Across the shores of Hell, past the Umbral Plains and the lake of fire, was a castle, as black as night, that overlooked all. The castle was guarded by a gate made of blackened iron, meant as a mockery of the pearly gates of Heaven, that was stained with the blood of the damned. Atop the gate were spikes, where heads of varying decompositions rested.
Normally, the blood on the iron would be boiling, and the heads would be melted down to skulls from the sheer intensity of the inferno. However, something truly remarkable occurred; Hell had been frozen over. This act was carried out by none other than the Doom Slayer himself, in an effort to stop the Khan Maykr from assimilating all dimensions of Heaven and Hell into becoming one. As a result, the flow of Argent energy was disrupted, rendering nearly all the demons powerless.
Deep inside the castle, a figure appearing as pure shadow sat on a throne of bones, his fists curling in anger at the state of his realm.
My underlings and I have become too dependent on this Argent energy. The Dark Lord disgustedly thought, as he grabbed a skull and crushed it with his bare hands. Just then, seven wisps of blackened smoke appeared in the throne room, taking humanoid forms. They appeared as no more than silhouettes, but it was their eyes that set them apart. The eye color ranged from a deep red, to gold, to yellow, to orange, to green, to pink, and even a bright purple. The Dark Lord smiled cruelly, his eyes blazing dark red with the fury of Hell.
My children. The king of Hell announced. The Doom Slayer has released you from your vessel. Go forth across the dimensions and wreak chaos across the lands!
The humanoid figures nodded, and dissipated.
My partnership with the Khan Maykr failed. The Dark Lord said to himself, sitting back down on his throne. The soul factory, destroyed. The Tower of Babel, destroyed. The Icon of Sin, murdered. I require an… alternative method of gaining more souls.