Chapter 239 I Keep My Promises
Rowan killed Dorian without any fanfare, as he did not believe in flashy battles when a single cut would do the job. He was not above lying to his enemies if it would make them stretch their necks forward for his blade. He learned from the lessons taught in the Nexus.
Although he was aware of the reason Dorian might believe his words as he understood his character well, and also the Empire still had nobility of a sort among its elite.
Power was respected above all, and for those that have power they should also have the dignity associated with that power. That was the reason the gods badly partook in mortal affairs.
In this world that was so entrenched in tradition, there was a set rule about which they all followed, which was not surprising given that the Empire had people in it that were functionally immortal, and changes were slow if not non-existent. Traditions tend to stick for long.
A stronger party would usually adhere close to the terms of agreement they gave, for whatever reason, maybe as a sort of sport or to taunt their opponent or to follow tradition.
The method Rowan used to bring Dorian up from the surface of the world was unknown to him, and his words were also eccentric. He had placed himself in a position of power which made Dorian fall into the role he placed him.
With the knowledge of the future, he understood most of Dorian's methods, and knew the blade was the easiest way to kill him.
He disarmed Dorian by seizing his weapon, capitalizing on the fact he knew he typically threw his blade as the first series of offensive moves, and Rowan discarded the blade to the side to throw away his suspicion, even commenting about his knowledge of the weapon and his wish not to use it.
Dorian's preliminary notion about the kind of person he was began to be created and Rowan made sure he was pretty dismissive about the battle and triggered him by touching his blade.
Rowan had also been subtly testing the lethality of the weapon by injuring his hand by running it down the blade, and discovered that it contained a sort of potent poison that attacked the Soul.
He had no soul, so its effects were useless to him, but he could imagine how disastrous a weapon like this could be to others.
His sneak attack was made possible because Dorian had been led to believe the script Rowan had laid down before him.
All of these, the whole battle was an experiment by Rowan. If he needed to challenge gods and monsters in the future, he would need experience in battle, and a greater part of battle was of deception. Dorian was just his first subject.
He retrieved the golden belt and boots of Dorian, the belt was an Interspatial Storage item and was sealed. The boots were also a treasure, and he would investigate all these later, but first, he had to create his first word of Enoch.
With the many possibilities available for him, he knew dwelling on more would be crippling as there were too many great abilities available he could spend a hundred years, and he would still be arguing with himself over pros and cons of each one.
Still his first choice was still a fatal attraction to him, it spoke to him of his destiny and his path forward. His choice was made up, after all, Reality can become what I make it.
Rowan entered his Palace of Ice and drew forth the Chaotic Rune into reality and held it in his hands, as he scrutinized its ever-changing shape, for it resembles a shifting light stream.
It was captivating in its simplicity and mind-numbing in its complexity. It was a conundrum how a single entity could possess both of these characteristics, but it did. He felt the Primordial Record stir inside of him, and after investigating, he saw no changes, so he focused his attention back to the Rune.
All these while he had been focusing on the Rune using his Empyrean sense, and he could not glean any other properties from it apart from the opposite nature of its attributes.
Eva was beside him, and she was smiling, as if she was into a little joke he did not know about.
"What?" Rowan asked her.
"Oh, nothing." She replied to him using their bloodline resonance.
"It's clearly something. You are grinning like a Cheshire cat."
"What's that?"
Rowan tried explaining the many stories of his past life, and was clearly failing because he had little knowledge but plentiful trivia, and he stopped before he messed up more badly.
"You won't tell me why you're grinning, aren't you?"
"I am sure you would find out soon enough. Anyway, I like those little speeches you made to the mortal—If you make me bleed, I will tell you my name? You were so serious saying it, I thought you meant it!"
Rowan blushed, "Fooled you too, didn't it?"
Eva scowled and looked away.
Rubbing his weird diamond-like hair that was slowly turning blond, "There is this saying in my past : He who seeks revenge digs two graves."
Eva cocked her head to the side, "I don't know how that applies to the situation."
"Because it doesn't, I was not seeking revenge, I was just performing an experiment and eliminating a pest alongside it. Win-win. The point is, you all thought I was on a revenge mission, after all, I was killed and had to go back in time to correct my mistakes, but death is no stranger to me. You will know me most of all, Eva, so I want you to understand this fact about my mentality. I will always pursue my advantage, even when I perform acts of righteousness. Every action I take, no matter how good or evil as the universe might perceive it, is ultimately for my well-being. Please keep in mind this fact as we go forward. With my current powers, it would be foolish to pursue vengeance over knowledge, and I had to keep my promises."