The Primordial Record

"Three Mississippi…"

The moment Rowan stepped through the gate of the Divine Kingdom, Lady, and Envy appeared in both his left and right hands, he allocated forty percent of his Aether to Knowledge Well and reality slowed to a crawl, and the air became like metal.

Every move of his body made an unpleasant metallic grinding sound, and he could not even hear them yet, for sound was too slow.

However, he could "see" the sounds his body was making with that step, and he could taste reality as it broke apart beneath his tread as his Empyrean sense expanded until it stretched for miles around him.

He left red trails behind him, as the very particles in the air combusted due to the sheer friction he was generating because he was moving through them so fast.

With his second step, he activated Eruption at forty percent, and cracks began to slowly form all around his body, but in this new state of reality that had slowed to a crawl in his perception, the cracks would take forever to form, but the pain he was experiencing was astonishing.

It was like placing a burning match stick into your eyes, and leaving them there to slowly roast it, multiply that pain by a thousand times and then stretch it out as if it would go on forever. This pain only made the light of determination burn brighter in his eyes.

He spoke, "looking for me?" and he watched with rapt fascination as his words followed behind him, moving faster than sound because they were backed by his Empyrean might yet still slower than his body was moving.

With his third step, he activated Astrolabe and vanished with a bright flash of white light, leaving his words behind to furiously pursue him.

This was not the first time Rowan had been using the Astrolabe to move around, but due to the ridiculous speed it had, he had only used it to cross the void of space and at that time it had been instantaneous.

Now he would be doing something similar, but this time he would be using it as a method of attack. Rowan was familiar with using the Dash technique from his Berserker Aspects, which made him move so fast that in a short range it appeared similar to teleportation.

But against someone like Fury, that would not work, because no matter how fast Berserker moved him, the path was usually linear, and it left traces that a man with an impressive Spirit like Fury would be able to see as bright as a burning flame.

Astrolabe left no fluctuations or any signs of its passage through space, and Rowan had been able to penetrate the ground and mountains with it and transport items and people without leaving any traces behind.

He saw the eyes of Fury widen in surprise as the countless Spirit beings he made to resemble his clothes detected Rowan beside him, his words reached Fury's ears just before Rowan buried Envy in his chest, driving him from the air to slam into the ground.

Rowan used Astrolabe to follow his descent, and before Fury reached the ground, he had already attacked him on the chest thirty-five times. With each hit, Fury's body went down faster, and he before he had dropped beyond a hundred meters, his falling body was already moving past Mach five.

The Axe Head of Envy was glowing red-hot, as this attack had only occurred under a fraction of a second, and even with Rowan's constitution, his body was beginning to fall apart.

With the amount of force Rowan was unleashing on Fury, the ground that was about to meet them was no obstacle at all, as it could as well be made of air, and they penetrated through it until they both slammed into the barrier of space at the edge of the Divine Kingdom.

"Four Mississippi… " Everything that occurred from Rowan crossing the gate of the Divine Kingdom until he attacked Fury all took a grand total of a single second.

A few moments passed, and the full effects of Rowan's offensive actions seemed to occur at once, as everything exploded.

The sound of Rowan unleashing all that blow on Fury coupled with the amount of strength he placed into it was now able to manifest itself, and it swept through the Divine Kingdom and out into the world with a speed that surpasses the known transmission rate of sound itself.

Even the people gathered in the convoy on another Continent had to close their ears and scream in pain when the apocalyptic sounds reached them. This was the battle between godlike beings, and it effects were far-reaching and long-lasting.

The destruction to the Divine Kingdom from that blow was surprisingly minimal, except for the long tunnel that was created as Rowan and Fury disappeared into the ground, there was not much destruction around, this was because Rowan had begun incorporating the methods Erohim used when battling him. He still had much to learn but he was getting better at it.

Rowan stood on Fury's chest and raised Envy up for another round of blow, but the air congealed around him as if it was made from syrup, Knowledge Well screamed a warning and then the world turned to a shade of white and orange, and then the pain began like a wave, his Knowledge Well informed him that Fury just exploded three Spiritual Beings at the Third Circle around his body.

A pillar of flame had been created around him from that blast, so hot, it began melting the barriers of space around the Divine Kingdom.

Rowan growled, "I am getting sick of these fu*king flames."

His skin has been vaporized, but compared to the final flames used by Erohim… This was not enough.

Fury picked himself up and dusted the small dust on his shoulders, his clothes were still spotless and he looked down at his chest and frowned. There was a long cut that tore through his robes, and he watched as seven layers of Spirit beings at the third circle faded away into nothingness.

Fury nodded to himself, "Now that's ridiculous, how…"

A screaming Axe emerged from the pillar of flame in front of him, and reburied itself in his chest, slamming him again into the barrier of space.