This is more of an interlude type thing. Not really a chapter, but little snippets foreshadowing things to come. I don't know how often I'll do this, but I hope you enjoy regardless.
It was late at night when sudden bright flashes appeared all over the planet. No one seemed to notice, however, and these strange flashes remained undocumented.
A humanoid figure clad in blue and gold robes lay prone in the middle of a forest. They began to stir, before awakening and sitting upright.
"My seal... undone. The end... Hm? Is this the afterlife? I was expecting it to be a little more... grand."
The robed figure began to float upwards over the canopy of the forest and gasped. a ways away lay a sprawling metropolis.
"Incredible! Civilization of this size hasn't been around since before they days of Yharim! Is this truly the afterlife? I would not expect structures like this to be here. I'll have to investigate. I cannot however simply go to the city and ask. I'd prefer to remain undiscovered for now."
With that, the strange man began to plan on how to get information in secrecy, going back into the forest to think.
A mermaid esque being awoke with a start within the dark depths of the sea.
"Ah! Wait a second... Where am I? This is not my home! I was battling a Terrarian who had intruded on my domain and then... I... Wait! Leviathan!"
The 'Ground' underneath where the mermaid swam began to rumble, before an utterly enormous beast rose from it's slumber.
"Oh thank XEROC. You're alright! Do you have any idea as to where we are?"
The Leviathan swirled around to examine their surroundings, before giving their companion a shake of their head.
"Hm. Unfortunate but expected. Hold on, what's that?"
Off in the distance she saw two silhouettes swimming.
"Perhaps we can go ask those creatures? I'll go speak with them. If the encounter goes south, you know what to do."
The Leviathan gave an amused grumble and a gnash of their sharp teeth.
"Atta girl. I'll be back shortly."
A seemingly inanimate pile of flesh and bones began to rumble, before it rose taller, upheld by it's gruesome legs. It was a simple beast, thinking only of bloodshed and death. It hadn't even realized it had died.
Kill... Maim...
The disgusting abomination began to lumber forward within the cavern it awoke in, unaware that it was being watched.
A tall, lithe woman with flowing white hair and clad in a gold and white dress lay under the light of the sun. She awoke with a start, gasping.
"Something isn't right."
The woman looked down at her hands, before rapidly but calmly examining the rest of her body.
"My form has changed. Although I suppose it is better than having no form at all. Speaking of which, how am I back in the land of the living anyway?"
After recalling this, the woman was reminded of how she come to perish in the first place. A rather powerful Terrarian had acquired one of her artifacts. Enraged, she had descended to fight them while still severely weakened.
The woman flinched at the embarrassing way she was done in. Quite unbefitting of a goddess.
"To think that I, Providence, would have been slain in such an embarrassing manner... Perhaps it was for the best after all. That fool Yharim and his pet god eater proved too much for me to handle on my own. Hopefully that Terrarian will fare better."
Providence had done some thinking in the afterlife. Her original goal to remove all sin was quite foolish in hindsight. Doing so wouldn't amount to anything in the end. Over the generations, mortals would begin to sin again, and her entire quest would prove fruitless.
"I suppose... it would be time to find a new purpose in this new land."
With that, Providence teleported to the sun in a brilliant flash of light. She had some deep thinking to do.
A great roar echoed across a large cave as a large being awoke.
"Mmrph."
The beast started to get up slowly, before bolting upright.
"The link is broken."
It was true. They could no longer sense the spiritual link between them and their master.
"The link can only break if one of the two is killed. I am clearly not dead, so-"
The large being stopped. They weren't dead. But they HAD to be. There was no way they could have survived that fight. they had depleted their regenerative abilities and were on their last legs when the attack struck their throat.
The confused being stumbled over themselves trying to get up. When they finally did, they rushed outside to get a better view of their surroundings. They were seated in a cave on the edge of a wasteland, A large settlement, larger than they had ever seen, was barely visible in the distance. One thing was for certain: This was NOT Terraria.
"Where am I..? More importantly, how did I get here? Have I been reincarnated somehow?"
The dragon was suddenly pulled out of their musings by the feeling of a familiar presence. He could not pinpoint where it was exactly, except that it was very far away. They had a strong urge to head towards the only familiar thing they could sense, but they held themselves back.
"No. I do not want to call attention to myself just yet. I do not know how those who inhabit these lands would react. It is better to wait for her to come to me."
With that final thought, The dragon went back into the cave. They had plenty of time to wait.
An utterly enormous worm lay asleep on the surface of Mars. It twitched a bit before awakening, craning it's head up to examine it's surroundings.
"I am corporeal once more? interesting..."
The worm looked over into the distance, seeing the large colorful sphere that was earth.
"Ah... I can sense them. So many powerful lifeforms. So much more power to become my own. But I resist. I must regain my power. That damn brat really did it huh? Well hopefully he can kill that bastard Yharim too. It'll serve him right for thinking he could keep the Devourer of Gods on a leash."
The cosmic worm lifted his head high, bellowing out a command.
"COME TO ME MY SENTINALS!"
Three shapes phased into form beside the great Devourer. A smaller, yet still large worm, a swirling void of darkness, and a dark, cloaked figure.
"I wish for you to descend to to that planet to gather information for me. I will formulate a plan when you return."
The three figures acknowledged their master, and began to make their way down to Earth.
"This time no one will stop me. The universe will be MINE!"
All across the planet and beyond, extradimensional beings were awakening and forming their own plans. One thing was for certain, they could not remain unnoticed for long.