The god's smile widened at Rowan's question; the amusement Rowan could see was pure and made him doubt that this being could ever hold evil in his heart, as the exposed bone on his face gleamed under the faint, ethereal light that filtered through the endless river's mist. In this moment, this Ancient god with an extremely painful past appeared almost… holy.

His eye, the one dangling precariously in its socket, rolled slightly, focusing on Rowan with a gaze that felt like the weight of forgotten eons pressing down. The boat rocked gently on the water, but there was no sound, just the quiet hum of a place that wasn't quite real.

"I am not End," the god said, his voice a rasp that echoed inside Rowan's skull rather than through the air. "But I have carried its burden longer than most. Call me the Remnant, if you must have a name. Or call me nothing. Names are for things that begin and end. I am the space between."

Rowan frowned as he realized that this place, including this figure, was the large amount of unknown information that had poured into his mind as he strived for the position of Primordial.

The Remnant cocked his head to the side, and he grinned, "Dam,n you are sharp. If it were me, it would have taken a minute to realize what you just did instantly. But as much asI would like to chat with you, I don't have too much time, and neither do you."

Rowan hovered above the boat, his newly ascended form still buzzing with the chaotic energies of the Primordial transformation. He had discovered that he had not failed his tribulation as he once thought; it was still ongoing, and this Remnant had found a way to jump into the connection he had with space using his Tribulation as a guide.

The dreadful sensation of failure still lingered, a bitter taste in his mouth, but the whispers of his main body, Eos, echoed faintly through their connection. He had not lost it as he felt that the battle raged on between him and the Abomination, a storm of power and horror that Rowan could sense like a distant thunder. He needed answers, and fast, before the Abomination overwhelmed everything.

Because of the distraction caused by his previously apparent failure to reach the Primordial level, the Abomination had seized the chance to evolve for the third time, and now his main body was beginning to struggle.

"You should not have known of my presence," the Remnant spoke, "No one should know of my life, but your knowledge of me was the fuel that I needed to drag me from Oblivion. You have not yet opened the Primordial Record, and yet you know of End, and I suspect, also the Luminious. If that is the case, then all hope is not lost."

Rowan growled, "You should hate Existence. Why do you sound as if you want to save it?"

The Remnant laughed, "Because I am not like you, freak. What? Eternity is a long time, and I have lived for countless eternities. My hate burned away and turned into ash, and after End spat me into this space, I have spent many eternities fishing on this river, and I have fished such bounties of great stories that they are more than my mind can hold. I am not like you, Rowan; your hate is eternal, and so too is your love. Your connection with the Luminious is a blessing and a curse."

"You did not answer my question."

"Odd, I thought I did," the Remnant sighed, "This river is my home, and it is endless, meaning the stories I can fish from it are also endless… End would take all of these stories away, and I have seen its mind; it would replace it with nothing but despair, and I would be forced to spend all eternities watching its unending reign of terror. Such a fate, I cannot wish on anyone."

Rowan paused in thought for a while before he asked, "How did you interfere with my Tribulation?"

The Remanant smiled its dreadful smile, "At the ninth-dimensional level, the face of End can be hidden from other Primordials, but not from you. If you were anyway normal, you would have strived to reach for the Primordial level alone; instead, you explored all four layers of Space, and your combined Tribulation was enough to tear through the gaps of End. You see, behind Existence, covering it like the shell on an egg is End itself, and your Tribulation that broke the rules of Existence tore a gap in its defenses… if it fears you before, now it hates you."

"I can live with that," Rowan whispered.

The Remnant leaned back, the boat tilting slightly as if the river itself adjusted to his weight. "This is the River of Echoes, a fold in the fabric where memories flow without end, untouched by the grasp of End. As for me... I am what remains when End takes its fill. The Luminous tried to stop it, you know. They saw the cycles, the ambition that fed it. They entered Existence to teach peace, but they failed. Too disconnected. Too perfect. They didn't understand survival's desperation."

Rowan frowned, the disorientation from the memory flood still clouding his thoughts. "They ended Existence themselves. They starved End, but it was not enough."

The Remnant nodded, his exposed muscle twitching. "Yes. A drastic act. But End is patient. It waited. And now, your main body fights its vessel. Come. See. When the time is right, you will be needed, but first you must understand."

The Ancient god waved a hand, and the river's surface rippled. The water cleared, becoming a window to Eos's battle. Rowan felt the connection strengthen, the sensations flooding in: pain, rage, the visceral grind of higher-dimensional powers clashing.

Through the river's gaze, Rowan saw it all.

®

Eos felt the connection between him and Rowan dim, and the mighty explosion that erupted from his body as well, and then he felt the loss of this Incarnation, and he faltered for a brief moment, but this was a moment too long as the Abomination took advantage of it.

The evolution of the Abomination that had constantly been delayed by Eos's assault erupted immediately, and the head of the Abomination screamed and exploded, a new horror birthing from within this shattered skull.

What emerged was a massive red eye that peeled back to reveal rifts, which were portals to ancient rituals.

From one rift poured madness that took the form of a wave of eldritch screams that warped Limbo, time stuttered, space inverted, and shadows grew mouths that whispered temptations of surrender.

Eos grunted as he felt the pull of this madness that was not only physical but mental as well. His limbs grew heavy as his Constitution Core strained to fight against the madness that was burrowing into his body from these rifts.

Yet he was failing, this evolved Abomination held corruption that was greater than anything Eos had faced till this point, and sickening cracks began to erupt from his limbs as multiple chaotic joints that had no meaning began to multiply inside his body.

Eos's eyes turned to scarlet suns as he took his power to a higher level. To counter this madness, he unleashed the Will of Chaos Origin inside his flesh.

The power surging through his veins to fracture the madness that was mutating his flesh into harmless echoes. The rifts ahead of him snapped shut with a wet slap, but not before Eos lost a layer of skin as they sloughed off in bloody strips, revealing raw muscle beneath that sprouted tiny portals leaking bloody red light.

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