Perched atop a hill, Lucius overlooked the Mage Covenant's sanctuary. It was said to be a bastion of hope, a reservoir of ancient wisdom. But to Lucius, it was just another monument to be toppled, a testament to the ephemeral nature of mortals.
I have seen galaxies birthed and wither away. Empires rise and crumble to dust,* Lucius mused. What makes these mortals think they can stand against the tide of eons?
His initial assault was relentless. Dark tendrils of abyssal energy, like ravenous serpents, sought out mages. Each touch drained their life, their soul, their essence. Their tormented cries, the sounds of spirits being sundered from flesh, were a symphony to Lucius's ears. Every wail, every plea, fed not just his power but also his ego, affirming the gulf between their mortal fragility and his ageless might.
Battalions of mages, their robes adorned with symbols of ancient power, retaliated. Elders combined their strengths, conjuring elemental colossi. The sky rained fire, the earth roared, and torrents of water lashed out. Lucius, almost in amusement, dissected each assault with an ease that belied his experience.
Such young energy, so raw, so unrefined,* he thought.
With a mere thought, the once-majestic elemental constructs were reduced to base elements. Mages caught in the aftermath screamed as their very beings were unraveled, their souls added to Lucius's collection.
A particularly valiant group of mages forged chains of luminescent energy in an attempt to bind him. Lucius allowed it momentarily, feeling the chains' feeble grasp. When they inevitably shattered, the shards impaled those who cast them. Their expressions of shock, the horror of their own magic turning against them, brought a twisted smirk to Lucius's lips.
Despair, such a delectable emotion. Almost as satisfying as their souls, he relished.
A scene caught his attention: a young mage, no older than a few decades, her spirit radiating fierce determination. With tearful eyes, she channeled all her energy, her very soul, into a final radiant assault. Lucius could feel the weight of her hopes, her dreams, her sacrifices.
As he consumed her essence, he mused, Such passion, such wasted potential.
The stronghold's defenses crumbled. Grandmaster Alden, seeing his mages fall one after another, rallied his elite circle. Together, they summoned an ethereal leviathan, shimmering and pulsating with the collective hope of the Covenant.
An impressive display, Lucius admitted. But with a motion both brutal and artful, he tore through the leviathan. The elite circle, in their final moments, could only watch in despair as their grand defiance was extinguished.
Alden, now standing alone amidst the ruins, summoned the last of his energy. "You may shatter our bodies, Emperor, but the spirit of the Covenant, the hope we carry, will never be truly extinguished."
Lucius, genuinely intrigued, responded, "Your spirit is commendable. But hope is but a fleeting emotion in the grand tapestry of time."
In one swift motion, Lucius consumed Alden, adding the grandmaster's vast knowledge and memories to his own.
Such dedication, such determination, Lucius pondered, reflecting upon the day's events. The Mage Covenant, a mere speck in the vastness of his existence, had provided an unexpected, albeit brief, entertainment. But now, with the sanctuary in ruins and its defenders no more, Lucius wondered what other curiosities this realm held, ready for his dark embrace.