Belial continued to climb the mountain, his body stimulated in pain, causing him to push himself past the limit.
"I can feel it.."
The top. The top of the mountain lingered closer with each time he pulled himself up.
"Just a bit more...!"
His eyes burned with anticipation. His muscles, his very existence, all of it tingled with anticipation. And finally...
He stood there. He looked down on the eternal blizzard at the bottom, his body broken, but his mind strong. He stood at the edge of all of creation.
"...I did it."
He turned around, looking at the alter in the center of the mountain. Nobody had laid hands on it since it's creation, and Belial would be the first. He heard a voice.
"...
What is the reason you desire to stand at the top." He answered with no hesitation.
"
Power." The voice asked another question.
"
I take it you are aware of the price? Once you take what is yours, you cannot truly leave Ulric. You can only send avatars, and you will never truly feel the touch of your loved ones. Death and emptiness is the only thing this cursed place exudes, boy." He responded with no hesitation..
"
If I can protect them, I don't care." The voice asked one final question.
"
What do you say to your subjects, God-King..?"
Belial turned to the edge of the mountain, looking down on those on the ground. He looked down on the innumerable corpses, those who had sought this power...
He held his hand out, darkness seeping from his skin, death exuding from his breath. Now was the time.
"Arise."
The calamity, reduced to nothing, began to regenerate, its body covered in shadows and darkness. Ahzad fell to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes.
"
Ah... My Lord.." He got onto his knees and prayed, the calamity also stopping any and all movement.