Devoid of a soul or emotion

Azrael took a final deep breath, his determination fueling his resolve. With unwavering conviction, he stepped through the gates, and in an instant, the encompassing darkness swallowed his surroundings.

Lost in this vast expanse of nothingness, Azrael pondered how he could locate Vordril. But his pondering was short-lived as the familiar voice of chaos tore through the abyss, piercing Azrael's very soul.

"You dare venture into my presence once more, new one," Vordril's voice reverberated through the darkness, carrying a warning of impending devastation

As Azrael floated in the dark abyss in the presence of Vordril, something felt different. Unlike the state of dark slumber, this time he felt a sense of superiority and control, as if this realm belonged to him.

"I have come to harness your power, just as 'the former' did," Azrael proclaimed with chilling conviction.

Vordril's laughter boomed through the darkness like thunder, a painful sound that threatened to make Azrael's ears bleed.

"Do you know who stands before you, child?" Vordril inquired.

"The bane of reality, the ruler of the underworld, the Watcher's mistake, reality's punishment from 'The one before,'" Vordril's words pierced through the darkness devastatingly.

"I am Vordril the destroyer. You are eons away from wielding my power," Vordril asserted.

"Didn't Ren accomplish that?" Azrael asked confidently.

"You dare compare yourself to a being like that? You lack his strength; you merely possess the potential. He is a being feared by all, including the wretched council. Only he is worthy of trapping me and utilizing my power. As for you, you are far from it," Vordril replied.

"But if you release me..." Vordril began.

"As I said before, I cannot, so stop trying," Azrael interrupted.

"Then begone from my presence, before I actually start to desire your soul," Vordril warned.

"I have no intention of leaving until I obtain what I came for," Azrael declared resolutely.

Though Azrael had not seen Vordril, he was keenly aware of his presence—a pervasive sensation that surrounded him in the encompassing darkness. He couldn't discern any physical form of Vordril, but the overwhelming presence affirmed his existence.

However, in this moment, Azrael's gaze fixated upon an eye—an immense one. It pierced through Azrael's very being, leaving him with no choice but to reciprocate the stare.

Within that gaze resided catastrophe, chaos, anarchy, and devastation—a recounting of atrocities that defied verbal description. Buried even deeper within were souls. They wailed and implored, begging for mercy, but this came later.

Initially, they thirsted for revenge. Their cries for retribution reverberated throughout Azrael's entire essence, akin to muffled war cries of fallen soldiers after a devastating defeat, cursed to remain unheard.

Then they entered into negotiations, growing desperate for escape. At that moment, Azrael realized that these imprisoned souls were not mere mortals; they were beings of greater magnitude. However, in their tormenting eternity, their elevated status became inconsequential.

They, too, seemed to grasp this realization. Now, they pleaded and beseeched for another chance.

Subsequently, they fell silent, embracing acceptance. They transformed into mindless entities trapped within an expansive void, their suffering continuing endlessly. Yet, they felt naught; they had become incapable of it.

All of this transpired within a time frame too immense for Azrael's comprehension, yet he witnessed it all in fleeting instants. And now, the eyes beckoned, demanding his soul.

It would permit no escape, for it held within its depths the unassailable truths.

"If you yearn for my power, then I shall claim your soul in return," Vordril proclaimed, his voice resolute.

Azrael's eyes darted frantically around him as emerald chains of enchantment encircled his form, drawing him inexorably toward the void within Vordril's eyes.

As the chains snaked around him, Azrael felt the essence of his being wrenched away, but he exhibited no signs of resistance, his countenance marked by an eerie nonchalance.

"Your insatiable hunger for power has led you to witness what I truly am—an entity too savage for your feeble mind," Vordril declared with a hint of scorn.

Within the void of Vordril's eyes lay an eternity of calamity and annihilation, an unmatched devastation of unfathomable proportions. Yet Azrael stood as an outsider, merely observing, devoid of any trace of compassion, an emotion he had long forsaken.

The dark slumber had thrust Azrael into the lives he had beheld, compelling him to experience their love, their agony, their yearning, their anguish, and their demise.

But this was not the dark slumber, where he would have been bound to feel the weight of trillions of innocent lives Vordril had snuffed out.

He had no need to harbor concern for the women and children ruthlessly slaughtered, nor did he feel compelled to pity the sorrowful fathers who bore witness to their worlds reduced to naught but dust by Vordril's whims.

"This is an illusion, is it not? A mere construct of a soul? Do I truly possess such a thing?" Azrael's words reverberated through the encompassing darkness.

"I am an empty vessel of finality, driven solely by my yearning for liberation," Azrael declared, gripping the chains that bound him.

"You were banking on exploiting my fears and emotional vulnerabilities, but you should know, I have long relinquished those aspects," Azrael continued, causing the chains to fade into a somber shade of gray. His glowing eyes mirrored the emerging luminescence in the depths of the darkness.

"This very abyss is the peak of eternal damnation, and if you have not yet realized, I am its ruler. And if you reside within it, then you shall submit to me," Azrael asserted.

"Is that a challenge?" Vordril's voice thundered.

"No, that is an order," Azrael thundered back, the gray chains now surging into his being as his body emitted a blinding aura of gray light.

"You insolent brat, so you have unraveled the truth. But this is far from over," Vordril warned as the chains assimilated into Azrael's form, enveloping the darkness in an eerie silence.

Azrael staggered as he walked through the gates of the abyss, each step accompanied by ethereal gray chains weaving through the ground.

"It appears you have succeeded, Your Grace," Mortimer acknowledged.