?The power erupting from the body of the Third Prince meant that he would be dying soon. All his humanoid bodies suddenly shook, and he no longer looked at the Third Prince but checked his arms which were now covered with green veins that traveled down his arms and snaked around his throat.

A sudden feeling of weakness made all his bodies fall to their knees and he looked in astonishment at his arms, “I did not know that the rot went this deep. How did you survive all these while?”

The unintelligible screams of the Third Prince abated and he growled,

“The only thing holding me back from killing you all was keeping her contained inside of me, you dumb ** I will tear you apart.”

The Third Prince vanished from his position leaving his steaming pile of guts behind, and when he reappeared he was before one of the bodies of Fourth, he threw a punch, Fourth anticipated it and blocked, but it was a feint as the Third Prince went low and swept his legs away, breaking bones and slamming Fourth in the ground.

Before the figure of Fourth could retaliate, the Third Prince opened his mouth wide, stretching it apart like a crocodile, and chomped on the head of Fourth. He bit down and threw his head back, the action cutting Fourth in two. Rapidly swallowing the head and a portion of the torso of Fourth he seized the remaining part of his body like a covetous lover and swallowed, barely taking the time to crunch through the bones.

The swinging worm tail of Fourth was hanging by the side of his lips and as the Third Prince turned to the astonished face of the remaining bodies of Fourth he slurped it into his mouth and licked his lips.

The Third Prince’s injuries reversed in an instant as he abruptly became a fat man before slimming down and transforming into Rowan.

He stood at eight feet tall and his body was similar to a Greek statue. Every muscle in his body was filled with perfection and explosive power, except for a red piece of cloth wrapped around his waist preserving his modesty, he was naked and he grinned widely.

It should be said that Rowan resembled his father and if they were to stand side by side, it would be impossible to differentiate them except for the hair, for the Third Prince’s hair which was long and black like the void.

Now that he was fully healed he rubbed his neck as a new tumor suddenly emerged on it, abruptly swelling up, it exploded revealing a small shrieking worm with a mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth.

“What are you doing Third?” The many voices of Fourth rang out in astonishment. The deranged Third Prince’s reply was only a roar and he slammed into another body of Fourth, they both went down in a spray of blood and claws, and in a few seconds, it was only the Third Prince that arose.

This time he had a second tumor on his neck and another worm burst free. The many eyes of Fourth went serious as he tried to calm the Third Prince,

“Use that deranged mind of yours and think for a single second Third, how could an ordinary Empyrean, no matter how powerful, be able to seize your talents… you are a Reflection of a Primordial. Look at the price I paid for ridding you of that monster.”

“You killed her!” The screams from the Third Prince were so loud he tore his throat and blood shot out of his mouth.

Fourth shook his head, whatever consideration he had for his brother was gone, “Since you will not listen to reason, I will have to force them into you.”

The hundreds of Fourth attacks in concert, their movements were fluid and they filled in every gap that the Third Prince could ever exploit, although their blows were not lethal, they were still bone-crushing, as every single gesture made by Fourth could crush a galaxy, even a God-King would die in a single blow, the Third Prince’s body was shattered many times, but he seemed to have an inexhaustible amount of vitality.

“If you continue on this part of stupidity, even my essence will not save you.” Third called out angrily, “At least tell me the location of the Primordial Record before you are lost to death you stupid fool.”

The Third Prince roared, his body moving faster, despite his injuries he was still in the fight, and any chance he got he bit and swallowed any flesh that reached him. Yet, he was still slowly worn down, but he had managed to devour another four bodies of Fourth, and six worms now surrounded his necks, all of them shrieking aloud as if in pain and madness, and then Fourth lost his patience.

With a roar of his own that echoed for eternity, he increased his might by a single percentage, and the Third Prince was nearly crushed into a stain. The shockwave that erupted from that single move shook the universe to its foundation, and it was a good thing that this battle happened here, or a greater part of the universe would have been destroyed.

Fourth placed his knee on the back of the Third Prince and no matter how he screamed and cried out, he could not rise from the ground.

He was frothing at the mouth screaming, “I will kill you Fourth, why do you have to take her away from me, she was my…”

“What? She was your… what? Fourth knelt beside the battered Third prince and seized him by his hair which was now caked with blood, “Answer me brother, and see the depths of the delusion that you have placed yourself into.”

The Third Prince stammered, “She was my… my… everything!”

The eyes of the Third Prince widened in horror as he realized the words he had just spoken. His eyes were rapidly shaking on the verge of madness.

Fourth smiled when he saw that he had finally gotten to him, “Cutting off the tethers between you and that… thing was difficult, and it made me vulnerable for a while, allowing you to pierce my defense, but it was worth it. You were being played brother, I don’t know whom, but another Primordial is the most likely suspect. This is also my fault. I should have seen the signs all along.”

The horror in the face of the Third Prince suddenly faded and he smiled, “No Primordial, just me brother, and yes, you should have known of my ambitions, but it is too late.”

“What…” The face of Fourth was filled with confusion for a second and then he gasped as the right hand of the Third Prince emerged from his chest, holding the beating heart of Fourth.

The Third Prince had somehow reversed the orientation of his bones and as if his body was made from fluids he had faced his brother and inserted his hand into his chest, ripping away his beating heart.

“I needed seven of your teeth brother, and even weakened by cutting that tether, you are still so strong.” He swallowed the heart and the seventh worm burst out of his neck, “I should have expected something like this, you were always a hard nut to crack.”

The many faces of Fourth warped in anger, as the gigantic worm surged down the tree as it opened its mouth that seemed to lead to oblivion, “Traitor! First warned us all but…”

“Silence,” The Third Prince said, his voice was a bit weary as if he was tired and every single Fourth went still as if frozen in time, even the massive worm was frozen in mid-air.

The Third Prince grimaced in pain as one of the heads of the worms that were bursting from his neck exploded,

The Third Prince shook his head aggressively as he began to bleed from his nose, holding the Great Worm was like holding a hundred universes inside your hand, “You greedy little worm, you have truly eaten a lot of essence, all this power I stole from you and I can barely keep you still for a few seconds.”

Another worm exploded and the Third Prince struggled to his feet. It appeared that moving through this frozen place was very difficult, but a soft green light similar to that of Elura surrounded his body and he was able to push through.

This ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.