Chapter 1574: Eosah Caine had expected to wait a long time before he was called to service, and he was left to sit with nothing but his consciousness and relentless voice in his head. Caine hated to be in this place, as dwelling on his memories was as great a torture as what he suffered at the hands of Primordial Chaos. Sitting on a grain of sand inside the Great Desert, he had nothing but time to contemplate his life choices, and he could not stop himself from falling down memory lane to the times when everything seemed much more straightforward. Reaching so far into the past, even with the powerful mind of an Old One, was quite strenuous, and Caine hated every single moment he spent sinking into the distant past, but he could not stop himself. Like a fly following a decaying corpse into the grave, he could not loosen himself away from his memories. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦 “How did it all come to this? How could I have ever been so blind to have fallen so far?” One should not push past their limits, and his greed had forced him to crave something that he would be unable to hold if provided to him on a silver platter. It was surprising that it took so long for him to understand this fact despite the many opportunities in the past that should have taught him this lesson. He had always craved the title of a Primordial and all the powers associated with them because he knew that only becoming a Primordial would assure true immortality. However, he was approaching the end of his life, and Caine could feel it; even if he did not die in battle, the end of his existence was rapidly approaching. Caine had once told Shamaran that he was incredibly old, more older than she could ever imagine, and Rowan was there. However, by then, Rowan did not understand the genuine concept of death, unlike other immortals who could feel its touch, and he did not fully realize what it meant for an Old One to refer to himself as old. Reality was far older than most in existence could ever comprehend. Most immortals only knew of two Major Eras, the Primordial Era and the Supreme Era, but Caine had already lived through twelve Major Eras! Most would not know this knowledge, but from its conception to the present day, Reality has existed for a total of twelve Major Eras. Only two Major Eras are known to Reality, and ten were placed in darkness. He was among the first in existence when Reality asserted itself in the Cosmic Record, and if there was ever an immortal that should be called an Old One, Caine warranted that title. Although he was not immortal at the beginning of existence, the sheer volume of Primordial Essence in Reality ensured that he was virtually immortal. For a long time, he and the firstborns of Reality lived in harmony in a land where there was no want. They called Reality Eosah, for she was their mother. She did not communicate with words; Caine did not think she could; that was the lie he told himself, but it was far into the future that he understood that Eosah could speak more clearly than the gentle breeze that shook the forest to express her delight. They were all too weak to appreciate her voice, but she loved them all the same, giving up the bounty of her Essence for all of them to indulge in with no limits. After a long time exploring Reality, some among their number grew curious about what lay beyond the heavens, and they journeyed past the nothingness and saw Limbo. Of all those who left with him that day, Caine believed that he was the only one who had survived to this day. He may be wrong; he did not much care to search if there were any remnants of the past left. Caine would never forget the first time he saw a Primordial through the cracks in Reality. It was this sight that broke his mind and planted the seed of greed within him. He still remembered the faint tug of panic in Eosah’s voice, telling them not to venture past the darkness to find what lay outside. Inside her protection, there was no death or misery; it was paradise unending, where the songs of their mother were with them around their communal fires. They were foolish, as some believed that Eosah must be hiding a treasure from their sight, and others simply wanted to see more. To prevent them from leaving, Eosah created the Nothingness as a final effort to stop their journey. However, that did not hold them back for long because they were leaders, and in time, they were able to gather power that allowed them to sail through the Nothingness. Looking back, Caine knew how easy it must have been for Eosah to kill them all to protect the rest of Reality, but she did not do so. She did not bring death into her domain; it was her foolish children who committed that act. Caine, along with eight of his brothers and sisters, had chosen to journey outside the Nothingness to push past the barrier their mother had made to protect her children and see… power. This was a concept they had not understood before. What use was there for power when everything was available to you? Yet they were curious, and it was Noctis, the true firstborn of Reality, who sent out his voice into that place and spoke to the darkness, and voices without number responded, promising… everything. “Your time has come. Find the Flame.” For a moment, Caine was confused as the visions of the past merged with that of the present, but the undeniable presence of Primordial Chaos drove whatever fog was on his mind, and he went on his knees, his face pressing against the ground. “Your slave obeys your command; let your Will guide my path.” His mind whirled around as he pondered, ‘Is the moment here already?!’