Chapter 1860: The Reason For It All Rowan shuddered and took a few steps back uncontrollably. He would have collapsed if not for a stone chair appearing behind him, and he sat down ungracefully on it. His consciousness hurt when he tried to piece together all the details of his life and how his one simple decision had changed everything he knew to be the truth. Was it possible that perhaps everything that was happening was beyond his control, and his Fate and Destiny were never his own? "I don’t... Understand," he whispered, his eyes red as he looked at the boy who observed him in silence. At the moment, Rowan almost wished the boy were laughing at him; it might take the sting of this revelation away, but the boy remained in silence before sighing, "I told you... You played with forces beyond your control, and the power of End is such that every change you make is severe and permanent." "I don’t understand," Rowan roared, "How did my request to consume the Primordials make me the physical manifestation of the Cradle of Enoch? If that is the case, why am I stuck here fighting for my life against an unending rain of bones?" "Oh, but you understand clearly, Rowan, you simply chose not to see." The boy snapped his fingers, and Rowan saw the vision of his battle against Primordial Demon that led to the destruction of the Great Abyss. At first, he was a bit surprised that the boy had shown him this vision, but then he saw the reason. Primordial Demon had struck Rowan with a power meant to end Realities and kill Primordials, and Rowan, flushed with the glow of his unending power, did not fight against the blow. He allowed it to hit him. He was not being arrogant; Rowan had simply been experimenting with the reaches of his power and tempering his Will, even if the methods he used would be considered insane. Still, this was not the reason that the boy was showing him this vision, but what happened when Rowan was essentially killed at that moment by that strike. Allowing himself to die, Rowan had quickly returned to life, and he had not Willed himself back to life; he simply allowed his body and soul to take charge of itself, so he could be assured that in the event he was killed in its entirety, his mind and consciousness destroyed. He would still come back by sheer willpower alone. This freed him from depending on his children or those who worshipped him, and it also freed his children of the obligation of always having the burden of being his last line of life if he were ever to be killed, marking a point where Rowan became assured of his invincibility. However, during the time of his death, something began to encroach on his soul, a voice in the darkness that claimed his body for himself... Enoch. Even then, Rowan had recognized that this darkness was most likely not darkness, but he could only consider it as such because his perception was too small to see its true form. "That place," Rowan gasped, "It is similar to this one? I saw End when I died?" The boy nodded, "You and Enoch are in the same situation. You both wielded the power of End, but he was much more precise than you in his understanding of it; he was much greedier, and the price he paid was something that he could never have expected." "What did he do?" Rowan could not help but ask, his curiosity about this being Enoch, and how the fate of all existence was seemingly tied around his Will was both a fascinating and highly disturbing concept to wrap his mind around. "I could tell you, but again, your mind is too small to grasp all the details about End, because unlike the power of Origin, End is complete and cannot be broken into piecemeal. It is both the simplest and the most complex tool you would ever come across. Some may consider it primitive, but this power cannot be simplified. However, I can tell you that Enoch was much like you; in fact, the similarities between the two of you are striking, and like you, he believed himself to be invincible, so much so that when he wielded the power of End, he did not care about the consequences... until it became too late. But that is not the question here. You want answers to the burning questions in your heart." Rowan was silent for a while, then suddenly he grinned, "When I invoked the power of my Final Form, I expected anything to happen, even failures that may lead to my death, I was that desperate. The gate of annihilation was closing down around me, and I needed a weapon to see me through it... But you have not told me that I have failed. I am here, yet my Will still lives." The boy laughed, "Now, that is the attitude of a being who believes they have no limits. You will find answers to your question the more time you spend in this place, and maybe understand new things that may enlighten you in the way of End. Rowan, with your talents, you may be able to find shortcuts when you wield the power of Origin, but for End, there are no shortcuts... You have to slowly understand and grasp every single bit of it." Waving his hand around, the boy pointed out, "You have sixty-two million cosmic eras to slowly cut your teeth on the power of End. It would not be easy; your opponent, Enoch, is countless times more powerful than you and much older. He understanding of the way of End is matchless, and if not for his hubris, you will never even have the chance to stand against him... and you will need to stand against him Rowan, because Enoch is different. Don’t make me explain how he is different; you will have to trust me that none of your goals align, and if you wish to sit on the throne of truth, then seize every advantage you have." Rowan closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them, a weird light shining in the core of his bright blue eyes. "So, if I am getting your message clearly, I am now the Cradle of Enoch, yet my perception is locked in this place. Where is this?" The boy scratched his head, "When I told you I created this place, that is not actually true. I just seized a portion of it and gave you administrative rights over it. Um, this place was created by Enoch," a pause, "What, dont look at me like that, you were flooded with Enoch’s End, and I had to do the best with what I had to work with, in fact, you should be thanking me, because I gave you more than you asked for... You wanted to eat Primordials, but you don’t understand what Primordials are. If you did, you would not have made that silly request." "I am not judging your decisions, only waiting to hear the entire truth," Rowan spoke slowly. At this point, he would be a fool to antagonize this boy who was clearing away the last mysteries about existence. "Good, because I went above and beyond my stipulated task for you." "And why did you do that?" Rowan asked with genuine curiosity. "Tch, is it not obvious?" the boy snorted in disdain, "I wanted to taste your cooking." Rowan slowly blinked, "Right... my cooking."