At that moment, the Holy Mountain began to emanate a raw, colorless power. The ground vibrated, and the mountain began to strip the "soul-colors" from the legendary weapons, funneling them toward Bul-Kathos.
The chaotic colors merged into a beam of pure brilliance that struck Bul-Kathos in the forehead. The crimson glow of the Black Soulstone tangled with this light, and the wings of Courage began to manifest behind him.
Three forces collided and surged into his mind.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Azmodan screamed in agony. He was being crushed by the intersection of these powers. It felt as if his soul was being fed into a millstone. His wails echoed across the peaks. The Black Soulstone's connection to the outside world was forcibly pried open; for a brief moment, it was no longer an eternal prison.
"Oh, be a bit more dignified, Azmodan. You are a Lord of Hell," Andariel's voice rang out, filled with a twisted sense of pleasure.
The Maiden of Anguish had finally found the sensation she craved: Pain. She tormented others only because her own soul was incomplete and she sought to feel anything. As the child of Inarius and Lilith, she should have been a Nephalem like Rathma, but she had inherited only her mother's demonic power. She devoured the souls of the suffering in a desperate attempt to make herself "whole."
"What a wonderful day~ birds are singing... flowers are blooming! On a day like this, kids like you... SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL!"
Veda's silhouette appeared, speaking in a sing-song tone. As he finished, a thick, concentrated essence of Hatred from his soul slammed into the mix.
Hatred! Hatred was the core of Veda's soul. Hatred for his own weakness. Hatred for what he had lost. His lover had been taken by Azmodan, and her soul had been shattered by Andariel. Before he died, Veda had seen her remains—just a head left, her face twisted in agony, yet her eyes still held a glimmer of hope. She had died believing Veda would save her.
"DIE!" Veda roared, his eyes turning completely red. Tears of soul-essence flowed from his widening pupils. "AZMODAN! ANDARIEL! DIE! DIE! DIE!"
The light of Kanai's Cube erupted from Veda. This ancestor, who usually seemed idle, had acted with Vorusk's silent permission. He had successfully tapped into the Cube.
"Such a great artifact... finally used for a truly great purpose!" Vorusk laughed maniacally from the heights.
Vorusk was the Immortal King. He would do anything to protect the Barbarians. If Bul-Kathos chose the path of noble sacrifice, Vorusk would not let him descend into madness alone. Bul-Kathos's plan was insane, but Vorusk was even crazier. He didn't follow rules; he sought to stand above them.
Veda's power became the final straw. The Holy Mountain's energy poured into Bul-Kathos, and the Black Soulstone lost its murky brown-red tint, becoming brilliantly radiant.
"I see now, Vorusk! I always thought the stories of your wildness were just exaggerations! Hahaha!" Leoric laughed. He had been disappointed in Vorusk initially, thinking he was just a villain tricking a young man into a suicide mission. Now, he finally saw the full scope of the plan.
"A pity you've left that world! If you had the legends of the Xiansai Wizards and the other orders, Bul-Kathos could have fully liberated his soul! This change is beyond even your imagination!" Leoric shouted.
If they were still in their original world, the combined "Legend" of the Demon Hunters, Monks, Crusaders, Wizards, and Witch Doctors could have pulverized the souls of the six Evils and turned them into nutrients for Bul-Kathos. He would have become a Prime Evil-level existence within the stone. With the blessing of the Archangels, he would have ascended to the throne of a Creator God.
"Such a waste! But you still have the Cube! How fascinating!"
The weapons of the ancestors manifested as physical entities within the Soulstone, impaling Azmodan's form.
"Just a bit more! A bit more!" Veda was hysterical. His hatred was the spearhead, but it wasn't enough to fully shatter two Lords of Hell.
"RAEKOR! GIVE ME YOUR LEGEND!" Vorusk roared.
Raekor stood motionless, arms crossed. As a believer in Fate, she was willing to sacrifice herself, but she would not violate the established rules. Favored by Itherael, she refused to intervene.
"RAEKOR! HURRY!" Olongus and Cassius bellowed. Arreat swung his blade toward her in a frenzy.
Suddenly, Kanuck, who always watched over Raekor, charged out like lightning, knocking Arreat aside. If Raekor believed in Fate, Kanuck believed in Raekor. He would not hesitate to fight his brothers of thousands of years for her.
