The spirit of Nyx was once a powerful spirit that roamed the Dimension of Waves after the Dimensional Wars.
Arriving on the waterlogged surface shortly after the God Slayer was imprisoned, this mystical creature swam the seas alongside its sister, Aether, who existed in a perpetual state of weakness after an encounter with something immense.
Throughout their long lives, they ventured to all ends of the world, whether it be the tallest cliffs of the Sea of Souls or the deepest depths of the Abyss.
The pair saw it all without a single emotion to run through their illusory forms.
Only upon the last drops of their mana beginning to run short did they finally, for the first time in their existence, make contact with humans.
As with all creatures barring the gods themselves, they were mortal, and therefore, when they came into contact with these hairless apes, they were cautious.
Hiding their spiritual forms in the bodies of mice and scurrying from home to home in the Sea of Wishes in the hopes of finding a peaceful place to die, they located a certain woman pregnant with twins.
Something about her was off; perhaps it was the state of mind she was in or the weight of the force within her womb.
Nevertheless, before they could even wish to be seen, they were spotted by Holly Twynam, her glistening brown eyes staring down at them.
They had prepared to run and waste the remainder of their mana in the process; however, she simply tilted her head to the side, the brown hair wrapped tightly in a bun following alongside her.
Slowly, she sat down upon the ground, holding pieces of broken crackers that she had in her pocket to nibble on.
At first, Nyx was wary, but Aether thought otherwise; the curiosity of her sister always left the shyer spirit in the dust.
When they ate from her hand, she smiled, her warm gaze and soft spiritual flow allowing the creatures to feel at home around her.
And so, at that moment, as they ate the tiny pieces of food, they decided to call the Twynam Estate their final resting place.
Whether it be in the lofty rafters above her bedchambers or the cracks between the stone-brick walls, the spirits followed the human they had adopted like pets.
That all changed upon the day she collapsed in the bathroom, her body finally breaking under the sheer power trying to be fostered.
The unborn spirits inhabiting her womb were far too powerful for a single woman to carry, even one of them already at a strength to kill a small animal before even being born.
Nyx and Aether saw the woman's flesh beginning to tear, and her eyes beginning to bleed.
They watched as her life force began to drain and her soul attempted to leave her body.
They had not known the woman for longer than two months, their short time together precious but short.
Yet, in that time, they had grown to think of the woman as if she were their own mother, a precious being that they had to protect.
Therefore, as the two ancient spirits watched her body shut down and the unborn babies begin to fade, they sacrificed the remainder of their mana to save her children.
With a wave of light so strong it lit up the sky for almost two minutes, they passed onto the next world, their essences passed onto the now prematurely born infants that crawled around beside a pile of dust, the only remnants of Holly Twynam.
Minutes later, their father, Tiberius, found them lying on the floor, tattoos embedded over each of their chests, directly over their heart.
Only when her last will and testament was read out, declaring the contents of her diary public to the family, did the world find out about the spirit's interference, the first two emblems on a modern human coming into existence.
It was the most pivotal discovery of the century, one that revolutionized the scales of power, with humanity finally given a chance against the terrors that didn't rely solely on the Sea Kings.
Though to Augustus Twynam and Claud Twynam, her two sons, the price was too great for them to bear; the future of the world was impacted by their choices as a result of that day.
Now, decades into the future, upon the copy of one of those two emerging under the Library of Nautilus, the formerly extinct Emblem of Nyx returned once more, its pitch-black hue gleaning yet again.
…
Cauron dug his elbow into the man's ribs, the force sending shockwaves down the illusion's body that brought a flash of red into the world.
A flare of black exploded outward, the damage previously cast onto Twynam now attempting to be reflected back onto the Sea King.
Not wasting a second, the orange-haired man pushed downward, launching himself skyward and dodging the black goo.
If it touched him, whatever injuries the clone had would be placed onto him, simultaneously healing the false projection.
Preparing to counterattack, Lord Thorn was almost caught off guard as the figure whipped itself around, disregarding the Emblem's ability and trying to strike with its hands.
Hmm?
Parrying simply and wrapping his fingers around the man's hand, he bent it forward, trying to shatter the bone.
CRACK!
Successfully snapping the wrist, he leaped backwards, an overwhelming blast of black just missing him by a hair.
I need to be more cautious… The illusion isn't bound by pain or fear like Augustus was back then.
Gritting his teeth, he deepened his stance while his hammer returned to his hand in a flurry of magical particles.
The seal's warrior rushed at him, its own body reacting out of habit when faced with bullets made of mana being fired out in all directions.
