Of Gods and Insectoids (Part 3)

Rowan stood there radiating a type of might that made even Wreathe take a step back as she realized why her father had pointed out just how special Rowan was. He was an existence on a level that others had to look up to because of his talent, and now that he had stepped into the ranks of primordials; he was on a new playing field. He let his soul force bubble out and relished in the feeling of his newfound power as he flicked his wrist and held the sword gem in it. He looked at it and sucked at his teeth. "This needs two more ingredients and then it will be perfect."

Wreathe looked at him confused, but he only smiled back at her. "If you don't mind, Wreathe, I would like to finish this myself. She was about to speak up and point at that, since he had just broken through. It may be a poor idea, but she thought better of it and appeared next to Empry with her dragon in tow. She flicked her finger and Alaric, who was panting heavily, landed next to her on the asteroid while the monarch joined the spider queen, who was having a face off with Rowan. Rowan, on the other hand, smiled and pressed on the gem, and the blade appeared once more. Mana started to gather towards his feet while a steady whir could be heard in the area. Rowan had activated storm steps and vanished in the same instant.

There was a sound of flesh being pierced and the Spider queen turned in slow motion towards the sound to see the monarch with Rowan's blade protruding from his chest. The blade seemed like a greedy beast as even the drops of blood that had flown from the monarch's body were called back to the blade as Rowan executed soul manipulation, with the blade as an extension of himself. The blade began to undergo changes as the monarch was absorbed into it. The blade looked like it was a piece of stained glass depicting the image of a battle between a starry knight on the back of a dragon and the monarch.

The monarch vanished, and the queen was able to feel the true weight of the being that had appeared next to her in the darkness of space. They both stood still, seeming to not want to make the first move when the whirring sound echoed once more than Rowan's sword soul affected the blade in his hand once more. He swept the blade to the left like it was nothing more than a practice swing, but space trembled where the blade passed and a storm gathered between the whirring bits of the chainsaw soul seed. The edge of the blade carried more than twelve different storms as the blade approached the Queen.

The spider queen blanched and her axe became golden as she inhaled and pulled all her strands back to herself before blowing them towards the sword that was eclipsing her vision. The thread met the blade, and the threads shattered, sliced into pieces before they could stop the blade's momentum. She grimaced once more and spat a wave of venom, which shattered one of the storms hidden in the blade and weakened Rowan's attack. She then spat both venom and golden strings onto her ax and slammed it forward. Space fractured around the meeting of the two weapons and a dragon head made of water splashed forth from the blade and tried to tear at her throat, forcing her to use her mouth as a weapon to destroy it. She pulled her arms back and slammed the axe into the sword, each time forcing herself backwards and causing the effort to cause fluorescent green blood to spill from her hands as she struggled to hold on to her axe.

Regius was no idiot. He had chosen the insectoids for 2 reasons, but both reasons led back to the same thing. The ark was the absolute bane of the insectoid race. They had ruled a portion of the Myriad Realms this long because of the fact that they could replicate as fast as they did and, once established, it was simple for them to become a fearsome force. The two reasons that made Regius decide on this route was because in one-on-one combat they were extremely weak and because of the fact that most of the experts of the Ark were used to fighting waves of enemies while they also polished themselves within Regius arena in combat against a single opponent. The second reason was because Regius had decided that within the Ark, the insectoids had already reached the limits of their racial in the creation of the zombie race. So in totality, the use of the insectoids had reached its conclusion, making them the perfect targets.

Rowan was mobilizing soul force on a level that was equal to the way he wielded mana previously. He realized that while he had created soul force before this point, its potency was nowhere near what it was now. All of his previous soul force had transformed into a single drop, just like his master had told him. At the primordial rank his mana control was so so fine that a single drop of soul force could be split into parts by the millionth to execute attacks that were previously out of his range and destructive beyond what he thought possible. His fights seemed like they had stayed at the same level but truthfully the destruction that had been wrought throughout the battle had been monumental just in this battle. He had finally started to fight the spider queen as he got used to his new power and the realization of his godhood.

Regius had told Rowan that a primordial's godhood would become the basis of the final of their rank due to the fact that after a godhood was established, the purification of soul force would reach a point that mana itself would exist differently in front of them. Regius had built his godhood on his ability to devour, while Rowan had built his godhood supported by what he called the four pillars of mana cultivation. Soul, Body, Laws, and weapon attainment. His godhood was incomparably solid and, even with just a single drop of soul force, was able to fight a being at the level of the spider queen. Rowan also had to acknowledge another fact that his master had told him, which was that despite giving birth to primordials. The insectoids were the weakest force in the myriad realms. It was a fact that Rowan acknowledged and understood so that he would not grow complacent.

