The Void Architect gathered what remained of his strength and forced it into motion once more. Crimson rivers of corruption surged through the darkness from every direction and converged toward his unstable body.

Vast masses of blackness and red energy continuously merged together before portions of them dissolved away again, creating a grotesque cycle that reflected the tremendous cost of maintaining his campaign against the five kingdoms.

He had spent an extraordinary amount of power opening portals across multiple capitals and sustaining the endless flood of corrupted creatures pouring into the world. Even now, his existence had become smaller than it had been before. His influence remained immense, but the strain was also undeniably immense.

But the Void Architect did not intend to remain passive. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

If he could not commit more power toward opening new fronts, then he would attack the kingdoms in another way.

The corruption already existed everywhere. It flowed through the portals. It saturated the creatures. It stained the streets, buildings, battlefields, and skies of every kingdom under siege. Through that corruption, he possessed a network that stretched across the entire world.

Slowly, he expanded his consciousness through every portal and every monster connected to his power.

Across Leonora, Drakenmere, Seraphele, Elaris, and the other smaller villages and towns, countless creatures suddenly stopped in the middle of battle.

Some stood atop piles of corpses or emerged from portals still dripping with corruption. Many remained locked in combat with knights and mages.

Then their jaws slowly opened.

King Garrie immediately noticed it from the highest tower overlooking Leonora’s capital.

Archmage Velrion felt a chill travel through his body as every spirit under his command suddenly reacted to the same disturbance.

The defenders throughout the city looked around in confusion.

Then the voice arrived.

It did not come from one direction. It came from all directions at once.

The sound resembled countless voices merged into a single horrifying chorus. Men, women, children, elders, screams, laughter, whispers, and groans blended together into something that made the skin crawl merely by hearing it.

"My dear human of this doomed world, you continue to struggle with admirable determination despite the fact that every passing moment brings you closer to the end that awaits you, and you continue to cling to hope despite standing surrounded by proof that hope has already abandoned you."

The voice rolled across the city like a storm.

"I have watched you throw yourselves into battle again and again while your bodies break, your cities burn, your friends die beside you, and still you convince yourselves that if you simply fight a little longer then somehow salvation will arrive. But look around you. Look at your streets. Look at your wounded. Look at your dead. Every sacrifice you make merely delays the inevitable."

The corrupted creatures remained motionless while speaking with that impossible voice.

"You believe your kings will save you. You believe your Archmages will find an answer. You believe the Dragonborn will return in time to protect everything you cherish. But while you place your faith in distant promises, I continue to spread. I continue to grow. I continue to consume. Every minute that passes belongs to me."

The corruption throughout the city visibly pulsed. The voice became even louder.

"I will continue opening portals until there is no place left untouched by my influence. I will continue sending my armies until your defenders collapse from exhaustion. I will continue taking your lands, your homes, your families, and your future because there is nothing remaining within your power to stop me. Every strategy you create only slows me. Every victory you celebrate is temporary. Every life you save today merely postpones what will happen tomorrow."

Silence spread across parts of the battlefield as people listened.

Then the voice still continued with cold, deliberate cruelty.

"You fight for your children, but you will watch those children inherit nothing but ruin. You fight for your families but many of you will witness those families die before your eyes. You fight for the people you love, yet the cruelest truth is that your efforts will not be enough to protect them."

Several civilians visibly trembled. Even veteran soldiers felt their expressions darken. The Void Architect sensed their fear and pressed harder.

"When your strength finally fails and your walls finally fall, you will understand that resistance was never more than a brief delay. The kingdoms stand alone. No kingdom can aid another. Your Archmages can not focus upon the solution you desperately need. Your leaders grow more exhausted with every passing second. Your defenders grow fewer. Your dead grow more numerous." The countless voices merged into a low, horrifying laugh. "And while you grow weaker, I remain. While you lose everything, I endure. While hope abandons you, I will be there to witness the final moments of your world."

Above the capital, Velrion clenched his fists.

From the tower, King Garrie felt anger rise inside him.

Because the worst part was not the malice behind the words.

The worst part was that every person listening could see enough truth within the situation to fear that the Void Architect might be right.

That was exactly what the Void Architect wanted. He was no longer merely attacking their cities. He was attacking their hearts.

—

The moment the Void Architect’s words spread across the world, countless emotions began surfacing within the hearts of those who heard them.

Fear emerged first. Fear for families trapped inside cities under siege. Fear for loved ones standing on distant battlefields. Fear that the Dragonborn might not return in time. Fear that the endless portals would never stop producing monsters.

Then despair followed.

The wounded lying inside overcrowded medical stations felt it as they listened to the endless sounds of battle outside. Exhausted soldiers gripping bloodstained weapons felt it as they watched yet another wave of creatures emerge from newly opened portals. Civilians hiding within shelters felt it as they looked into the frightened eyes of their children and realized they no longer possessed reassuring answers.

Across Leonora, Drakenmere, Seraphele, Elaris, and countless smaller settlements, negative emotions began accumulating like invisible storms.

The Void Architect consumed every fragment of it.

Within his black void dimension, streams of dark energy started flowing toward him from unimaginable distances. They appeared as faint crimson threads at first. Then hundreds became thousands. Thousands became millions.

Every fearful thought became nourishment. Every moment of despair became power. Every ounce of hopelessness strengthened him.

The corruption surrounding his body immediately reacted. Crimson rivers brightened. The fragments of his dissolving form stabilized slightly. Areas that had been fading moments ago began rebuilding themselves from gathered darkness and red energy.

The recovery was slow, but it was real.

The Void Architect felt it happening and a sense of satisfaction.

He did not merely invade worlds but harvested them now.

—