A thunderous roar split the skies.
Rowan's relentless assault crashed down upon the Golden-Horned Beast like a storm of divine fury. Each strike ripped through the creature's armored flesh, leaving its once-impenetrable body riddled with gaping wounds. Yet, though the beast's body was nearly destroyed, Rowan's attacks had never once struck its core the very essence that sustained its life.
That deliberate cruelty left the beast trapped in agony, unable to die yet too broken to flee.
Now it hung suspended in the air, its golden hide cracked and charred, its massive body trembling with exhaustion. The radiance that once made it seem godlike had dimmed to a flickering ember.
Rowan lowered his weapon and watched his prey, his eyes cold and calculating. The beast's once-majestic gaze was now filled only with despair and disbelief.
Then, without a word, Rowan lifted a hand.
A pulse of psychic power surged from his brow, the soul mark upon him igniting like a miniature sun. The wave of spirit energy crashed straight into the Golden-Horned Beast's mind, piercing through its failing defenses like a spear of light.
The creature shrieked a sound of agony and fear so deep it echoed through the void. Its soul flared, resisting with desperate force… but only for a few seconds.
Then it shattered.
The monstrous body convulsed once, then stilled.
When it lifted its gaze again, the defiance in its eyes had vanished replaced by submission.
"Master…"
The deep voice resonated in Rowan's mind, trembling with reverence.
Rowan smiled faintly. "That's better."
The Golden-Horned Beast one of the fabled top-ten bloodlines of the cosmic wilderness now bowed before him like a loyal pet. Rowan stepped lightly onto its massive skull, his cloak rippling in the starless air.
He had tamed the beast. Now came the next step: extracting its knowledge.
But this battlefield was far from ideal. Rowan knew the use of the Infinity Gauntlet, even in brief bursts, could leave energy signatures detectable across space. If one of the Immortal-tier beings sensed that surge, they would come seeking the source and even Rowan was not yet strong enough to face them.
Until he reached the level of an Immortal King, the Gauntlet's existence had to remain secret.
He patted the beast's head. "Let's find a quieter place."
In a streak of golden light, the pair shot across the void, leaving behind the silent wreckage of their battle. Moments later, they descended upon Jupiter a world cloaked in storms, a perfect hiding place.
Lightning flashed in the swirling clouds as Rowan hovered above the gas giant. "This will do."
A crimson shimmer flickered in his palm the Reality Stone.
With a thought, the landscape below them warped and split. The storm clouds parted as a colossal fissure opened in the planet's surface, forming a tunnel that spiraled deep beneath the crust. Rowan and his beast plunged into the darkness, descending more than a hundred kilometers below the surface.
When they emerged, they stood within a newly formed cavern a vast underground fortress of his own creation, carved and shaped by the Reality Stone's power.
Even Thanos had needed all six Infinity Stones to alter the universe. But Rowan, though wielding only one, could reshape matter itself within his domain.
Here, in this hidden stronghold, no eye could find him. No god would sense the power that burned within.
Rowan turned to his servant. "Now," he murmured, placing his palm against the creature's head, "don't resist."
The Mind Stone flared to life, bathing them both in a serene blue light.
In that instant, Rowan's consciousness plunged deep into the Golden-Horned Beast's soul. He navigated through endless memories visions of cosmic battles, ancient empires, and forgotten laws of cultivation. Countless lifetimes of knowledge poured into him like a flood.
The onslaught was unbearable. Rowan's body trembled, his mind screaming under the weight of thousands of years of experience.
"So much… too much…"
It felt like his brain was being torn apart. His consciousness flickered at the edge of collapse until the Mind Stone responded, releasing a gentle, nourishing warmth.
Its power flowed through him, soothing his burning soul, letting him endure the torrent without breaking.
Time lost meaning.
When he finally opened his eyes again, two weeks had passed.
Golden light danced in his irises as he exhaled slowly. "Finally… it's all here."
Within his mind now dwelled thousands of secret arts more than three thousand cultivation methods, hundreds of lost divine techniques, and eighteen supreme beast forms. The Golden-Horned race had been reborn in his memory.
Each of its kind, before death, would condense its essence into an egg, carrying forward all its knowledge and power to the next life. Across countless cycles, those memories had accumulated into a library vast enough to overwhelm even Rowan.
Many of the techniques were designed for monstrous bodies of living metal and energy, useless to human form but some, hidden among the chaos, were meant for beings like him.
"Not bad," he murmured, scanning through the vast inheritance. "I'll keep these."
He ignored the monstrous arts and focused on the ones crafted for humans techniques from long-dead warriors who had fallen to the Golden-Horned race in battle.
Unbeknownst to him, in another world the original Devouring Universe a certain AI named Babata had once concealed this truth from another prodigy named Luo Feng. Rowan, however, had no such restrictions. He devoured knowledge as the beast once devoured stars.
Days passed in silence as he meditated, cross-legged atop the fiery plains of Muspelheim the Realm of Flame where he now trained.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, three months had slipped by.
The world had not forgotten his name.
At the Wargod Palace, the leaders of humanity gathered in solemn assembly. Dozens of planetary-level warriors filled the chamber, faces grim.
Hong, the world's foremost warrior, stood at the center. His voice carried the weight of mourning.
"Everyone… we have lost a hero. Rowan, the greatest genius among us, vanished after his battle with the Golden-Horned Beast. His courage saved this planet. His name will live forever."
He did not say "dead" but everyone knew what he meant.
Even Thunder God, who had once rivaled Rowan, could only bow his head. "That kid… I thought I'd beat him someday." He laughed bitterly. "Guess he's beyond my reach now."
In another corner, the ice-cold leader of the HR Alliance, Venina, clenched her fists until her nails cut into her palms. She didn't care about politics, or power. She cared only about the man who had once made her heart race.
Fate is cruel, she thought, her vision blurring. Just when I finally met someone worth loving… he's gone.
She refused to accept it.
He can't be dead. He won't be.
She left the meeting without a word.
Hong watched her go, his own chest heavy with guilt. "I should never have let him face that beast alone…"
Across the world, people spoke Rowan's name in whispers some with grief, others with envy or relief.
But above the storms of Jupiter, deep beneath the crust of another world, Rowan still sat cross-legged amid the glow of Infinity Stones, his power growing, his mind awakening.
He was far from dead.
He was becoming something more.
Something the universe itself would soon have to reckon with.
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