Chapter 4875: Last Gamble! I
Chapter 4875: Last Gamble! I
Jack.
Jokul.
These names felt foreign in Anaximander’s mind, labels that belonged to someone else, designations that carried weight he had spent eons trying to escape. He shook his head as if he did not want them, as if he did not recognize them, as if the being they referred to was a stranger wearing his face!
THE Creature’s gaze softened at this response, understanding filling his multicolored eyes as he continued speaking with the patience of someone who had all the time in Existence.
"Your experiment in defining yourself was a grand one. You lived a life of hardship as the scientist and explorer Anaximander, without any of your memories, without any of your knowledge."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"But your existence is filled with weavings of undifferentiation. Your existence, by nature, is undefined."
At such words, Anaximander became utterly still and serious, the proto-matter around him ceasing its serene flow as his attention focused entirely on the being before him. His ancient eyes held defiance that burned brighter than the frost he had just released.
"My existence may be undefined."
His voice was steady despite the turmoil that must have been raging within him.
"But my Way, my self, it is defined. I like Anaximander. I like who I have become."
He straightened, his scholarly robes settling around him with dignity that transcended his undefined nature.
"Sometimes one has to take a step and say who they are. To define themselves and remain what they are, fully and truly."
His eyes met THE Creature’s without flinching.
"And I am an explorer. I am Anaximander."
BOOM!
As he said this, the frost in this region receded and disappeared as if acknowledging his declaration. He tapped out with authority that made space itself respond, and the Crack of Observable Existence above them shook with resonance!
Immense seas of proto-matter, more than ten times grander than before, gushed out from the crack and landed on Anaximander with force that would have annihilated lesser beings. But he absorbed it all without faltering, his existence drinking in the undefined potential while his definition remained firmly in place.
He had made a choice, like many in Existence made their choices.
To be what he wanted to be rather than what he had been born as.
To define himself rather than accept the undefined nature of his origins.
THE Creature had also made his own choices across the eons, some right and some wrong, some that he regretted and some that he stood by despite the consequences. He looked at the most recent choice of his friend with a smile that held genuine warmth.
Every choice was a path taken.
And every path was a river of endless possibilities.
As he thought of this, THE Creature couldn’t help but look out in a different direction entirely, his gaze piercing through the spaces between spaces toward destinations that only he could perceive. His booming voice echoed out as it spoke to no one in particular.
"What choice will you make?"
It was a simple question, and it was unknown whether it was aimed at THE Living Paradox who held a Claim through methods that many didn’t fully understand, or THE Secretive Eon who sought to unite all of Observable Existence, or THE Primordial Chaos who watched everything from his corner of reality, or perhaps someone else entirely that THE Creature was thinking about right now.
---
Eons passed and eons gone.
Far in THE Infinite Unfurling, past a Crack of Observable Existence, inside THE Prima Indifferentia.
In a region where proto-matter had taken on properties that shouldn’t have been possible even for undefined substance, an ancient creature made its home among formations that defied description.
The proto-matter here was molten, shining crimson-gold with heat that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with concentrated potential. It curved in millions of Mobius strips that twisted through dimensions that hadn’t fully differentiated, creating an environment of endless loops where beginning and end lost all meaning.
The ancient creature itself was something between a serpent and a concept, its form stretching across hundreds of miles while simultaneously occupying a single point in space. Scales that shifted through every possible color covered its body, and eyes that numbered in the thousands dotted its length, each one watching a different aspect of the molten landscape it called home.
It had been here since before THE Infinite Unfurling.
It would likely be here long after.
And right now, it was watching a small crimson-gold seed that spun perpetually in the middle of this place with happiness that radiated from every one of its countless eyes.
The seed was no larger than a fist, but it burned with authority that made the surrounding Mobius strips of proto-matter bend toward it in reverence. Routinely, the seed would release a flash of light that carried the quality of undifferentiation, pure potential in its most concentrated form, and the ancient creature would absorb this light as it made its existence feel that much richer.
It had enjoyed this sensation for cycles.
Sometimes, the continued sensation something brought was grander than consuming it in a single gulp. The creature had learned this lesson long ago, and so it had been content to simply bask in the seed’s emissions rather than devour it entirely.
So the creature continued to enjoy the sensation this seed granted, its countless eyes blinking with contentment that spoke of simple pleasures appreciated across unfathomable spans of time.
Unbeknownst to it...
HUUM!
A storm of proto-matter arrived nearby, settling into the molten landscape as if it belonged there. The storm had been measuring this situation for several seconds, observing the ancient creature and its treasure with attention that went beyond mere curiosity.
The storm of proto-matter was naturally Noah, and his gaze was sharp as he looked at the terrifying scene ahead of him from within his concealment.
|Environmental Analysis - High Value Target Detected|
|You are observing an ancient entity designated as a Primordial Serpent of Undifferentiated Coils. Its power should rival or exceed weaker Absolutes, though its combat methodology would be fundamentally different from differentiated beings.|
|More significantly, you are observing the object it is benefiting from.|
|Object Classification: Spark Fragment of THE First Cause|
|This is a fragment that contains mere echoes of THE First Cause that initiated differentiation, but it is a fragment nonetheless. Consuming or integrating this Spark Fragment would provide tremendous advancement to your foundations, potentially accelerating your growth by factors that cannot be accurately calculated.|
|The Primordial Serpent has been passively absorbing emissions from this Spark Fragment for eons rather than consuming it directly.|
|You could potentially integrate it where the Serpent could not.|
|However, acquiring it would require either defeating the Serpent or stealing the Fragment without detection.|
|Neither option carries favorable odds given current power differentials.|
...!
A Spark Fragment of THE First Cause.
The very thing that THE Primordial Paradox had mentioned when describing the resources of incalculable value that could be found in THE Prima Indifferentia. Not the full First Cause, of course, that would be something beyond even Absolutes to claim, but a fragment containing echoes of the moment when differentiation began.
Noah’s foundations trembled with hunger that had nothing to do with his Derivative Civilization of Infinite Hunger. This was pure desire, the recognition of something that could elevate his existence in ways that normal resources could never achieve.
And at this moment, as he was thinking about how he might acquire it...
|Critical Alert - Threat Approaching|
|Infinite Undifferentiated Fate has sensed the fate of collapse drawing closer from a specific direction. THE Undivided One, Bazuman, continues to track your existence through methods that your concealment cannot fully prevent. That relentless fucker is coming, and its arrival is estimated...soon?Soon.|
|You have limited time to make a decision.|
|Attempt acquisition of the Spark Fragment and risk confrontation with both the Primordial Serpent and Bazuman.|
|Or...well, there isn’t truly another viable option.|
...!
He had never escaped the attention of an Undivided One that continued to chase him across THE Prima Indifferentia with persistence that bordered on obsession.
And a treasure lay right before him that could help cement his power even more, continuing to allow him to build a foundation that might just allow him to go against Absolutes even without having become one himself.
The Spark Fragment pulsed with another emission of undifferentiated light, and the Primordial Serpent’s countless eyes blinked with contentment as it absorbed the offering.
Behind him, somewhere in the churning expanse of THE Prima Indifferentia, Bazuman was approaching with million crimson eyes and endless jaws.
So when it came to this pivotal moment, Noah knew that his time in this temporal traversal might be nearing an end. He had already gained so much, had already transformed in ways that he couldn’t have anticipated, had already become something that had no precedent in Observable Existence.
But he was also greedy.
And greed, properly directed, was just another word for ambition.
"In for a penny, in for a pound."
...!
He moved!