Upon his return, Kain witnessed the future that he had wrought – and the final, triumphant act of Moebius’ cold-blooded mob. Vorador, the last of Nosgoth’s vampires, is guillotined and his head held aloft for a cheering, bloodthirsty crowd – leaving Kain the sole surviving vampire in Nosgoth.

As his quest brought him full-circle, Kain confronted the destiny that Mortanius and Ariel had hidden from him – that he was the Balance Guardian, and that only by sacrificing himself could he restore the Pillars. Ariel presented him with a final, climactic decision – sacrifice himself to heal the land, but ensure the extinction of the vampires; or refuse the sacrifice, and seal the world’s corruption.

Revolted by the scheming of the human sorcerers and alienated from his former humanity, Kain chose the latter path – opting to rule the world in its damnation rather than commit himself to oblivion. This apocalyptic act completed the Pillars’ destruction; the mighty columns toppled as Kain sealed their ruinous fate.

Kain concluded with the epiphany that Vorador was right – that vampirism is not a curse but a blessing. That vampires are dark gods whose duty is to thin the human herd. With intentional irony, Kain established the ruined Pillars as the symbolic seat of his new empire, and the unrestored Balance Pillar as the base of his throne. In an act of calculated blasphemy, Kain raided the ancient tomb of the Sarafan, a fanatical order of warrior-priests once sworn to eradicate the vampires plaguing Nosgoth. From the desiccated corpses of these long-dead knights, Kain raised his six vampiric “sons” to become the Lieutenants of his fledgling empire. .