582 Forcibly Taking Power
Kohron, The Prince of Strife did not doubt that Rowan before him was a true Demon, not just because of his actions, but because every inch of Rowan's body was filled with an Abyssal Aura that was instantly recognizable to those who knew what to look for.
The Tower of Greed was an Abyssal Origin Treasure, far more powerful than a standard Origin Treasure which was already extremely powerful in its own right, and few gods were able to forge an Origin Treasure in their long lifetime.
With every usage of this powerful treasure by Rowan, the Aura of the Tower of Greed would settle like a shroud on the user, it was one of the many processes to bond with an Origin Treasure.
Yet there was a disturbing hitch in this process whenever Rowan was using this treasure.
The method Rowan had been using for this Treasure was strange, as his unique nature as an Ouroboros Serpent was forcing the treasure to behave the way it was not supposed to, instead of bringing Rowan's memories back in time, it was being used as a container to drag Rowan's future self back to the past.
This created a unique situation whereby it was continuously destroyed and Rebuilt, thus making it impossible for this Treasure to form a permanent bond with Rowan, but for the short term, anytime he made use of it, he was surrounded by a large burst of Abyssal Aura.
An Aura that was created anytime this treasure was destroyed.
Rowan was aware of this Aura, but it held no significance to him for the Aura would fade away when the Treasure rebuilt itself, every bit of it would be simply dragged back into the Tower.
This was the method the Treasure took to bind with a master after repeated usage, as its Aura would slowly integrate with the body of its user, but since Rowan always destroyed it after every use this never happened.
This burst of Abyssal Aura could only be detected by powerful Demons who recognized what it represented, and when Kohron saw Rowan, there was no doubt he was looking at the Prince of Destruction.
Rowan was filled with the Aura of this Abyssal Treasure, and in Kohron's mind, Ohrox must have awakened to a much greater extent than anyone else knew was even possible while inside a Material Universe, and the reason for this strange occurrence must be related to the forbidden rampage inside a Material Universe.
Of course, Kohron expected that Ohrox would be destroyed soon by the powers who were assigned to govern the universe, it surprised him that he had been able to kill this number of mortals without alerting those watchers, but for now, why should he not partake in this bounty? His true form was not here and he could deny any association with this madness.
Kohron chased the link that created his mortal form here inside the Material universe and his long tail suddenly pierced through space and returned holding the broken body of Tenma.
The god had been digging through the major World of Trypho trying to seize Envy before fleeing deep into the universe, and his greed delayed him long enough for Kohron's hands to reach him.
Tenma tried to escape, but the Demon Prince exerted planet-crushing force through his tail, and countless pops and dull cracks like firecrackers resounded from Tenma's body as his bones were crushed, slowing down his struggles,
"Little god, you gave me enough Essence to draw me to the Material Plane, but it's not enough, my brother has grown stronger here, and you should give me more!"
"No!" Tenma screamed, his eyes wide open in panic, "The nature of our bargain stands, I have given you a portion of my Divine Spark, and you shall destroy the plans of my enemy. This also concerns your Great Abyss, one of your number has partaken in slaughtering countless mortals, this is a stain on your name, and I have paid you more than enough for this service."
"Yes, you have yet it is not enough, and I'm not a Demon Prince who does something halfway give me half of your Divine Essence, it is the least I require."
"No! That would crush my position as a High God and drag me down to be a Major God, it would be impossible for me to reforge my Divine Spark. I reject your words Demon, obey my will or the consequences to your seat would be dire, and you would be judged alongside your kin."
Kohron paused and then he smiled, "I forget that you silly gods believe that particular law bound Demons of my level, in a manner you would be right, but you made a fatal error the link between me and you still exists, as you did not run far enough, to perform my duty, I shall need the tools to do so, even if I have to rip it from you, it also does not break the terms of agreement, little god."
The Demon seized Tenma with his large hands and brought him to his mouth, he performed this action slowly, relishing in the look of panic, anger, despair, and other negative emotions escaping from Tenma's body, his eyes transforming into twin pools of hellfire as his excitement grew.
Tenma struggled to escape from the hands of the Demon, his physical form holding little strength due to summoning Abyssal creatures and even a Demon Prince through his Divine Kingdom, he had drained every single drop of Divine Essence he had, if he gave anymore, that meant he would be pulling it straight from his Divine Spark, that would mean his ruin.
"Let me go, nasty creature, you are bound by the rules"
"Unfortunately for you, the rules still bind you, and unlike you, I can break them when I choose, because you see, technically, I'm not even here."
The demon began to inhale, as its throat was filled with hellfire, that penetrated Tenma's body like worms and began to drain his Divine Essence.
The god screamed as he struggled to escape the hands of the Demon, a large burst of purple flames and darkness shooting out from his body, but they were all absorbed by the Demon, the link between both of them transforming the energy of Tenma into sustenance for Kohron and his body began to grow larger.
With a roar of excitement, his wings burst into flames as Kohron Abyssal Domain was activated, his skin shifting from a dull brown color to a rich red as scales began to cover his forearms and chest.
In the distance Rowan watched what was happening, his cold eyes seemed to be deep in calculation.