"I am inevitable," said the Liberator with my voice.
Dark Dan vibes intensifies.
The portal opens in dead silence; they're so consumed with their arguments that they don't notice it at first. Then a brisk wind blows in from the other side, and they smell it: rotting flesh, iron, and other things. Worse things.
As one, they turn and are confronted with the stark reality before them; Amberly gasps, even as she reflexively goes for her weapons, but it's not the portal itself that chills her, nor it's sudden, unexpected appearance, or the blood, or the bodies, or even the being gazing at them arrogantly from it's unholy throne. No, the most alarming thing isn't any of of that.
It's Cain.
No matter what happened, what foe arrayed against him, or what obstacle obstructed his path, Cain had never once shown so much of a hint of uncertainty. She had seen him confront Astartes Chapters with the same nonchalance as a man pondering what he should have for dinner. And no matter how much she wanted to see him brought low before her, how much she dreamed of seeing him surrender, Amberly finds no joy in it now; somehow it's the most terrifying of all hearing his quiet, fear filled, 'No', to watch him take a step back, small and hesitant, at what he sees.
He knows this figure, he knows it and fears it when has never shown fear of anything, even at the idea of confronting a Dark God, and despite everything she finds her mind whirling, trying to imagine could possibly inspire such dread in a man as confident as Cain.
"Yes." Says the thing on the throne, head casually lounging on one hand. Despite not being able to see its face under the helmet, Amberly is certain it is grinning.
"I told you." It continues, straightening up slowly as its hands reach towards its head.
"No!" Cain says again, louder, more desperate. "It's not! I won't!"
Ignoring the protests, the figure takes off it's helmet and she was right: he was smiling. The same cocky, arrogant grin she's seen so many times before, but the face...
Despite herself, Amberly finds herself looking back and forth between Cain and man confronting him, and the resemblance remains. It's bigger, twisted, sporting horns, fangs and burning runes so foul it hurts to look at them, but despite everything it's still undeniably Cain, gazing at the two of them, sat upon a throne of death and desecration so mind-consuming wrong she almost vomits.
"I am inevitable.", this new Cain proclaims, with the same certainty of someone stating an obvious fact. "You know this. No matter how hard you struggle, no matter how fervently you deny me, deep inside you know it. All the paths before you lead to one final, glorious, destination, a singular truth. Me. This. Here and now. It's not a matter of 'if', Cain, it's a matter of when."
"Never!" Cain all but howls, suddenly filled righteous anger. "I'll never accept it, I'll never allow it! There's another way than you, than this! There has to be!"
But the figure only laughs, before the portal closes before them, and three words repeat from the now empty space, echoing with horrific surety.
"I am inevitable."