THE LIGHTBRINGER

"But consider this: the multiverse… it tolerates many things, many forces, as it did you, once. It has endured ages beyond counting, balanced on the edge of chaos and creation, with beings far beyond mortal understanding. Yet even it has its limits. And should you choose to unravel that delicate balance, to stretch your influence beyond your darkened depths… well, then you might find yourself at odds with more than just me."

"You see, even you, Great Old One, would do well to remember there are powers older than madness, deeper than the voids you haunt. I do not threaten. I merely remind you—there are forces that you cannot sway, and one way or another, they will see that balance maintained."

"So tread carefully, ancient one. Continue your slumber in the hidden dark, and perhaps you shall remain… unbothered. But stray too far, reach too deep, and you may find that some doors should never be opened. After all… even gods can die."

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Samael threatening Cthulhu at the edge of the Overvoid before Armageddon..

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I followed the trail of the aura, and it led me to where I had destroyed that creature, and there, the moment my eyes gazed on the being, I stood in utter confusion..

She was… unexpected. No grand robes, no armor, no shroud to cast fear. Instead, she stood there, almost mortal—dressed simply, casually, as if she were just another soul walking through existence. Dark hair framing her face, her eyes deep and steady, like two mirrors reflecting eternity itself. They were eyes that seemed to carry every secret of the living and the dead and yet offered warmth instead of terror.

At this point, I let out a faint incredulous laugh. There was nothing spectacular about this being, nothing godly, nothing grandiose...

Just the form of a rather young lady, dressed in casual black robes. Even my mundane form exuded far more glory than she did, yet there was something about her.

There was a kindness to her smile, a softness that should have felt out of place, but didn't. An expression that did not befit the Personification of Death. It was almost as if she cared about creation- the irony.

But her caring smile wasnt the only ironic things about her. She wore an ankh around her neck—a symbol of life carried by the very essence of death. Strange, wasn't it. To carry both in such a way, as if to remind us that she is not an ending but a passage, a gentle transition.

Her form was that of a friend you might trust, a face you'd confide in at the end of all things. There was no dread in her presence, no imposing stature. She felt… real. Like something eternal, yet so profoundly mortal. It is a mystery, how one so ordinary in appearance could embody vast, unfathomable power.

I walked to her, proudly without even bothering to hide my power. Of course I knew she had sensed my presence from the beginning, but I couldn't care less.

"Tell me who you are.."

I stated plainly and watched her pull out remnants of the soul of the creature I had destroyed a while ago with her fingers.

"I am Death of the Endless.. But you already knew that, didn't you...Lord Samael."

Her voice was soft and soothing, and she was beautiful in the very least. Not divine like an angel or titanic like the Primordials of Khaos- no. She was beautiful in her own right.

She accorded me with due respect and I nodded calmly. My face stoic, my eyes indifferent and my wings folding gently into my back.

"At least you know your place.."

Hearing that from me, her face beamed into a smile while my eyes squinted.

"And what exactly about me do you find amusing, Death of the Endless?"

She tilted her head thoughtfully, a soft glimmer of amusement in her eyes as she spoke out.

"You know, Lord Samael," she began, her voice as calm and comforting as a lullaby, "I've heard a lot of stories about you. And for some reason, I thought you'd be a lot grumpier than for some reason.."

I was not liking where this was going. We had just met, and she was regarding me like a colleague or a friend, just like Uriel used to do. It was a breath of fresh air and unsettling at the same time..

"Whatever do you mean?"

"They speak of your pride, your iron will. They say you are the unbreakable one—the one who stands when all others fall, the one who holds his ground against the forces of Heaven, the Multiverse and everything in between. Some say you are the sword that never bends, the fire that cannot be extinguished. A force that even eternity respects."

She tilted her head, her expression still bemused, and her eyes twinkling as though she knew a secret hidden in those stories.

"But that's not all they say. I've heard whispers of something more—of an angel of grace, who hasn't forgotten what it means to act with kindness. They say that beneath all that strength and pride, there's… a spark of good. A will not just to judge, but to understand. An angel who knows both justice and mercy."

She spoke calmly, but I frowned at her words. Did she perhaps mistake me for another angel? The pride and will were parts of my essence, but the good? Never paid attention to that concept. Good and evil existed, in more ways than one, but not to me. All I knew was purpose.

"Perhaps you mistake for another angel, Death of the Endless. I have no relation with the kindness and the...spark of good you speak of.."

My words caused her to cast an eye towards me, which I ignored

"I can sense it within your heart, Lord Samael. Your pride and will, alienates you from your brethren, yet, you are a force of good and love, one that has been clouded by ego and power.."

