This emotion struck him as odd and out of place. There was no way he should be missing the feeling of becoming vulnerable. He was under attack in more ways than one.
This attack not only coincided with the evolution of his Will, but it distracted him for several precious moments that he could have been using for analysis of the situation.
Rowan could feel the rumbling of his Essence, as the enlightenment of mortality solidified his position as a two-dimensional being. This led to an increased expansion of his Essence, and his purple essence began to close on this space opened by his Sheol bloodline.
His Forge was brought to the edge of destruction, as the strain of sustaining its operation multiplied. His City of Sheol stopped collecting Soul Origins and Crystals and its form now took the shape of a large platform that resembled a coffin.
Rowan's consciousness which was now wrapped in mortal flesh could not link with his bloodline. The cold energy that gave him flesh had isolated this single strand of consciousness.
With the position he was kept in, he could see the edges of his surroundings and managed to glimpse the individual who was holding him down.
He swallowed the blood that filled his throat, squeezing his chest together to force out the blood that filled with lungs. His captor had reached through his back and pulled out his heart. With his seemingly mortal consciousness, it was an annoying distraction, aggravated by the fact that his healing capabilities had been cut off.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})With the blood out of his lungs, Rowan calmly conversed with his captor, "You speak of controlling my kingdom, but you still hide in the shadows. You believe I would hand my power over to someone who stabs my back?"
His captor suddenly released him and stepped back, Rowan could feel the earth vibrating under the heavy tread of his captor,
"I believe this is the only way for you to understand my qualities, Creator, and the proper way to utilize my power. I believe with my demonstration, I have proven the reason for you to allow me to rule in your stead, protecting your interest until you reach your complete potential."
Free from the pressure holding him down, Rowan stood up, his body bent in an awkward position from his numerous crushed ribs and shattered spine. Looking at the creature who had shackled his consciousness in this mortal form, he cocked his head to the side in surprise.
After freeing him, his captor knelt, and when Rowan stood up, they prostrated flat to the ground. His attacker was an Angel of Char.
At first, from its shape Rowan thought that this was the same as the demonic Angel of Char who was at the forefront of their Host, and indeed this enigmatic Angel had been his first suspect, but a glance at the Array of Angel of Char in the East and he saw the figure, standing still, and frozen in time like all the rest.
'Except this one.' Rowan thought wryly as he looked back to the postrating Angel of Char.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})He had the same demonic appearance as the foremost Angel of Char, with two batlike wings filled with dead eyes, a scaled skin that appeared to be scorched, and two long reptilian tails that ended at a spear point.
The head of this Angel of Char was also not connected to its body, floating a few inches from it, and slowly rotating. All four faces it had however were female.
He recalled the conversation he had with Eva that had led him to easily suspect an Angel of Char had been the one responsible for this betrayal. She had told him that more powerful Angels could not be easily controlled.
Although they were loyal to him, they could still choose to go against the Will of their creator if they felt that their actions would lead to an ultimately favorable outcome for their creator.
This includes imprisoning him, or performing other radical actions if they believed it would lead to his safety. The rage he had built inside his spirit subsided, the true enemy here was his weakness.
He had given too much space for his enemies to wreck his plans, and this newly awakened Angel of Char must have noted his level of power and believed that it could take over control of his bloodline and would only release him when he grew stronger.
But Rowan had not suffered for all this while and fought against fate all his life to be controlled by a glorified angelic zombie. He knew that the Angel of Char had given up as soon as the ascension of his Sheol bloodline had reached this particular phase because his Consciousness Pillars were beginning to rouse from their slumber.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})It could bully this strand of consciousness that was not even as powerful as a single Consciousness Pillar of Rowan, but when the true Creator was beginning to rouse from its slumber, the realization of Rowan's true power must have been detected by it.
The City of Sheol which resembled a gigantic coffin, suddenly released a pulse of power, that pushed back the purple essence for millions of miles, and suppressed every living thing until they were driven to the ground… except for the now mortal body of Rowan's consciousness everything had been suppressed.
A single Consciousness Pillar had awoken.
If Rowan had been asleep for the last twenty years, he had now truly awoken.
Another blast escaped from the coffin pushing back the purple essence further until it could no longer be seen on the horizon.
Five more blasts emerged from Sheol, as seven Consciousness Pillars were awakened and they immediately surged towards the edges of the massive purple egg, and they began to suppress it, driving his essence to become compact for his evolution to be completed.
The mortal consciousness of Rowan stroked his chin and regarded this prostrating Angel of Char whom he placed in the middle of two crushing forces, with the power he was exerting on it, a slight fraction extra would destroy this rebellious Angel, but its unique nature piqued his interest,
"How can you still move when my consciousness now roams?"
Even the sliver of his consciousness made the entire time inside of him ground to a halt, now that he had awakened seven Consciousness Pillars, nothing should be moving, but this Angel could still move around.
The Angel of Char shuddered as if in great pain, gray smoke leaking from cracks all over its body, and one of her mouths opened, "It is because I am a Principality. I exist outside Time and Space."
Rowan blinked, did this Angel of Char just inform him that it had access to Will even at its base state?
A loud metallic groan came from the horizon as a wave of purple began rushing down towards them, his consciousnesses were now pushing all of his essence together, and in a few seconds, he needed to make his decision if he was killing this Angel or letting it go.
He considered it amusing that even on the verge of death, this Angel of Char had not released its power that had transformed his consciousness to a mortal's form. Gesturing he dragged the Angel of Char until it was floating in front of him, the pressure he had applied on its body had almost flattened it, and the gray smoke emerging from its body was slowly diminishing.
Rowan looked into its cold unflinching eyes and said, "Your time is running out, and my patience is running out faster. Even though I consider it very unlikely that an Angel of your Rank had awakened inside of me this early, your answer is not enough to warrant the sort of actions you have taken against your Creator. I do not look lightly on betrayal, especially from someone who should be my child."
The Angel of Char struggled to speak,
"Creator, you are not supposed to awaken an Angel of my power at your level. The corruption within me wars against your light, warping my mind into seeking to suppress to keep you safe. I did all this to keep you safe. I awakened a few years back only to detect the gaze of several Old Ones roving a dead universe. My first instinct was to keep you safe, and the quickest method for me was to assume control of the Throne and ferry you to a newly born universe where you would be able to grow in peace."
