Caine’s response was swift and unexpected, as far into the distance, reality seemed to explode and there was a pained scream, existence shook and Rowan’s projection was almost shaken into nothingness, as an ocean of serpentine bodies crushed beyond recognition began to scatter across reality, their cries forever silent The weakest serpents there were in the fourth dimension, and they numbered in the tens of billions, followed by fifth, even sixth-dimensional serpents were all crushed by Caine’s unexpected attack, the bodies of the two immortals here also vibrated as if they were hollow, reminding Rowan once more that the two individuals standing here were simply projections of their bodies, and their real forms were out in the distance. Despite this being a projection, Caine flashed forward and seized Shamaran by the throat as his other hand struck rapidly, digging into her chest, and pulling out her beating heart which he squeezed to a pulp, and he made a quick series of swipes with his hand that was arched into a claw to tear off Shamaran’s arms and legs. Her cries of rage had not even left her lips when Caine opening his mouth as wide as a crocodile lunged forward and bit off her entire face, nearly chewing through a third of her skull in the process. Her tongue flopped out of her mouth, swaying from side to side as if she was still speaking but there was nothing else to vocalize her voice. For a moment the half of her skull that was left containing organs that were throbbing rapidly began to glow as a great power was being activated inside of the flesh, but Caine was like a starving wolf, and he pulled her towards him and devoured Shamaran in a violent frenzy, gore spraying out for dozens of feet, in between the sounds of chewing were faint sounds of laughter. ® Rowan dispassionately watched all these atrocities as they were taking place as he wondered if something similar was happening in the distance, was Shamarsn strong enough to hold back Caine who seemed to have fully let go of any inhibitions? This was something that Rowan did not need to concern himself with for the moment, however, what drew his attention more than anything was the abilities that Caine had used to dispatch the projection of Shamaran. Originally, the projection of Shamaran here could be regarded as a collection of light and sound waves, held together by her Will, but when Caine attacked, seizing her by the neck, a subtle wave of a strange power covered the entire projection of Shamaran, and what was once light and sound, became flesh and blood. This ability was so perverse that it stripped Shamaran of her immunity and powers, reducing her to a being of flesh and blood. Although in the end, Shamaran seemed as if she was able to fight back against the influence of this power, it was already too late. As horrifying as this ability was, it was also familiar to Rowan, because Golgoth the God King of Trion had once used this ability on a part of Rowan’s soul in the past in order to torture him. It was a rather strange and obscure ability that Rowan had seen no need to acquire, and he had never wondered how Golgoth was able to acquire it, but seeing how easily Caine had been able to wield this power even against a powerhouse like Shamaran, Rowan understood that this power was unique to Caine, he was most likely the originator of it, and the God King Golgoth had probably acquired this ability from the First Betrayer himself. This suggested to him that Caine had not just stumbled onto Rowan inside a random lower universe, he had long had a hand in the affairs of Trion from the start. Perhaps when the Eye of Time and the Reflection had entered the universe of his birth, their decision was not as random as they thought, a hidden hand had been guiding them all this while. There were many mysteries behind the betrayals of the Reflection, and the fact that they had been able to suppress the Eye of Time for so long. From what Rowan understood about the creation of the Eye of Time, it was never meant to live for a long time, as a ticking bomb created by Primordial Time to give him the ability to return to reality now and then, the Eye of Time needed to die as frequently as possible, but there was a catch, and it was that the Eye could not find out about its purpose. Despite all of this, Rowan had found it remarkable that he was the one who was able to cause the Eye to reach its breaking point, but he knew there were stronger and more cunning immortals in existence that may have come across the Eye in the past. How then was it able to live so long? Caine must have been behind many of the actions of the Eye of and of its Reflections, perhaps their madness must have been one of the things he might have placed into their souls. Yet, Rowan did not believe that even with the powers of Caine, he would be able to go against the arrangements of a Primordial for so long. This suggested to Rowan that Caine should be a pawn in the hidden wars between Primordials. It was apparent that the Primordials would not want Primordial Time to have unrestricted access to reality using this backdoor, and Caine was their answer. Was this the truth, or was it all just speculation on his part? Rowan could not wait to find out, and he was thinking that he was slowly approaching the core of this matter. ® Stay tuned for updates on freewebnovel "I had expected you to run. Yet you remain, hehehe… I knew I did not choose wrong. I knew your flame, unlike the others, was strong and magnificent, able to withstand the Desolation." Caine had been crouched like a spider, his limbs splayed out, and his tongue was lapping up the bit of flesh and blood left floating around in the void. In the distance, existence kept vibrating, massive booms that would shatter a thousand universes, as galaxies worth of blood and flesh were shed in an apocalyptic tussle that Rowan was only seeing a small part of. In the beginning, Caine might have dominated Shamaran, but the Mother of Poison was not a walkover. Their battle was becoming more heated and Rowan wondered what would be coming next. Slowly coming to his feet, Caine cracked his neck and looked at Rowan with a wide grin on his face, with the red blood painting his teeth and mouth, he almost looked like the specter of madness that he was. This was the true face of Caine, madness given shape, despair given life.q 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 Rowan answered Caine’s query with a shrug, "Why should I run, I am already within your palm." "How amusing Rowan, knowing you willingly placed yourself in this situation. You know there was a time when I found your lackadaisical attitude to danger to be amusing, but now it has become somewhat of a nuisance. You have begun to overreach the place you were always meant to remain, and your wings spread wide like a Phoenix rising to the sun would need to be pruned, hence you forget your earthly roots. You are rapidly forgetting the face of fear, and someone needs to remind you again." Rowan replied as he slowly walked towards Caine, "There are many things that I fear, so much that for me the list is almost overwhelming, which is something that I thought would be impossible, given my peculiar situation, but, I cannot be afraid of you Caine, because, despite your menace, you are still just a pawn." At this time Rowan had walked up to Caine, and despite the power differences that blazed between them, with Caine’s power like the sun before Rowan’s small flame, visually they presented something different. Rowan even in this base form as a projection was bigger, his gait carried incredible grace, and his demeanor was beyond perfection. An innate majesty that could not be hidden shrouded his entire body, and as he walked towards Caine, his Will despite being so small, eclipsed the First Betrayer. Without the power level differential separating them, an outside party would believe that a beggar was standing before their king. Caine grimaced, his expression twisted as he growled, "You call me a pawn?!" Rowan that was now standing a few feet away from him cocked his head to the side and then he smiled, and a sort of pitying look flashed across his eyes, "So, you don’t even understand your destiny." With those final words, Rowan vanished, the energy he had placed inside this projection was exhausted, but he still heard the angered cries of Caine ripple across reality.