Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 3988: The Blade of a Shore! IV

Her body radiated no obvious waves of terrifying power, no manifestations of authority that would have warned observers they were witnessing something beyond normal capability.

Her identity as a Paradox was clear and unmistakable, yet this revelation carried negative rather than positive implications for those who observed her advance.

Even though she moved without support, even though she faced odds that should have resulted in immediate annihilation, her voice rang out with declarations that spoke to certainty rather than desperation.

”I am mighty!” she voiced with grand authority that made the surrounding temporal streams flow faster in recognition of truth being proclaimed.

HUUM!

The words carried weight that transcended their simple meaning, each syllable backed by power that had been earned through sacrifice and transformation!

Even though she approached her target alone, even though common sense demanded she wait for support that would never come, she continued her declarations with growing intensity.

”I am his blade!” she said, her voice taking on notes of devotion that spoke to loyalty beyond the reach of doubt or fear.

The statement was personal...she was not merely a weapon to be wielded. She was the manifestation of someone’s will given form and directed purpose!

Even though isolation marked her as abandoned by those who should have stood beside her, even though the hostile gazes of her supposed allies promised only contempt for whatever fate awaited her, she completed her proclamation with words that rang across the battlefield like a law being established.

”I am his Arch. I am...MOIRAINE!”

WAA!

The declaration erupted from her with such force that reality itself seemed to take notice, temporal rivers shifting their flow to accommodate her!

At such words, she moved to face the Dead Existence head-on in a scene that nearby Living Existences observed with expressions of cold satisfaction.

They did not see any flash of a Branching Tower rising behind her to provide support and tactical advantage.

They witnessed no manifestation of the normal seas of Paradoxical Authority that characterized how Paradoxes typically expressed their power in combat situations.

They saw only Moiraine approaching the massive Dead Existence with casual confidence, her small hand beginning to swipe downward toward the enormous bony fist that the creature raised to crush her out of existence.

The contrast in scale was almost comical...a relatively small figure moving to intercept a blow that could have shattered mountains, her delicate hand positioned to meet bone that radiated deathly authority capable of unmaking entire civilizations.

”Dumbshit Paradox,” a distant voice belonging to a Living Spirit echoed across the battlefield, the words carrying the particular contempt reserved for beings whose stupidity exceeded all reasonable bounds.

”Who does she think she is to fight among us?” The voice of a Living Elemental joined the chorus of derision, hatred dripping from each syllable like acid eating through hope itself.

”Best to die early,” came the most damning assessment of all, delivered by a Living Origin from the very armies that served under Duke Gwendolyn’s command. ”Maybe a decent Inevitability or Living Collapse will arise from her death that isn’t completely imbecillic.”

...!

The sentiment was shared by many present...Paradoxes were not merely disliked...they were actively despised by other Living Existences, their very existence seen as a contributing factor to the endless proliferation of Inevitabilities that made progress toward the Loom so achingly difficult.

Years of conflicts and accumulated resentment had crystallized into hatred so pure it transcended rational assessment, becoming an emotional constant that influenced every interaction between Paradoxes and other Living Existences!

So at this moment, none cared for Moiraine’s welfare, and many actively hoped for her swift death. Perhaps from her ending would arise more useful forms of chaos, Inevitabilities that would serve some greater purpose rather than representing yet another example of Paradoxical incompetence.

This was the universal sentiment that greeted her desperate charge...not support or encouragement, and instead anticipation of failure and death delivered with the casual cruelty of beings who had long since ceased to view Paradoxes as worthy of basic consideration!

Noah gazed at all these reactions with eyes that buzzed with tyrannical coldness, his enhanced perception taking in every hostile expression, every dismissive comment, every casual wish for his chosen companion’s destruction.

Yet he only stared coldly and remained silent, offering no defense or explanation for what was about to unfold.

Sometimes, one did not need to speak.

Sometimes, results spoke far more eloquently than any words ever could.

As Moiraine’s fair hand came down upon the massive rising fist of the Dead Existence, something extraordinary occurred that challenged every assumption the observers had made about her capabilities and limitations.

A seemingly simple Glyph flashed briefly on her palm...just for an instant, barely visible even to enhanced perception.

That was all. No large outburst of authority, no wild manifestation of Paradoxical energy, no desperate surge of Living Existential Authority seeking to overwhelm superior opposition through sheer volume of power.

Just a flash of something that most observers couldn’t even identify, a brief illumination that passed so quickly it might have been imagination.

And yet...

CRACK!

The massive thrown fist of the Dead Existence, wrapped in obsidian waves of death that should have been sufficient to unmake anything they touched, shockingly shattered like glass meeting diamond!

Not just damaged or deflected...completely destroyed, the entire appendage dissolving into fragments that scattered across dimensions like ash on stellar winds.

...!

The result defied every law of probability and power that governed such conflicts!

Why would such an outcome surprise anyone who truly understood what had just occurred?

As a Paradox, Moiraine was not affected by the Curse that enhanced Dead Existences beyond normal parameters, her very nature providing immunity to the fundamental advantage that made such creatures so devastatingly effective against other types of Living Existence.

More importantly, she had not relied upon Living Existential Authority in her attack...instead, she had employed an Early Living Existential Glyph, a tool and expression of power that was normally utilized exclusively by Early Creatures themselves.

And not just any Glyph, but a Kleos Glyph...the ultimate expression of power that transcended every normal category of capability.

And not merely any Kleos Glyph, instead one whose nature was grander still...the Kleos Glyph of Paradoxical Genesis!

Paradoxical Genesis...the authority to create beginning from paradox, to forge possibility from impossibility, to establish new existences through the simple act of refusing to acknowledge that such existences should be impossible!

In the next moment, a level of brutality unfolded that left even the confused Dead Existence struggling to process what was occurring to its carefully maintained form of crystallized ending.

Moiraine’s body flashed to multiple positions around her target with movements that transcended normal limitations of space and time.

Without apparent cost of energy or authority, she activated her Kleos Glyphs simultaneously, each one blazing with power that made reality convulse!

The meaning of Paradoxical Genesis asserted itself against the seemingly undeniable weavings of Death that comprised the Dead Existence’s core nature. Where the creature represented ending made manifest, Moiraine imposed the concept of beginning renewed... the transformation of conclusion into commencement through methods that defied rational comprehension.

The Dead Existence’s body began to shatter and compress under this assault, its deathly Existential Authority being systematically smashed and decimated in a manner that no other Living Existence present had been capable of achieving!

The cursed enhancements that made such creatures nearly invulnerable proved useless against power that operated according to principles the Curse was in tune with!

In a single second that contained within it the compressed essence of perfect violence, Moiraine used her hands...flashing with Glyphs that remained invisible to normal perception, to brutally tear apart the Dead Existence with her own physical strength.

She moved like a primal archaic creature unleashed upon prey that had never learned to fear predators of her magnitude, her actions speaking to savagery that had been refined into perfect efficiency through understanding rather than mere instinct!

”OOOH!” she yelled as she completed her work, waving her hand in a gesture that caused the entire corpse of the Dead Existence to vanish into dimensional storage where it could be properly processed and utilized.

...!

The event was utterly shocking to witness...a single Paradox accomplishing what should have required ten coordinated Living Existences, doing so with such casual efficiency that the entire confrontation lasted less than the time required to draw breath.

Moiraine looked up from her completed task and gazed at all the Living Existences who had observed her advance with such cold indifference, who had actively wished for her death rather than offering support that could have prevented potential tragedy.

For them, she had only two words that carried the full weight of her contempt for their cowardice and prejudice.

”Fucking trash.”

...!

Oh!