The Primordial Record

Death no longer scared Rowan, just the possibility of failure. For so long he had lived a life devoid of choices, where he would have to bend to the whims of others just so that he could survive.

The Eld Seed pulled his attention, promising him a solution to all his problems, and he knew if he allowed himself to assimilate the Seed, an understanding of this new and alien form of energy would become available to him, and with his adaptability, the greatest weapon that the Third Prince had against him would be nullified.

His path to victory was right there before him, he only had to accept.

Elura might have given him the Eld Seed due to goodwill, having an intuition about the troubles he would face in the future, and seeking to aid her child, but Rowan did not trust it. He could trust his mother, but not her powers.

This settled the decision he was about to make in his mind, although this power was unknown, Rowan had not given his all, he had not even scratched the surface of what he was capable of, and he was willing to find out if there was anything in existence he was not able to crush.

He groaned and opened his eyes, this minor action causing a vast release of red lightning from his body that traveled deep into the cosmos, twisting reality to shambles, and he discovered that in the period he was indisposed, he had become surrounded.

On his right were five God Emperors arrayed in heavy mystical armor that left their features a mystery, these silent powers each held a sword that was burning with a scarlet light that was pointed to his vitals, which were his head, heart, liver, skeleton, and blood, if they attacked, they would be focusing on these parts of his body, dividing to conquer.

By his left were Minerva, Silas, Aeris, and Golgoth, whose two shattered legs had been replaced by two massive pale tentacles, he could not heal, only replace, finally standing in the air above him, carried by red lightning and breaking the gravitational hold of the bridge was Third, he was struggling to remain in the air but his vicious expression showed nothing but glee.

All of them held bolts of power that held powerful spells and techniques, and woven into the spell was red lightning that contained that mysterious form of energy that no matter how hard he tried, he could not break, he could only wait for his body to slowly consume it, somehow he knew his enemies would not give him the time to do such a thing.

"Awake Rowan?" The Third Prince smirked, his white teeth flashing from the lights of the red lightning bolt he held in his right hand that was wiggling like a snake, "Now die!"

Reality burned to ashes as ten bolts of power slammed towards Rowan the greatest of them emerging from the Third Prince.

Rowan grinned, intense premonition of death filled his heart, but it did nothing but heighten his focus, he had proven his point as a mortal and had already killed a Will Holder, and technically he could begin upgrading his Primordial Ouroboros bloodline, but why stop at one, he had not reached his limits as a mortal.

Perhaps in the future, someone might be able to kill a Will Holder as a mortal, but he doubted they would ever be able to kill ten! He did not know how rare a Will Holder was in all of creation, but he did not doubt that their numbers must be extremely small, he would never get this chance again.

At that moment his mind analyzed all the powers streaming towards him, of the ten bolts of power, he could easily decipher those from the five God Emperors first and he seized this opportunity, his new perception pierced into the hail of death pouring towards him and entered the energies of the God Emperors.

He discovered that what rushed to devour his body was potent divinity wrapped in a ridiculous amount of Spatial Essence Will, the technique was crude in comparison to what he might be able to unleash if he put his mind towards it, but such a blast would shatter a hundred galaxies, not including the power of Third mixed within it.

This was the most he could analyze and counteract, he managed to bring his left hand up to brace against the spells, drawing a host of defenses on his skin before forces that could shatter a greater portion of a universe slammed into him.

Rowan's hand buckled as it was pressed against his chest, he pushed back manipulating the energy of the God Emperors to shield him for a while and give him the barest moment to activate Ascension.

Third began to laugh, "Do not let up, I want nothing but ashes behind!"

The powers slamming into Rowan's prone body increased in magnitude, so much power that the Twilight Bridge began to crack as the area around Rowan's body slowly turned molten red. The tide of energy built and built, emitting a loud shriek until the Will Holders had to move back and brace themselves as the energy reached a critical limit and exploded.

The energy rippled through the entire Twilight Bridge, shaking it to its foundations and causing portions of it to shatter.

The wave of energy dissipated and Rowan's body was revealed, he seemed to have been driven unconscious, but his eyes opened with a snap, he looked down at his left hand, and the eyes of the Will Holder followed his gaze.

He had lost all his skin and a greater part of his muscle had turned to ash, but he could still move the limb and he tested it experimentally. Envy lay by his side, the weapon glowing red hot as if it was about to melt.

"That is it?" Minerva groaned in disbelief.

Silence covered the entire bridge for a moment before the Third Prince bellowed, "Release all your powers inside you and attack, I will kill anyone who holds back!"

The red lightning that erupted from his body was tinged with three different subtle flavors, as he no longer held back, the rest of the Will Holders began to pull everything they had and the Twilight Bridge began to collapse with the power that was gathering here.

Rowan grunted and began to struggle to his feet, even though red lightning poured from his body in ever-increasing waves, he was still standing. The Third Prince's eyes widened in disbelief and with a cry, he slammed down the gathering power on the body of Rowan, and the rest of the Will holders followed.

Rowan was slammed back to his knees, and the left hand he raised to defend himself began to slowly disintegrate.

The Third Prince roared, "Do you know how hard I strived to make sure that only a certain amount of information entered this universe? Blocking every source of higher knowledge because I feared that for any reason something like this might occur?"

Increasing the power that he was blasting into Rowan, "I made sure this universe had only the races that were acceptable in my plans, if that Black Book was going to empower you with power, then I would take away your wisdom. It is a good thing that my preparations were not in vain!"

Rowan's left hand suddenly exploded and the blast of power slammed into his chest, pushing him deep into the collapsing bridge.

"Now, do me a favor and die… just fucking die!!!"