All was quiet as the Fallen King and Sylphie watched the lone figure approach in the distance at a slow but steady speed. With it, all colors faded, and the land died, never to have anything grow on it again. As the entity grew closer, the Fallen King finally saw the creature properly as it went over a small hill.

It was only a little taller than the average human and was utterly emaciated, looking almost like a skeleton with skin attached in several places. It was impossible to know if it was male, female, or anything in between, nor if it had ever even been a true living being in the first place. Looking at it did make the Fallen King think of the undead, except there was no death energy anywhere to be seen… and even the undead would die when exposed to desolation.

“Ree?” Sylphie asked, now incredibly serious. The aura that blanketed the horizon was unsettling and powerful, yet also somehow hollow. It felt like it shouldn’t be able to exist, and yet it did. She felt it as well as he did,

“That remains yet undecided,” the Fallen King said, unable to determine how this encounter would play out. Perhaps it was because of the nature of the creature, but he didn’t feel any hostility from the creature. On the other hand, he fully expected it to be an enemy.

By now, it was pretty damn clear this was some kind of setup. As for who was behind it, the Fallen King had no way of knowing, though he had his suspects, and all he knew was that the situation was incredibly perilous. When he used Identify on the creature, it only made things worse.

[Desolate Child of Loss – lvl 306]

Its level was higher than expected and put pressure on the Fallen King, especially because he couldn’t get a full reading on just how powerful this foe was. Sylphie had also identified the approaching creature and was ready to act at a moment’s notice, showing the same level of uncertainty.

The creature known as the Desolate Child of Loss had also spotted them floating in front of the Prima Vessel. It continued to walk forward, its aura spreading with every footfall as the already torn-up plains surrounding the Vessel were drained of all light and life.

Many theories had been made about what kind of creature they were dealing with, and the Fallen King had even suspected it could be a Unique Lifeform. It was confirmed it wasn’t now, as the King would have felt it if it was, which made the second possibility far more probable: it was a living calamity. A creature without any intelligence but only an instinct to carry out its innate wall, this one seemingly striving to turn the entire world desolate.

As the creature got closer, the Fallen King was ready to strike as words would only be a waste of time… as he was proven entirely wrong, and the Desolate Child of Loss not only stopped approaching but proved itself capable of communication.

“You strong. Both of you… but no Guardian?” a voice echoed in a whispering voice as the creature opened its mouth and spoke, its very words sending out waves of desolation. It was two short sentences if you could even call them that, but enough proof it wasn’t some dumb monster. This complicated things and made the King suspect that this was perhaps not this creature being manipulated and used as a weapon. Instead, it was the perpetrator or at least willingly working with them.

“You speak as if you did not know we would be here. That you were not called here specifically to deal with us,”the Fallen King infused his telepathic message with energy, partly to reach the Desolate Child of Loss in the distance and partly to exude power.

“I called, they answered, now I’m here,” the creature simply said, proving that even if it could speak, it wasn’t in a highly complex fashion. “I only see you now.”

The theory that this Desolate Child of Loss had been the schemer behind this all and wasn’t just being used became less and less probable. Which only led to more problems, but also possibilities. Because if it wasn’t here explicitly to fight them…

“If we only see each other now, then you are being used. Exploited. We do not wish to be your enemy,”the Fallen King said. Even if they had to one day fight this creature, now wasn’t a good time.

“Enemy? No… why enemy?” the Desolate Child of Loss asked, seemingly confused. “I… am not enemy.”

A somewhat comforting answer if the Fallen King said so himself, and he kept trying to press on as this creature seemed rather willing to communicate. “I cannot confirm it, but the one who used you is likely someone named Ell’Hakan. He may have called himself other things, like the Celestial Child or Chosen of Yip of Yore, and he is your true enemy if he is indeed behind this.”

The Desolate Child of Loss tilted its head at the King’s words and responded. “No. How could? I am… I.”

It was an answer that made no sense, making the Fallen King try again. “Have you met him? Ell’Hakan?”

“No… yes… always… never…” the creature kept speaking in tongues. “I meet you now. But not same.”