Many years ago, the spider queen had been capable of destroying the Ark but now it had grown to a point where a denizen of the Ark was close to slaying her. Rowan and the spider queen's battle continued, and she accumulated wound after wound while every stroke of his sword also attacked her soul and threatened to collapse her entire being. After several hours, Rowan stood with his sword held over the spider queen's heart and a brilliant smile on his face. "In the history of my master's planet, there is a special way to rear a lethal insect. You take a jar and throw in the most poisonous insects and in the end the final insect left will be left with such a lethal poison that its previous state is incomparable to what it was now. It was a forced evolution of lethality. That's why you will always be remembered in this blade. I shall name it the Gu blade and its blade will depict the fall of your race."

The spider queen tried to struggle and stop what was happening, but she was no longer in a state where she could stop Rowan, who slowly pushed the sword through her chest and allowed soul manipulation to compress a second primordial into this blade. The process was longer, and she yelled and screamed and batted at Rowan, to no effect. While this was happening, Wreathe and Empry stared at the event with solemn looks on their faces. Wreathe turned and looked at Empry, who could not look more proud if he tried. "This is the end of an Era and the start of a new one. When we set foot in the Myriad realms, they were so daunting that father could only run from them. Now their most powerful primordial just fell before a boy no younger than my father was when he became a god. How Scary." Empry could only shake his head though as his awe was even more different. His flawed system had helped give birth to Rowan and even while he had mainly abandoned it and just used the status screen, without a doubt Rowan was the ultimate product of the Empyrean system.

Empry padded Wreathe on the back and spoke in the scholarly tone that he was known for. "It's more than scary. It has taken the Ark a little over 300 years to give birth to its first primordial, proving that your father was right all along. He has created a haven for cultivation that evolves as he does, allowing the rise of beings that can threaten him. You see it as scary because of how much power Rowan just displayed but I think that even greater than that is the fact that from this moment forth, the Ark does not have just a singular voice, with the rise of a second primordial our world is going to start to rapidly shift into an unprecedented age. Your father may have been the heart and soul of the Ark, but Rowan Raid represents a new age in cultivation entirely. A godhood formed from the parts of cultivation that even your father neglected for most of his cultivation. It is why he built his godhood purely on his devouring. If your father was not blessed with the creation attunement, his life would have gone much differently, but I digress."

Rowan, on the other hand, finally absorbed the spider queen into the blade and the stained glass gained a final scene on the tip of the blade. It was a shining Rowan, piercing the sword through the spider queen. He slowly deactivated his battle state and used the armament spell. He adorned himself in normal clothes, as he no longer looked the same even beneath his shirt; purple lines of power could be seen running along his skin and all flowing into the purple gold ring that now adorned his chest. He was in a state where he was absorbing massive amounts of mana as he tried to create more soul force for himself. He alighted in front of Empry and Wreathe and Alaric as he looked at the dragon and gently tapped his scales. Purple mana ran along his body and healed his wounds. Rowan had created a life storm in his fingertip and used the life mana to heal his wounds faster than they would have on their own, while he also purged the soul force left by their enemies. He looked at the dragon, who stood facing him with respect in his eyes. Rowan's voice seemed to have gained a magnetic quality as everyone focused the moment he began to speak.

"I was only going to be with the unit until I became a god and my master expected it to take longer than this but, I will remain in the military by my master's side and wanted to offer you the opportunity to be my second. Alaric reverted to his human appearance and bowed to Rowan. "It would be my pleasure to serve by the side of the god of…" He trailed off because he did not know what to say, but Empry smiled. "They call your master the god king. The first primordial that created the Ark and gave them a new opportunity, but now there is another god. Your master has already conveyed your title to me and now that you have reached the primordial rank, it is yours truly. The ark welcomes Rowan Raid, the God of War."

Rowan smiled as Empry smiled back because he knew that his master had realized something and while his exact plan may be known to only him, his master had an inkling of his plans for the future. Rowan could only shake his head. How much of his path had his master used his secret seers to foretell, actually? Rowan looked at the group. "Come, let's return to the main army. It is time to end this war." Empry bristled on the side as they all alighted, and Rowan dragged them along as he sped into the distance faster than any of them were capable. While they traveled, Empry made sure only Rowan could hear him. "Young master, I was wondering if you could confirm something. Master Regius once said that when you establish godhood you give rise to a special ability something that will set you apart from a primordial, your masters was the evolution of his devouring and the ability for his creations to feed the power they gained back into him.

Rowan nodded his head, "I have indeed awoken a special ability from my godhood but Right now I can not particularly take advantage of it but you will see it with the rest of the Ark when me and Master fight once more." Wreathe's interest piqued at this. "Rowan, are you planning on fighting father again?" Rowan nodded his head. "The Ark must be shown that it is indeed possible to reach his level, even if by other means. If the ark is going to accept me as its second god, then I must prove to them that I am worthy of it. Your father inspired the ark through fear originally, but I am not him. I want to show them that with courage, they too can strive to be gods, even if the one that stands at the top is a being as mighty as Regius Lowe.