It was challenging to find historians who could document the passing of the universe among the many Eras past, except for the Celestials who kept accurate records, yet their work was not enough, for the Great Darkness was vast beyond measure and they could not account for every universe I'm creation, if they did, they would have seen a certain trend occur.
A new super universe would be born, but it would not live for long, barely a few billion years before it perished, in the time scale of a universe, this was nothing but a blink of an eye.
What this simply meant was that Fourth had lots of experience in devouring universes.
When he entered this one, he had pretended as if he had been seriously injured while crossing the Great Desert, and he had opened up his heart to reveal a single drop of Aether.
The Aether of a Primordial even if it was just a single drop was precious beyond measure and no one would be able to resist such great power, talkless a newly born Universe Will.
Like a firefly to a blazing flame, it leaped at this opportunity and swallowed it entirely, devouring the body of Fourth alongside it.
The power that the Universe Will gained after consuming the Aether was unprecedented, but the trap was triggered because the Universe Will could not handle such a massive meal and had to fall into slumber, even after it created nine supremely powerful Empyreans to bear the load, it was still too much power.
With nothing standing between Fourth and his prize, he had begun to devour the sleeping universe Will from the inside.
Perhaps a portion of the universe was aware of the danger it was in, but it was impossible for it to digest this power entirely before it was completely devoured.
Fourth was slowly taking the various Authority of the Universe Will over the years, and after devouring a third of it, he was able to control various powers of the universe and had blocked the Creation of more Nemesis Stones, making this universe one of the most barren universes inside the Great Darkness.
Although it was too late to stop the universe from producing three Nemesis Stones, these three Nemesis Stones had been used to pursue their various agendas inside the universe.
The first Nemesis Stone was sent to the Mages carried by Second who had been infiltrating the Magus World for many Eras, the second Nemesis Stone was sent to the Demon God, this Primordial cared for nothing but Chaos, and would not care about their objectives, and the last Nemesis Stone was given to First and Third who had asked for it for a personal project.
"Fourth, I seek your counsel," The Third Prince loudly called out, but the worm ignored him and continued eating with gusto. The sound that emerged from his mouth as he drilled into the tree was spine-chilling. The Third Prince knew that he would be ignored if he stood here for the next billion years and began to move towards the tree.
The tree appeared to be a few dozen feet in front of him, but with every step he took, the tree seemed to retreat and grow bigger, and when he had taken his hundredth step the tree was now so massive it was bigger than a galaxy
The Third Prince was now the size of a mote of dust, while the Worm was now so large it could swallow multiple solar systems with ease. This was the true form of the universe Will and the Worm that fed upon it.
The Third Prince called out again, "Fourth, I seek your ears,"
"Oh brother mine, you have never changed," A smooth voice holding the charm of a serpent replied to him. The mouth of the worm opened and a single tooth loosened from his mouth and fell down to gently land in front of the Third Prince where it transformed into a naked young man who appeared to be about sixteen. He had no sexual organ but a tail that resembled a wrinkled worm.
He looked at the new form of the Third Prince who appeared to be at the edge of death, "Oh, I spoke too quickly Third, you look like shit that has been left out in the sun and then the rain and then the sun and the rain.again, again, again, again, againagainagainagainagainagainagainagainagainagainagainaga
inagain., don't tell me you are still being affected by the loss of your essence after all these years."
The Third Prince blinked, Fourth had said 'again' more than a thousand times before he continued speaking as if he was not aware of the discrepancies in his words, but the Third Prince was already used to this quirk of his brother and usually filtered out those words anytime he talked to him.
Everyone handles eternity in various ways, Fourth always stayed alone, and when his attention was drawn, he always sent a small portion of himself to the meeting while he was willing to stay separate from it all. This made him a bit eccentric but most would call it madness.
He was the worm that would devour all things. A creature like this had no use for sanity.
'And like a fucking worm he always hides inside dirt and shit.' The Third Prince's thoughts were nothing but bitter yet he smiled, a ghastly sight that revealed yellowed crooked teeth and made his face which had been squeezed by age appear even more malevolent.
"Fourth, I'm dying and"
"You don't need to ask me again brother, I will not be giving you any of my essence, your foolish experiments have led you to this fate, you can be sure that I will not mourn you."
The Third Prince sneered, "You mourn nothing Fourth, spare me your useless pity and listen to me. I am at the edge of death, but I'm not dead yet, you may have the power at the moment but don't forget who you speak to. I have lived a thousand more lives than all of you combined."
Fourth laughed as he sat on his coiled tail that extended until it was large enough for him to settle on, he gestured towards the Third Prince, "Fire away, let it not be said that I'm not a worm that does not listen. Also" he looked at the massive stomach of the Third Prince, "If I knew you were so capable at giving birth I would have whored you to the God of the Abyss many Eras ago, the treasures he would have given us would have made this mission far easier."
The Third Prince ignored his brother who was trying to get under his skin and for just an instant he had the mind to stop talking and leave.
If he did, his arrogant brother would likely celebrate his upcoming demise, but he would not know of the cancer already growing inside the universe and when he was aware of the presence of Rowan it would be too late.
The Third Prince understood how ruthless his son had become, he would slaughter the worm and devour him whole, he would kill all his brothers, and as lovely as that prospect sounds, Rowan had no reason to allow the resurrection of his Main Body.
The Third Prince cleared his throat, "You know of my experiment to create a being of Luck and Desire using my essence of Time and a unique Traveler like Elura you also know that despite my sacrifices I had failed, but that is a lie brother I did not fail. I hid my success from you all but this decision is now haunting me, and it will not stop with me, it will spread until it consumes you all."
Fourth eyes were filled with mirth, "I think I can manage whatever abominations you can craft brother if this is all you have to tell me you can leave. It may be a single tooth, but it would save me a million years before I finish devouring this universe, and the more time I spend with you, the more losses I incur."
"You arrogant bastard," The Third Prince suddenly begins to laugh, "A million years you say hahaha. You don't know how much I want to turn away and leave right now. I am sure that before I die, I will still be alive to hear your screams of pain. You fool, I found it I found the fucking Primordial Record."