Chapter 1448 Hidden Connections Rowan bowed his head, his long green hair covering his face like a shroud and with the astral wind that whipped across his body making his hair dance and giving him a visage of a broken immortal, long lost from the embrace of light, and when he began to speak, he released a hint of the majesty that he had kept within him, he could not help it, his patience was beginning to run thin, and his voice enraptured both Seed and Elura, "You have shown me Memories of the past, of your many children who ventured into the ocean of Memory, and they all fell, their weakness cutting them away from the higher dimensional path, but I think in your effort to create a perfect Old One after yourself, you missed something important, or perhaps you never had the ability to see it. Arcturus, your firstborn, I saw his face; he knew when he saw that green ocean that he would fail. The immensity of a mind as vast as a Primordial is something that none could ever comprehend, and yet he chose to enter, even while knowing he would fail, Rowan paused for a while as something like a chuckle escaped from him, he had seen this scene countless times across the years, but something like this never failed to draw his attention, the few with the courage to walk into the abyss with no fear, to flail against eternity. "All of your children whom you only see their failures, I see their strength; you were never born a mortal Seed; you may think you understand what it is like, but I suspect that in your heart, you know you would never understand us. They walked into the ocean, Seed; you did not push them; they made their decision to die with their beliefs in the path that they chose; let this be my choice. Do not take this from me, or you shall suffer such great pain in my hands that the highest heavens shall weep about your fate" His words hung heavy in the air, and even though Rowan was hoping that Seed would make the right choice, he did not expect that things would go according to his Will. This Old One was far too powerful and equally as stubborn; before he arrived, they both had already made a decision, and he knew that before they would allow him to venture into this Memory dimension, they would squeeze out every possibility that he would fold. Even though, from all indications, this was the path they would be heading towards, he could not allow them to proceed with this plan because he knew what Seed was about to do next, and he feared such a thing might cause him pain that would shake him to the core. Rowan had felt the soul of Maeve disappear, but her Core as a Dominator still remained, the massive world where she had kept all of his subjects as a prince of Trion and of the many mortals he had gathered along the way were all kept in her core which was in the form of a massive world that was not too far from here. Even with the death of Maeve, her core was still extremely powerful and it would shelter these people for many Minor Eras, and if he allowed Seed to go according to his plans for him, this old man would slaughter everyone on that planet unless Rowan agreed to follow a specific path, and that was something he was not going to do. He had lived a life where he allowed his heart to rule, and then he lost his soul, after that he lived a soulless life where his head ruled his actions, and with the miracle of his Will, he was able to regain his soul, a soul that was more powerful than any immortal had any right to obtain, and there was no way Rowan was going to diminish himself to satisfy the conditions of lesser immortals who could not imagine the sort of power he controlled. Seed gestured and the massive world filled with tens of billions of people shrank until it rested above his palm, and he cocked his head to the side as if in curiosity, "You are restrained, and your heart rests in my palms; you are going through pains that would tear out the mind of a lesser immortal, and all this weight is enough to drown you, and yet you still want me to believe in you? Will it not be better if I do everything in my power for you to make a choice, so your singular path would give you a possibility of success? You can let your heart rule and let them all live, or you can protect your secret and let them die; those are the two choices before you. Oh, and I believe there is a last option; you chose to walk out of here and never surpass the fifth-dimensional level." Rowan's eyes twitched, "I am a Breaker Seed; I don't live by your rules, and the moment I leave this place, the entire Land of Miracle will rise and come for my head. Do not ignore my warnings, Seed. Elura, you know me, you were a mortal once, don't follow him down this path." "Perhaps he is right," Elura suddenly called out, "If he truly believes that he can follow his path, then maybe we should give him that opportunity. I have seen a bit of what he did as a mortal inside his universe, Seed; he can be... terrifying for someone so young" "Perhaps..." Seed stroked his jaws, "If I am to be discarding such a glorious weapon like a Breaker with my Bloodline, then I would have to make sure that I did all I could do," Turning to Rowan, Seed chuckled, "I can see your confidence and that is admirable, but I am not convinced, I will give you the chance that you want, you have earned it, but I must be sure that I have exhausted all possibilities," Rowan did not expect that Seed would capitulate so quickly, and before he could respond, the old man looked at the world in his hand and he slowly spoke, "Just understand this fact Romion, that the price of your stubbornness would be costly. This world, your people, they shall suffer, they shall call your name, and in their torment, they would all be made aware that you could save them only with a single word, and yet you don't. Let me see your convictions when all your people, in this world curse your name; you their dying breaths. Elura, use the blade of that-that thing and weaken his flesh; he needs to feel true pain." Elura frowned, "Is that necessary? There are many things he can forgo, but desecrating his flesh in that manner would be..." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 "Calamitous? Taking it too far? Your son is stubborn, Elura, and with his attitude, I thought you should have learned by now that half-measures would not work on him. Bring out that accursed thing. We are burning time, and the Eldarak would never accept a Breaker who is below the fifth-dimensional level with my bloodline. He would not command any respect or consideration, and even though he would hate me for this, everything is for his good." Rowan growled in anger, "My good? Why don't I make that choice for my..." "Silence, child," Seed gestured, and metallic runes clamped shut over his mouth, "You will be screaming in a while, and you need all the energy for that." "If you insist," Elura said and plunged her hand through the folds of space, and she brought out a massive drop of blood that burned like a red sun and Rowan nearly wretched in disgust as he recognized that this blood came from one of his hated foes, Caine. The blood rippled, and faint laughter emerged from it that reeked of madness and decay, and if Rowan's mouth was not bound, he would be screaming at Elura, asking her all where she had collected that blood or what her intentions with it were. This blood was alive in a way that suggested that it was not stolen or seized, instead it was given. Suddenly, so many things began to make sense; connections that he had not seen before were lining up; the fact that in all the universes that existed in the Great Darkness, Caine had been able to find his universe and still have connections with Golgoth the God King in the same universe where Elura was in. The blood in front of Elura shrank, transforming into a long sword, looking at Rowan she said, "Brace yourself, I can promise you, no matter the pain you thought you have experienced in the past, this is worse," Saying this, she plunged the blade into Rowan's forehead until it burst out of his spine. Rowan's eyes popped, and despite the clamps in his mouth, he screamed.