The darkness inside the creature's maw was absolute...
For it was not the simple absence of light.
Nor was it a void so complete that it seemed to devour the very concept of illumination.
Rather it was blackness that had never known any light.
Ancient and curse, was what it was.
Nero's transformed body hung suspended in that blackness, surrounded by crushing pressure and the stench of ancient decay.
The tendrils constricted tighter, their shadowy flesh pressing against him from all sides. They were trying to digest him. To break his parts down vengefully.
But the form of the beast was darkness and curse.
It was in its home.
His mouth opened wider, jaw unhinging like a serpent's. The golden glow from his eyes cut through the darkness in twin beams of divine light, illuminating the writhing mass of tendrils that filled the creature's throat. His skin, now black as Vulcan Stone, rippled with faint golden runes that were visible in the darkness.
