The Emperor of Mist felt instantly overwhelmed by Psyker Kaizen's supernatural strength. His body was now completely at the mercy of the other man's power.
The Emperor's eyes, normally calm and penetrating, reflected a mixture of shock and indignation. He had faced many challenges throughout his life as a leader, but he had never found himself so vulnerable in front of someone as he was at that moment.
The air in the great hall seemed to freeze as Kaizen lifted the Emperor by the neck, his expression mixing determination and a touch of disdain.
The surrounding guards drew their weapons, but before they could act, a wave of invisible energy repelled them against the wall, leaving the confrontation restricted to those two.
The Emperor, his eyes wide and his breathing ragged, tried to speak, but the words were barely coming out of his lips, clenched by Kaizen's hand.
The Psyker was a force of nature, a manifestation of will so powerful that the very air seemed to tremble around him.
"Do you think you can intimidate me, Emperor? That you can hide the truth behind your empty words of power?" Kaizen spoke in a cold, cutting voice, his presence emanating an aura of psychic power that made the Emperor feel as if he were being crushed by a mountain.
The Emperor tried to free himself, but it was like struggling against invisible iron chains. His eyes, now filled with despair and restrained fury, met Kaizen's, searching for a spark of understanding or pity, but only found an implacable abyss of power.
"You... don't understand... what's at stake..." The Emperor's words came out like choked whispers, but Kaizen didn't seem willing to listen to each one even if it was thunder.
"Either you're with me, or you're against me, Emperor." Kaizen squeezed a little harder, making the Emperor feel his breathlessness become agonizing. "Do you understand that now?" he asked, his cold voice echoing in the throne room.
The Emperor managed to articulate a few words between Kaizen's fingers. "You... you can't do that. I'm... a leader... I can't submit...
"You shouldn't be like this, Psyker. You're supposed to be good, the bridge between the natural and supernatural worlds, but you're acting selfishly and carelessly!" The thick voice said, and it was clearly a different voice from the Emperor of the Mist.
"Who, or rather what, are you?" Kaizen asked, rolling his eyes.
The entity smiled enigmatically, its eyes shining with a black light that seemed to absorb all the luminosity around it. "It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is what I can do." His voice was deep, reverberating in the space of the hall like a dark echo.
Kaizen erected a mental barrier, preparing himself for any attack that entity might launch against him.
"When I get rid of this fragile receptacle," the entity spoke, referring to the Emperor's body, "I will take possession of your body, Psyker. And then, I will see the world through your eyes, control your actions and use your power to achieve my goals."
Kaizen instinctively stepped back, realizing the gravity of the situation. He had faced many challenges on his journey as a Psyker, but nothing seemed so malevolent, not even demons.
As Kaizen prepared to launch a counterattack, the darkness coming off the Emperor's body spread through the throne room like a low mist. The elven guards, who until then had stood motionless before the scene, began to tremble violently, their eyes reflecting the darkness that overwhelmed them.
The entity raised its hand, and the darkness focused on a central point in the room. A dark fissure opened up in the floor, revealing a portal to a dark and unknown realm. A whispering, chilling voice echoed from the portal, promising power and knowledge beyond human comprehension.
The elven guards, now totally dominated by darkness, advanced towards the portal like puppets controlled by invisible strings. Their eyes glowed with a black light, and their voices joined in a macabre chorus that echoed through the hall.
Suddenly, however, golden chains appeared in the portal, like a wound being stitched up.
At that moment, Kaizen looked back and saw Alina with her eyes shining and moving her hands to form a magic circle.
"Go on, Kaizen, take that entity away from here! I'll take care of the portal through which it intends to escape!"