Things weren’t really progressing, and as the Fallen King saw the desolation continue to spread all around the Desolate Child of Loss, he believed it was time to wrap this up. For a very brief second, the King even considered asking this creature to help them teleport home, as it clearly had a way to access and use the Vessels, but decided against that as he didn’t want to risk more than he had to. Seeing as this planet had a single small moon… yeah, hiding out there for now was better.

Communicating his thoughts to Sylphie, the bird was surprisingly receptive to the idea, and the Fallen King prepared for them to make their exit.

“We do not wish to disturb your Path. Continue on, and we shall take our leave, not getting in your way,”the Unique Lifeform said, trying to be as polite as possible to not get into a fight.

“But… why? I… am no enemy,” the Desolate Child of Loss asked, sounding… hurt? Was it sad they were leaving?

“We are not your enemies, no, and you are not ours either, so let us part now on good terms and meet again in the future,”the Fallen King said, trying to find a way to sound sympathetic while also still insisting on leaving.

“Stay… better,” the creature said as it, for the first time since it stopped, took a step forward. “I help you.”

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Sylphie instantly warned the King, and the Unique Lifeform knew but still tried to avoid a fight. “We are not enemies. We do not need to battle. Let us leave.”

“No battle… only help,” the Desolate Child of Loss said, looking up at them with its blank, entirely white pupils. “I return you home. Save you.”

The Fallen King had a solid feeling their definitions of home had minimal overlap and began to back up, speaking no matter how inevitable this situation felt. “We return home ourselves. We need no help.”

For a second, the Desolate Child of Loss seemed perplexed as it stopped, stared, and tilted its head. “I help. You be saved, go home, no choice. Better.”

Raising its foot, the creature took another step forward, and with it, a wave of desolation was pushed forward like a poisonous cloud seeking to eradicate everything. The Fallen King and Sylphie reacted in tandem as they retreated and exploded with power to create a buffer between themselves and the spreading desolation.

They hadn’t planned on fighting this Desolate Child of Loss… but that didn’t mean they weren’t willing to fight if it came down to it. Even if they were out-leveled and dealt with a powerful unknown enemy, they were still pinnacle creatures of the multiverse. No one had ever said this was a fight they couldn’t win, just that there was little to be gained from having it now while knowing nothing of what they were dealing with.

The Desolate Child of Loss kept simply walking forward, not in the mood to speak anymore as it gradually sped up. The Fallen King was confused as to how until he noticed… the very concept of space was breaking down in front of the creature. It wasn’t getting faster; what stopped it from going fast was simply disappearing.

Sylphie had already made good distance, being the faster of the two by far. Desolation washed over the Fallen King as he was floating in the air, his barrier slowly being eroded by the energies. The Desolate Child of Loss looked toward the Fallen King and stepped down one more time, disappearing entirely.

It appeared right in front of the Fallen King and merely swept its hand upwards, a torrent of desolation blasting into the Fallen King and making his barrier fade away for a moment before it was quickly re-established.

Counterattacking, the Unique Lifeform raised his ivory clawed hand and released a blast of force into the Desolate Child of Loss, the creature stumbling back as the Fallen King noted that the vast majority of his attack was turned desolate before it even had a chance to hit his opponent.

A blast of wind also descended from above, with most of it once more disappearing before it struck the creature of desolation and sent it flying down toward the ground. It stopped before fully landing and stared up at them, looking genuinely confused.

“This… okay. Just rest. Go home. Ascend.”

The Fallen King wanted to answer but didn’t get the chance as the creature shot upwards straight at him, more energy than before revolving around it. The only colors that could be seen were the faint golden energy embedded in the King’s barrier, but when it met the charging Desolate Child of Loss, it faded entirely, and the Fallen King could only try to blast his opponent away again.

A shockwave of force blasted out of the Fallen King but was entirely canceled out by the energy of desolation as the creature put a hand on the Unique Lifeform.

Instantly, the Fallen King knew the danger.

His body exploded as his boosting skill fully activated, the monochrome temporarily pushed away by a golden wave as he unleashed his power. Raising both hands, a golden beam was released, striking the Desolate Child of Loss head-on and blasting it into the distance as the King lowered his hands and assessed the damage.

