Of Gods and Insectoids (Part 1)

Rowan and Alaric proved to be a fearful combination as the battle entered a lull. The spider queen was still in great shape with wounds that were incapable of effecting her battle ability, but the same could not be said for the monarch. He had released a massive butterfly and still one of his wings was torn and blood flowed from several wounds on his body and his left arm was missing. Rowan had found an opportunity to use soul manipulation and, in the process, before he could be consumed in a feat of astonishing willpower, he severed his collapsing arm and created distance from Rowan. The spider queen had been astonished, which led to the current lull as she pondered.

"I was hoping to lure some big fish here by prolonging this fight, but it seems that you are the big fish. Aren't you human hatchling? You are more talented than even the first time I met the rat. He could only run away with his tail between his legs, but here you are fighting not only me but my second in command. I can not allow a second rat to rise. We will end this here. Web World constrict." Rowan had been fighting the spider queen inside of her domain this entire time. She had used her threads more than once to injure him, as they proved lethal in every capacity. They could be used to pierce or constrict but Rowan and Alaric had used flames to keep them at bay, the only thing capable of thwarting them but now the whole domain which had been steadily growing was now starting to rapidly shrink.

The webs blackened and became almost metallic as they began to resist the flame shields and still began to wrap Rowan and Alaric. While at the same time the monarch had begun flapping his wings and a pink and purple powder shot forward in the space and entered them through the wounds. Rowan tried to expand the storm above him and it worked to slow down the collapse of the domain, but the spider queen only smiled. "That black thread is my life's thread. Each member of my race starts to cultivate their life thread the moment they are born. Mine has been refined so that not even fire could harm it and no being has ever managed to snap it. Your fight was valiant, but it is now over. Go peacefully into rest and I will be sure to tell the rat that you were valiant."

Rowan kept resisting because all of this time he had still been getting more powerful, but it simply was not enough. If he wanted to save Alaric and himself, he needed to become a god and step into the primordial rank, but something was still missing. He had the mana, but something was holding him back still. Instead, his eyes were slowly closing while the pressure on his body was increasing and he was slowly being crushed. All the light was fading from his vision as he bit into his own tongue to keep himself alert while Alaric had fallen unconscious and only his massive dragon head could be seen. Empry sighed when he felt something and decided to stay quiet.

Right when Rowan's vision was finally fading, there was a noise that caused him to turn his head to the left. The noise he heard was the sound of scissors being put to paper, certainly not something he would hear on the battlefield. Then he heard it once more and soon a golden light began to grow in his eyes. The domain, on the other hand, had the golden light circle around the entire outside and in rapid fashion it met where it started and with a pop sound it went flying while the spider queen spat a mouthful of green blood due to her domain being destroyed. Rowan felt the light wash over him and he slowly began to regain consciousness while Wreathe Lowe, standing on the head of a dragon much different and more snake-like than Alaric, slowly flew next to them.

Rowan had heard of this dragon because it, in fact, was not a dragon at all, or not in the typical sense of the word. Wreathe had managed to construct a guardian much like her father, and this was her guardian. In her hands was her soul weapon, a massive pair of scissors that could cut through even space and time. She swiped through the air and the webs binding him and Alaric were cut and scattered away. While Wreathe flashed a Radiant smile at the spider queen. "I guess it's not as unbreakable as you thought itsy bitsy spider. The spider queen roared and spit out more of the black thread until her ax was coated in it. She then threw up a weird purplish fluid that coated the ax and formed purple runes on it that caused space to shake.

Wreathe sighed and turned to Rowan. "I can hold them both off if you'd like to run and get my father's help, but I have a message from your Fiance if you care to hear it first." Rowan nodded his head once, knowing he had no intention of leaving her here to save himself and Alaric. "I was confused when she stopped me when I was leaving, but she said that you were in danger. How she knew not even I know, but she said that you would need to remember a single thing. She says "remember the first union that you both shared." The words were like a lightning bolt to Rowan as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. He grinned like a madman and looked at Wreathe. "Buy me five minutes and we can give your father a decent surprise." Wreathe nodded her head. "Easy enough." She blasted forward on her dragon and engaged both the monarch and the spider queen at the same time.

Rowan on the other hand looked at the storm above him and smiled while he dragged Alaric a distance away from the battle and sat them both on the piece of a giant asteroid that had wandered over now that the spider queen's domain was not locking them out from normal space. Rowan knew that Regius had formed his godhood on the back of his devouring, but Rowan was different. He had fully delved into all three aspects of cultivation and, in doing so, had touched on a different path, but while he thought they were combined, they truthfully had not been. It had been an imitation of a full combination, but in fact, the facets of his cultivation were still just as separate. He had to truly combine all aspects of his cultivation.

Rowan took a deep breath and the storm giant came out of his mana space and so did the storm glaive, while the gems came out of his mech and his mech faded from his body. "The storm giant is the spirit aspect of my bloodline mixed with my attunement." The cloud ring exited his body next and floated in the air as well. The storm in the sky began to rumble and Alaric opened his eyes and stared at what Rowan was doing, engraving the scene in front of him in his mind. "The storm ring is my mana cultivation." The infinity cloud popped out next and hovered next to the others. "The infinity cloud represents my laws and weapons skill." The storm glaive finally exited as well, leaving him feeling hollow. The storm glaive represents the last part of my soul, while my current form makes up the rest of the berserk gene and my fairy king form. The cloud ring began to spin before it was nothing more than a shining ring. "Step one combines the cloud ring and the storm giant." There was a burst of mana that caused the fighters to look this way in alarm, but neither one could get past Rowan. The ring branded itself onto the giant's chest and mana surged once more. "Next, combine the last aspect of my soul with the infinity cloud."

The infinity cloud swallowed the storm glaive with a crunch and Rowan was racked with waves of pain, but once more a wave of soul force blasted out that alarmed the spider queen. "Monarch, stop him!" The monarch vanished and appeared next to Rowan and attacked with all of his might, but before it could connect, Alric came flying past and grabbed the monarch with his mighty jaws and flung him into the distance. Some of his wounds had healed, but he was still not in good enough shape to fight fully. Rowan nodded at Alaric, who responded in his much deeper, draconic voice. "Go on Rowan Raid. Let me see the final step of your path as you make history."

The infinity cloud had begun to almost bubble; it was breaking down because it was unbalanced, something Rowan had suspected because the storm giant was doing the same, he had to make the final step or risk losing everything he had worked for. Empry had appeared in silence and watched everything unfold while silently praying for Rowan's success.

Rowan knew he was ready as he used soul manipulation on himself and shattered all of the souls and turned them into excess mana the two joined aspects of his cultivation. Then in front of everyone they all stepped into Rowan and before long a blinding flash of light blinded everyone to the result of what had happened with Rowan Raid on his path to godhood.