Chapter 1629: Breaking New Grounds Algorth, the first fortification in existence, possessed a complexity that would boggle the mind of any immortal. Even Noctis, who had merged half of his soul and essence with this castle, did not know all its secrets. His soul would have to be a thousand times stronger to understand even twenty percent of her mysteries, and if he needed to know more, then the soul power he would need was almost unfathomable. Sheba, his castle had grown, but she had to give up so much, just like him. Bringing these two inside of her was a risk, but with what they had achieved, it was worth it, even if the cost turned out to be a hundred times higher. Algorth was made to endure, and it did not matter how much the Primordials beat against her walls; with him inside of it, they would not take a single step inside of it. This was a task he could not fail, because these two would show him the way to reach the levels of a Primordial! Bringing both of them into Sheba, Noctis had expected a slight moment of disorientation at best or total mental collapse at worst. The internals of this castle were chaos personified. On the surface, it took the form of an ever-shifting great city, whose streets and buildings were constantly moving and changing, creating a labyrinth where nothing stayed the same. Below this city were endless tunnels made from flesh, blood, and bones. To survive for this long, Algorth had to make certain compromises. Noctis had already prepared spells and certain antidotes to be given to his new occupants after they entered his castle. It was both as a show of goodwill and a manipulation tactic to draw them closer to him and build a seed of dependency. Maybe he might not be able to fool the newly ascended Light, but her companion appeared to be on the verge of death, and his consciousness was a fleeting breeze; he would need assistance. Noctis brought out the spells for their mental stability as he looked towards his new guest, when his black eyes widened in shock. The entirety of Algorth was still. His castle was stubborn, his castle was dangerous, his castle could perform wonders, but one thing his castle could not do was to stay still. It went against the core of her being, and even though she had been broken down and suppressed, no longer able to climb on the starlight as she did in her youth, her body twisted into becoming a castle, Sheba still fought back, and she would never stand still, not even for Primordials. Not even for him. At first, Noctis thought that Sheba had gone still for the New Light, but as Eva began to rise into the air, heading straight for the clouds above, Noctis could pierce through the stream of Sheba’s consciousness, and he saw that all her focus was on the man who should be dead. After so many Eras, she had stopped moving for him? "Why is she still with a 12-brane hyperspace rune when she should be at least at a 16?" Noctis was distracted as he turned towards Rowan, not fully expecting the question he was being asked by this dead man. "What?" Noctis replied in stupefaction, "I don’t understand." A dark chuckle emerged from the surroundings, "See what I have to deal with every day, my lord, and he does not appreciate my patience." Noctis’ mouth dropped open, and he shakily pointed his hand accusatorily towards the depths of the castle, "You–you are speaking outside my head to outsiders. You even call him lord! I am your lord, and you refuse to acknowledge me, but him?!" Noctis swore that he sensed an eye roll from the castle, as she said, "I never told you I could not speak outside your head, Noctis. You have never brought anyone of real value here, so of course I do not waste my breath. Trust me Noctis, by the end of this, you will be calling him lord as well, there will be only benefit for you in the long run if you start sucking up now." Noctis sputtered in outrage, "You... you... ungrateful..." turning towards Rowan, who had not stopped looking at him, expecting an answer. Noctis swore in anger, "Who the hell are you?!" The dead man sighed, "That is not important; what is important is the structure of this castle." Noctis blinked in anger and surprise. He was getting profoundly irritated, and he could not find where to place his anger. With a disguised sweetness in his tone, he said, "What is wrong with the structure of the castle, my lord?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 Rowan frowned. "You have not earned the right to refer to me as such, but that is another matter for the future. " He turned and pointed into the distance in a seemingly random direction. " You see that dimensional binding over there..." Noctis looked and thought he saw something, but Sheba was so complex that he did not understand even a fraction of what went into her makeup. Noticing his obvious confusion, Rowan sighed more deeply, and Noctis suddenly had the desire to punch him. "The interior of this castle is made from a non-Euclidean manifold embedded in a 12-brane hyperspace, which is the first problem. Its foundations are woven from quantum-locked dark matter filaments and stabilized by arcane sigils of dimensional bindings, that is the second problem." Rowan slowly pointed out as if he were speaking to a child, and Noctis nearly exploded in anger. "YOU THINK YOU CAN COME INTO MY CASTLE AND SPEAK IN THIS MANNER?" Rowan frowned and then blinked, and to Noctis’s surprise, he bowed, "I apologise if I sounded rude. My soul is on the verge of destruction, and the amount of consciousness I have to work with is extremely small. I am pointing out these problems because these are loopholes left behind by what are most likely Primordials. If they remain, Sheba can be easily tracked, and they would have an avenue to enter the castle." All of Noctis’s indignation vanished at Rowan’s words, and he spoke slowly, his voice like the hiss of a snake, "Are you sure about what you are saying?" Rowan nodded, "There is no more time. I will soon be dead, and I need to make sure that the New Light is safe for the next few moments. I would like to show you everything in a more in-depth manner, but you will have to trust me and your castle. I can take out the rot, but it would have to be done immediately." "Listen to him, Noctis, he has pointed out several knots of distress that I suspected to be problematic for a while, but I have never understood the reason." Noctis rubbed his face in irritation, "How sure are you that he would be able to help. He is three moments away from death." "Don’t be stupid, Noctis, it does not suit you. Now give him the permission, or I will rip it from you until you know how to think outside your ego." "Fine," Noctis growled, "but if he causes more damage to your interior space, do not come begging me for help. I want to see how a dead man with a crushed soul can fix a wonder that was made at the dawn of creation." Rowan shrugged, "I have barely a fraction of my soul power left. I don’t promise miracles with what I have to work with, but I will do my best." "Your best is more than enough, my lord." Rowan pointed his right hand upwards, and a tiny shard of his soul emerged, and Noctis was blasted backwards, his tattoos nearly squeezing him to death from the stupendous Aura radiating from the soul that had been revealed. "This... this is a fraction of your soul?!!!"