There was a Ward against movements by any being made of flesh and soul engrained inside the Supreme Sun. So it would not matter how strong you were; without breaking this Ward, it was impossible for anyone to reach the core of the realm and find the Supreme Tower, and there was only a single road that could be used to get to the core. The Supreme Sun's first line of defense was simple yet incredibly profound, and it has stopped many intruders from entering the realm over the ages. This Ward was fueled by a series of Proto-Source level treasures crafted by the Supreme Magus, and it had stood the rest of time, but Andar had studied it for a while and devised a simple method to defeat it. The Light Devourer that he had summoned ahead, gathered from the darkness of his Will, had gained life, but its state of life was quite different from any conventional life in most of Reality, and it did not need a soul to live, and so it could tear its way into the core of the realm and easily bypass the power of this Ward, but Andar was still a being of flesh and soul, and if he were going to enter the Supreme Sun, he would have to face the might of dozens of Proto-Source level treasures whose power source was connected to the Supreme Magus Tower in the core of this realm, meaning they would never run out of power. With the power of Aetherius, Andar might be able to force his way through the barrier, but it would cost him and give Endirius enough time to deal with him at his leisure, so he used an underhand method for a better result. He fired a bolt of darkness that pursued behind the shrinking tunnel made by the Light Devourer and hitched a ride on it. The Ward prevented a living being from moving through the star via their effort; it could not stop anyone who was being dragged through it. It was a minor loophole, but this could not be blamed on the Supreme Mage's oversight. This Ward would not be as powerful if he did not allow it to follow a very specific pattern. Of course, Andar could only take advantage of this loophole because he had the Light Devourer tearing a hole through the barrier, so if Enidrius had expected that this Ward would have delayed Andar for a little bit, he was wrong. The tunnel Andar was traveling through was rapidly closing around him, but judging by his present speed, which was many times faster than light, Andar knew he would long be at the core of the realm before this tunnel collapsed. As Andar traveled through what resembled an endless tunnel of light and fire, he witnessed many miracles. Inside the fore, he could see glimpses of different worlds and dominion, and at his present level, he knew that what he was seeing were the many various hidden dimensions of the Supreme Magus. This tells Andar that the foundations of a Supreme Realm are incredibly profound. Most mages might not know that they were simply the most numerous of Endirius's dominion, and this realm contained many more powers than they could grasp. Without Rowan's support, Andar knew he had no right to consider fighting Endirius, even with Aetherius in his hand. From some of these realms, he thought he sensed the presence of Old Ones, but he could not be sure. He was getting closer to the core of this realm when a massive detonation of force erupted below him, and he felt the connection with the Light Devourer wink out. A massive shockwave arose from below, carrying the cries of the dead Light Devourer. It slammed into the beam of darkness, ferrying Andar to the core and shattering the beam to pieces. Flipping the Staff around, Andar thrust it against the rising shockwave, and Aetherius absorbed all that power. The staff hummed, and with a burst of will from Andar, it returned the power it had swallowed. But what emerged from the staff was a massive circular blade that tore its way down faster than Andar's consciousness could follow, and a roar of pain emerged from below. Without the beam of darkness, Andar's body no longer had any propulsive force carrying him toward the core, but enough resultant force remained on his body to push him forward, and he saw a rippling barrier suddenly appearing before him—he was at the core of the star! Twisting Aetherius, Andar covered himself with the strongest shield he could conjure; his body slammed into the barrier and vanished from sight. ® There was a dull pop around Andar as if he had just torn his way through a frozen womb. He felt a rush of nausea before the Reality around him shifted. He appeared in a land of ice, and in the distance, a castle made from ice and darkness, with black lightning emerging from the clouds to strike the castle occasionally. There was something massive behind the shadow of this castle covered by fog, and Andar wanted to peer through it to see what it was. But a warning from his spirit made him pull away from his thoughts, and he did not stop there. He viciously reached into his memories and tore out his remembrance of ever seeing anything behind this castle. Materializing this piece of Memory in front of him that took the shape of a white and black flame, Andar's breath caught in his throat when the flame froze before shattering to pieces. If he had been a bit careless and not sought this memory, he would have been significantly injured if the corruption he had witnessed had taken root. Andar could barely come to terms with this frightening transformation before a powerful force dragged him to the earth. He landed on the frozen ground with great force, but not a single crack appeared on the ground, even though he must have fallen at least a hundred miles in a fraction of a second. "This place... Where is this?"