Chapter 5017: Magisterial! III
Chapter 5017: Magisterial! III
Naldine had walked Observable Existence for eons beyond counting.
She had witnessed the rise and fall of Civilizations that current beings considered ancient history. She had studied the Echoes of THE First Cause when most who now lived had not yet begun to differentiate from potential into form.
She had grasped THE Second Scale through methodology refined across cycles that would have crushed lesser existences into forgetfulness.
And she had come here to ensure the Guider of Infinity did not contribute to the Splintering of Observable Existence.
Yet, the first thing he did before her was something that might unravel all of nearby existence.
Her mind processed what she was witnessing with speed that beings at THE First Scale could not comprehend. The attraction between two forms of endless authority that had never been brought together in this configuration.
The irresistible momentum drawing his palms toward each other despite her Second Scale grip attempting to force them apart.
She recognized what would be happening immediately as someone of her stature.. could perceive what would occur in the immediate future alongside the present. And what she affirmed was...
A Miniature Cause.
Something only those at THE Second Scale even knew and understood in theory.
Something that could reshape local reality in ways that echoed THE First Cause itself, producing differentiation or undifferentiation depending on factors that could not be predicted before the event occurred.
Miniature Causes were how Primordial Architects tested theories too dangerous to implement at full scale. They were controlled experiments conducted in isolated regions where the results could be contained.
This was not controlled.
This was not isolated.
This was a young lifeform at THE First Scale accidentally initiating something that could tear apart everything within light years of their current position, and his palms were still moving toward each other despite her grip pressing against them with authority that should have been absolute!
Naldine’s Civilization blazed around her with intensity she had not displayed in eons.
Limitless Existence.
Her path through THE Second Scale had been built upon the understanding that existence itself had no boundaries except those imposed by perception. She had cultivated this truth until it became her foundation, until the very concept of limitation became something she could reject within her domain.
Her Civilization allowed her to interact with Infinity because she had made herself theoretically limitless in nature, capable of touching the endless without being overwhelmed by its scope.
She used that Civilization now.
Her hands were not enough. Her grip was not enough. The attraction between his palms exceeded what simple physical intervention could counter, two forms of Infinity recognizing kindred nature and seeking reunion!
So she smacked one hand back with the full weight of her Civilization.
The blow carried authority at THE Second Scale, Limitless Existence pressing against his Quintessence Infiniforce with rejection that declared this collision would not occur.
His left hand flew backward from the impact, multicolored crystalline light scattering from his palm as the internally generated force dispersed slightly.
But his right hand was still moving forward.
The externally conducted Infinity from Observable Existence was still surging toward the space where his palms would have met, still seeking the collision that her intervention had delayed but not prevented.
Naldine did not hesitate.
She squeezed herself between his palms, her body occupying the space where the Miniature Cause would have emerged.
Her back pressed against his chest as she faced the incoming surge of blue Infinity, her hands reaching out to grasp his arms and force them apart with strength that exceeded what her physical form suggested she possessed.
BOOM!
She was calm.
She was imperious.
Her Civilization of Limitless Existence blazed around her like armor, rejecting the collision by placing herself at its center and declaring that no Cause would emerge through her domain. The blue waves of conducted Infinity crashed against her white bubble of light and scattered, redirected away from the point of convergence she now occupied.
His arms resisted her push with the irresistible momentum that had characterized their approach, but she was at THE Second Scale, and her authority exceeded his regardless of what new capabilities he had just unlocked.
She forced his arms apart with steady pressure that brooked no argument, his left hand pushed away from his body, his right hand pushed in the opposite direction.
The attraction between the two Infinities began to fade as distance increased.
Naldine breathed.
Just breathed.
Simple breaths that grounded her existence after exerting authority she had not needed to exert in longer than she cared to remember.
Her white hair had fallen slightly out of its perfect arrangement, strands clinging to her neck where slight sweat had formed from the effort of stopping something that should not have been possible at his Scale.
And at this time...
Noah felt the sudden euphoria within him slowly die down as the collision was prevented.
He breathed out heavily, awareness returning to normal parameters after the overwhelming sensation of his Quintessence Infiniforce awakening. His cells were no longer cheering. His existence was no longer pushing toward union that his conscious mind had not fully understood.
He saw the back of Naldine before him, her form still pressed against his chest, her hands still gripping his arms to keep them separated.
Her hair was filled with slight sweat, white strands catching the ambient light of THE Primordial Archive in ways that made them seem almost luminescent.
She turned around to face him slowly.
Her movement brought her face close to his, her pure white eyes with their orbiting blue singularities meeting his gaze from distance that would have been inappropriate under any other circumstances.
