Re: Timeless Apocalypse

Uriel continued to observe, quietly.

He threw more and more beasts at Samael, varying in their types, elements, and abilities. He didn’t give him any moment of rest and only subtly helped him replenish his core.

The sun had begun to rise over the horizon, and its plumes of golden light slowly made their way into the bloody arena.

By now, Uriel could say he understood Wills. Not perfectly, in all evidence, but well enough.

’Elemental Wills let you easily wield Laws of the runic fabric, and Living Wills let you wield Laws of primordial energetic fabric. As expected.’

He nodded to himself. ’It just is the pinnacle of magic and martial arts, in a sense. With my Spirits, I should have access to both, but I don’t have any Living Wills yet.’

’But what dictates the extent of Laws you can wield, though?’

From the Wolf Will, he could see Samael had gained access to laws that made him able to regenerate extremely fast, have enhanced battle sense, and possess ridiculous stamina.

It was all over the place.

’His Element probably is filling in the gaps. But for normal individuals, they’d probably have to study the Will, and thus by proxy the Laws.’

He paused. ’Maybe that is how normal people comprehend Laws to begin with. They gain Wills, then through these Wills comprehend Laws.’

’But I have Spirits. And I have my own independent fabrics, so I wonder how that’ll work out. Once I grasp a Living Will, it should reveal itself.’

He ran a hand through his hair, then sighed. ’I’ll figure that out later.’

He refocused on Samael and immediately frowned. In truth, most of the time the boy had been battling, he’d been more focused on comprehending Wills than checking on his progress.

But now that he did...

’He’s making decent progress.’

He looked at the mantle of thick ashen aura that had grown much more complex over the last few hours.

’But he’s all over the place. He still doesn’t understand his spark, and he still is limited to Wolf Will.’

Uriel paused, then his thoughts ran to something else entirely.

’My own Will, in relation to Living and Elemental Wills, probably is a way, a funnel, through which I can impose my Will, my Law, onto the world.’

He thought back to Korynth. ’So that thing she did with her domain was most likely her expressing her "Law". So I’ll have to learn how...’

His thoughts shifted without order or pattern, and he didn’t even notice that his sparks activated, something that happened more and more often as of late.

His rose pupils glowed with a resplendent light.

’...that must be it. He’s using his Mirror Element wrong, and for as long as he holds onto that Wolf Will, he’ll be a cripple.’

Uriel sucked his teeth and exhaled a foggy breath, his churning thoughts having caused his body to overheat.

He didn’t pay much attention to it, though.

This was his fault.

’If I had been paying attention, I could have stopped it before his Will was corrupted by the Wolf Will.’

What was happening to Samael was what had almost happened to Uriel after his runic scar was broken, with the Hounds trying to take over him.

The difference, though, was that the Wolf Will wasn’t directly harming Samael, but it laid a foundation that, in the future, would cripple him.

Though this was all just speculation from Uriel’s understanding of Law and Will, he was sure of it.

In Ascendance, Will and Law had to be the next great steps toward Godhood, and Samael had just crippled himself.

’I’ll fix it.’

It seemed he’d help someone else forge a Path today.

...

Samael was covered in blood. And on his face, nothing but cold could be seen, his orange eyes having lost most of their warmth and edging more toward regal gold.

Merely standing there, his presence bloomed in earnest, bloody and savage, each kill somehow tripling the size of his core—yet another boon of Wolf Will.

Silvery aether of blinding radiance formed a mantle over his form, across which bloody wolves danced; across his skin, into his flesh, and through his veins.

’I feel strong.’

The little arena was now nothing but blood, gore, and corpses. He’d lost count of the number of beasts he’d killed.

He lost count of the hours. Even as the sun rose, he didn’t know if it had been a day or a month.

All he wanted was for the next opponent to appear.

BANG!

And thus it did.

"What?"

Uriel stood across from him, smiling with his hands clasped behind his back. He eyed him silently.

The confusion brewing in Samael’s heart infuriated him more than anything. "What the hell are you doing? Where’s the next beast?"

Uriel studied his expression. The tone Samael had used echoed in his mind, and rather than lashing out, his smile widened.

"There is no other beast. I’ll be your next opponent."

Samael’s cold expression broke, twisting into a savage frown. "In what world is that fair? You’re a Magus with years of experience over me and mastery over all your abilities."

"How is that going to help me grow?"

Uriel chuckled. "I’ve only been an ascendant for two months, Samael. I’m an F-Ranker."

Samael’s eyes widened.

"But don’t worry, even with that, it still remains unfair. I’ll seal all my bodily power. I won’t use any of my cores, magic, martial arts, or complex techniques."

"None of my talents, traits, or characteristics. Nothing. I’ll only use Iron-grade atmospheric aether. Does that sound fair?"

Uriel’s smile oozed something deeper and more vicious than mere pride. It stank of...

’Contempt.’

No, it was even deeper. It was a lack of consideration, as if not even causality or fate could change the outcome he had already set to pass.

He would win, regardless of the odds.

Samael took a step back, feeling the faintest edges of Uriel’s Will, and unbeknownst to the latter, Samael saw a gigantic projection appear in his mind.

The projection of a serpent biting its own tail.

The Ouroboros.

It loomed over his thoughts, memories, mind, and soul like the highest of Gods and Truths, like the most primordial essence of creation and existence.

And from it, he could feel a Will that entirely disregarded his existence, that voided his freedom, that severed his willpower and crushed his heart.

It stood above Fate, for even fate became meaningless in front of the tide of its spin.

It was supreme, divine, infinite, endless—chaos, heaven—it was all that was beyond comprehension.

It was God.

"STOP!" Samael roared with madness, the Wolf Will within him, which had nearly shattered, roaring alongside him and shielding his mind.

Uriel observed the scene with a tinge of confusion.

What had just happened?

"Fine." Samael’s voice was laced with venomous hate and desire.

But it was hard to say if that hate was aimed at the Ouroboros or at Uriel. And it was even harder to say if the two were one, or different entities to begin with.

Regardless, he didn’t care.

All that Samael wanted to do was rid himself of the feeling that had sunk into his bones, that false truth that decreed his freedom was worthless.

"Let’s start!" he barked out, flicking his blade, then getting into stance.

Uriel sighed. ’In just a couple of hours, the Wolf Will has consumed so much of him.’

’No, maybe not actually. Maybe it simply is letting his truest self explode forth, letting all his pent-up rage surge.’

He shook his head. ’But that still means he’s losing control.’

’That’s dangerous.’