- “I seek a path to cheat death, to grant myself eternal life, and to show how weak you all truly are. And to do such a task, I must tap into the Dark Realm, and fuel myself with the immortality every man seeks within!”
- ―Master Ronin[src]
The Dark Realm is a realm featured in the Roach Chronicles, making an appearance in The Eclipse War and the Age of the Soulless sagas. It is a realm where the purest of darkness resides, and where the mystical energies of dark energy originate from.
History[]
At some point in time, the Dark Realm was created. In order to balance the light found in the universe, darkness was taken directly from the Dark Realm in order to act as the light's opposite. However, when times came when the balance was broken, the darkness from the Dark Realm would overtake the light, forcing the inhabitants of the Roach Chronicles multiverse to seek ways of neutralizing the overtaking darkness and restore the balance.
Sometime later, The Visitor would escape the Dark Realm, only to be captured by the Goruxians on Sparvis IX. Through The Visitor's tales of the Dark Realm, Ronin would develop dark ambitions, seeking to harness the realm's power in the near future. Seeking to test a Darkling's strength in combat while using him to assist the Goruxian's universal conquest, Ronin had The Visitor brainwashed and weaponized into a cyborg-like mercenary to serve the Goruxian Armada.
Universal Convergence[]
Following the conclusion of the Aetherian War, which led to the extinction of the Goruxian race, Ronin would go into exile on the remains of the Goruxian homeworld of Sparvis IX. Traumatized over the death of his entire race, Ronin finally set his eyes on the Dark Realm as his top priority, using The Visitor's information to find a way of accessing it. To this end, Ronin decided to acquire the Matter Orb from the Eclipse Universe, which was capable of drawing out dark energy from the Dark Realm and allowing its user to harness its dark power. Once The Visitor was finally killed, Ronin set out aboard the Sanctorium with a fleet of drones, using the diminishing artificial Convergence created by The Visitor to access the Eclipse Universe.
The Eclipse War[]
Arriving at the Eclipse Universe, Ronin began a bloody campaign to procure the Matter Orb from the Eclipse Military's highly guarded Vault Zero compound within Luna in the Sol System. Using the weaponized Hybrillium under the possession of the Eclipse Military to create an undead army as part of a distraction, Ronin traveled to various systems in the galaxy in order to obtain the items needed to infiltrate Vault Zero. Eventually, Ronin was able to secure the Matter Orb from Vault Zero and made his escape on the Sanctorium, but was ultimately confronted by the heroes of the Eclipse Universe on the bridge of his ship.
Determined to put an end to the heroes, Ronin began siphoning darkness from the Matter Orb in order to increase his power. Despite Alain's efforts to warn Ronin of dire consequences for misusing the Matter Orb, Ronin ignored him and continued to absorb more and more power, which began to take a toll on Ronin mentally. After the heroes exploit Ronin's declining mental state to their advantage, Ronin, in a fury of rage, shattered the Matter Orb and absorbed the last of its power. However, this would cost Ronin severely, causing him to collapse onto the ground in pain as parts of his body began to glow purple. Suddenly, a rift to the Dark Realm opened and began to pull Ronin's soul out of his body, which was overloading from the darkness. As Ronin let out one last scream of horror, his soul entered the Dark Realm, where he obtained the eternal life he sought, but as a permanent fixture of the Dark Realm itself as it merged with the realm's essence.
Meanwhile, Ronin's body overloaded from the darkness, morphing into the Cube of Darkness, which soon entered the rift to the Dark Realm, causing it to close soon after. Within the Dark Realm, the cube would then receive tremendous power, acting as a source for infinite dark energy from the Dark Realm. After floating around the realm for sometime, the cube's runes on its sides began to glow dark purple as the cube seemingly activated.
Age of the Soulless[]
With the Cube of Darkness having finally been forged as long prophesized, Echthroi and the Prophets of the Soulless begin their long-awaited plan to resurrect Erebus by reviving both Roach and Xarcoh's souls as one through the darkness of the Dark Realm. Having recovered the Book of Rituals from the Library of Divination, Echthroi uses the book and the realm's powers in tandem to conjure a spell to extract the Cube of Darkness from the Dark Realm. However, the cube is taken by Umbra Ops, who are promptly teleported away by The Librarian. Despite this, Echthroi remains undeterred, and soon pursues the heroes for the cube.
After obtaining the cube and returning to Limbo with his forces, Echthroi uses the Cube of Darkness to manifest a portal to the Dark Realm. Using the Book of Rituals to begin the resurrection process, Echthroi releases the souls of Roach and Xarcoh from the Soul Jar and sends them to the Dark Realm, where they are soon corrupted by the realm's darkness and fused into one as part of the ritual. During this however, Master Ronin's soul made use of the commotion to free himself from the Dark Realm and return to what remained of his body within the Cube of Darkness. As Echthroi's ritual continued, they are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Umbra Ops, though their efforts to thwart the Prophets are in vain; Echthroi sacrifices himself and his essence to give Erebus enough power to cross the Ethereal Divide between realms after the ritual is abruptly halted, allowing Erebus to emerge from the Dark Realm intact.
Upon creating the Chamber of Darkness on the Dark Island, Erebus manifests a large portal to the Dark Realm in the skies overhead, and using his power to control the realm's darkness, begins plunging the universe into complete darkness, intending to pave way for a new dark empire under his reign with the support of the Prophets as prophesied in the Prophet's dark prophecy. However, both the Prophets and the Erebus are ultimately destroyed by Umbra Ops, who sacrifice themselves to destroy the dark being and cleanse the universe of his evil influence.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Inhabitants of the Dark Realm or people who have been converted by the Dark Realm's power are referred to as "Dark Realmians".
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