Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 158: Primordial Dance(III): Will and Instinct

The three points of light were incredibly small, so small they may have been even smaller than specks of dust, and yet somehow their star-like radiance remained all the same, blinding and pure.

The three dots of light were of beautiful silvers and ivory, underlined by soft violets and deep rose hues; one point was more silver than it was rose-violet, another was more rose-violet than it was silver, and the other a perfect balance of all colours.

For what seemed like an eternity, the trinity of light remained unmoving within his solar plexus, as still as time itself seemed to be on the outside.

But then...

WHOOOOSH!

...the trinity spun.

At first their rotations were slow, methodical, and inconsequential, but in what felt like a blink, the three points had begun to spin at speeds beyond perception.

A massive suction force bloomed from Uriel’s belly and, in an instant, his body shattered, bursting into shards of glass-like debris and splattering blood and organs.

His remains were rapidly turned to ashes, torn apart and burnt by the chaotic storm raging around him, all that remained of him being the three points of radiant light.

They continued to spin.

"..."

Chaotic aether, orderly aether, and neutral aether streamed in, so thick it formed a radiant sea of colours around the three cores, stark against the dark storm raging and the pouring rain.

Elemental aether was sucked in as well, all greedily devoured by the three points of light.

And then, as if a threshold had suddenly been met, the points of light shook, then began to spit out thick filaments of light that rapidly weaved across the air.

They weaved to form bones, veins, organs, flesh, blood—a body.

Tall and slender, with skin as white as snow, covered in faintly shimmering archaic runes of violet, rose, and ivory gold.

Mid-length wavy white hair danced in the winds, complemented by pure white lashes and brows, sharp and clean, perfectly fitting onto a sharp, angular, androgynous face.

Uriel madly grinned before his eyes even reformed, his jaw unhinging to let out a wild laugh that boomed across the collapsing desert.

"I love gambling!"

His eyes snapped open, the glee overflowing within them evident, their lustre having gone from a bleak and pure ivory to a very light shade of rose-pink.

His aura, once a simple silver, shattered—peeling away its lifelessness to bloom into a brilliant rose pink, his elements following and blooming around him in towering braided vines, clouds of dark fog, and arcs of golden light.

His elements danced around him, his presence only deepening by the second, and his runic scar burned brightly on his chest just as his Ouroboros tattoo returned on his back.

He laughed.

"Hahaha!"

And the moment the three points of light, his three new cores, sensed his body had reformed, more powerful and solid than it had ever been, they finally let loose.

Their suction force became so mighty space itself bent, strength and energy continuing to pour into Uriel as, from mere points of amorphous light, the points began to grow.

’This is an opportunity!’

Uriel immediately closed his eyes, focusing on his growing cores.

If he played his cards right and properly observed his cores reforming and growing, he’d be able to gain insight into his path, class, frames, and elements as they reformed.

He’d be able to perfectly understand them.

And if he pushed further, he might even have the chance to deepen his understanding of not only resonance, but the two other paths the system had mentioned—dissonance and harmony.

The risk he took had paid off and turned out to be a gift that kept giving.

...

The white-furred Fox came to a stop hundreds upon hundreds of miles away from Uriel, having long since left, even before it had all exploded.

It was so far away even the chaotic storm and explosions of Uriel’s madness couldn’t reach it.

The winds were soft against its thick yet soaked fur, rain still pelting across its frame.

Standing on the icy ground, heaving for air after having burnt all its energy to escape, all it did was turn around and stare ahead, towards where it had just been—towards where Uriel was.

"Huff...huff...huff..."

The Fox’s bestial eyes slowly narrowed, a savage growl creeping up its throat and escaping its maw. Its body shook and rippled, hairs standing on end and teeth grinding.

Will and instinct clashed fiercely within its mind; the latter roaring to run away, and the former screaming to surge back into the danger.

Part of it saw all it had gained from him and felt nothing but satisfaction.

As Uriel had guessed, the beast had a Spark with an essence rooted in adaptive evolution, a form of growth specifically axed towards consumption.

