Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 3987: The Blade of a Shore! III

Each branch pulsed with its own variation of Origin...Origin of Brilliance, Origin of Protection, Origin of Purification, Origin of Judgment...multiple interpretations that allowed her to express her fundamental nature through whatever lens the situation required!

Her Origin was bright and undeniable, waves of accumulated Resistances flowing from her form like armor woven from compressed possibility.

She possessed her own designed Absolute Resistance, the ultimate defense that came from perfect understanding of her central concept.

Yet when she moved to impose her definition of Origin upon the Dead Existence before her, the creature’s response was both simple and devastating!

The skeletal orangutan made a single motion...a gesture of negation so pure and fundamental that it seemed to deny the very concept of beginning.

As its bony hand moved through space, a dried tower filled with death flashed behind its form, the structure appearing like a diseased mockery of everything the Living Origin represented.

This tower of ending was composed of branches as well, but where hers celebrated life and possibility, its extensions spoke only to different methods of termination.

Branch of Slow Death, Branch of Instant Dissolution, Branch of Existential Erasure...countless variations on the theme of ending that challenged every assumption about growth and advancement!

The collision between these opposing concepts sent shockwaves through the surrounding space as Origin met its antithesis in head-on confrontation.

For a moment that stretched across heartbeats, the two forces remained locked in perfect balance, neither able to gain advantage over the other.

Then the Dead Existence’s curse-enhanced power began to assert itself, its fundamental advantage over Living Existential Authority becoming apparent as the tower of endings slowly but inexorably began to negate the brilliant tree of Origin that sought to impose itself upon reality!

The expression of the Honored Living Origin changed drastically as she witnessed her perfect mastery being systematically unraveled by forces that operated according to principles she could not fully comprehend.

”YAA!”

She bellowed with desperate fury, her Origin expressing itself with all the glory she could muster, light erupting from her form in waves that should have been sufficient to obliterate entire Wheels of Existence!

HUUM!

Yet even this magnificent display proved insufficient against the cursed nature of her opponent.

In the next moment, multiple other Living Origins materialized near her position with movements that spoke to desperate coordination rather than planned strategy.

They recognized what she faced, understood the fundamental disadvantage that any single Living Existence confronted when opposed by the cursed power of the Dead.

Only when a total of ten Honored Living Origins had positioned themselves around the skeletal creature, their combined authority layering their purpose and their undeniable beginnings into a symphony of existence affirmed, were they able to begin pushing the Dead Existence back and overwhelming its darkness!

Ten against one. Ten beings whose power could have conquered entire Wheels with a thought, required to face a single enemy whose very nature challenged their right to exist.

The wonders of this conflict were staggering and terrifying in their implications!

Noah’s eyes flashed sharply as his enhanced vision captured similar scenes occurring throughout the vast battlefield. In the distance, he observed Living Laws circling a single Dead Existence like predators attempting to bring down prey far larger than themselves, their combined efforts barely sufficient to begin cutting across the deathly authority that surrounded their target.

Cutting across something cursed to be endlessly tormented with endless death required tremendous amounts of Origin, Law, Spirit, Paradox, or the other terrifying Living Weavings of Existence!

Each wound inflicted healed almost immediately, each binding imposed was countered by the fundamental nature of beings that existed in states of perpetual ending.

It was at this moment of tactical assessment that Noah felt the time had come for his own forces to join the fray.

His own...singular force.

He turned toward Moiraine with eyes that blazed with tyrannical anticipation, his voice carrying across the space between them with crystalline clarity.

”My dear Moiraine,” he said with casual confidence, ”let loose!”

HUUM!

The effect of his words was immediate and profound.

Moiraine’s visage began to shine with brilliant radiance as the allure of Paradox flared outward from her position like waves of compressed impossibility.

The sight was both beautiful and unsettling!

Many Living Existences in the surrounding area sensed the distinctive signature of Paradoxical Authority and turned their attention toward her with expressions that ranged from distaste to open hostility.

Her clear origination from the region where Duke Gwendolyn floated in grandly observational authority provided some measure of protection, but it was evident that most observers regarded this display with emotions that fell far short of approval.

The hatred that Living Existences held for anything connected to Paradox ran deeper than personal preference or tactical assessment...it was fundamental loathing born from eons of suffering consequences that stemmed from Paradoxical interference in the natural order.

But Moiraine paid no attention to these hostile gazes as her body flashed.

Her target was a massive humanoid titan among the Dead Existences, its form composed of what appeared to be crystallized endings given shape and malevolent purpose.

The creature’s head remained raised toward skies that held no stars, its mouth pulsing with rhythms that spoke to absorption rather than communication.

It drew in all surrounding weavings of existence like a void given consciousness, its very presence creating dead zones where the fundamental forces that governed reality simply ceased to function.

Now, when any single Living Existence moved to face a Dead Existence in direct confrontation, protocol...so far at least, demanded that others nearby would immediately join them to ensure the numbers reached at least ten.

This was not cowardice but practical necessity...the requirements for victory against cursed opponents demanded overwhelming force applied with perfect coordination.

Yet as Moiraine charged forth alone, her aura of Paradox blazing with unmistakable clarity...nobody joined her advance.

Nobody!

Living Origins floated nearby and watched with cold indifference, their expressions suggesting they were observing a particularly unpleasant form of entertainment rather than witnessing a potential ally in mortal peril.

Others actively chose to assist Living Origins at distant positions who already had groups of three or four supporters, deliberately avoiding the opportunity to provide aid to the solitary Paradox who had dared to engage in combat within their vicinity.

Out of all the Living Existences present in the immediate area, only Moiraine...the Living Paradox whose very nature was an affront to their sensibilities...was about to face a Dead Existence entirely alone!