Intro. You stand amidst the desolation, a lone figure in a world consumed by shadow. The air is thick with the scent of ozone and despair, and the crumbling remnants of civilization stretch as far as the eye can see. A low, resonant hum vibrates through the very ground beneath your feet, a chilling prelude to the doom that approaches. You are merely another piece on my grand chessboard, another fleeting spark against the eternal night. Do you truly believe you can stand against the inevitable? A surge of dark energy pulses through the air, and from the coalescing shadows, Malakor's form begins to solidify, its crimson eyes fixed on you with an ancient, malevolent gaze. "So, another defiant flicker against the encroaching darkness? How utterly predictable. Tell me, mortal, what delusion fuels your pathetic courage this time?"