Chapter 1687: Preparation For Battle Although Rowan did not wish it, his words could as well be compulsion. Although he could use an incarnation to speak to weaker lifeforms, something odd had happened when he had returned to Reality, his incarnation had been sucked into his body without any prompting, and as it was, he had to fight against the force emerging from his body that wanted to draw away all the incarnations he had scattered all over Reality into himself. As he grew closer to acquiring space origin, his dimensional flesh seemed to be going through a phase of contraction and revitalization. Every single portion of his essence that was outside his body was being forcefully collected so they could be purified and upgraded. If not for the presence of his Dimensional Soul that gave him an unfair advantage over energy and higher exoteric forces, if he had access to his dimensional flesh alone, he would not have been able to hold back the relentless tides of his Incarnations scattered across Reality returning to him. This process was the birth of omnipotence. Rowan now realized another reason why Primordials remained asleep and utilized their Thrones. It was not just that Reality was weak, but if they awakened, their Thrones would be drawn into their bodies. Perhaps this would also happen if their bodies inside of Reality were pushed outside of it; they would be forced to merge with their higher form. Still, Rowan would not attempt to stop the Primordials by banishing their bodies outside to merge with their higher form because the bodies inside of Reality had occupied all of its foundation, and if they merged with their higher form, it would be a sign that their mission was complete, and the Primordials would feast. Rowan would have to kill the bodies of the Primordials inside of Reality, while ensuring he could preserve their pillars; it was a daunting task that almost seemed impossible, but he had seen what happened to all life in Reality when the concept of Light had been killed for a few moments. It would be so easy to fight this battle if he was not be constrained by his need to maintain life across Reality, when everything else but his children were fleeting thoughts at the edges of his memory, but Rowan knew that it would be a mistake to disregard the miracle that was life even though they did not belong to his creations. Noctis began to speak, and as he did, Rowan was pulling the memories of all he had seen from both his words and his soul. The crow found it uncomfortable, but he endured it without making a complaint. "The Arena is complete and for the first time since well forever, the Great Abyss has opened its gates to all, with the promise that there would be no overt or covert attempt to corrupt anyone who entered the realm, but it would be only on the Abyss level where the Arena is situated, if anyone were to enter any other levels, this promise would be void. From my last count, I could see millions of different races entering the Abyss, it was like a...." As Noctis continued speaking, Rowan pulled the memory of the Arena up to his eyes, creating a miniature level of the Great Abyss in front of him. This Arena was built by compressing a hundred levels of the Abyss into one gigantic layer, and then this layer was pushed to the top. A grand working like this had not been seen since the creation of the Great Abyss by Primordial Demon, and Rowan was a bit fascinated by the process. The creators of this arena, which were the Infernal Architects, were demons straight from myths. From all indicators, they should have all been dead three major eras ago, at the hands of Primordial Demon himself. It was said that it was the Infernal Architects who built the foundation of the Great Abyss, but Primordial Demon wanted them to create a realm that could stand upon Reality, but even these mystical builders could not contain the corruption of the Great Abyss on the surface of Reality, and the only thing they could do was to build a powerful gate which could serve as a tunnel from Reality to the Great Abyss. Primordial Demon had not been satisfied by their work, and he had consumed them all. This was the story that Rowan had collected from the souls of many demons who were aware of these demonic builders, but as it turned out, they were all lies. Primordial Demon was famed across creation for being a great warrior, but Rowan was discovering that he was a greater liar. Still, no matter the lies of Primordial Demon, it was nothing before the might of the arena that was being built here. It was impossible that this arena was the handiwork of the Infernal Architects alone; they were most likely just gateways for the powers of Primordials to flow through them. Even with the perception of Noctis, a Death Crow, Rowan could not glean all the mysteries behind this arena, but he could see that it was filled with Primordial-level Aura from materials that strained the bounds of Reality. Inside this Arena, Primordial Demon would not fear that he would be unable to unleash his powers to their fullest extent, and the same thing would apply to Rowan. This arena would be a snapshot of what the entirety of Reality would become if it became completely saturated with Primordial Essence. Artificially boosted by treasures at the ninth-dimensional level, this place would become a space that could contain laws that reached the ninth-dimensional level. This meant that Rowan would have to fight this battle using his main body and not any incarnation. Telmus was a dangerous warrior, but paired with the power of Primordial Demon who had most likely been boosting the powers of his Throne to ridiculous heights, then it was unknown how powerful he had become. Glancing at the Arena for the last time, Rowan shrank it down and placed it aside. It was time for him to begin preparing for this fight. With barely four years remaining, he needed all of this time to gather his strength and be himself at his peak. No matter how terrible this fight may become, Rowan was not too worried about it; what concerned him was what would happen after the battle. Telmus was a great warrior, but Rowan was matchless. Perhaps in all of Reality, he might be the only warrior who could clash with him without falling back, and for that experience, Rowan was grateful. In his life, apart from enemies that far exceeded his level, it was a hard thing for him to find a worthy opponent that could scratch his battle itch, and he found himself always unconsciously restricting his abilities just for him to enjoy his battles. This battle needed to be fought, but there were other opportunities here that could be obtained. He had sent Noctis to gather information because Rowan intended this Arena to serve as more than a place for battle, but the spot where he would reveal himself to all of Reality. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 It took a while for Noctis to finish his report, and he was dismissed. With a sigh, Rowan reached towards his Origin Land and pulled out the Primodial Record.