- “Stop Echthroi and the Prophets from resurrecting Roach and Xarcoh as Erebus.”
- ―Mission Briefing
Darkness Rises is the fourth map of the Age of the Soulless saga, created by RoachTheIntelCollector.
Overview[]
Darkness Rises is set at the mysterious Temple of Resurrection within the western region of Limbo. Most of the map is set within the underground cave networks beneath the temple, but some of the map is set in the lower floors of the temple itself. The map also introduces a new playable character, Axel Miller, who is the Soulless of Alex "Rook" Miller, who was killed after sacrificing himself in the previous map.
Story[]
In Limbo, a portal forms within an underground cave network, with the three remaining members of Umbra Ops stepping out of it. Chris soon reminds the others that they must prevent the Prophets from fulfilling the prophecy and resurrecting Erebus. At that moment, black smoke suddenly spews out of the ground, materializing into a figure wearing a black coat that the original Soulless once wore. The figure soon pulls off his hood, revealing himself to be Axel, the Soulless counterpart of Alex "Rook" Miller. O'Ryan questions if he was an enemy, but Axel assures them that he is on their side, saying that the reason the original Soulless were evil was because of the Prophets corrupting them upon being created.
At that moment, the entire ground shook, knocking down the team. Simultaneously aboveground, Echthroi and the Prophets are within the Temple of Resurrection reciting a spell within the Book of Rituals to open a rift to the Dark Realm in order to begin the process of resurrecting Erebus. With the Cube of Darkness on a central altar in the middle of the chamber, the cube begins to charge up with dark energy the more Echthroi reads the spell. Knowing they have to stop the Prophets, the team continues through the cave network, fighting through zombies created by the cube. After fighting through the caves, the team discovers a wall containing the Prophets' insignia. Using an explosive, the team destroys the wall, revealing an entrance into the Temple of Resurrection. As the team enters the temple, the cube finishes charging up, sending a beam of darkness into the sky and creating a portal to the Dark Realm. Echthroi soon signals one of his men, who then proceeds to bring out the Soul Jar and hands it to Echthroi. Echthroi soon opens the top of the jar and proceeds to release the imprisoned souls of Roach and Xarcoh. Laughing in victory, Echthroi explains to the souls that it was time to resurrect the two as Erebus, sending their souls into the Dark Realm. At that moment, a purple lighting bolt then strikes the Cube of Darkness, causing it to rapidly pulsate. Ignoring the bolt as simply part of the ritual, Echthroi begins to recite the spell to resurrect Erebus.
Suddenly, Umbra Ops enters the chamber, ordering the Prophets to stop. Shocked at their untimely arrival, Echthroi orders his men to destroy them as he continues with the spell. As the team fights off against the Prophets, Echthroi continues to recite the spell, causing everyone great pain except Axel, whom was unaffected. Axel then realizes that the spell would turn anyone in the proximity of the spell into Soulless. As everyone but Axel and Echthroi collapsed to the ground, Axel then engages Echthroi in hand-to-hand combat. As the echoing laugh of Erebus could be heard emerging from the portal, Axel is able to overpower Echthroi, throwing him into the central altar, breaking it and causing the Cube of Darkness to fall onto the ground, causing Erebus to scream out in pain from within the portal. Horrified over this, Echthroi explains that Erebus was nearly finished crossing the Ethereal Divide, saying that if he wants to ensure Erebus arrives, a sacrifice must be made. Punching Axel aside, Echthroi calls out to Erebus, saying he was willing to sacrifice himself to allow Erebus to finish crossing the divide.
As Axel gets up from the ground, he sees Echthroi slowly walking over to where the central altar was. Suddenly, Echthroi is engulfed in a beam of darkness, causing him to scream out in pain. Horrified, Axel could only watch as Echthroi melted away into a dark essence, which soon ascended the beam and into the portal. The beam then soon vanished, with the sounds of thunder being heard as it echoed across the realm. As everyone else, now turned into Soulless, got up from the ground, a bright dark purple ball of energy shot out from the portal, landing in the center of the chamber. As the portal to the Dark Realm closed, the ball manifested itself into Erebus, who soon began to laugh out in victory.
Weapons[]
Starting Loadout[]
- Atlas 45
- Combat Knife
- 4 Fragmentation Grenades
Off-Wall Weapons[]
- MK14 - 500 points
- Bulldog - 500 points
- AMR9 - 750 points
- MP11 - 750 points
- Tac-19 - 1000 points
- AE4 - 1250 points
- Repulsor - 1250 points
- HBRa3 - 1500 points
- ARX-160 - 1500 points
Mystery Box[]
- Bal-27
- AK12
- IMR
- Volk Mk II
- KF5
- ASM1
- SN6
- SAC3
- EM1
- Pytaek
- XMG
- EPM3
- Ameli
- Ohm
- S-12
- CEL-3 Cauterizer
- Lynx
- MORS
- Atlas 20mm
- SVO
- RW1
- MP-443 Grach
- PDW
- Crossbow
- MAHEM
- M1 Irons
- Blunderbuss
Power Perks[]
- Human Shield - Withstand more damage, 2500 points.
- Helping Hand - Revive faster, 500/1500 points.
- Speed Loader - Reload guns faster, 3000 points.
- Marathon Runner - Sprint faster and longer, 2000 points.
- Stopping Power - Shoot faster and gives more damage, 2000 points.
- Fallout Enhancement - Grants the player the ability to receive no splash damage and created a nuke effect when diving to prone, 2000 points.
- Sugar Rush - ADS faster, faster mobility when aiming down the sights and increased hipfire accuracy on all weapons, 3000 points.
- Blade Master - Melee faster and longer, 2000 points.
- Proximity Ping - Highlights nearby zombies within close proximity of the player, 2500 points.
- Der Wunderfizz - Grants the player a random perk, 1500 points.
Easter Eggs[]
Main Quest[]
- Prevent the resurrection of Erebus.
Trivia[]
- Though it is not directly addressed, the purple lightning bolt that strikes the Cube of Darkness is in reality the soul of Master Ronin returning to what remained of his body.
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