Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 3939: Oh! I

Communication exists in countless forms throughout the vast expanse of existence.

Words spoken aloud carry meaning from one consciousness to another.

Actions taken with purpose convey intentions that transcend mere verbal expression.

Symbols and gestures create bridges between minds that might otherwise remain forever isolated!

Through these varied methods, understanding flows between beings like water finding its natural course.

Yet...there exist rare and precious moments when communication transcends all conventional boundaries.

Instances when harmony reaches such perfect resonance that even without words or symbols, without deliberate action or conscious thought, mere gazes become sufficient to convey the deepest truths.

In these extraordinary circumstances, eyes speak volumes that entire libraries could never contain, and understanding passes between beings with the immediacy and speed of light!

At this moment in time, within the Heart of Paradox surrounded by rivers of obsidian and gold authority, such a unique phenomenon was occurring.

In the aftermath of their collective flight from the impossible twitch of dead flesh responding to living touch, the assembled Living Paradoxes had returned to find themselves witnesses to something that challenged every assumption they held about the nature of existence itself.

The massive corpse of the Early Creature lay before them unchanged, yet the knowledge of what they had witnessed transformed everything about how they perceived both it and the being who had triggered its response.

Initially, their gazes carried expressions of pure shock mixed with exhilaration that bordered on euphoria.

Duke Elagabalus and Diviticus exchanged looks.

Honored Gold’s ancient eyes blazed with recognition of possibilities that stretched toward horizons he had never dared imagine.

The fact that Diviticus could cause a corpse of an Early Creature to react while others could not meant that something within her current status, some fundamental aspect of what she had become, allowed for this unprecedented interaction.

All of this understanding passed between them through nothing more than shared glances, their expressions communicating complex chains of reasoning without need for verbal confirmation.

Shock gave way to joy as they recognized the magnitude of what they had discovered, the potential that lay before them like an unopened treasure vault whose contents could reshape the balance of power across all of existence!

But then, without a single word being spoken, their collective expressions began to shift.

From exhilaration to confusion, the change occurred with such synchronicity that it might have been choreographed by unseen hands.

Each face reflected the same troubling question that had begun to surface in their minds like a bubble rising from deep waters.

Why would Diviticus alone possess this capability? What was it about her transformation that created such a unique reaction?

Nobody uttered these questions verbally or even formed them as conscious thoughts, yet they all looked at each other with perfect understanding of the uncertainty that had begun to gnaw at their earlier certainty.

The confusion painted itself across their features with unmistakable clarity, creating a moment of shared bewilderment that needed no explanation.

Then, as if guided by the same invisible force that had synchronized their confusion, their faces began to change again. From puzzlement to dawning realization!

Diviticus looked directly at Honored Gold, her gaze carrying the weight of recognition. The only reason she possessed this unprecedented capability was because she had consumed the body of Ozymandias.

She had obtained half a drop of his blood, and somehow that infinitesimal portion of his essence had granted her the ability to not produce inevitabilities and to interact with an Early Creature’s corpse to cause it to twitch!

Simultaneously, every Living Paradox present arrived at this same conclusion through their own chains of reasoning.

And right after this moment of collective understanding, their expressions underwent another synchronized transformation.

From realization to somber gravity, the change reflected minds grappling with implications that threatened to overwhelm their ability to process.

Oh.

They all looked at each other with the same terrible awareness dawning behind their eyes.

There were precious few reasons why the being that Diviticus had partially devoured could possess something that would react with the body of an Early Creature!

Either Ozymandias had carried some inheritance or connection to an Early Creature, or...

”...”

Oh!

The alternative was too enormous, too terrifying in its implications to fully contemplate.

The moment such possibilities began to surface in their consciousness, their faces collectively drained of color!

Without speaking a word, without exchanging so much as a gesture, they all felt the same chill settling into their bones as the unthinkable began to seem not merely possible but probable.

Diviticus began to pant, her breathing becoming rapid and shallow as the weight of realization pressed down upon her like a physical force!

She looked between Honored Gold and Duke Elagabalus, her head shaking in small, desperate movements that spoke to denial so profound it bordered on panic.

This expression of rejection spread through their ranks like a contagion, each face reflecting the same desperate need to reject what their minds were trying to tell them!

Even without words, they communicated their shared refusal to accept the possibility that Ozymandias could have been an Early Creature himself!

No. He had to have been someone with an inheritance. A bearer of some treasured connection. Maybe.

Their wordless communication continued as emotions cycled through them with the inexorable rhythm of grief itself.

Denial gave way to anger as the gathered Paradoxes turned their gazes toward Diviticus with expressions that held her responsible for consuming something that might have been infinitely precious.

The accusation in their eyes was clear- she was the one who had devoured him, who had potentially destroyed something irreplaceable.

But anger could not be sustained in the face of honest self-reflection.

Their expressions shifted to something approaching bargaining as they recognized, each in their own way, that any of them would have done the same thing given the opportunity. The blame could not rest solely on her shoulders when they all would have made identical choices.

”...”

Oh!

Depression followed as surely as night follows day.

Their gazes became haunted as they contemplated what they might have lost, what connection to Early Creature heritage might have been severed forever through their actions.

The weight of potential tragedy settled upon them like a shroud woven from regret and missed opportunity.

They looked at each other with expressions of shared numbness, each face reflecting the same dazed incomprehension of beings who had discovered that their greatest triumph might simultaneously be their most catastrophic failure.

Throughout this entire emotional journey, not a single word had been spoken.

Yet everyone understood each other with perfect clarity, their shared experience creating a harmony of communication that transcended all conventional boundaries!

At such a moment came... acceptance mixed with a desperate form of bargaining, hope clinging to rational explanation like a drowning man grasping for a savior.

It was Duke Elagabalus who finally broke the heavy silence that had settled over them like a funeral pall. His voice carried conviction born from desperate need to believe his own words.

”That Ozymandias could not have been an Early Creature. Otherwise, he would not have come to us as merely an Originus Venerant. Even weaker than that. Early Creatures at birth would be many times grander than any Honored Living Existence. The very concept defies logical possibility. So it cannot be possible. It is not possible.”

...!

Oh?!