"But… what about Socius' son?" Mercor feared the answer to this question.

"He no longer lives."

Mercor fell to his knees. The Darkness continued:

"The humans constructed the beacon in a form that only can be accessed by humans. When King Mortem attempted to steal our most prized object, The Dark Jewel, directly from our race's central palace, we removed his immortality. We would have killed him and then stopped the destruction of the human race, but he barricaded himself in the beacon. We cannot access him, and with all of the beacon's power focused on him, he is still immortal. You might say he found a loop hole. Your beacon is now focusing all of its energy on him, allowing our plague to continue to full height but unfortunately ending the resurrection of undead. The battle has ended at the beacon, both sides are dead. For our race to stop the plague, you must kill King Mortem. He is the last of his line. To do this, you need only throw yourself into the beacon's opening at the top. It will destroy the beacon."

Suddenly, there was a deafening boom and a blinding light. Mercor was standing at the top of a pyramidic and translucent structure, looking down into its interior. It was at least five miles high. A blinding ball of light was floating in its center.

Mercor was emotionally distraught. His friend had been murdered before his eyes. That same friend's son was apparently dead too, and the survival of the human race hung in the balance. Down in the beacon Mercor could make out the face of King Mortem, screaming up at him inaudible words from within the ball of light, clearly with the intent of stopping him. The voice of the Darkness boomed: "Fall." Mercor had had enough. In a form of trance, he tipped forward.

He felt the wind blowing in his face as he fell in a dream. Light blinded his eyes as he hurled through the air. King Mortem's face was getting closer and closer, screaming in rage. He heard the Darkness above him: "So long, Mercor."