Chapter 76 Battle Without End The yellow eyes of the dead priest began to glow more brightly, and Rowan felt his head begin to throb, and he flinched backward a little as if he were bitten by an insect. Clearly expecting a more severe reaction than this, the priest snarled, and his eyes glowed brighter, and the irritating headache he felt increased. Rowan frowned, and slapped the creature, even though he reduced his strength as much as possible, he still broke his jaws, and one of its eyes exploded. "What are you?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 This creature was clearly focused towards the Spirit Attribute, and lacked a strong physique, the ability it used on him was something that affected his spirit, like a spiritual attack ability, and even though his spirit was the least of his Attributes, it was still extremely strong, and he was just realizing that his physique could passively repel malicious energies to an extent, including mental attack. Even though an Empyrean was weak in the Spirit Attributes, it did not mean they did not have a proper defense against it. They were naturally resistant due to their insane regeneration and tyrannical physique. The creature began picking itself from the ground, the fear in its eyes was clear, Rowan saw its single eye shifting around, did it want to escape? Rowan found it interesting that the Thralls of Abomination, despite their intelligence, were ultimately weaker because of that trait. A normal Abomination would keep attacking until it was torn to pieces, their sheer savagery could tip the scales in their favor, where skills and intelligence could not. "So you have self-awareness?" Rowan said as he walked closer to the retreating figure, he lifted his Axe, and pointed it at the Abomination, "You are a Thrall of the Abomination in the lake, aren't you?" The creature began to laugh, as the dislocated jaw quivered with the motion, the mouth of the priest was open in a leer due to the broken jaw. Although the sound of laughter was coming from the priest's mouth, it was not moving, the creature had finally stopped the charade of using the body of the priest, "I am not a lowly Thrall, fallen prince, and I would advise you to stop destroying the Winged Eyes, or you would find the consequences of that action difficult to bear." "It's good you don't want me to destroy them." Rowan said, "That means that is what I should focus on." "You are a child." The creature snickered, "Who plays with powers you can never understand! Great minds have put together powerful workings that would shift the very foundation of this world. You are too irrelevant to hamper this event. So stop your shenanigans and die in peace, knowing you were part of something greater than you would ever know!" At the end of the rant, the creature was beginning to scream, Rowan realized he was not just dealing with something evil, but a fanatic, which in his mind was far worse. If he was expecting proper reasoning from this creature, it was now a moot point, for nothing was stronger than a conviction that is believed in its totality, there would be no room for arguments or finding a common ground. Every sentient creature was born a blank canvas, they were a repository of ideas and dreams just waiting to be filled up. This was the greatest magic of intelligence but also its greatest deficiencies. In a perfect world, a budding child should be guided with firm hands, taught the difference between good and evil but also provided the opportunity to understand what both signify and also the freedom to choose their path. It was a shame in all the universes, that there was no perfect world, knowledge was not given freely, but instead a biased set of rules were indoctrinated, and the greatest gift of sentience was warped, and their ability to reason was stunted. All for a single purpose. For the benefit of the powerful. Control was their currency. Rowan knew that trying to learn from this creature was a waste of time, he would kill it, and every other thing in his path, and leave this place. Rowan raised the Axe, and flaming chains shot from the ground and wrapped around his wrist. "I can't allow you to do that, Lord Rowan. The supervisor is one of the keys used in controlling the Abomination outside." "Captain, so you are one of these things too?" Captain Titus grimaced, as disgust flashed through his face, "I serve the interest of your father, Lord Rowan and I believe if he sees how powerful you have become, he would allow you to live." "Allow me, Captain?" "You cannot win this fight, my lord. It would be the wiser option to leave your fate in the hands of your father, I believe that if he sees you now… he would never allow you to die." "I wish I could believe you, Captain." Rowan shrugged and the chains around his wrist shattered to pieces, the captain fell to his knees as he vomited blood, clearly this flaming chain should be his Legendary ability. "I am not in the habit of dancing to the tunes of those who wish to control my mind." Rowan swung the Axe, the creature attempted to flee, but it was too late. The Axe sliced through its waist, cutting it in two. Rowan was careful not to rip out his soul, as he felt a new sensation as he had cut through this creature. He had touched its soul. It was something of damp and rot, and when his Axe had cleaved through its spine, he nearly saw an image, but it was gone faster than he could process what he saw. Soul Seizer had never given him the sensation of touching a soul before, perhaps it was the upgrade to Soul Reaver. Rowan wanted to collect the soul of this creature, but similar to an Abomination, it was broken and disjointed, he bent down and hauled it up by its neck, and raised his Axe. "Stop him!" The Captain screamed! Rowan frowned, the battle cry of the captain and the remaining Guardsmen pulled his attention. They all held their Swords and charged at him. The captain was at the forefront. Rowan received his charge by blocking his blade and slapping him away with the flat side of his Axe, in a single motion. The sword in his hand bent to a C shape, and the Axe slammed into his chest, the captain's leg dug two furrows in the ground, the Armour covering his chest caved inward, and he vomited blood and internal tissues. He would have fallen if he were not holding on to the walls. He was not as merciful to the remaining Guardsmen. They held no important information, but they were fiercely loyal, they would only sabotage him if he left them alive. They attacked him from both directions. The first Guardsman swung at him furiously, his sword leaving a silver flash in the air. Rowan replied with a single overhead blow, as if he was splitting a log. The Axe blade sliced through the sword and into the head of the guardsman. The blow did not stop, and he was cut in half, armor and all. He stood still for a second, a red line bisecting his body from head to crotch, his eyes rolled in two different directions before he exploded into gory bits. The weight and power behind Rowan swing, nearly vaporizing him. The second Guardsman had leapt up, his sword pointing at Rowan. He yelled a valiant war cry as he drove the sword down. Rowan struck upward, he clashed with the sword, and it simply disintegrated. The Axe blade barely paused before hitting the chest of the Guardsman, reducing the upper part of his body to nothing but bloody stains in the air. His legs dropped to the ground strangely in a kneeling position.