Feng Deming strode along the midnight shore, the crashing waves a mere backdrop to the storm within him. The salty sea breeze mixed with the subtle scent of wet sand. Each step pressed deep into the sand, as if the earth itself bowed and cowered beneath his might.

'What does it mean, never to die, yet to have dreams haunting me even in my wake?' His thoughts churned like a storm, filled with anger and disdain. 'I command legions, bend realms to my will; yet, in spite of all that, I am a prisoner in my mind... Why?'

His lips curled into a sneer, and his eyes narrowed as the cold wind tugged at his ebony robes. The moonlight on the waves mirrored his inner turmoil as he stared out into the dark horizon.

'What am I searching for on these shores?'

He clenched his fists, the rough sand pressing into his skin. The waves roared, but he remained unmoved, a dark figure against the night.

'Several millennia have passed since my birth, and still, I am left in the dark about the reason for my immortality... What is the purpose of eternity if it extends the torment of being forever entrapped? To live endlessly is cruel if it means facing imprisonment once more.'

His knuckles tightened at his sides with anger.

'No matter. I shall carve the answer from this wretched world, even if I have to tear the realms apart to do it... Starting with the Faerie Realm.'

Deming's imprisonment etched a relentless wound gnawing at his soul. Visions of phantom chains clinking in the dark haunted him like a shadow always lurking.

'They thought they could contain me, bend me to their will... Fools. Now, they dare to rise against me again?'

The wind howled, echoing his sigh, and his gaze hardened on the horizon. He could taste his frustration, like a bitter aftertaste.

'Let them come. I shall crush them underfoot. I have tasted the bitterness of their chains and refuse to be trapped again. They dared to imprison me and twist my fate into a nightmare. Now, I return the favor by luring them here and trapping them.'

With a final glance at the turbulent sea, he turned away, eyes burning with a cold, deadly fire. The darkness folded around him like a cloak as he continued his path to bend even eternity to his will.

'Once they cross into Astara, the borders behind them close and cut them off from their world, with no escape or tricks to breach the barriers... This time, I refuse to merely break their spirits. This time, I shall be the one to leave them in chains, much like the imprisonment they once imposed on me.'

A cruel smile touched his lips as he envisioned his scheme, his eyes flaring with a predatory light.

'Their precious realm burns as their screams echo across the ages. They are bound to remember the price of crossing me. Each step deepens their despair, and I shall watch their hope drain away as I make their world bleed. The Faerie Realm becomes a place of endless torment, with me as the master of their suffering.'

As dawn's first light crept across the horizon, he stepped into the vortex he had created, the swirling darkness swallowing him as the day began.

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