/Flashback:
Cadavere had felt his life flash before his eyes when the lightning struck, the voltage stopping his heart and stealing his breath. For agonising moments, he lay motionless, the world falling silent. Then, with a ragged gasp, his heart jolted back to life, and air flooded his lungs. Was he alive? Did he just die? He didn't ask himself, too weak to process questions straight. He slowly lifted himself from the ground, his struggle to push himself up visible. Cadavere's furious gaze burned down at the cephalopods and manta ray beneath him, but his body betrayed him-he could not fight. With a deep, guttural growl of frustration, he turned away, diving into the crater tunnel he had crawled out from, vanishing into the shadowed waters below.
/End of Flashback
The swampy isle of the Festered Zircons lay quiet, its surrounding seas still as they always have been. Then, the silence was shattered. The tide pushed violently outward, as a wave of displaced water heralding the emergence of a gargantuan figure leaping from the depths, landing with a quake as avian life scattered from the trees.
Cadavere: IT BURNS! IT BUURRRNNSSSSS!
The monstrous form of Cadavere thrashed around with unrestrained fury. His head swung from side to side before slamming the scarred left side of his face against the gritty shore, scraping it along in a futile attempt to soothe the searing agony left by the lightning strike.
Cadavere: HOW DARE THEY! I WILL SHOW THEM REVENGE!
His roars echoed across the swamp as his rampage had begun. Trees had been uprooted by his massive tusks and hurled great distances with terrifying force, splitting apart as if they were twigs upon impact. The earth shook under his rage-fueled movements, alerting his tribe to the scene. The Festered Zircons, gathered cautiously, their putrid scent already clouding the air, but came to find their master roaring in anguish, his fury radiating off of him like a blazing inferno.
The Zircons watched in complete bewilderment, though their confusion turned to fear as soon as they noticed Cadavere's gaze was set on them. Lowering himself, he met their eyes, his massive form shadowing the swamp around them. With a bellowing roar, he charged, scattering his followers in every direction, toppling trees as his stampede churned the swamp into a storm of mud and debris, his rage consuming him entirely.
When the Zircons had vanished from his sight, Cadavere slowed himself to a halt, his breaths deep and ragged. All the rampant sounds of destruction before was replaced with an ominous silence. His guttural growls reverberated as his mind seethed with thoughts of vengeance.
Cadavere: I will show their kind what it feels like to suffer... Every. Last. ONE.
He lifted his head back up, his gaze settling on the isle where rulers convened. His mind, clouded with rage, found clarity in a singular purpose: retribution. It had been decades since Cadavere had summoned the rulers to meet, and this time, the visions of ruin were burned into his mind. The smog-shrouded isle called to him as he started moving with deliberation.
Cadavere left the swamp, his frame carving its way through the mire as if it were nothing. Hatred radiated from him, an aura so potent as if it manifested into a storm carrying across the waves. He was going to stop at nothing, as his vengeance was inevitable.