The ocean bent in reverence, its surface bowing under the weight of something ancient, something that existed before order learned to name itself. The air grew heavy, thick with ether so dense it warped sound. Even the light seemed to hesitate, unsure whether it was still welcome in a world that suddenly remembered who ruled its end.
Victor stepped forward.
The illusion of man broke like fragile glass. His mortal form peeled away layer by layer until the god beneath stood unveiled. Crimson ether bled from his body, reshaping itself into robes of living light, fluid and infinite, every fold shifting as though woven from flame. Beneath, he was skeletal and radiant all at once, the bones formed of burning energy, the voids between them filled with shadow.
