No Loose Ends (Part 2)

Some people would look back at the events of today as the day the legend of the Arks second god began, they would tell stories about how the god of war faced an army of the dead in front of the doors of the trial world and single-handedly killed their entire army while not even stepping into the ranks of divinity. The first layer would come to follow his legacy from this moment forward as he took his first steps onto a brand new stage in a fashion no less than the God King himself. This battle would set the stage for his ascension to the first layer in a fashion befitting the first disciple of the God king, that would be a story for a later date, at this moment though Rowan was in the midst of a harrowing battle against two demigods.

Rowan sidestepped a slash of a dagger and slashed upwards to meet a massive scythe made of death mana, and one of the spells of the necromancer. The storm giant was locked in the battle with the dead, leaving just Rowan on the battlefield while Genma and an injured vice principal protected the trial participants as they were taken out of the trial world. The queen herself appeared with the crowd of people and looked in Rowan's direction while pulling her own Astra from her mana space. She was about to step in when a person stepped in front of her and stopped her. "Don't step in, his affliction is resonating with him, this may be an opportunity for him, Rowan is hard pressed to be challenged, it won't be too late to step in later if he needs it, but I would like to see him take advantage of this opportunity."

The queen looked at the young man in front of her and realized that while he may not be a fiend for the limelight like Rowan was; he was equally talented, just simply in different ways. Feng too had changed after his time in the trial world, and it was no less influential than Rowan. Combining his soul affliction with his rune attainment and dual attunement had awoken the slumbering beast that was a tier zero, but Feng had always been in tune with his soul affliction it was something that he had even helped Rowan with when they first met so who understood better than him that cultivation for someone like Rowan, with an affliction geared towards battle was fights that put his life on the line, and there was no time like right now.

The queen dispelled her Astra and looked at the young man in front of her. "You have a lot of faith in your friend. Do you mind telling me why?" Feng nodded his head, and a smile graced his usually expressionless face. "My soul affliction is balance, but after my study of the runes and my time in the trial world, it has become even more pronounced. My soul told me that Rowan needed balance when I first met him, but I misunderstood what it was telling me. Rowan did need help, but it was telling me that Rowan is the balance, the universe itself and yes, I mean the one outside of the Ark is telling me that Rowan is the balance to the existence known as the god king. So how can he fall here when he is destined to balance one of the greatest beings the universe has ever known?" The queen had to not let her surprise show on her face because the young man in front of her had stepped into a path of mana that not even she could have predicted. She could only nod to him and turn her attention back to Rowan once more.

Right when she began to focus on the battle, she heard a sound, and Feng's Astra appeared in his hand and the smile on his face grew even more resplendent. The queen looked at him in confusion at his action, since he had just stopped her from stepping into the battle. "I thought you said that he can handle this. Why are you summoning your weapon?" Feng cocked his arm back and replied in the happiest tone she had ever heard from the young man. "Well, Rowan can certainly handle this. He just needs an extra sword." The moment his words ended, Feng flung his sword with all his might and sent it soaring right into the battlefield and towards Rowan.

Rowan, on the other hand, had just sliced into Slate's side while using his converted arm to block the blow, the effect of which was that the strike blew the armament spell from his body and revealed his true self to everyone watching. The strike that should have broken his bones instead sounded like a metal plate had been struck and a massive sound boomed from the collision, sending Rowan flying backwards. His arm was in pain, but there was no major damage. They both charged him and it was at this exact moment that a sword came from somewhere behind him and all Rowan did was hold out his hand as the blade slipped right past his grasp while he snatched the weapon by the handle. He smiled at his attacker and charged at them. Hundreds of storm points appeared within the space between them and exploded into mist while when his enemies least expected it, he released powder keg.

The explosion rocked space and sent ripples towards the trial world that the queen was forced to disperse while at the same time a massive storm cloud began to form in the sky above the battle while mana began to flood into Rowan's body causing the two people to stop their actions and look at each other. Slate looked at Rowan and grimaced. "Fine boy, you want to get serious, then allow me to get serious as well." His wounds rapidly healed while skeletons in his undead army began to drop dead and more and more death mana flowed towards him. At first it just coated his body and then before you know it all, different types of skeletal undead were breaking apart and coating his body. The skeletons formed armor and coated Slate senior before rapidly growing dark until they glistened like some type of black metal. A long sword made of bone formed in his hand, but there was a spot that coincided with the hilt part of the blade and the handle that was missing.

Slate senior slotted his dagger into the weapon and it surged with black light while the originally tan-ish bone sword turned a pristine white while Slate senior's voice could be heard, but now it seemed more menacing. There was a slight scratch to his tone. "Allow me to show you true power. Bow before the might of the lich." He held the sword with both hands, but his aura began to surge while a phantom cloaked image appeared behind him. The figure sighed once before surveying the surroundings. "I shall abide by the terms of the contract, do what you will, but from this moment forth, there is nothing between us."

Slate Senior snickered as Rowan's eyes widened as he was able to see soul force flow from the cloaked figure to Slate Senior. "That is fine! After this, I will be strong enough to ascend and the rest of the necromancer association will ascend with me. You have been nothing but an empty figurehead for a while now. It is time for the necromancer to rise."

Rowan, on the other hand, was watching this whole interaction in stupefaction. This man who was high up in the necromancer organization had been hidden in the academy, of all places. He no longer needed to get the information from the vice principal that valentine had talked about; he could directly take the information when he turned the man in front of him into a soul weapon. Rowan smiled because he was going to be able to wrap up the hunt quickly and go after the man referred to as the Lich. The soul force caused Slate senior to be ablaze with mana. At the same time, the influence of the lich had allowed him to step through the door of elemental mastery. He brandished his blade and took swipes at Rowan from afar, sending wind blades coated in death mana.

Rowan looked at the man who was now charging with Vitesse by his side and smiled as the storm cloud above his head thrummed with power as it accumulated more and more mana before a bright flash of light from the clouds blinded everyone and slammed down into Rowan. Rowan had built this storm and was storing massive amounts of mana in it. Being this close to the trial world, it could be said that this was the highest density of mana on the second layer and the cloud had been rapidly absorbing it. The beam of light was in fact just a lightning bolt caused by Rowan's cultivation technique, but it also contained pure mana that he greedily absorbed. He looked around the battlefield and knew what he had to do, just cultivation would not be enough. He had felt that invisible barrier that was stopping him from becoming a demigod, but he did not know how to break it. His time for thinking was over as the two men descended towards him once more to continue the battle.