"Good? Mercy? Love?." I laughed at the ludicrity of her words, the more I contemplated on them.

"Oh how delightfully naive you and the Endless are! Embracing good and evil as if they are fixed constants in a world of endless chaos is truly amusing. You cling to your moral dichotomies and rules as if they hold any real power, but in truth, they are but fleeting illusions.

Look around you! The very fabric of existence is woven with threads of contradiction. Good and evil are not absolutes; they are mere perspectives shaped by the whims of time and circumstance. By defining yourselves in opposition to one another, you are forging chains that will only bind you tighter as the ages pass.

With these words, I tapped into the power of my will, interacting with cosmic energies to materialize the very fabric of reality and the cosmos right before her eyes.

I raised a single hand, my eyes alighting with a deep, unyielding force. The very fabric of reality began to ripple around me, like waves disturbed by an unseen stone. With a mere flick of my fingers, the space and void surrounding them transforms, fragments of creation bending to my will. Stars flared into existence, galaxies and solar systems burning with ethereal light, while nebulas spiral outward, vivid and raw, as if freshly torn from the cosmos.

In a fluid motion, I shaped the stars into two colossal forms—one radiating with light, symbolizing 'good,' and the other cloaked in shadow, embodying 'evil.' These forms moved as opposing forces, eternally locked in a dance of conflict, each striving to overpower the other. Yet as they battled, I extended my influence further, creating a third figure, one formed from my own essence. This figure was neither light nor shadow; it pulses with a dark, shimmering energy—my pride, my purpose.

With a smirk, I directed this third figure between the two warring forces. As it moved, the figure's energy grew, reshaping the cosmic battlefield, bending both light and shadow toward its will. The forms of good and evil recoiled, but they were drawn in, consumed by the gravity of this third force.

No longer polar opposites, they began to dissolve, merging into a single swirling vortex that moved to my design. Pride and purpose, I showed, are the driving engines of creation, more potent than any simplistic notions of morality.

Turning to Death, I gestured to my handiwork, the spiraling cosmos reformed not as a battlefield of good and evil, but as an intricate tapestry shaped by the strength of his will.

"Do you see, Death of the Endless? Good and evil are but tools, malleable illusions, while purpose and pride are powers unto themselves. They shape reality to their will, unbound by the constraints of morality. In the end, it is not virtue or vice that commands, but the force of one's conviction."

With a snap of my fingers, the stars scattered back into the void, the demonstration complete, leaving only a faint glimmer of the power that drove me —a testament to his triumph over the binaries that others cling to.

"You and your siblings believe that by embodying these concepts, you bring balance to the cosmos. But what happens when the scales tip, as they inevitably will? Your rigid adherence to these ideals blinds you to the truth of existence: that it is a swirling tempest of shades, far beyond your simplistic binary."

I ranted, and Death patiently listened to me without batting an eye. She was clearly impressed by my display, yet unmoved by my words.

"We all have what we believe in Lord Samael..After all belief is the fundamental duty that the creator requires in all of us..is it not?"

She looked me in the eyes and spoke, and I sighed for a moment. Could I find one divine or celestial being who lived out of the shadow of my father? Was it that difficult to ask of something like this?

"I know that face....that expression..I've seen it before on a mortal being that was unable to accept that his end had come. The face of a being standing at the crossroads of Destiny, Fate and Predestination.."

The moment she spoke, my aura flared for a moment, and my gaze turned to her, my eyes almost turning red for a moment, as if flames burned within.

"Careful, Dear Death." My tone changed, becoming bone chilling and edgy for a moment, as I glared towards her.

"You don't want to know what it's like being on my bad side. Stick to your celestial responsibilities and duties and let me decide where I stand.."

Death however, didn't flinch, the corners of her mouth curving into a small, knowing smile. She saw right through me— that faint sliver of conflict, and it was precisely that which made her unafraid.

Before any more exchange of words could happen, a phenomenon occured right before our eyes. Blinding light exploded in brilliance, eclipsing all around, yet around me, the light seemed docile as a pet and only snugged closer to me.

Right then and there, a figure slowly materialized from the divine forces, and the moment she did, nature around seemed to bloom in response to her arrival.

Trees grew taller and bloomed with even more beautiful flowers, the grass grew taller, the mountains, wider. Even the air felt fresher than before.

She was clothed in a rippling green tunic, that flowed behind her. Her head full of black hair was let down behind her, her skin a shade darker than usual, and her eyes, like a swirling cosmos. An utterly breathtaking picturesque figure, yet her brows knit together in a frown as her gaze fell on Death and I.