Chapter 958: Sinner

Rowan's existence transformed into a state he could not understand, as his dimensional flesh was compressed to a limit he never thought could be possible.

A Will Holder with a higher dimensional domain may appear to be as large as a universe if they wanted to, but they were not truly that size, and their massive bodies were mostly comprised of higher dimensional energies, Rowan was different, his dimensional flesh was the size of a thousand galaxies and only his Primordial Ouroboros bloodline was strong enough to carry it, so that he could easily compress his body to its present appearance.

To the Tenebris armor, Rowan could as well be made of air as it compressed him to a point many times smaller than an atom.

It was not the pain that destabilized Rowan, he was used to an inconceivable amount of pain, and for him, pain had become almost like another state of being, like walking or breathing, it was already a part of his life.

If he had not been able to withstand great pain and torture during the moments he had transmigrated, all the way to this point, then no matter the powers he had available to him, he would have fallen.

Power had a price, and it was the case that in so many instances, pain became the currency of trade, but he had become used to paying this price, and if the degree of pain he had suffered was to be turned into a form of money, then Rowan would be among the richest in any universe.

As a mortal when he was transmigrated, he activated two omnipotent bloodlines, and the pain he had endured to transform his body would have driven most to madness, this sheer tenacity he had inside him had grown over the years until he could boldly say he had mastered pain in all its shades and flavors. So, he was used to pain, what he was not used to was this darkness, and this damned sound!

"BOOM!"

'What was that noise? It is almost as if it was coming from a spot just beside his perception, like a maddening itch you could not scratch stabbing its presence into his consciousness repeatedly, and it filled his mind to the point where he could hardly think, and everything was just this noise and the darkness, his mind pressed into oblivion.

"BOOM!"

This darkness was not like the serene one he found himself in not too long ago, this one was different... it was aware, and it yearned for with a desire that was so intensely foul to consume him without leaving anything behind. Such great hunger, how could a hunger like this exist?

In this total darkness, his senses were shattered to nothing, ravaged in so many directions that drove every piece of it to numbness. He was supposed to feel nothing, yet he could still sense this darkness worming its way into his mind, like maggots. Digging.... Digging... Digging...

"BOOM!"

"What was that sound?!"

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"At the beginning of the Supreme Era, to herald this momentous change, the five Primordials created the Paths of Power, and called it the Supreme Circle, and there were nine of these circles, a clear road that led all the way to their side, to stand beside the Primes, eternally powerful, everlastingly radiant..."

On the verge of a strange sort of madness that defied any sort of classification, Rowan heard the sound of Old Man's Seed voice, and he grabbed onto it like a life raft in a storm, finally, he had a path through the darkness and he would not let go of it, with utterly alien willpower, he disregarded the madness growing in his mind as the darkness kept devouring his consciousness and listened to the words.

Rowan had come for knowledge, and he would be damned if the moment came for that knowledge to be dispensed and he allowed something as trivial as madness to distract him.

"The power of the Supreme Circle was shattered to all of creation, and into every dimension.

All these pieces of the circle became embedded in reality, carried across the ages by time, and would exist until the end of the Supreme Era. Yet all these pieces did not exist in a vacuum, they were a small part of a greater whole."

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,..... BOOM! How dare..."

As if annoyed that Rowan had pushed its influence aside, the sound that was flooding his consciousness in addition to the darkness multiplied in intensity, until it almost drowned out the voice of Old Man Seed.

Rowan could feel his perception begin to crack, not just feel it, soon he began to hear it like glass being crushed under the heels of a giant, but he still ignored it,

"Not enough..." he growled and pushed everything to the side, focusing on the words of Old Man Seed that were coming faster and faster. His command of the Higher-Order Language had reached such a point that perhaps he had said only a single word, but it came to Rowan as an entire story,

"Every creature that sought to escape the mortal coil and climb to the peak of existence took the shattered pieces of the Supreme Circle, and they began to cultivate it, bringing forth an Era of peace and stability, and the endless chaos of the Primordial Era was laid to rest."

"Perhaps it was ignorance or hubris, but it is well known that it was the Empyreans, rogue children of the Prime Chaos who named their shards of the path: the Supreme Circle. They believed that their shard was the most powerful and complete Path of Power in existence, and after the endless Minor Eras that had gone past, most have forgotten that what they cultivate are simply shards and the real supreme Circle remains unconquered."

"BOOM....BOOM....BOOM... You will listen to me... Sinner!"

"Was that a voice?" Even in his state of sheer focus, the sounds and the darkness were invasive enough to push through it, and the voice that he imagined if disease or stagnation had ever had a voice, this would be what they would sound like.

Rowan ignored them.

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"Only among the bloodlines of the Prime and other greater powers outside reality that understands the true significance of the Supreme Circle performs the sacred tradition of observing the true Circle, but even among their number, most have ignored this path...Minor Eras without counting had gone by... this load is too heavy, the task is too difficult, and now Romion, I am sure you can begin to feel it, the reason why most will never succeed, even if they are given countless lifetimes. However, we have not even truly begun."

"BOOM!.... You have made a mistake, Sinner.... BOOM! I can see you, I can see all of you."

"Listen well Romion, for the secrets of the first Supreme Circle are in everything around you. Engraved in every single piece of reality, but to see you would have to be deprived of every part of reality that you know and face the darkness of Tenebris, where everything comes to a halt, but it is up to you to find it."

"BOOM...Such hubris... BOOM... Enter my Realm with no compensation Sinner... But you are not alone, and the others with you are also hungry, like me..."

This grating voice pulling his mind away from his task was getting annoying. The darkness worming its way into his consciousness had reached a point where no matter how hard they pushed, they could no longer gain any ground in Rowan's mind.