The Primordial Record - Chapter 1859

Chapter 1859: The Rules Of End

Rowan remained frozen in place, the revelation piling on him like a storm. He was not concerned with the years he would spend inside here, at least not yet. There would come a time when his mind could no longer handle the strain of eternity, but that was a problem for him in the future; for now, there were too many things he had to come to terms with.

However, being able to survive for so long on a time scale that many mortals and immortals could not even comprehend meant that Rowan’s spirit had gained a durability that could only be shaken, not broken. He pushed through the despair at the endless years ahead of him and focused on the boy, who was not the Lost Flames.

Noticing how quickly Rowan had shaken off the impact of his words, the boy grinned once more, “You have always been reckless, Rowan, but summoning me was foolhardy, even for someone like you. Although I don’t blame you, it’s the experiences you had growing up that have shaped you into who you are. Even as a being held by the weight of Origin, your Will truly believes it is limitless, and with this, you have created a damned miracle.”

Rowan shrugged, “There is always a price for power, and that should be among the many things you know. I am well aware that my actions would always have consequences, and you have no right to judge me for them,” bringing himself to his full height, the innate majesty of Rowan that could never be hidden for long rippled out of him, “Now, let us dipense with false words and misdirection, tell me your name, and whatever knowledge I need to know, if I have earned a million years of solace before an eternity of torment ahead, I would rather spend every moment making the most out of it.”

“Is your Will truly that unbreakable? Well, we would find out in the future. The true test of all things had always been time, after all. You ask me for my name, but I have only a True Name, for anything lesser cannot define me. If you think you can hold my true name, tell me and I shall tell you.”

Rowan remained silent at the subtle provocation from the boy. Every sentient being had its unique character and habits. Over the years, Rowan understood the value of patience and accommodation, and he knew when to put his pride aside, even when he was being provoked… but there was something about this boy that made this difficult.

Not just that he had the shape of Lost, but as he spoke, his voice began to transform into Lost’s, until now, when it’s almost indistinguishable. It was almost as if he was mocking him.

Satisfied with Rowan’s silence, the boy continued his damning revelations, “It is a good thing you have explored the power of Origin; it would help you in the understanding of End, but you should know that it is not enough. What you have come to understand of Origin is just the tip of the iceberg, and you need to go much deeper; you need to understand every single Origin in existence, and then you will naturally grasp End. Still, with what you have discovered, I can reveal certain truths to you.”

Sweeping his hands to the side, the events that happened in the past, not the future, when Rowan trapped the Primordials inside his body and activated his Final Form began to play out. The boy began to speak,

“You were correct in the usage of the power of End, inasmuch as a lower lifeform like you can manage, a fraction of my power would have tore your consciouness to pieces, and you are also right in the method you use in handling Enoch’s Incarnation, just like you are experiencing at the moment, there is a price to wielding End, one that even Enoch cannot disregard.”

Looking deeply at Rowan, the boy seemed extremely satisfied with his silence, and he continued speaking in a childish voice that held all the weight of eternity,

“Although you were right about the way to survive when you called upon the power of End, everything else you did from that point was wrong. A mortal knows better than to play with fire or bathe inside a pool of lava, because all things have ruled and the rules of End are extremely strict. All rules are born from End, and that property cannot be broken, although, like you and Enoch have discovered, it can be manipulated.”

As Rowan listened to the boy, he also closely followed the vision the boy was showing him of the past, because he quickly realized he was seeing this conflict from an entirely new dimension he had never encountered before. There was something about the lights and sounds that seemed familiar yet alien to his mind.

“When you invoke the powers of the Final Form, you need to be exact in your purpose. You cannot leave anything to chance because you are literally taking the pen that binds all of existence and changing the rules. If you make even the slightest mistake, the weight of existence shall snuff you out as easily as a candle flame in a tornado. In a billion chances of summing the power of End as you did, there was only one chance for you to have survived.”

Rowan’s eyes tightened, “I did not follow any rules when I summoned my Final Form, why then am I alive?”

The boy scratched his head as he chuckled, “Well, there are many reasons you survived. There are the broken fragments of Enoch’s End that had saturated your body, giving you the bridge that your intentions used to touch the core of existence, there is the fact that your intentions were frighteningly simple in the grand scheme of things… You commanded eat, when you could have rewritten existence from the ground up, to make sure that all the events of the past never happened…. There are a billion reasons why you survived, but none of them were as important as the fact that you followed the first and greatest rule when wielding the power of End!”

The boy unexpectedly went silent, and Rowan did not budge, no matter how much he wished to speak and demand that the boy finish his statements, mainly because what the boy was telling him was giving him much to think about. He could wait for him to continue, for his mind was already full.

However, the boy did not keep him waiting for long. “The most important rule you followed was the acknowledgment of the dual nature of End, and that in wielding this power, there must be balance. Strength balanced with weakness, light balanced with darkness, good balanced with evil… Selfishness balanced with sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice…” Rowan muttered, a slow feeling of comprehension beginning to grow in his heart, and a dawning surge of horror began to rise from his heart, “What did you do?”

The boy chuckled, “I did what you asked, Rowan, with the tools that you gave me. I ate the Primordials, and I assumed that you also wanted to digest their Origin, but you are mistaken about their Origin or the power of Enoch… Believe me when I tell you, I did my best with the tools I had to work with.”

Rowan was silent before he slowly spoke, “You say I am in the past… Where?”

“Not where,” the boy said, “What….”

Rowan’s eyes widened with what the boy said next, “You are the cradle, Rowan. The Cradle of Enoch.”