Chapter 1940: The Forge of Self-Sovereignty The body of the Abomination blurred through the distance separating it from the Primordials, disregarding the concept of time and space, as its arms were headed for Circe, as he had noted that among them all, she was the one who could be argued to be the weakest in defense. Yet, her offense was capable of tearing through huge chunks of his body, and if there was a target that should first be destroyed, it was her. However, if the Abomination could come to this conclusion, so also did the Primordials who were fighting against it. Dozens of claws were about to rend Circe to dust when her body shone bright, and she vanished as Vraegar took her place by a process of substitution. He fell back with his chest open to the vacuum, his body flung into the distance with so much force he could only stop until he had crossed many trillions of light-years to slam against the barrier that surrounded this space. The Abomination did not stop its attack as Mira was the next to fall; the flame she poured upon its body was devoured, changed, and then spat back at her so quickly she was not able to respond. She fell into the distance, howling in pain as her Origin was being consumed from the inside out. Sheba wrapped her Origin essence around the Abomination to slow it down; its speed was its greatest advantage, as it seemed to be simulatanouly flowing backward and forward in time, but her domain was torn in two with a loud screeching sound, making her collapse to the ground while holding her head, as she screamed in pain, but a well timed kick from the Abomination caused her head to explode, followed shortly by the rest of her body, only leaving her beating heart hovering in space. The Abomination was about to devour it when the spear of Telmus took it from under the chin before bursting out of the top of its skull. All the mouths all over its body shrieked. An infinite number of blows were raised down on Telmus, who coolly retracted his spear and blocked, deflected, and dodged the blows. Still, he was paying a great price for standing toe to toe with this creature, as his flesh was being blasted away from enduring the force emerging from it. Yet, Telmus was giving back as much damage as he was taking, causing the body of the Abomination to shrink further, but this only led to its power increasing, and as the rest of the Primordial joined Telmus in battle, they did not last long, their bodies were broken and they were cast aside... finally even Telmus faltered as his spear was blasted aside. A heavy blow made him stagger to one knee, unable to even stand for a while. He looked around him, and the Primordials were like broken sacks of flesh and light, as their bodies struggled to heal. The power of this Abomination transcended mere force, as its voice and its entire body seemed to radiate a force that made all forms of known energy and essence in existence shatter. If not for the fact that the New Primordials’ foundation was based on a concept personally created for them, making them part of existence yet separated from it, Telmus knew none of them would have been able to withstand even a minor blow from this entity. ’What sort of enemy was this?’ The Abomination smiled with a mouth that opened sideways across its torso. It spoke with the voice of every universe it had been, "You are tired. Lie down." And then it exhaled. The exhalation was entropy given tongue. Age, despair, the memory of defeat, everything the Primordials had ever fought against, condensed into a single breath and struck them between the eyes. One by one, they fell to their knees on the Road that had begun to drink their mortal blood, as the eyes of most of the Primordials here widened in shock to see their bodies reduced to this extent. The Abomination shrank one last time, to the size of a child, but now it was perfect. No excess. No weakness. Every atom in its body was pregnant with the death of atoms. It walked forward, barefoot on the blood-slick Road, and reached for Rowan, a wide grin on its face that almost tore it in two, showing hundreds of sharpened fangs. "You are mine." The ten Primordials, broken and dying, were struggling to rise, but they could not. The Abomination’s hand, small now, almost gentle, reached for the Rowan’s throat as thick black drool dripped from its lips. The fingers of the boy began to blacken as it pulled power from an unknown dimension, until this entire space began to darken and crack... without anyone resisting him, the abomination could call upon the full might of its powers, and they were terrible to witness. Telmus glanced at his daughter, who was struggling to rise, before he looked up through eyes full of dying galaxies and whispered the last thing he had left, "Not... yet." He stood, and in defiance of the inevitable outcome of their defeat, Telmus reached the third level of Defiant Ascension. The Forge of Self-Sovereignty. His body cracked along every seam as power flooded every particle of his body, and he should have taken the time for his body to become used to this new level of power, but in the midst of battle, there was no space for such considerations. From the cracks poured the light of every soul who had ever stood up in defiance against a tyrant. He became a silhouette of white fire, blazing and terrible. Telmus’s body vanished, and he reappeared to place himself between the Abomination and Rowan. And took the hand meant for the Rowan’s throat into his own chest. The Abomination’s fingers sank into Telmus’s heart like it was soft butter, and its smile broke, and fury filled its face. Despite reaching the third level of his Origin, this abomination at its present perfect state was too powerful for him, and that attack would kill anyone. Telmus had sworn to be the shield that covered everyone, and he would not shirk his duty. Telmus smiled and whispered, "How many times have I given my life for you, but no matter... it is worth it." his head began to slowly fall, but a warm hand touched his shoulder, and the calm voice of Rowan spoke. "Thank you," he said, "But you can not leave, not yet. Your duty has not ended."