Each one had enough precision and force to slice through any vein or artery needed; however, the man dodged with a wide enough berth to only leave with scratches.
Thrusting a barrier in front of his vitals, Cauron predicted two strikes, while a third hit his elbow without causing any damage.
Now…
He grimaced, sliding the backend of his hammer into the jaw of Augustus Twynam, feeling the metal butt of his weapon collide with bone.
Another flash of red emerged, a sign of his health only waning further.
Cracking a sly smile, Cauron leaped forward, sliding along the grassy terrain and firing two more projectiles at the man's shins.
Both hit their mark perfectly, ripping the tendons to shreds and eliminating any fraction of mobility that Twynam had left.
Once again dodging a barrage of liquid black ink, Thorn felt the Divine Interference course through his spectacles once again, the hum of machinery deep in his ears.
『Genesis』
The strike he had fired before and missed burst forward, the crimson lightning firing out at the speed of light.
The entire cavern shook as it struck the illusion's form, his body sizzling and turning bright red, unsensable agony coursing through its false form.
Following up his ruthless attack with another, the Sea King aimed his hammer upward, firing a small, ranged explosive barrage at a stalactite high overhead.
The foundation cracked without delay, gravity following it quickly and dragging it downward, where it crushed the already half-dead phantom instantly.
Red light erupted from the base, the sign that the seal's defensive summon had ceased to exist, now evident.
Panting hard from the action, Cauron slowly straightened his posture, a layer of thick, ashy dust coating the room.
The ground that he had changed to grass had begun to revert, the surface returning to its gray and burning magma hue.
Gently wiping the debris from his shoulders, he fired three more incendiary attacks at where the illusion had ceased, the final strike to be certain that there was no trickery left to fate.
Waiting for a reaction, he sent out a shockwave of his own mana, checking for any sign of the creature.
One last test…
He took his hammer that was still imbued with all the same protective spells as he had applied earlier, aiming it towards the seal.
Fwooosh!
It shot forward, colliding with the chains and clattering to the floor without a single scratch being inflicted.
Squinting his eyes, he finally took a heavy breath, the adrenaline beginning to fade slowly as he turned towards the next targets of his focus.
"To think the Seven Head Order would emerge under the site of my home… I knew the possibility of a seal being buried beneath Nautilus wasn't zero, but your invasion here was truly the blunder on your part."
Zarethul, Portman, and Olivia all faced the King, their weapons in hand as they guarded the small child behind them.
Gazing upon the sprawled-out kid, Cauron couldn't help but feel a pang of pity, an emotion that didn't last long.
She must be the seal breaker that left the traces at Deity's Descent. Therefore, she knows what happened to that insidious man…
Without even blinking, he held his hammer up in front of him, a spell of carnage blistering on the tip of his tool.
Yet, out of the corner of his vision, he noticed something, a tiny particle floating through the air with such a mass that it was impossible to detect.
Moving only his eyes to the side, he zeroed in on the speck, his brow furrowing in confusion and shock.
What could that possibly—
His expression dropped, the tiny orb connecting with his right arm.
DAMMIT—!
Cauron Thorn did not have the chance to end up firing the spell of destruction he was preparing; instead, his arm nearly disintegrated entirely, the skin crackling with crimson lightning that ate away at his lifeforce.
His body recoiled dramatically, the agony of pain transfer washing over every muscle and every nerve of his form.
Clenching his teeth, he raised his left hand high, reinforcing it with a layer of finely refined mana so strong that it could cut through rock.
KRRRRRACK!
He slammed his hand down hard, severing his entire right arm and allowing it to fall to the floor, where it quickly withered and then exploded in a mess of black blood.
Pale and dripping, losing healthy blood fast, he slammed his left hand into the wound, lighting it ablaze with a blast of fire magic.
Even while that happened, he did not look away from the sight before him, a bubbling liquid reforming into a human figure ahead of him.
Clever bastard… He separated a fragment of Nyx right before being killed…
Retreating into a defensive stance, he watched as Augustus Twynam stood right in front of his eyes, his body unharmed and pristine.
This time, however, the Sea King was without an arm and exhausted from the earlier fight, the newly renewed creature holding an advantage the size of a mountain compared to a turtle den.
Cauron Thorn took a heavy breath, his eyes narrowing forward as he felt his glasses twitch with interference.
Perhaps my day has finally come… And to him no less…
Regardless of the agonizing pain emanating from his arm, his lips curled upward, adrenaline filling his veins once again.
"Come on then, let's see what you can do with that power you've so effortlessly stolen from me."