The Primordial Record

Chapter 2036  The Price For Power

Eos was silent as he went through everything that Nyxara had told him. He inspected the connection between the Soulwraiths and all the other Primordials, not moving for months.

Finally, he sighed and then looked away, “Your plan has merit, but there is something that we need to address before we begin hashing out the small details… what if they are aware of your hunger, Nyxara?”

Nyxara pursed her lips in thought, “Even though it might not appear to be the case, I have cultivated a sense of shared loyalty between all of us. I am sure that some of them might be suspicious, especially Xyris, who knows me the most, but they would always be in doubt, and in that doubt would be the space you need to strike.”

Eos smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “You want me to be the villain.”

“Of course, you were always going to be the villain, Eos. Look at you, in many ways, you are a parasite. You began as Rowan, and you slowly ate away all that he was, all that sacrifice just to stand with me… to be worthy enough to be my ally. In this story, you have always been the aberrant factor, and you should know all of this by this point.”

“If you are going to be making me the villain, if you want your brothers to hate me enough that they would give you their powers, then you will have to dig deep, Nyxara, and show me everything. I want all the memories of all your births, I want to know the things that made you cry at night, and when the time comes… when I begin to kill them, I want you to weep for them.”

Eos gestured, and a crucified concept appeared in his hand. He had gathered all of those tortured concepts, and he did not free them yet, because he knew that in their pain, there could still be purpose, and now he had found a use for one of them.

“Your plan is good, but there are still many places that it can be perfected. Doubt is not enough, in your heart, I shall place… Mercy.”

Nyxara flinched, and this time, she was not pretending; her eyes went wide, and she was about to protest, but Eos did not let her speak,

“Your heart is cold, Nyxara, and there are things you do not understand about life. Perhaps you believe that my killing your kin is enough to grant you their powers, but that is not the case. They have doubt in their hearts, and this is enough for them to hesitate, and for them to give you their power, you have to show them something they have never seen before.”

Nyxara paused, “What do you want me to show them?”

“Hate,” Nyxara, “I want you to show them real hatred for me as I tear their beating hearts from their bodies and break them to pieces on my altar of pain. I want you to scream as they scream, and then they shall see your pain, and their powers would be yours.”

Nyxara faltered, her face scrunching up in agitation as she saw the crucified form of Mercy on Eos’s beckoning hand, “You do know I was the one who crucified that Concept and stripped a large portion of its powers from Existence.”

Eos nodded, “It can still whisper, even though the torment has brought it to the brink of madness, but it holds on. The weakness you despise in it gave it the strength to endure till this moment. Tell me you don’t see this as the only way forward. Your brothers are not fools; they shall suspect your betrayal when the time comes, and only true pain would allow them to believe that you were not a reason for their deaths.”

Nyxara opened her mouth and closed it like a fish brought out of water, and she was at a loss, and Eos laughed, “Are you not willing to do this for your quest for power? I thought you said it was the only thing you craved, or perhaps, you only know how to make others pay for your desires?”

Nyxara growled like a caged beast, “Do not test me, Eos, that… thing would poison me.”

“Oh, Nyxara, you have been given so much power that you think that true strength can be acquired without pain and sacrifice. I know it would poison you, but that is the price for this power and the path you want to take. You claim to understand End, then surely you would see the sense in this.”

Nyxara closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were filled with a terrifying resolve,

“Give it to me, Eos. When I have what I want, I shall rip it from me and finally destroy it. In the Existence I create, there shall no longer be any mercy.”

Nyxara stepped forward and tore open her chest with her own hands, exposing the inner workings of her flesh. She had all the internal organs of a woman, but that was just because this was the appearance that she chose to wear, and in many ways was her default state.

Without giving her the chance to refuse, Eos pushed the crucified concept of Mercy into Nyxara’s heart, and she groaned in pain and shock. Holding his hand over her heart to ensure that the fusion was going smoothly, Eos finally spoke,

“You should know that with mercy in your heart, your coming days would not be easy. You shall doubt yourself and the reason you crave power, and there would be a chance that when I begin to slaughter your brothers, your attacks against me would be real, and you shall try to stop me… at that time, Nyxara, I shall kill you. Do not forget, with the Soulwraith, you did not just give me the road to the hearts of your brothers, you also gave me yours as well.”

Eos withdrew his hand from her chest, and Nyxara closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them. “If I can grow that weak, Eos, I want you to kill me.”

Eos nodded, “Now, let us talk about the day we will kill your brothers.”