Chapter 101 Deep Sea Blues
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The two Ouroboros serpents flew leisurely around Augustus, their cold eyes saw the General as nothing but food. Rowan's eyes grew back and flashed with lightning, with his Energy Sight he could see that the General's Energy Signature burned like a furnace, he was the brightest being inside the Nexus.
Surprisingly, he noticed that Lamia's Energy Signature was far less bright, but it had more boundless complexities within, and Rowan guessed it must be because of the current state of the General.
He appeared far younger than when Rowan first met him, and with the instinct from Soul Reaver, Rowan felt the blooming vitality and Energy around the General was just a front, his soul felt incomplete.
Rowan's mind worked furiously, and he laid out a series of plans, but ultimately fell on a single plan—Play to my strengths.
He was expecting to meet one of the owners of the Nexus inside of it, and it was one of the worst possible outcomes he was expecting, although the energy Augustus was giving out was domineering, it was not debilitating to Rowan, this battle would be tough, but he was sure he could win it if there were no other setbacks.
The Ouroboros Serpents were now a bit different, as along their spine, it was possible to see tiny bumps, as if the backbone was about to tear out of their skin, the two Ouroboros Serpents he released were One eye and Two eyes, and they slowly began to increase their size.
When they were twenty feet long, and resembled giant pythons, they attacked like lightning.
"Wait, Rowan, I want to make a deal with you."
With his Spirit, he was able to pause their strike at the moment the Serpents were a single inch from biting through Augustus head, the General did not flinch, his eyes were fixed on Rowans, and he coughed.
"I commend your restraint." He arched an eyebrow when the serpents began letting out deep growls that sounded like rumbling thunder. "Because it would be extremely foolish if you choose to attack me, after all, I am the reason you are still alive and thriving in the first place."
"There are no dealings between predator and prey." Rowan said, "you have hunted me long enough, that any extra falsehoods you speak, is an insult to both of us, Augustus."
Did Rowan see a glint of anger in the eyes of the General when he called him Augustus without including his honorifics?
The General raised his hands in a placating manner, "You are mistaken Rowan, nothing that had happened here was by my will, I was just a partner who was promised power from the Singularity, and I was given no knowledge about how they would accomplish this task, it was all part of the bargain we struck, I would provide soldiers, weapons, and funds to their enterprise."
"In return, I would be given a Pathway that would free me from the shackles of my bloodline and enhance my soldiers. I had no idea about the catastrophe that was brewing inside this place, or the atrocities they have been committing all these while!"
Make no mistake, at this time they had begun to battle, not with fists or weapons but with the most devastating weapon for this particular situation—Words.
Rowan knew the General was aware of his single greatest weakness, which was his lack of information, he had no way to properly judge truth from falsehood; truths could also turn out to be false if presented in a certain manner.
The General had made sure that he killed off every avenue for Rowan to discover any corroborating witness to his speech except himself.
Not all the bodies piled in here were of those insects like Supervisors, most of them were humans, even though Rowan would have killed everyone inside this place if the opportunity had arisen, it would have also been a great avenue for him to find out the facts of what happened here
"That's an interesting choice of word Augustus… Catastrophe! That would perfectly describe what you did to everyone here, I see no accurate word to describe the condition of this poor bastard here." Rowan pointed at Boris the Werewolf, who had frozen in fear.
The General cocked his head to the side, "You think what I did here is a catastrophe? Walk with me." He turned and suddenly stopped because there was one more Ouroboros Serpents at his back, who snapped at him.
"Delightful… creatures you have here, Rowan, but we don't have the time to measure who has the bigger sticks." He edged around the Serpent and began to walk deeper into the facility, seeing that Rowan did not move from his position, he said, "Please… There is something I can only show you for to understand the situation we both find ourselves in, after I have shown you what is happening here, and you still do not side with me, then we can choose battle."
Rowan chuckled with flames in his eyes, "Dont tell me you are expecting me to willingly follow you like a sheep to a slaughterhouse because of a few words you spoke. Do I appear that gullible to you, Augustus?"
The General sighed, "Frankly I thought we would be busy killing each other by now, you do remember I commended you for your restraints. I do know there is no reason to follow me, after all, I am one of the perpetrators who gave you such a ghastly fate."
"The only reason I'm sure you would at least listen to my words is because I know you have a Noble soul, and since you came into this Nexus, I have watched your every action, and saw how you went out of your way to protect the weak."
"This is something I can never do, and this was what gave me the assurance that you would choose diplomacy before bloodshed. I hope I'm not wrong about your character, or we would both face a horrible fate, believe me Rowan, when I tell you there are far worse monsters out there than me."
"Before you answer me, think about it carefully, with my plans we have butchered every single being except for the ones you saved and that monster in the lake and I can assure you, this was not part of the laid out plan for the Nexus."
"We have essentially crippled this place, but we are not out of the woods just yet. This next part depends solely on your ability to exercise restraints and give me a chance to state my case before you blow the horns of battle."
"Be aware that we are running out of time, I have your father and the Bishop of the Order trapped, but my main body cannot hold them for long. Our survival depends on your next decision."
"Even if we battle now, and I kill you, that does not mean I won't be able to solve this problem that concerns you." Rowan growled, and his Ouroboros Serpents bared their fangs, and they grew a circle larger.
"All true, but if you do so, my main body would give up on cooperating with you and place my cards back into the hands of the Order."
"All these while, you have been presenting the carrot, I was wondering when the stick would drop." Rowan smiled.
"Although I would hate to go that route, you would leave me no choice but to side with them." The General narrowed his eyes, "We do not have much time, pick an option and let's proceed."
"Hmm… You are not giving me anytime to consider your words, but I will admit several discrepancies have come to my attention, yet if you have followed everything that has occurred on this Island you would know I'm trapped by Sigils, and I would see that I destroy it first before I consider following you anywhere."