Chapter 1280 Twisting Fate A single thought was at the forefront of Rowan's mind. "Battle was a dance, and with your partner on a back leg, do not let go of your advantage. Break it, and then break them all!" Space was torn apart and the realm vibrated as the body of Rowan expanded in size. So much mass appearing out of thin air caused countless atoms and molecules scattered around to slam into each other with so much force, that some of them burst open releasing tremendous amounts of energy, and for a while, Rowan's expanding body seemed to be covered by a robe made from exploding stars. Rowan's hand reached into space and he seized something by his waist, which he brought into the light, revealing that it was Wormtongue. This source-level treasure that resembled a fleshy whip was thrown into his mouth and Rowan chewed it, an action that was similar to its creation and Tribulation process. He opened his mouth and he had mysteriously grown a second tongue, the treasure became a part of his body and ignited what was left of the Aetherium in his possession he had gained not long ago as the refinement processes of his Hollow Forge Chamber went online, he spoke. His words had a weird echo as if two people were speaking the same words at the same time, even the tone of voices from each of the voices was different. "Eye of Time, why did you kill the Primordial Keepers?" Rowan's chilling eyes crossed space to fixate on the realm the fragment had become, his gaze creating a tangible connection across space that could be felt. Not waiting for the Eye of Time to understand the reasons for such an accusation at the moment, Rowan pushed on, "For pride? Greed, do you not understand the importance of their existence and how tirelessly they had been performing their duties all these years? Your guts have grown beyond your meager frame and your audacity knows no bounds, that great sin hangs heavily on your head and you shall pay the price for it. Reality itself shall punish you! Such an atrocity can never go unanswered." His words were like a decree from Fate itself, and indeed this was what Rowan had just done. Using the power of Wormtongue he had accessed the unique power of Fate that only seventh-dimensional immortals could access, and even then most would need a proper Source-level treasure and Aetherium to manage such a feat. Rowan satisfied two out of those three conditions, he had a Source-level treasure, and he had access to Aetherium after he sent his Hollow Forge Chamber into the black ocean the moment he had stepped his foot into Doom Star. If the refinement time for the Reflection had taken years to produce a single crystal of Aetherium, his main body was able to do it in a fraction of that time, seven seconds. However, he was not a seventh-dimensional immortal, and yet his impossible physical attributes allowed him to channel the powers of Fate for a single moment to place that decree on the Eye of Time. The second tongue in his mouth burst into flame, Wormtongue was damaged, its source was nearly exhausted and it would need time to regain its powers. Rowan suffered a massive backlash that would have killed him if he was a bit weaker than his present state, his body combusted into ash making him glow like a supernova, but even in that destruction, he was being remade anew. It was a chilling sight for it appeared almost unreal, a body the size of a universe should not be so casily destroyed and remade countless times. It spoke of something that had been forbidden by the Primordials, an era that had passed when immortals had access to nearly an infinite source of essence they could spend. The Calamity gods and the Silver horde summoned by the Eye of Time were similar. This was a battle being made by powers that were out of time, and forbidden by reality. A confrontation like this could not happen outside Doom Star, hence it would shake the foundations of this Era. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Although Rowan tried to keep all the inhabitants of his dimension safe from this destruction, he still lost hundreds of millions as every moment passed, but the sacrifice was worth it, and the deed was done, and he focused on the next series of events that was to come. With what was happening here it was shocking that Rowan casually discarded summoning powers at the seventh-dimensional level, but his Reflection understood that against the present enemies he was facing, only impossible moves mattered, anything lesser would be useless. Rowan's soul ached. In battles, there would always be sacrifices, and the majority of those who died in the conflagration that erupted inside his dimension were considered those who were weak. Across countless planets and stars inside of him, wholesale destruction raged, and the strong could weather the chaos and rescue those beneath them that could not. His Angels were working overtime to keep the casualties down as much as possible, but all bets were off when the universe that you resided in was partaking in a terrible war, Worlds vanished and reappeared, entire galaxies froze before turning to ash, stars exploded wholesale, and even space turned treacherous. Safety could only be guaranteed in the lower dimensions, but entering that place was incredibly dangerous because of the pressure within that would turn diamonds to nothing in an instant. There were many advantages to being born inside of a living dimension. Resources would never run out, because even rocks were being baptized by Rowan's seemingly endless essence, and to classify them as non-living things was not entirely accurate. Aether flooded the air in amounts that were slowly reaching those of the Primordial Era, and even mortals could live for many millennia without aging a single bit and sickness was not even known to exist across his dimension. Reincarnation was extremely easy if the Soul Origin of the individual was under Rowan's care, and if the individual was capable of crossing the Purgatory Gate then death for the inhabitants of a living dimension was simply a test of their might and resolve, making the possibility of becoming a higher dimensional immortal more likely, but occasionally in times like this when the living dimension went to war, then the inhabitants would suffer. Most would never understand that the universe they inhabited was alive in such a manner, as Rowan had been distancing himself from his children for a while, but they understood that their reality was suffering a cataclysm, and they needed to pray for it to scale through. In the vast world that had become the body of the Eye of Time, there was a certain chamber where some corpses of Primordial Keepers could be found. This place resembled an ancient empire that had been destroyed by the Primordial Keepers, but they had perished along the way, their bodies left to gather dust here. Their ephemeral bodies which should have vanished for long had been preserved by the nature of their surroundings and they had lain here for countless eternities, waiting for this moment. The words from Rowan, powered by the essence of Wormtongue reached across space and time and touched upon the corpses of the Primordial Keepers here in this chamber, and Effect became Cause.