Chapter 5044: Nakatsukuni! IV
Chapter 5044: Nakatsukuni! IV
The structure they entered was dim and filled with an atmosphere resembling outer space itself.
Sparkling stellar lights sprinkled all around them in configurations that seemed random until Noah looked closer and recognized patterns within the chaos. Constellations formed and dissolved in the darkness, galaxies spiraling in miniature across surfaces that should have been walls but felt more like windows into the void between stars.
The entity inside acted as a source of profound light amidst this manufactured cosmos.
Noah observed a white-blue singularity contained within a constantly shifting square cube. The singularity pulsed with brilliance that reminded him immediately of THE Beholder, that same sense of consciousness predating differentiation, that same feeling of being observed by something that had witnessed existence learn how to exist.
But where THE Beholder had felt distant and evaluating, this presence felt vast in ways that pressed against his awareness with force unlike any other Proterozoic Scale entity.
They were a powerful fucker!
When they entered, this entity had its singularity gaze fixed directly on him.
The gaze felt calm and curious rather than hostile, the attention of something genuinely interested rather than threatened. Noah met that observation without flinching, his foundations steady despite the pressure emanating from a being that had likely observed THE First Cause itself.
Naldine looked up toward this entity as she began to speak.
"Out of all the Singular Cognizances and Primordial Architects who have carved their names into the foundations of reality, you are the only one who has managed to remain truly unaligned, Sadakar."
She paused, her singularity-dotted eyes reflecting the sun-like brilliance of the entity before them.
"But even here, tucked between the Observable and the Unobservable, you cannot claim ignorance. Both of us have felt and listened to the tremors in the weavings, the echoes of THE First Cause."
Noah remained silent, his gaze fixed on the shimmering silhouette of the Leader. This was Naldine’s negotiation to conduct. He was here as the one being discussed rather than the one doing the discussing, at least for now. And he was gathering more and more information before he began to act as there were many questions.
How many more places like these were there? Clusters of Primordial Architects- were they similar to here or smaller or larger?
"Those who hold peace would surely side with those who do not seek the Splintering of Observable Existence," Naldine continued, her tone shifting from observation to cold pragmatic proposal.
"I did not bring him here to hide him. I came to introduce the two of you and to form a treaty."
She gestured toward Noah, her hand steady despite the presence pressing against everything in this space.
"A pact of mutual defense. Because when the monsters who wish to return everything to nothingness and endless potential finally make their move, even Nakatsukuni will be forced to choose a side. I would prefer you choose the side that allows existence to continue existing."
...!
The Singular Cognizance pulsed before them, its contained brilliance fluctuating as it processed her words. That ancient gaze shifted between Naldine and Noah, evaluating both with attention that seemed to perceive far more than surfaces could reveal.
Finally, it began to speak in a voice deep enough to resonate through one’s foundations.
"Existence...is an unfathomable weaving of immensity, a discordant symphony of a trillion weavings where even the birth and death of entire Scales are but the frantic flickering of a candle against the encroaching dark."
The cube rotated through another configuration as Sadakar continued.
"You stand before me claiming the mantle of a lover of peace, Naldine Manthon, yet you stride into this sanctuary, into MY Sanctuary trailing the scent of inevitable ruin. Your very presence here serves as the first heavy precursor that will likely shatter the silence we have cultivated across eons of patient stillness."
A pause that seemed to last longer than it should have.
"But let us set aside your treaties and the fraying edges of your foresight for a moment."
The singularity’s attention fixed entirely on Noah now.
"The Infinity-bearer. I do not suppose you will tell this old existence just where you truly emerged from and how you possess the capability you hold?"
The question pressed against him with genuine curiosity.
"A great deal of things about you are undeniably curious. Which hidden realm did you form in? During which forgotten eon was your consciousness first sparked? What impossible materials of differentiation and undifferentiation composed the core of your existence to allow such a vessel to hold what you hold?"
Sadakar’s brilliance pulsed with each question.
"There are a great many questions about you. If you share, perhaps the old monsters trying to get their hands on you will simply sit back after they know."
...!
What realm did he form in? What materials composed him?
Noah did not know how to tell this being that he was a simple human carried in a womb for nine months, born a weak baby that had to have his diapers changed every time he soiled himself. His mother had fed him milk and burped him over her shoulder. His mother had taught him to walk by holding his hands while he stumbled across floors that seemed impossibly vast to infant perception!
That certainly was not the grand image of the entity conducting Infinity across Observable Existence.
He thought of how to reply to this being, how to frame origins that seemed laughably mundane compared to what Sadakar clearly expected to hear.
Before he could formulate his response...
DING!
A ringing sound echoed through the structure, cutting through the stellar atmosphere like a blade through silk. The sound made Naldine frown immediately.
A deep sigh echoed from the Singular Cognizance, resignation and irritation mixing in that ancient voice.
"What did I say? You came bearing the weavings of Chaos, Naldine Manthon."
The cube rotated faster as Sadakar’s attention shifted toward something beyond the structure’s walls.
"Because now, those you consider your enemies have arrived. The Peasant and Moloch have now also arrived at my door."
...!