The Primordial Record

?Rowan’s army was so massive that a mortal could spend his entire life walking past their seemingly endless rows and he would not be able to see more than ten percent of the entirety, especially for the Spirits and beasts like Vraegar who were so massive they were the size of worlds. Only a battlefield that could cover light years across could hold this army.

When Eva had sent Tenma to attack the demons, she had begun posting everyone to different positions, different members in the army all had their strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes the best way to employ them effectively was at specific places and moments, and she would ensure that everyone here performed to the best of their abilities.

With the surprising descent of their enemies into the home field all those plans had to be scrapped, a unified front was better than one that was scattered, especially when their enemies already filled up a greater portion of the battlefield, with a gesture she drew back everyone from where she had sent them to encircle the growing city of Sheol.

They stood like an unbreakable wall around his city, their faces were hard and their eyes were sharp, none of them felt despair, only the crazy will to battle until none of their enemies were left, and the invading army gave them nothing but endless motivation.

Although the invading army did not attack, they began to encircle them, and now it was clear that a majority of their numbers were not demons, mages, or gods, they were beasts.

Rowan could see the similarities between these beasts and the ones from the Eye of the Primordial of Evil, but unlike the living beasts there, these were dead. Massive wounds that rent their flesh to the bones adorned their bodies, but they had been fused together in a garish manner that made the beasts even in death feel pain.

He could see the fruits of the Abominations in the body of these beasts, the experiments with Lamia had borne fruits for the Third Prince, he must have used the essence of the Abomination to create an army that could flood multiple universes, and with the virulence of an unstoppable plague, every person that fell to these beasts would rise as one of them, an unending army of the dead.

The Third Prince must have realized Rowan could harvest souls from his enemies and made sure that the bulk of the attackers had no souls they could give him. He had created the perfect weapon to counter Rowan, an army of the dead that could only grow stronger during battle.

The mages, demons, and gods stayed at the back, allowing an unending mass of flesh to crash down on Rowan’s position. The Third Prince, Demon Princes, Archmages, and God Kings stayed behind, whatever deal had been struck between them must have been strong enough that they chose to work together as one.

They were assured of their victory, they only needed to wait and observe as the endless tides of beasts washed out the opposition and they would mop up what was left.

The riches of this unknown dimension were theirs to take.

?

Eva’s memory had not fully returned to her but she felt she had stood here before, countless times in the past as an unending flood of enemies poured down on her fortification. Especially towards the end of her life, where nothing was left but endless losing battles, as she fought to survive not just to the next day, a prospect that seemed almost impossible sometimes, but to the next minute.

Yes, she had stood here before and weathered the gaze of a thousand stronger foes as they called for her blood and the blood of all that she held dear.

The Lady of Shadows did not need to sleep, but sometimes when she closed her eyes in contemplation, she heard a voice, a sound that had plagued her since the moment she gave birth to her Will, that voice had always been inside her head but she could not hear it clearly, but as she returned to her previous heights of power, it came more clearly, not everything, but enough that she could sense the Will of the speaker,

Eve! True daughter of Old Light thou art!

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.

Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,

Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?

That voice was the last thing she heard before she died, taunting her ambitions, and shattering her dreams. The voice seemed to merge with those coming from the Third Prince. His taunting voice was a reminder of her death.

She must have given an outward sign of the turmoil in her heart for Circe looked at her in concern, and Eva nodded at her and then she smiled because she was unexpectedly happy as a realization came to her.

Eva gained her Will two decades ago, and since then she had been tortured by this voice, but now, the Third Prince had given her a venue to channel all the rage and frustration that had been building inside her all this time.

It was difficult sometimes to remember that she was not alone anymore, and the entity she served was not one to be looked down upon. Rowan was extremely dangerous when he was nothing but a mortal, he had several powerful gifts that he could not unleash due to the frailties of his flesh, what more now that he was Immortal his gifts had grown to heights unseen since the beginning of creation.

She could sense the Will of Rowan, it was strong and steady, and he was not afraid or panicking, it was a cold and calculating presence that filled her heart with strength, she could feel that above everything else he wanted to kill this creature whose face was a mockery of his own, and in an instant, everything aligned in her consciousness, and the Lady of Shadows gave Rowan’s response for the entire battlefield to hear,

“Reaper!”

A cold voice replied, “Your command my lady.”

“Hold them back for as long as you can.”

The old voice burst into laughter that could be heard throughout the entire dimension,

“All that entered your dominion shall die, my lady.”

Eva had noticed that although the Third Prince had entered into their Dimension with fanfare, it did not come without a cost. From all outward appearances, they were filled with exuberance, as if their victory was assured, but was it that easy to teleport into Rowan’s dimension without any repercussions?

Admittedly the holes pocked into his dimension by the vortices must have gone a long way to alleviate the incredible strain that must have occurred when they teleported in, but the effects must still be wearing down on them.

The Third Prince had truly picked the right army to counter Rowan, the strain of teleporting into this dimension was useless against the dead, but Eva saw the opportunity here and would not miss it.

The Akashic Trells gave out haunting howls that although could not be heard, could still be felt, and even though their numbers had been cut short, they still numbered in the billions. They appeared around Rowan’s army, and even in the light it was difficult to see their true form and with a soundless shriek, they pushed forward towards the descending army of the dead.