Rowan knew the total number of mortal creatures he had killed since his Transmigration, and that number did not bother him much, but during moments like now, he wondered if there would ever be a number that would break him.
Or perhaps instead of breaking him, they would become meaningless. A grim statistic in his ledger that was dripping red.
Unlike the Soul of Murrihm which he presently froze inside his primordial Sea of Darkness and was now being slowly consumed, the mortals were different, their soul was stable but lacked the strength of a god, and he did not really need to digest them.
Yet something was different about this soul harvest… something unexpected that his many consciousnesses struggled to find how he had been able to achieve this change.
Rowan's golden eyes went a bit pale as billions of screaming souls shrouded by an aura of desolation plunged into his Mental Space, drawn towards the City of Sheol like a moth to a fire.
His Nascent Primordial Bloodline, the City of Sheol suddenly transformed into a field of lush grass filled with flowers and trees holding large fruits, sparkling rivers flowing with scented waters and honey. It was an image of paradise that would make the heart of anyone relax in the sheer enjoyment of its beauty.
The Souls that were previously filled with rage and despair gathered around this field in their multitude, and Rowan saw they became filled with peace.
The sight of billions of souls of men, women, and children of various races, tribes, and cultures all clustered around the City of Sheol was shocking, and only when brought together would the full enormity of their numbers be truly seen.
For endless miles they crowded, their clustered bodies packed so right, that their only distinguishing feature was their heads.
A long sigh went through the crowd that was akin to the last breath a man gives at the edge of death, and as one, they willingly offered all the energies their soul had to give.
Rowan was shocked when the first mortal who gave up his energy stepped on the field of grass and his body transformed into a glowing orb of light that came to settle on the grass, and the City of Sheol became fractionally brighter.
This moment seemed incredibly holy. A profound sense of mystery shrouded his city and an understanding was beginning to dawn inside Rowan's mind, but for the moment he could not touch it.
This process continued among the billions of souls, each rushing to enter his city, the happiness in their eyes could not be denied.
There was an impossible grace and nobility each soul seemed to gain when they reached the fields of Sheol.
The glowing orbs began to fill the entirety of the fields in their billions, and the many colored lights they emitted began to cause a great change in the Primordial Sea of Darkness, as a greater amount of its black water began to be converted into Ambrosia, that clear and sparkling water that appeared to be filled with starlight.
His Angels witnessing this glorious sight were left stunned, their Divine Bodies began to shake, as Rowan noticed delighted that the Intent on their bodies was beginning to fade faster than before as the light from Sheol increased.
Tens of thousands of wings rose above the Sea, and it was unknown which Angel started to sing, but Rowan knew it was Suriel, his first Sovereign.
His resounding deep voice was like that of the sweetest Bass notes you have ever heard, and it was taken up by the host of Angels, and a symphony to rival the ages was taken up by the Heavenly Hosts.
When Suriel became an Archangel, he had awakened the language of the Celestials, and as he sang this powerful song filled with heavenly brilliance, the knowledge of the Celestial tongue entered Rowan's consciousness and he entered a state of enlightenment.
This enlightenment would turn out to be the greatest Rowan had ever encountered that would shift the course of his life forever, as the knowledge that should be hidden from the gods, Empyreans, Titans, Celestials, Infernals, and perhaps even the Primordials came to him, slowly.
His Nascent Primordial Bloodline was not just collecting souls, it was doing something much deeper, he was giving Rowan their Soul Origin!
This was not the first time that Rowan had come across this term, and he did not understand its meaning then, but now with every shining light filling up his city of Sheol, the true meaning of a Soul Origin came to him.
In his previous life, he was an atheist who believed in the Bing Bang. He accepted that life had no meaning and came from nothingness and chaos, every act of the universe was random and without any plan behind it, all life was just a product of sheer coincidence brought on by a massive amount of passing time.
Just like a monkey that would type out the full work of Shakespeare given an infinite amount of time to do so.
The truth however was very far from that.
Everything had a beginning, everything had a creator, and although the mysteries of the past may be buried deeply forever ago, their effects were still felt in the present.
A soul had its origin, and previously when Rowan thought he was consuming a Soul in its totality he was right and wrong at the same time. A weird concept but at this level of power, common sense stopped making sense.
Indeed he was consuming everything the Soul had, but he was not collecting its Origin.
Rowan did not fully understand how the mechanism of the soul worked, but with this Soul Origin in his hands, he now realized that even if he consumed all souls in the universe, they were not being entirely destroyed.
Their Origin had returned to a place he did not know, and perhaps in a few million years or in a time much farther than he could conceptualize in his mind, all the souls he had once consumed would be returned, maybe not in this universe but in another.
This understanding did not bring Rowan any relief, instead, it brought fear and confusion. It was hard enough for him to trust his senses, but every new revelation about the true nature of everything made his paranoia increase.
A great cry erupted inside his Mental Space, that made all his Angels bow in fright and pressed his Angels of Char deep inside the Primordial Sea of Darkness, "WHERE IS THE TRUTH!"