A section of his chest had turned entirely gray and desolate from just a moment’s touch, and while the energy that invaded the Unique Lifeform’s body was now gone, the concept still lingered. If the Desolate Child of Loss had somehow gotten hold of the Fallen King for longer… that wouldn’t have been good.

In the distance, the creature rose from the small crater it had been pushed into, with only a few scratches on its body. Right as it rose, a green figure struck down from above, the green line of color striking the Desolate Child of Loss head-on. From the top of its head to its crotch, a cut was formed, making the creature stumble backward as its flesh opened up and its mouth opened, the jaw in two parts straight down the middle.

Yet, despite this tremendous damage, it was Sylphie who screeched out in pain. The newly opened wounds on the creature of desolation spewed out gray energy like a torrent, and Sylphie, who had struck with her wing, hit the ground hard, forming a crater as her entire right wing had turned gray and dead. Forced to act fast, Sylphie cut off her own wing before quickly flying away, not ever daring to enter her wind form while anywhere close to the Desolate Child of Loss.

“Do not touch the creature directly, ever,” the Fallen King warned the hawk as he prepared another blast to allow Sylphie her escape. She managed to get away without the Desolate Child of Loss doing anything to give chase as it just stood there, oozing out desolation from its wounds.

The blast released by the King struck the creature but barely affected it as the waves of desolation nullified the energy. Still, it stumbled back, and raising its hands, the Desolate Child of Loss forced the split flesh closed again as its thin flesh remerged once more.

“You fight. Should not.”

Raising a hand toward the sky, the Desolate Child shot a gray beam of light upwards that exploded after reaching the clouds, making said clouds disappear as a giant dome of pure desolation descended upon the King and Sylphie.

Throughout the fight, the field of monochrome had only been spreading and getting more intense, with that process now further sped up. The very presence of the creature resulted in a powerful domain that meant the longer this dragged out, the worse the situation would get.

They did have one big advantage, though.

“Hold nothing back and attack with full power; I shall do the same. Test the limits of its durability and finish this before the creature grows too strong or learns how to dodge and fight properly,” the King quickly sent to Sylphie, getting a quick mental confirmation as the bird got ready to attack again.

In the limited time they had battled this creature, one thing had become very clear: it had no idea how to fight. It didn’t even seem to have any kind of survival instinct or danger sense at all based on how it failed to react when it was struck. One could believe this was because their attacks did no damage, but the Fallen King clearly saw that what they did had an effect. Especially that powerful strike landed by Sylphie. Did it do a lot of damage? No, but it did take some, and most creatures would at least try to avoid or minimize that damage. Not the Desolate Child of Loss, though, and that was something they should exploit.

Because while it had no idea how to fight, the Fallen King and Sylphie had spent decades together in Nevermore.

Holding out an arm to each side, the Fallen King condensed two large golden hammers on chains as Sylphie flanked the Desolate Child of Loss, having activated what she called her Green Shield, which seemed to hold up remarkably well against the desolation.

Going on the offensive, the King flew toward the creature, who responded in kind. It raised a hand and released a torrent of desolation that the Fallen King quickly dodged by telekinetically moving himself out of the way before swinging the hammer into the side of his opponent.

At the same time, a condensed bullet of wind struck the Desolate Child of Loss in its side, poking a small hole and giving the King yet another opening as his second hammer smashed the creature on the side of the head, making it spin through the air.

Attacking again, the King landed two more hits before the hammers became too fragile, and he had to reform them. Sylphie also didn’t let up, most of her attacks striking from behind, tearing up the creature’s body with blow after blow.

Yet with every attack they landed, the desolation in their surroundings only intensified, and eventually, the Fallen King and Sylphie were forced to retreat away from the Desolate Child of Loss as the strain got too bad. It was as if the creature was a bag of poison gas with a bit of it released every time they struck it, but luckily, this domain didn’t seem to follow the creature as it quickly gave chase.

“This battle will not be short… let us hit and run while attempting to stay out of the epicenter of its domain as much as possible,” the King said. Sylphie agreed though the Unique Lifeform felt her uncertainty. Understandably so… because despite all they had done to the creature, it looked barely affected by anything but just kept coming at them, seemingly with no sense of self-preservation at all.