Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 99: Soft

But for a mere mortal, tapping into this potential would be nearly impossible, at least until far into the future.

On Uriel’s scale, in a tangible manner, Timeless Resonance allowed him to break limits.

And his shell existed to stabilise and contain those new standards, the new framework within which he existed every time he broke a limit.

Unbeknownst to Uriel, as his mind fell into a delirious world, his talent blossomed on its own, extending to all parts of his being and digging deep.

Limit after limit shattered, allowing impossibility to bloom without end and defiance to reign unperturbed and unchallenged.

The Emperor rapidly saw the tide of battle change.

...

The situation was... stable.

Amon couldn’t believe his eyes.

He’d expected the battlefield to be a reign of cries and strewn corpses, but it was anything but. No, it was indeed a reigning field of cries and corpses, but not of humans.

Flon-Mens and Tribulation Boar Striders were cut down like grass and weeds, their blood painting the ruined settlement, the smell of it thick in the air.

The beasts were chaotic, bloodlusted, and almost entirely mindless, but the humans of the settlement were each in structured parties, with backlines and frontlines, coordinated, each wearing high-end armour sets that massively boosted their power and survivability.

Methodically, they maimed beast after beast, conserving their energy and moving towards one another, slowly forming a growing army.

The strongest rose as generals, and an unstoppable force slowly took shape.

The beasts were each in the F to E Ranks, with some behemoths standing in the half-step D-Rank, but so were the humans, standing in swathes of F and E Ranks—and shockingly enough, the humans of the settlement had more Half-Step D-Rankers!

The most powerful warriors of the settlement were all early B-Rankers, something Amon found hard to believe, despite seeing it in action.

Had it not been for the ridiculously overwhelming number of beasts and the surprise fall of the meteors, it was hard to say this beast tide would’ve been a challenge at all.

’A single man.’ Amon shook his head, thinking of Uriel.

This was no doubt a direct effect of Uriel’s advent and its repercussions, good or bad.

Humanity was now strong, ridiculously so.

’How can a single man alter destiny so much?’

But whether this was a good or bad thing, only time would tell.

The plans of fate weren’t so easily thwarted.

...

As the chaos deepened, Enoch fought in a crater of his own.

It wasn’t much unlike Uriel’s: gigantic and bowl-shaped, so deep the skies were distant and hazy. Its curved walls were wet, slick with blood.

Muddy water slushed through the earthen floor around him, carrying corpses and limbs, stained red by rivers of marrow and blood.

Embers of gold fell from the dome above, bright and radiant, illuminating his tall and majestic figure.

He wore his lion armour of flames, green and burning, but fitted atop it lay another lion armour, of amethyst tendrils of lightning.

The two armours perfectly meshed, rolling in waves of green and purple bound by beautiful dark runes.

In his grasp, his two swords, his class and path tools, lay firmly, bloody and sharp, his cool dark green eyes staring ahead at his opponents.

Unlike Uriel, he was facing not one, but two kings.

He could see them in the distance: a tall and humbling beast, muscles ridiculously thick and heavy, covered in sharp metallic silver fur, a looming horn of obsidian tearing out of its forehead to pierce the skies, faint arcs of blue lightning dancing around the obsidian.

The Boar Strider’s eyes were a deep shade of red, full of bloodlust and chaotic rage, yet unlike the mindless beasts fighting above, it reigned it in, controlling it into a cool simmering flow that made it much more dangerous.

Each of its inhales and exhales summoned swathes of fog around it.

Upon the massive beast’s back, a Flon-Man could be seen cross-legged, nearly identical to the one Uriel was facing, with the only difference being their robes.

The Flon-Men Emperor Uriel faced wore multicoloured robes magically conjured from storm aether, with a perfectly balanced aura, of as much storm aether as there was wind and water aether, a true balanced harmony.

But the Emperor Enoch stood across from was different. In fact, he had none of the aether the previous Emperor displayed; all there was was lightning aether, bright gold robes draping over his body.

Arcs of gold and blue lightning danced around the duo of kings, their presences heavy as they faced the seemingly minuscule Enoch.

The Emperor met Enoch’s indifferent gaze.

Seeing this, he smiled. His reptilian eyes trailed over the complex armour fitting him, and his smile widened.

"I see yet another—"

KAH!

His words were cut short by a sonic boom that loudly echoed across the crater.

A javelin of concentrated green lightning pierced right through his heart, so fast he didn’t even seem to notice he’d died.

The boar he sat on didn’t realise it was dead either, a flame having sparked in its massive heart, consuming everything in its path, leaving nothing but a hollow husk.

Enoch didn’t pay much attention to them and looked away.

His path and class’ main affinities were fire and lightning. Against either the Boar Striders or Flon-Men, there was no fight to be had.

He reigned supreme over those elements.

PAH!

A loud thud echoed, the boar collapsing on its own legs just as the Emperor atop it toppled over, both dead. They sank into the rising level of muddy water, joining the endless corpses of their brethren.

The dome of gold overhead shattered, and the intense rain returned. The distant sounds of war echoed alongside inhuman cries.

Enoch exhaled a breath, dismissing his armours and storing away his blades. Beneath them, his flesh was entirely intact, free of any wounds.

Though that was the case, every drop of rain that fell onto him steamed and turned to fog that hung around him, his body so hot it was akin to molten steel.

Each falling droplet cooled him more and more until he returned to a normal bodily temperature.

The rain soaked him just as the light from the dome above faded and he was left alone in the dark, in the depths of his crater.

SHAH!

The waters beside him stirred, and a tall hulking figure dropped down from the skies, landing beside him with more agility and grace than their figure would suggest.

Ayah was in her hulking chimeric form, all her features veiled beneath a gleaming silver armour set, heavy and overflowing with aether.

Her bestial eyes landed on Enoch and she frowned. He was still staring at the skies above, for some reason.

More importantly, his face was almost melancholic, nothing like the endlessly confident and indifferent young man she’d come to know.

He almost seemed... soft.

She followed his gaze, staring skyward, her eyes narrowing and zooming in on the dark pouring expanse above.

"...what are you looking at?"