?Rowan noticed that even his voice had changed, becoming something scratchy and deep, like a talking disease. The Erohim in this place had not spoken to anyone for who knows how long and it showed. Trapped in a prison of his own making, this creature’s hold on sanity was nonexistent, but he could fake it well enough to appear normal and deceive his prey.

Rowan shrugged, “Nothing, you played your part well, and it is hard for me to find fault in anything you have said, I’m impressed Erohim, truly, you don’t know how hard it is to impress me.”

Erohim bowed, his grin not leaving his face, but his eyes were cold and empty, “Thank you for your praise Romion, it means everything to me, yet I still find myself waiting for the but,”

Rowan took another step back, looking around him before answering, “But you are family Erohim, I will believe a demon can become an angel before believing that a member of our little family can be like you. Our nature cannot be changed, and the fruit of evil dwells not only in the shadows, but in you as well, and I think perhaps you are a hundred times worse than the shadows. I have been with them, and they never disguised themselves as a being of light.”

“Aah, I see the shadows have taught you well.”

“They gave me scars that would never fade. It’s a good lesson to learn.”

The grin on Erohim’s face faded away and his features went slack and he scratched his bald head in confusion, “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but how are you this competent? Unless… Aahh, I see, I have been played for a fool. I should have expected that anyone who could reach this place would have made adequate preparation, but surely Romion, you cannot fault me for trying. As you say, this is the game played between us—family.”

Rowan shrugged, “I also told you how the game would end.”

Erohim waved his hands dismissively, “Forget all that nonsense Romion, you should know that at the end of it all, what transcends all this unnecessary strife is profit, and what you want is not necessarily what I want, and at the end, we do not need to fight each other, let me make a deal with you, one that would be more profitable to me, than to you.”

Erohim spread his hands around, “I have power, and this skull is just a portion of it. You are in a war and the enemy of my enemy is a friend Romion. With my aid, we can shatter the shadows once and for all. Granted my power is locked inside here, but I only need to emerge and connect with my body below and resurrect my eye once more and you shall have the eye of a Primordial as your ally. What do you say Romion, release my essence and I shall help in crushing the shadows and bestow upon you all the riches and power I kept away from the shadows.”

Rowan cocked his head to the side as if he was thinking and then he shrugged again, “Eeh… I will pass. The moment I entered this place, you were already attacking me, I see no reason to join with you Erohim, the only reward I shall get would be a blade in my back. There will be no deal or negotiations between us. Unlike you, I do not mince my words so listen closely, I am going to wipe out all trace of you and the Reflections from reality, there is nothing you will be able to give me that would supersede my need to see all of you become less than a memory.”

Erohim vanished and he appeared beside Rowan, he wanted to touch him, but Rowan had somehow shifted his position the moment Erohim vanished so his hand touched empty air, instead of showing any indication that he had just been caught trying to ambush Rowan he grinned.

Rowan could see a hint of frustration growing inside the dead eyes of Erohim. Every time he stepped back was due to his attempt to counter Erohim’s intended assault. Like a patient predator, Erohim had been waiting for Rowan’s vigilance to fade a bit before he attacked.

It was a dangerous game, and if Rowan missed a single step, his consciousness would be taken over. He had experienced his consciousness being devoured and tortured countless times in the past, and Rowan had discovered how to govern his mind.

Erohim sighed in frustration before he seemed to have come to a realization and he snapped his fingers, “Don’t be too sure of that stand of yours Romion, you are not seeing the entire picture here, let me tell you another tale.”

Rowan grinned, “Then you have to be quick, because by my estimation, you will be dead in eighteen seconds, well, this part of you anyway.”

“Oh you naughty child, you have no idea of the changes you are about to wrought with your decision to kill me, do you know of the Primordials and their fate? The shadows are too powerful to stop alone, only I know the method to strip them of their Will, without me, you cannot win, I am…”

Rowan looked at the crumbling reality around them, “Sixteen seconds,”

?

Inside Rowan’s dimension, the slaughter continued. The Lady of Shadows still holding back a majority of her forces was using a combination of her Spell Weavers, Diane’s metal dominance, and Tenma Akashic Trells to wreak havoc on the enemy line, reaping billions of lives with every moment that went by.

Still, even with the rate of slaughter, the army before them was mighty, but they had reaped more than fifteen percent of its entire volume, which considering the size of the army was nothing short of a miracle.

“How long has this child been alive Third? How is he able to do this? Are you sure he is not Erohim reborn? You never really told us how you were able to take his heart.”

The Third Prince seemed to consider the words from Golgoth for a while, for the first time, true doubt and dear began to flicker through his heart,

“No, I’m sure that he is not Erohim, I broke the spine of that madman. What we have here is the unexpected culmination of random events, held together by unholy luck to bring forth this glorious madness.”

“I find it strange that you can acknowledge that someone is mad when knowing that you are mad as well,”

The Third prince snickered, “Cheap shot, I know I’m mad, but there is a method to my madness, same as you, Erohim is just… wrong.”

Golgoth brought his right hand forward and began to caress the reality around them, “It’s so strange, the time inside this place flows hundreds of times faster than what the essence of our main body decreed unto reality, why is it still so stable?”

The Third Prince muttered, “Unexpected coincidences held together by dumb **ing luck.”

Suddenly the Third Prince stood straighter, “Hey, do you feel that? The shackles are broken and our synchronization with this dimension is complete. A shame Rowan did not attack us during the past few moments, that child is too smart for his own good.”

Golgoth cracked his neck, “It’s about time, don’t hold me back Third, I’m going to crush him.”

The Third Prince giggled, “Wait a moment,” he snapped his fingers and time seemed to reverse, all the destroyed undead beasts, except the unlucky mages, gods, or demons that were alive before dying inside the dimension, returned to the battlefield.

It was as if the heated battle that had led to the death of hundreds of billions had never happened.

“Now you can attack as you see fit Golgoth, I just want his head.”