Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 188: Spiritual Law
The ruby crystal boulder shook, shuddered, then shattered, its bits and pieces flying in all directions as a smoke cloud of red surged from it.
A loud roar rang out just as a deep aether presence wafted forth, and a titanic amount of chaotic water aether exploded outward.
Uriel immediately summoned his Elemental Mantle and Simple Domain, protecting himself from the avalanche of water aether.
He’d seen firsthand, long ago, just how terrifying water aether could be.
’Is that...’
Harsh winds buffeted against his body, and he was pushed back, forced to cover his face with an arm as he squinted, trying to catch sight of what had been summoned.
BANG!
’...a beast?’
The red smoke cleared, revealing a large creature looming in the distance.
The beast was serpentine in nature, its body long and coiled, floating in the air even without wings, its form made of a bloody mass encased in dark amethyst scales.
It was hard to say if the creature was liquid in nature or something else, though its blood affinity was evident.
Across its amethyst scales, faces of different humans could be seen—from children to men to women of all colours, ages, and sizes; it was as though the beast’s body was a canvas for humanity.
Its large reptilian head bore two bloody red pupils, the slits within them sharp and full of madness as it awoke from its long slumber.
The creature coiled and twisted in the air, its speed staggering, its hiss emerging as a gentle stream that still echoed like a mighty roar.
Uriel’s expression hardened, and his hold over his glaive tightened. He observed the beast, then looked at the veiled warrior standing beneath it.
Another one that had somehow appeared without him being able to sense it.
"Grrr...!" Emrys stood beside him, staring at the beast with his hairs on end, sensing incredible danger from it.
Thankfully, after seeing what Uriel’s warrior had done, he’d been able to defeat his own before it could awaken any beast from the boulders.
He simply swallowed it.
"Go for the veiled warrior. I’ll take care of the beast. Be as silent and fast as possible."
No more words were uttered, and they both vanished.
...
Uriel closed in on the serpentine beast in what felt like a blink, instantly activating one of the Broken Fang of Hate’s enchantments, [Wrath-Bound Sacrifice].
...
>Enchantment: Wrath-Bound Sacrifice {Gold}
~>Details: A Dragon’s magic, without a heart to anchor it, becomes twisted, and in turn, so do the laws of equivalence.
• By burning aether, massively enhance your physical might; by burning blood, temporarily gain power beyond your rank and realm.
• All borrowed power comes at a cost.
...
Silver steam rose from Uriel’s body as he burned droves of orderly aether, and his strength surged. Runes lined across his flesh as he multiplied his power a dozen times over and came slashing down.
Upon sensing the aura of his glaive, though, the blood serpent had a completely different reaction. The madness in its eyes faded, replaced by perfect clarity.
Then, that clarity became suffused with wrath.
"...traitor...!"
WHOOSH!
Uriel’s blade passed through the serpent’s body as if it were intangible. Shocked, he couldn’t even react when the serpent suddenly moved and surged, coiling around his body and tightly constricting him.
The scales across its body shuddered, and suddenly, all of them reflected Uriel’s face.
"TRAITOR!"
It roared directly into his face, their noses practically touching as Uriel helplessly found himself immobilised.
What he found stranger, though, was that he could hear the creature hiss yet still understand it clearly, as if it spoke a humanoid tongue.
HAH!
His thoughts were cut short.
Uriel’s reflections across the blood serpent’s body suddenly began to roar and scream, crying tears of blood as wails sharp enough to pierce the soul escaped from them.
And in turn...
"ARGHHHHH!"
...so did Uriel.
Uriel felt his broken runic scar suddenly stir—not to help him as it usually did, but to deepen the pain. It burned brightly in his chest, the agony beyond words.
Rather than becoming a vessel for his Will, his broken runic scar became a vessel for his Sin, a process facilitated by the serpent’s mental assault.
Worse still, deep within him, Uriel could feel countless Wills suddenly surge to life, finally given a chance to ravage his mind—from the Will of the Hounds to the Wills he’d accepted by opening the golden gate.
They ravaged and tore at his mind.
It seemed his runic scar held far more of him together than he’d ever been able to fathom.
Chaotic emotions exploded in his heart just as a broken collage of memories flashed across his gaze—from his execution to the long years in prison to the darkest moment of his life.
It all erupted in his mind at once.
"...!"
Seeing the sheer agony written across Uriel’s face brought the sweetest and most tender forms of joy to the serpent. Its bestial smile was eerie, its cackles reverberating deep within his mind.
Its body tightened even more around Uriel, unable to harm his flesh yet assaulting his very mind and soul, stabbing without end and mutilating the very core of his consciousness and spirituality.
But then suddenly...
"Quiet down."
...it all stopped.
Uriel stopped screaming, and his gaze regained clarity and focus.
It was as he’d found out.
Runes were laws. But runes could also be expressions of one’s will and intent made true, made law.
His runic scar was no different.
It was a Spiritual Law he’d formed using his spark in a fit of anger and wrath. It was a guideline for his soul and mind he’d made with no care or regard.
Its powers were mysterious and numerous, deep in a way he hadn’t been able to understand until he grasped runic fabrics and the maestro seed—but still, it was the product of juvenile idiocy.
In fact, Uriel was sure that it limited him more than anything. Now that it was gone, though he was plunged into spiritual chaos, he was free.
But this wasn’t the point.
The point was that Uriel could easily remake his runic scar if he so wished—a thousand times greater than it had once been.
But he wouldn’t. He’d reform it soon, but it would be in such a grand fashion that no one would ever be able to shatter it, not even his future or past divine self.
It would be a law none could ever break.
"...!"
The serpent’s eyes widened.
If Uriel could easily recreate the runic scar—the spiritual law—who said he could only do so on himself?
Who said he couldn’t do it on another?
"NO!"
The serpent roared, but it was too late.