Not only that, its Spark had the strange boon of allowing it to sense what were or weren’t prime opportunities for its growth and evolution.

Just by looking at another creature, material, or area, it could tell how beneficial or harmful the subject in question would be to it.

In its relatively short life, the Fox had never seen a subject that stirred its Spark as much as Uriel did. It had never seen food so appealing.

Merely licking his blood had allowed its previously simple and primitive bestial mind to break through, growing to that of a grown awakener’s.

Its body had suddenly become as sturdy and unbreakable as diamond, and even its miraculous healing had suddenly appeared, a trait it had birthed from him.

Even its monstrous aether talent was something it had gotten from him; its elements, bodily maturation, and so much more had bloomed in a single day.

It had gained all of that while being a mere G-Rank Beast, one that hadn’t even undergone its first major evolution—and now, suddenly, it could face off against a Pioneer.

To say the Fox had profited would be an understatement, and the ancestral instincts deeply etched into its blood screamed at the beast to rein in its greed and simply retreat before it overstepped.

The smart choice was to leave.

But another part of the beast dreamed of more... if it could just get a taste of his heart, if it could just devour him whole... heaven might not be so far anymore.

It had gained this much just by licking his dried blood. What else could it gain if it ate his entire body? It had acquired so many techniques by battling him, what else could it acquire by devouring his brain?

But more than that...

"Hahaha!"

The Fox heard Uriel’s booming laughter, feeling his runic scar through it, feeling his soul, deeply feeling the burning flame of his will and heart.

It felt the pure rush of euphoria and jubilation coursing through his veins as he conquered death once again and grew in power.

Even from this far, the fox could feel his growing aura.

Every echo of his cocky and triumphant laughter banged against the walls of its head, lacerating its pride, and every boom of his aura tore more and more of its soul.

The beast found itself trembling, menacingly growling, eyes reddening and overflowing with madness as its mouth foamed with rage and it barely managed to hold itself back.

["We either both die or be reborn greater than we ever were."]

The Fox snapped.

WHOOOSH!

It exploded forward, bridging hundreds of miles in a handful of breaths, uncaring for the damage its body sustained as it tore into the chaos and storm.

"GRAHH!"

A loud roar, unlike anything a fox should have been able to produce, tore out of its maw, lightning and emerald winds gathering around its body just as it summoned its Simple domain and mantle.

"KIHHHH!"

Its loud roar strained and became a piercing shriek, its gaze burning even as wounds accumulated on its body and its once beautiful white fur became soaked in blood, turning to a bloody crimson.

BOOOOM!

A thick pillar of lightning fell from the pouring skies, hammering into the creature, throwing it off its feet and sending it flying backwards.

Thick shards of ice dug into its flesh, giving way for the sand to enter its bloodstream and throw its inner balance into utter disarray.

SHII!

The Fox flipped onto all fours, then used its claws to slide to a stop, not even bothering to heal before it burst forward once more.

"KIIIHHHHHHHHH!"

It could feel Uriel’s heart. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

And it hoped he could feel its own.

It—no, he—the young fox, could see himself in Uriel: the burning desire to be great, to indulge in all desires without restraint, to spread his wings and fly without care for the earth he may fall to, and to burn without ever extinguishing.

To constantly climb, to constantly grow and surpass.

It could feel it all within Uriel.

And he could feel it all within his own heart.

"KIHHHHH!"

The Fox bore an expression that, for a beast, would be the closest thing to a grin—his tongue hanging and flapping in the air as he let out hyena-like, deranged giggles.

He ran through seas of chaotic, orderly, and neutral aether, letting it enter and exit his body without any care, his gaze entirely focused on the eye of the storm where he could vaguely begin to see Uriel’s figure.

The closer he got, the more imposing the man’s aura became.

And the more imposing his aura became, the more excited he too grew.

TOH! TOH! TOH!

Pop after pop echoed—his Simple domain shattering first, followed by his mantle, and completed by his flesh and fur tearing beneath the strain.

And there, pushed to his absolute limits, the fox felt his Spark roar to life and his core... shatter.

BOOM!

Another explosion rang across the desert.