Her breathing was still slightly elevated, her composure still slightly disrupted from the exertion of stopping a Miniature Cause through sheer force of Civilization.
"Do not fucking start initiating Causes that have unpredictable results right now."
Her voice was low, controlled, and carrying warning that pressed against his awareness with weight befitting someone who had just prevented him from accidentally unraveling nearby existence!
...!
Endless Generation.
This term alone was astounding as Noah looked at the Primordial Architect whose face was inches away from his own. Her pure white eyes searched his gaze for something, and after she affirmed his eyes were cognizant and present rather than lost in the euphoria that had nearly caused catastrophe, she let go of his arms and moved two steps backward.
Noah rubbed the areas on his hands where she had clamped down, the pressure of a Second Scale grip leaving sensations that would linger for some time. He thought about what he had just done, about the irresistible attraction that had drawn his palms together, about the collision that Naldine had prevented through direct intervention.
"A Miniature Cause?"
Naldine looked at him with sharp eyes as she waved her hands. The bodies of Arthur and Gunther returned to THE Primordial Archive, both of their eyes closed as they processed the changes of Bounded Countable Infinity integrating with their foundations. They would be occupied for some time yet.
"Something extremely rare for even those at THE Second Scale to accomplish."
Her voice carried weight befitting the subject matter.
"A Miniature Cause is brought into fruition by the interactions of our Civilizations with Infinity in such a profound way that we can initiate Fake Causes, or Miniature Causes, that try to mimic the endless potential that existed before THE First Cause imposed structure upon chaos."
She looked at him with an evaluation that suggested she was still processing how he had nearly accomplished this accidentally.
"Throw a Miniature Cause at your enemy, and anything could happen. They could be unraveled back into undifferentiation. They could be made grander than they were before. They could simply disappear as if they never existed. You would not know the result until it occurred, and sometimes not even then."
Her singularity-dotted eyes hardened.
"The results are unpredictable by design, for they mimic the unpredictability of THE First Cause itself. But you can bet on everything nearby being erased by the process regardless of what specific outcome emerges."
...!
Her words were heavy ones as Noah thought about that irresistible feeling of bringing together Quintessence Infiniforce with conducted Infinity. The attraction had been so natural, so obvious, as if two halves of something greater had recognized each other and sought union without consulting his conscious intent.
Even at this moment, his body continued to endlessly generate that multicolored Quintessence Infiniforce within him. He could feel his existence rapidly getting more and more immense, density accumulating within his finite foundations as the internal production showed no signs of slowing. His finite body had yet to reach a topping point, and he wondered if such a point even existed or if he would simply keep generating until his Scale itself demanded he stop.
And even when it did reach that limit, he would continue generating Quintessence Infiniforce to fill all of THE Infiniverse at the very least. The internally produced force would flow outward to empower his domain, his forces, and his Civilization.
This energy of endless potential was something he wanted to explore thoroughly.
He wanted to see what it could do when utilized properly rather than accidentally.
So he looked toward Naldine with eyes that had calmed from their previous euphoria.
"I will try not to cause any Miniature Causes for now. But I am ready to continue my assault to clear the board against my enemies."
He paused.
"What will you do?"
Naldine Manthon frowned as she looked at him with stern gaze, her expression suggesting she was genuinely worried he would try to unravel existence again the moment she stopped watching.
"What do you plan to do?"
Her voice held suspicion that had not been present before she witnessed him nearly initiate a Miniature Cause through accident alone.
Noah smiled at the question.
"Well, this one actually involves an attack ranging across time, so I will mess around with the past a bit."
BOOM!
Naldine’s expression became colder as she looked at him as if he already had several screws loose. They had just established how dangerous he could be, how close he had come to erasing everything nearby through the collision of two Infinities within his finite form. And now he wanted to mess with time? Temporal weavings that could destabilize the very flow of existence itself?
"..."
She wondered how Observable Existence was not already unraveling if this being was doing all of this just in the brief period she had been present.
Was his power not enough to destroy things in the past? Was he somehow protected by mechanisms she could not perceive? Or was he actually cognizant and knowledgeable of what he was doing, operating within boundaries that only appeared reckless from outside observation?
She looked at him up and down as if gauging which possibility was more likely.
Then she shook her head.
She felt like the first thought was much more supported. This guy seemed to be winging it as he went, stumbling from one potentially catastrophic action to the next while somehow not triggering the consequences that should have followed.
She massaged her temples.
"When... are you planning to go?"
When. Not where.
The question acknowledged that temporal manipulation operated on different parameters than spatial travel, that the destination mattered less than the moment being targeted.
Noah smiled at her phrasing.
"Now for this, a trip to THE Interstices is required."
His eyes shone with anticipation.
"I have got a guy whose entire being is dedicated to time."