging, reshaping wide spans of Viridis and causing catastrophe-level earthquakes.
Son Of Dragon, Dracula- Spurned by the dragons for having a human parent, betrayed them, impaling their corpses and causing rivers of blood to fall from the peaks that they called home, becoming the first of the vampire lords and striking a heavy blow to life via the slaughter of powerful dragons.
The Night Flier, Vespertillo and The Shattered, Atsalinopalo, monstrous twins from wretched beastfolk tribes ascended together, leading the beasts and later the non-living into the fray.
Nosferatu, Of The Foetid Blood, hailing from a distant elven land, his sheer power and strength carving him a way straight to lordship.
Mind Scourge, Körpersucher, a wraith only seeking to find a body to possess at first, would be dazzled by the blinding might of King Nitok, putting his refined skills to bring disarray and distrust within the ranks of the living, many nations destroying themselves under his influence.
The Unceasing, Multaemanus, a malevolent spectre thriving in the misery and despair the war caused, collected the hands of countless, she would be the one to further refine the death tongue and become the first to truly master its usages beyond communication.
Loimos saw the rise of the gravelords, each bringing desolation to the living in their own ways, they gathered around King Nitok and solidified his eternal reign- But the first war was complicated, Viridis was not easily defeated by such a frontal assault, by openly beginning hostilities so quickly, many were prepared to face the undead when the empire reach their borders.
He saw plenty of talented mages, under the strain of the war and fear of death, managed to develop zones, and he saw as multiple of these skilled magic users were undone by Unacunerra alone, magical elites were suppressed and slaughtered by his hand.
He witnessed even greater numbers of powerful warriors appear, the likes that could go down in history books, all take up their arms, and yet, slew of those proclaimed heroes were massacred by the blade of Slotriig.
The Earthen Catastrophe and Hero-Slayer were only royal guards in name then, instead standing at the front and swatting away legends like flies, and yet, life did not buckle, as more would rise up to take the place of those that were slain.
And he even got to see Faraday defeating a deity of thunder with ease, the last god from the divine realm to ever grace this plane met a most pathetic end after the last of his worshippers gave everything they could to break through the great silence and call upon him for aid.
From the looks of it, the empire had no reason to not claim victory over life and conquer Viridis, but then, even with The Elven Light and First Death Hunter and their schemes- It was strange, King Nitok was supposedly sealed away and this had caused the decline of the empire, but despite the fact that what Loimos was seeing should be the real past, it isn't quite what happened.
Something even those who had been there to see it had forgotten somehow.
A third hero, wielding an energy of gold-
His mere appearance turned the tide of the war.
But Loimos was unable to glean at any details of this man before he was once more flung through the memories, and brought away from the true past, into one that had not come to pass…