Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Chapter 696 Much-Needed Key?

"You can be in that world... Rule right under me above all that chaos... Just imagine... Unlike the Primevals who we will resurrect in purely chaotic forms, you will never have to share that top spot. You will answer only to me" Choas said and it then let a few seconds of silence pass before it continued,

"Freewill is overrated. No being can truly boast of having it. It has always been a dilemma for many intelligent lifeforms such as yourself.

The troubling question; Is everything you do predestine, or do your choices actually matter?

Right now, you stand at a precipice as you wonder if your desire for an absolute rule is only because of my manipulation or if it is truly something you always wanted. You are confused..." Chaos began but Hal interrupted,

"Oh, I'm not confused. Was it a shock to find out, sure... Has it changed what I want, no... No, it has not"

Chaos began to radiate acceptance that Hal took to be the equivalent of a smile on a defined face,

"And it shouldn't. Stick to those ambitions of yours and together, we will usher in a new era. You are now free of the piece of Order stashed inside you and can finally truly embrace the path I have set for you... You can finally truly embrace being my Avatar and my right hand" Chaos said in a calm tone as it took steps toward Hal who was laughing at himself.

Before Chaos could really reach him or touch him though, Hal took a step back as he said,

"Nah, that's an unappealing dream... Why rule under you when I can rule you"

Chaos paused,

"What?" it asked in surprise which told Hal that he was on the right track.

"Well, it's only fitting a plan for a greedy bastard like me," Hal said with a shrug and a chuckle.

"You must be joking... It has to be a joke if you think you can rule me" Chaos said with a laugh that suggested it was trying to brush that absurd topic aside.

"I have a question fur you... Would you, whether unconsciously or deliberately, give anyone the ambitions to rule over you? To set him or herself above even the Primordial forces of creation?" Hal asked Chaos as he began taking steps around the formless figure.

"No. Why would you I give anyone such ambitions when I know they are impossible" Choas said and Hal nodded,

"And there it is... That is how I know that my desire to rule doesn't have anything to do with you. You might have ignited the flame but you have nothing to do with how wild and dangerous it has become" As Hal spoke, he began to mold a manifestation of his Sovereign Dao; A magnificent crown of gold and Sapphires that was oozing with power.

All this was an apparition as Hal was still inside Chaos's memory but the representation was meant to be an actual depiction of how whatever was produced would be on the outside.

And this was why powerful as the Sovereign crown was, the formless figure of Chaos was still more powerful.

"What are you talking about?" Chaos asked as a sense of trepidation began to set in.

It was formulating a fairly accurate guess of what Hal was attempting and the idea was not appealing.

"You know what I'm talking about..." was all Hal said with a grin as he stared at the Sovereign crown in his hands before pulling himself out of Choas' memories.

Hal was back in control of his body and he was not too surprised to find out that only one minute had passed since he had begun his memory snooping which meant that Melinda had had more than enough time to worry about him.

Back in control of his body, Hao had shed any look of defeat he had previously had as a wide smile spread on his face at the thought of his crazy, crazy plan.

"I'm fine," he told Melinda with a pat on her back while he eyed her dressed to finally notice the sign of the battle(s) she had been in before she arrived in this private section.

While Hal had been scouring Chaos memories, a quick-fire exchange had occurred between Sariel and Nihasa and Sariel was now staring at him with hostility which Hal took to mean that she now knew that he was the son of her nemesis, Nihasa the Devil queen.

The Virtue queen was finally realizing that her progeny was in a relationship with an offspring of the Devil queen and it clearly did not sit well with her.

That said, what she could do was limited... This 'body' of hers was merely an apparition that she had sent to observe to Monument of Ordinances for some reason that Hal knew was related to both Order and Chaos and quite likely, the results of their endgame battle.

"I'm glad you're alright," Melinda said before looking over at Sariel with annoyance while she gave Hal a quick explanation of what had happened with her by passing small information about recent events directly into his mind.

Apparently, when Sariel appeared to Melinda, she had said something about using the monument of Ordinances, something about how the monument was the answer.

Melinda was Sariel's anchor and was the only reason she could send her apparition into the Mortal Realm.

Sariel had explained to Melinda, while threatening her to cooperate, that while she (Sariel) was connected with the Monument enough to travel freely within it, she had to take Melinda along with her.

That was why Sariel needed Melinda... To use her to gain contact with Monument which Melinda was not happy about.

Especially the lack of say she had when Sariel transported them here on a whim.

Why Sariel needed the monument was a bit unclear to Melinda but Hal could take a guess and was almost one hundred percent sure that his guess was correct.

Alas, now was not the time to reason on the said guess.

Hal could not focus on what was going on with both Sariel and Nihasa because, at that time, Chaos was passing information to Primordial Will who now turned to look at Hal with animosity.

"Such ambitions are way above your station," Primordial Will said before taking steps toward Hal while its entire body continued to ooze chaotic energy.

"We have to go now," Hal told Melinda and she knew it was not time to wonder about the urgency in his tone.

Also, she had just the way...

The connection between herself and Sariel was two-way and with just enough effort, Melinda was able to hijack Sariel's connection to the Monument and use it to transport them out of the private section they were in.

They appeared in a large hall that still had signs of a battle between humans and Dystopians with the blood and bodies on the ground.

The bodies were ignored though as Sariel turned on Melinda,

"How dare you?!" she asked Melinda obviously referring to Melinda transporting her without her consent.

Melinda chuckled as she said,

"Doesn't feel good when it is done to you, does it?" Melinda said and Sariel frowned before turning her eyes to Hal... The 'key' that had long eluded the Primevals due to Nihasa's refusal to cooperate.

The Monument of Ordinances was created by Order after the Great Catastrophe and a considerable amount of time after the creation of the Avatar of Order, the Monk.

Why did Sariel want to be in contact with it as much as she did?

Well, after the Great catastrophe, the Primevals lost faith in both Order and Chaos after unanimously deciding that neither of the two cared about them... It became clear to the Primevals that in a bid to settle their feud, both Order and Chaos were ready to sacrifice their creations...

... Including the Ten that they had supposedly held in high regard.

With Order and Chaos on the mend, the Primevals thought up alternatives to a rule beneath the two forces of creation, and the only bit they had to go on as a ticket to unparalleled power was the Monument of Ordinances.

A creation of Order that, just like Order itself, could hold every single Ordinance... Especially the six Abstract Ordinances.

Not without good reason, the Primevals decided that the secret to unparalleled power lay in the limitation that has been forced on them which prevented the comprehension of more than one Abstract Ordinance.

For millions of years, every Primeval had tried to surpass this limitation and they believed their best bet to doing so was to take control of the Monument of Ordinances.

Alas, the Monument never traveled to Paradise and was stuck in a cycle that saw it traversing every single World in the Ring of Neglected Worlds in the Cosmic realm.

Gods could not enter any world on the Ring of Neglected Worlds without risking another catastrophic event and took on a habit of sending individuals they had blessed with good cultivational aptitude into these worlds to one day make contact with the Monument.

Alas, no Primeval had yet succeeded in this plan of theirs.

It was why the hunt for Hal, who was born connected to Order and could be the much-needed 'key' to unlocking the secrets of the monument, had been so important...