Chapter 1638: A Reality Denied As if Rowan’s words had wiped out the veil covering her eyes, a mighty weapon appeared above Staff; it was a long chain with serrated teeth like a saw blade running down its entire length. This weapon contained a chaotic will that sought to consume and devour all things, and Staff was stupefied that such a terrible weapon of slaughter had been inside her soul for so long without her being aware of it. "Why did you put this weapon inside my soul? Was it to save my life in a time like this?" Rowan shook his head, "As much as I would like to claim such a feat, the presence of this weapon was not to save your life but to leave a seed of mine behind, but as it turns out, it can save your life if you bind yourself in an Angreement with me." "An Agreement?" Staff shook her head, "I am not worthy of being treated at the level of a Primordial Rowan, just state your case." Rowan laughed, "Hahaha, no, you have got it all wrong. An Agreement can be quite beneficial for you if the terms are loose. Of course, there are dangers to it, as no powerful Agreement does not have that element of peril, but if you survive it, you can finally cross that bridge that has held you back for so long." Staff could not help but take a step back, "Surely, you cannot mean..." "Yes, Staff, I may not be privy to everything that has happened in the last few years, but I can see the despair and hunger in your soul. You have seen the height of power that few in Reality would ever witness, and you know the gap that exists between beings like me and the Primordials from the rest of Reality. With this Agreement, there is a way for you to bridge that gap and fulfill the dreams of your father." "The dreams of my father," Staff whispered, "were for me to exceed him!" Rowan grinned, "If he believed in you and saw in you his dreams, then this matter is already half settled." Staff took successive deep breaths before she spoke again, "What is this agreement, and how can it make me as strong as a Primordial? Is it related to what you did with the Lady of Shadows?" Rowan nodded, "Yes, it is. The Primordials are not a part of Reality, yet they have supplanted all the major pillars of creation. Killing them is the easy part, but in their death, the pillars must be held in place, or all will collapse. Eosah, which was Reality, would have held this burden, but she is dead, and so it falls to you and the special few that I have chosen." Rowan gestured, and a dynamic image of the entirety of Reality appeared in front of Staff, showing her the Primordial Domains and even the lower realms. "The Primordials are plunderers, and so when they came for the foundations of Reality, they did not leave anything behind. You would think that for a being called Primordial Demon, he would control only the Domain of Demon, but that is far from the case. Instead, he had taken the domains of darkness, despair, anger, lust, greed, envy... I can spend years spelling out all the stolen domains, both small and big, that had been stolen and suppressed under the name of Demon." Staff was shocked, "Why would they do this?" "The answer is simple," Rowan replied, "It is to suppress the natives of Reality and stop any ninth-dimensional being from being born." Waiting for Staff to digest the importance of his words, Rowan continued, "I was not here when Reality was born, but I believe it must have been a place of limitless potential. All concepts would have the chance to be taken to the ninth-dimensional level, even your Will of Force, which I believe was swallowed by the Primordial Demon. Without the limiting factor of that act, you might have become a Primordial of Force in the future." Staff breath halted in her throat, and she could not help but ask with a note of incredulity in her voice, "Do you mean that there could have been dozens or hundreds of Primordials by now if not for them?" "What? No..." Rowan laughed, "I am sorry but Reality is too small for that sort of consumption, but if it was hundred of nascents ninth dimensional being, then yes, I believe that should be possible, but then they would be sent out of Reality to Limbo where they can hone themselves and hopefully grow to the ranks of Primordial, becoming everlasting beings." Staff closed her eyes; it was as if she could see a vision of that future, one where the path to the top was bloody and brutal and yet still possessed a hint of fairness. Beings like Rowan or Primordials who had no business interfering with the lives of those inside Reality would not exist, and life would make sense. However, Staff could not deny that it was the presence of Primordials that also pushed the abilities of the inhabitants much higher than it should have been possible in such a short time, but this growth was not natural. It was like feeding the limbs of a man to him to avoid hunger. She knew that it was the Primordials that brought in the power of the higher dimensions into Reality. It was always there, but it should have taken an extremely long time for any of the inhabitants of Reality to discover this power. A God Emperor or a Supreme Mage should have been the highest cultivation in Reality for an extended period, and then slowly the fourth dimension of Time would be discovered, granting a boost to the overall lifespan of an immortal, and when a supreme genius was capable of mastering time in its entirety, their Will would be born, and with this being the highest peak of cultivation, a new peak would arise with the discovery of the Space-Time dimension. Staff explained this to Rowan, seeking to resolve any confusion, and he nodded his head in agreement. A flash of surprise in his eyes showed how quickly she was able to piece together all the various elements of the truth out of what he had told her. What she did not know about was the Origin of the Dimensions. If Reality had not been tampered with and a genius had been able to be the first person to touch the realm of Time and follow this path to the end, ultimately acquiring a Will, they would have had the opportunity to contend for the Origin of Time. Rowan believed that such a thing would have drawn Tribulation from the entirety of Reality, and it would have shaken all of existence. If that genius were to succeed, they would have been the first Pillar of Reality, and perhaps become the first Primordial to emerge from Eosah with the Supreme power of Time Origin. However, such a sight was mere fiction at this point. The Primordials have arrived, and they have taken the future. "You are correct about my plans for you, Staff. Now hear the Agreement I am about to propose. The Chains of Betrayal was the previous weapon of Primordial Demon, hence it is linked to his essence, therefore connected to his domains. I shall fuse the nascent consciousness of the chains with the Sin Weapon in your soul, granting you a firm connection with the essence of Primordial Demon. This would effectively kill the consciousness that is presently assimilating your soul and boost you past the level of any conventional Old One in Reality." Staff arched an eyebrow, "All I am hearing is benefit, and the danger is coming, is it not?" Rowan shook his head in amusement, "You think this is a benefit? No, I am merely laying a foundation for the Agreement. You are absolutely too weak to begin accepting the benefit as you are, and consuming the consciousness boosted by all of these resources would make your foundation robust enough to hold an Agreement with me." Staff swallowed her amazement, "Okay, you would feed me the consciousness of this weapon, I assume it is to grow my soul and enhance my potential." "You are correct, and now comes the Agreement. With your enhanced soul, you would not be able to..." ® The Infernal Architects were hard at work boosting the defenses for the arena. Every now and then, Malgeth would look up at the solitary figure of the Infernal Maiden, whose body was not covered by coils of black metallic chains that shifted between solid and liquid states. By all common sense, she should be dead, but he could still see her hands clutching the chains, and although the fluctuation of her soul was barely noticeable, it remained steady. "Monster, what an absolute monster." More than any Demon Lord, he knew what it meant to be wrapped by the Chains of Betrayal, and even the most powerful Demon Lord he knew had not survived more than a week. This was the fifth month, and she was still holding firm.