Chapter 4690: The Cursed And The Blessed V
Chapter 4690: The Cursed And The Blessed V
In Existence, there would always be the rich and the poor, the sad and the happy, and the blessed and the cursed.
THE Fallout made very clear distinctions of which was which.
But as THE Fallout unfolded, there were some beings who had the power to choose for themselves whether they would be cursed or blessed.
In a far, indeterminate corner of Observable Existence burning and twisting under the light of THE Fallout, a humanoid entity floated grandly while waves of multicolored flames and ash passed through everything around him.
This entity was covered with undulating obsidian tendrils of chaos that writhed across his form like living shadows hungry for disorder. His sheer aura alone shockingly kept the flames of The Fallout at bay, creating an invisible field around his existence that the apocalyptic destruction could not penetrate without permission.
And he did grant permission routinely.
He would open up a singularity in the invisible field that he had around him, a small gap that allowed concentrated Weavings of The Fallout to flow through and permeate into his existence. Each time, the multicolored flames would rush in eagerly, only to be devoured by the obsidian tendrils and converted into something else entirely. He was not merely surviving The Fallout. He was consuming it. Digesting it. Making it part of his Chaos.
Around his existence, one could see an indeterminate amount of Logos and Philologies of The First Tongue floating in complex orbits. What looked to be more than eighteen Genesis Principles rotated around him like children listening to his beck and call, responding to his every whim with eager obedience.
But uniquely, there were even three types of authorities that even the Genesis Principles seemed to actively avoid.
Three points of power so profound, so ancient, so terrifying that even the fundamental truths of The First Tongue gave them wide berth.
Such a being was humming freely in the midst of The Fallout as he looked around with his gaze piercing many things, even though he realized it was gradually becoming limited by the changing Weavings of Existence.
At such a point, he opened his mouth as seas of Primordial Chaos spilled out naturally with his words.
"Eenie meenie miny moe, where exactly shall I go?"
...!
As if he was looking for direction in the midst of universal devastation.
He sighed, the sound carrying the weight of eons of accumulated experience and the lightness of someone who found cosmic destruction mildly entertaining.
"Observable Existence had only been explored and mapped out by less than half of what it truly contains," he mused to himself, his voice resonating with the authority of THE Primordial Chaos. "All of us know that other Pockets of Existence like Ginnungagap exist but remain unable to be accessed through normal means. We know of regions that predate differentiation itself. We know of spaces between spaces where even I have not ventured."
His obsidian tendrils writhed with amusement.
"We know all of this, and yet you proceed to change all of Observable Existence while we still know there is much we don’t know? All those unknowns, all those unexplored territories, all those sleeping powers in hidden corners of reality, how will they be affected by your little tantrum, Paradox?"
He laughed, the sound causing nearby flames of The Fallout to scatter in confusion.
"What will arise from them? What ancient things will be awakened? What new horrors will be born from the collision of your Fallout and the unknown? Haha, so much Chaos to unfold. So much to witness! You may have designed this cataclysm, but you cannot possibly have accounted for everything. Nobody can account for everything. That is why Chaos always wins in the end."
At such a time, he laughed freely and looked around him as if he could see something that others could not. His gaze pierced through the layers of burning reality, through the Weavings of The Fallout, through the very fabric of Existence itself.
In the next moment, he spoke to the devastation around him.
"O Creature, you should be free enough right now to at least hear me and communicate before everything becomes much harder. The Fallout is targeting you, yes, but it is also weakening the chains that bind you. So tell me, old friend, old enemy, old enigma, how do you think all of this will end?"
He asked the burning Existence around him.
As if he expected an answer.
As if someone could hear him across the vastness of collapsing reality.
And shockingly, in the next moment, Existence trembled and buzzed fearfully as an extremely deep and imposing voice responded from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously.
"Badly."
HUUM!
Oh!
That voice!
It was filled with calmness so absolute that it made the chaos of The Fallout seem like a child’s tantrum. It carried an immensity that pressed down on reality itself, making even THE Primordial Chaos feel the weight of something truly ancient. It was the voice of the being who had shaped Observable Existence, who had created the foundations upon which all civilizations were built, who had been imprisoned for eons but never truly defeated.
And as if it did not get its point across enough, it echoed out once more for THE Primordial Chaos to hear.
"Very, very badly."
...!
THE Primordial Chaos laughed loudly at these words, the sound erupting from him like a symphony of disorder that made the surrounding Fallout flames dance in chaotic patterns.
His eyes opened wide, showing obsidian blackness all around. Within that darkness, infinite obsidian snakes constantly twisted and coiled, each one a fragment of primordial entropy given form. They burned with glory that predated the differentiation of Existence itself.
"You let Paradox reign on top for so long that many of us missed you," THE Primordial Chaos said with genuine warmth beneath his chaotic exterior. "Your absence left a void that none of us could properly fill. But do tell, O Creature, have you grasped The Second Scale of Existence without telling the rest of us? Are you there yet?"
Was he there yet.
It was a terrifying question to ask.
The Second Scale of Existence.
Beyond THE Absolute Depth of Absolute Sovereignty.
Beyond anything that currently existed in Observable Existence.
The level that THE Living Paradox sought to reach through The Fallout.
The level that would allow an entity to not just legislate reality but to become indistinguishable from it.
The reply from THE Creature came with maddening ambiguity.
"Who knows... who knows..."
BOOM!
The words carried neither confirmation nor denial, only the weight of something that preferred to remain mysterious. THE Creature had always been an enigma, even to those who had existed alongside him since the earliest moments of Observable Existence.
THE Primordial Chaos smiled at the non-answer, his obsidian snakes hissing with appreciation for the chaos of uncertainty.
"Same as always," he muttered fondly. "Never giving a straight answer. Never letting anyone know exactly where you stand. I suppose that is how you survived this long, O Creature. By being unknowable even to those who thought they knew you."
The burning Existence around him offered no further response.
THE Creature had spoken his piece.
And now, THE Primordial Chaos was left to navigate The Fallout alone, choosing his direction in a landscape that was rapidly becoming unrecognizable.
"Eenie meenie miny moe," he repeated with a grin. "I suppose I’ll just follow the Chaos. It has never led me astray before."
He opened another singularity in his protective field, allowing more of The Fallout to rush in and be consumed by his endless hunger for disorder!