Chapter 1973: The Grand Game (Final) "Ruler of Creation... You have lost." Time for Eos was a very strange concept in the eyes of mortals and immortals, and for them, it was best not to think about the way his mind could be split in such impossible directions while still having a solid structure. The Abomination he was fighting was rapidly evolving, and Eos knew that if he ran from this fight, he would be leaving behind an enemy that was growing so fast it would destroy him before he could outgrow it. It was not as if the potential for evolution in battle that the Abomination had was greater than his own, but while Eos had to be evolving forward in a coherent pattern that would see that all of his interests were being carried along, the Abomination could grow in a single direction, and that was to kill him. However, the decision he took to move towards the danger and end it before it grew out of control was the right one, and the burst of power he had revealed as he tore through its defenses and was on the verge of striking it down showed his firm grasp over the flow of battle. Still, everything began to go wrong. The Abomination was still in its birthing sac, it new and evolved form was rapidly eating through this membrane, while red eyes was looking at his descending form with fear, rage and hate, but then, Eos could feel an unknown power, like a soft breeze tickling the edges of his ears blow past him and filled up the body of this Abomination, and its evolution was instantly completed. In that instant, many things happened. His Incarnation in the Temple of End may have spent a while accepting all the information from Lumen and transmitting it to him, but for Eos, it was almost instantaneous, and as the Abomination screamed its victory at his face, he already understood so much about the battle he was fighting. That force that blew past him was not the power of Enoch; it was End, and even the words, ’Ruler of Creation,’ did not come entirely from Enoch but also something else. The enemies that Eos was fighting were not simple beings, and their roots went deeper than he had previously imagined. He felt as if a cool breeze was blowing through his head, and so many places of doubt had been opened up, and even as he saw his Incarnation melt into a golden feather and drift into the two glowing wings that was Lumen, thereby cutting off his connection with him forever, Eos, stopped his plunging attack, and went still as he observed the evolved form of the Abomination. The Abomination had changed. It was no longer the swollen whale or the tangle of mouths and arms; now it looked... almost like a person. It had a tall, slender figure. Skin smooth and white, like fresh paper. Hair that moved slowly, as if underwater, and a simple robe of the same white, hanging loose. A face like a boy’s, yet it was too calm, curious, almost kind. It stood quietly in the broken birthing sac, hands folded in front, and a slight smile on its lips. "Ah, you are no longer attacking. Do you think it’s time to flee? You can do that, but first, give that pesky Incarnation to me." Eos looked at the eyes of this Abomination, which seemed ordinary at first glance, but the more you looked at it, the realization would hit you that this eye was bottomless, and you could fall into it forever. Also, his skin, which seemed white and flawless, was composed of countless bone-white screaming faces whose features were locked in permanent agony. Eos had always wondered why Enoch took this corrupted form when he was originally a being of light, but now he knew he was looking at End. This power had always been hiding itself in plain sight, feeding on the suffering of Existence. Lumen thought it understood this power, but Eos could see that these wings were also not seeing the entire picture. Its roots came from an exalted place, and it could not imagine certain depravities that could only be found when you dig deep into the muck that was creation. Lumen saw End as a vast power that existed above everything and only desired destruction to fuel its growth, but Eos could see that this power may care about its evolution, but also, beyond that, it was enjoying itself. Eos looked up, and darkness had covered him, leaving no way out. He was alone with this thing that had crawled from the hidden cracks of history. He sighed and brought up his Destroyer in a guard position, "No, I have seen everything that I need, and I am not running. You are not the only monster here." The greatsword in his hands echoed his words with a low, hungry hum; this was the sound of absence sharpening itself. For so long, he had not been able to fight with the full measures of his strength because he did not know his enemy, but now that his eyes were open, and the links from the past had been connected to the future, Eos just saw his enemy, and that was all he needed. Many had forgotten that he was a warrior born from death and devastation, and if the need called for it, he did not give a damn about the bastards that needed to die. He exhaled. And let the first layer of his pretense fall away, and revealed his Eclipse Form. A stillness that could not be described suddenly surrounded Eos, and his body... unfolded. His skin peeled back like petals, revealing a shifting mass beneath, too many joints, and flesh that seemed to be made of ideas instead of meat. The simple robe he was wearing dissolved into threads of broken dimensions when his Wings of the Omniverse erupted like two supernovas, revealing their true form after Eos had been silently growing them all these while, and they resembled the purest of angels’ wings, and as if he knew a part of his heritage was tied to the Luminious, they resembled the wings from those beings, but Eos’s wings were far grander than any Luminious before him. They were now vast sheets of folded reality, where each "feather" was a window into a different dying cosmos. A thousand eyes erupted out of the center of his body, each of them was a gate to another Reality; most no longer existed, but in this form, it did not matter. The halo of his Reality Crown ignited, resembling a ring of shattered realms orbiting his head, each shard screaming silently. The Abomination tilted its head, curious. The form Eos had just assumed would drive lesser Primordials to the brink of madness. The mouth of the Abomination began to open, but his motion was too slow as Eos moved. He disregarded his speed, which was too slow, and this Abomination was beyond speed, so Eos used Reality Crush. The space between them simply ceased, as in one moment there was distance and in the next, none. Once more, he led with his Destroyer, and it struck down like lightning.