Chapter 1183: Tribulation For six days the Shiik continued crafting her ocean of flames, and on the seventh, her eyes opened and the eyes on her crown closed. The calm voice of Rowan resounded in her head, "You shall begin my Tribulation." From her spine rose a separate limb, one that was shaped like her previous spider-like legs whose end was as sharp as a blade that could cut through space. That limb rose and the Shiik began to chant, her voice going low as a whisper and rising high like a storm. Anytime her voice went high, the sharp spider limb would come down and slice down, severing one of the pairs of limbs the Shiik was using for her ritual. The mighty limbs which continued their arcane gestures despite being severed from her body fell into the ocean of fire with a loud splash and soon sank deep beneath. Unexpectedly there came screams from the limbs after a while as if they were suffering from great pains before they fell silent. More limbs began to fall into the ocean of flames as the Shiik never stopped her chanting, and with a scream that threatened to shatter the space around them for miles, the ritual was finalized, her last pair of limbs was cut off, which was the primary hands she had, leaving her without hands and this state of being would remain until she completed the Tribulation. As that limb fell, it did not act like the others, instead it gave a roar that agitated the ocean of flames below and when it slammed into the surface of the ocean of flames, the entire ocean disappeared and an army took its place. The army was unlike any that was ever seen before in this realm. Taking the shape of humanoid Calamity Gods, instead of arms they had tentacles and their feet were attached to massive dragon-like creatures who did not have scales but chitin, and from the cracks within their armor, red flames like lava ran through their bodies. Their numbers were in the millions. The Shiik who was without hands, yet had all the glory of a Fell Queen bent her waist until it felt as if she was bowing, her massive body covering the heavens and her large head that was at least a mile across stopped a few hundred feet away from the army below. Inside her head she prayed, 'Creator forgive me for what I am about to do, I am not worthy, but in your service, I shall break my bones and strip myself of flesh... it is the least I can do for defacing your supreme body." "Ahead of you stands a power that wishes to challenge the greatest heights of the heavens and deepest depths of hell. He is..." the Shiik hesitated for a while before gritting her teeth until they bled, "... Not worthy!" "Oh my Creator, forgive me for my dereliction, as you bleed, so do I. For every drop that is shed from your body, I shall bleed a million more..." "Go forth, and strike him down without mercy or hesitation, let him know the folly he jas reaped by challenging thrones and powers that he cannot comprehend." "I am a sinner... Forgive me." Her gaze turned to the Ascendant body of Rowan and tears of blood came from her eyes and all the mine eyes on her crown, "Punish the usurper!" "Punish me, Creator!" R The armies of Calamity Gods were silent even as they charged, they had all the appearance of life, but they were dead and the power each of them held was dreadful all equal to Ascendant of the first Dan, their mounts broke space, the drools from their maw burning the space around it to ash. They surrounded the golden spike in a weird formation that created threads of darkness linking them all. This thread of darkness began to vibrate and to glow, and every calamity god nudged their mount, and the Calamity dragons they rode opened their maws and red lightning emerged forth. Space shuddered and then screamed as millions of Calamity lightning bolts with the power to raze universes poured out from the dragons and slammed into the golden spike, the eyes of the Shiik nearly bugging out of her head in panic. Despite the frozen time, the sound that emerged from this was disastrous, and for a moment the red lights that emerged from this move were so bright nothing could be seen but red for a while. When the light subsided, the Ascendant body of Rowan was revealed and it was spotless, not even a scratch mar its surface. The Calamity dragons roared in rage, and they opened their mouths wide open, and instead of releasing the lightning bolts at once, they charged it up until their bodies began to glow and smoke rose from their bodies, as pieces of it began to break off under the intense strain they were putting their bodies through. Space shook once more as the Calamity Gods they carried began to draw out weapons from within their bodies, spears, blades, bows, and arrows... all made from bones and containing terrifying powers, "Strike him down!!!" The roar from the Queen of Calamity was overshadowed by the lightning bolts that the Calamity Dragons unleashed and this time it was not a flash in the sky, but a constant barrage that created a roar that kept rising until it reached a level that Sound was never supposed to reach, and this ungodly roar surpassed that level and kept rising. Rowan's domain of frozen time was shaken to the core and when the Shiik feared it was about to collapse, the effect of the frozen time was strengthened multiple times over and she turned to the Ascendant body of the creator with shock. Nothing should survive that barrage, most especially the Ascendant body of the creator which had not even reached the first Dan, but she still did not understand how his powers worked or if it would ever make sense to her or anybody for that matter. The glow from her bleeding eyes brightened and the Calamity Gods riding on their dragons who were still constantly releasing bolts of lightning brought up their weapons and they began their attacks. Their weapons called upon the powers of the thread that bound them all, and when they swung it, the thread manifested a gigantic version of their weapons and sent it towards the Ascendant body of Rowan. "BOOOOOM!!!" Intense shockwaves that traveled slowly from the point of impact were revealed and as the Calamity Gods released another wave of attacks, the power of their blows slammed against the erupting shockwaves and drove them back towards Rowan's body, creating a more terrifying impact, and this impact created a greater shockwave, but the new wave of attacks from the Calamity Gods suppressed this shockwave as well, using it as a weapon against 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 Rowan. Like a metal placed under a forge, and being hammered by a burly blacksmith, the entire Ascendant body of Rowan fell under Tribulation that would raze a universe to ashes, many times over. This Tribulation continued in this manner for hours, and it was unknown when it would end. Despite how sturdy his Ascendant body was, it was never created to stand against abuse of this nature, and the first crack appeared. Noticing the cracks that had began to emerge under their bombardment, the Calamity Gods began to chant, their voices were loud yet it was still silent, an auditory dissonance that could drive one mad the longer they listened to it. Their voices triggered changes in the thread that bound them all, as it expanded and wrapped around the Calamity Dragons, tearing through their armor and causing their fiery blood to paint the skies. The blood did not fall and coat the threads surrounding the Calamity Gods, and this caused these gods to be engulfed by flames, bringing the Tribulation of Rowan to a terrifying new stage. With a mournful roar as they released the last of the lightning in their bodies and their fiery blood sacrificed to the gods they carried, the dragons collapsed into ashes that fell towards the Ascendant body of Rowan and as they fell they transformed into tiny insects the size of locusts and rushed into the tiny cracks that was now covering the golden spike. The first of the insects to reach the crack collapsed into nothingness as there was an invisible power emerging from the body of Rowan that contained power that could not be understood, for it transcended the scope of these calamities. Yet the one thing these locusts had was numbers, and under the laws of heaven of this realm, their numbers were infinite. They swarmed the cracks, a vast number of them vanishing before they could near it, but an astute observer would notice that with every passing moment, they were getting closer to the cracks. Despite all of Rowan's potential, the laws of Tribulation were wearing him down. All these while, the gods that were aflame had never stopped attacking with their weapons, and their attacks had become charged with the flames of calamity as the massive phantasms of the weapons they wielded also caught aflame, their descent slamming against the arising shockwaves causing it to also come alight.