"Cassius, calm down!" Koth of the Big Bear tribe appeared behind Olongus, his arms wrapping around him like giant pythons. On the Holy Mountain, no one's raw strength surpassed Koth's, save for Bul-Kathos.
"Koth! We are on different sides of this!" Cassius yelled. Having been bested by Bul-Kathos before, Cassius believed the King deserved to become a God. He stood with Vorusk.
"Cassius, you'd better worry about how to face Barnar first!" Koth roared back. He didn't want to kill Cassius, and Cassius didn't want to kill him.
But Barnar appeared, eyes blood-red, twin blades whirling in a chaotic dance. Barnar was in a berserker's trance; he wouldn't stop until he was defeated.
"F*CK YOU, AZMODAN!" Cassius let out his signature war cry. Even a man like him wouldn't curse his own kin, so the Lord of Sin took the brunt of his verbal abuse.
"Vorusk, what do you intend to do with me?" Raekor asked calmly, her voice raspy.
The three main Barbarian sets were already on Bul-Kathos. But Raekor was wearing her own: Raekor's Legacy. At this moment, she was the strongest combatant on the mountain other than Bul-Kathos. She simply didn't fight like Vorusk did.
Vorusk owed Raekor a life for his past mistakes.
"You know your Legend isn't a 'must,' Raekor!" Vorusk said, still smiling despite the gravity of the situation.
The mountain was a cacophony of war cries. Arreat and Kanuck were trading blows. Arreat, the "God of War," was a stable, relentless fighter, but Kanuck fought with a suicidal resolve.
"God of War? Even gods die!" Kanuck roared, shoulder-charging Arreat.
Meanwhile, Olongus headbutted Koth, but it did nothing but leave a small smear of blood on Koth's nose. Koth was as stubborn as a rock. Olongus called for Kaelas, the vanguard who could impale demons with a flagpole. Kaelas joined with a crude spear, not wanting to use his full strength against his brothers.
Then, a heavy sword fell from the sky, slamming into Kaelas's spear. Leap—Death from Above! It was the Swordmaster, Kan. The creator of the Brawler talent. He didn't believe a Creator God was necessary and chose to stop Raekor's side from falling into a disadvantage.
"Vorusk, you chose those legends as the stepping stones for Bul-Kathos, but they aren't the best choices, are they?" Raekor asked.
"Ideally, we'd have Kanuck's Blade of the Warlord and Koth's Fury of the Vanquished. Talic and Korlic's weapons are just... suitable," Vorusk admitted, his golden hair flowing in the wind.
"I want to know: if we hadn't come to this world, how would you have convinced the others?" Raekor asked. The Wizards of Xiansai, the Crusaders of the Zakarum, the Monks of Ivgorod—none of them were easily swayed.
"Because of Bul-Kathos and Sonya," Vorusk said simply.
Sonya was close with Johanna, the strongest Crusader of her generation. Nazeebo the Witch Doctor had already agreed that a Creator God was needed to end humanity's misery. The Demon Hunters would do anything to kill the Evils permanently. The Monks owed Bul-Kathos a debt for repairing their Shenlong's Spirit fists. And Li-Ming would handle the Wizards.
Vorusk had planned everything.
"I see. But right now, it seems Bul-Kathos needs my Legend, and I don't intend to let that happen." Raekor remained steadfast in her path of Fate.
"Bul-Kathos is the standard of the Barbarians! The banner of our progress! The only way our race survives!" Vorusk's smile faltered, his voice turning urgent. Veda's soul couldn't hold that power forever. If they didn't finish this soon, Veda would be erased from existence.
"Vorusk, we both know that in death, you cannot defeat me," Raekor said coldly, pulling her helmet down to cover her pale, beautiful face. Her armor, Raekor's Legacy, began to pulse with the power of her life's struggles and her lost love.
"Why do you all assume I'm going to just sit this out?" Leoric laughed loudly. "A Creator God? To be honest, if the candidate weren't Bul-Kathos, I would stop this myself. I've never had much of a liking for 'Gods.'"
Vorusk had pushed Bul-Kathos toward sacrifice, and he had no intention of letting an "accident" like Malthael ruin his master plan. He would see Bul-Kathos ascend, even if he had to fight every ancestor on the mountain to do it.
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