Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4396: The Doctrines of Hunger III

Noah watched such a scene with profound understanding lighting his eyes.

Khor had inherited everything!

She consumed Tor completely and eventually became THE First Hunger through that act!

In the next moment...

CRACK!

The scene shattered entirely like glass struck with overwhelming force.

Noah found his eyes opening, consciousness returning to his body, gaze locking onto the current Khor floating above the Isolated Civilization.

Around them, the Mana had turned crimson-blue...his Primus Mana mixing with her resurgent Hunger.

Their eyes locked.

Khor smacked his hand away from her face with violent force, her crimson eyes blazing with rage!

HUUM!

”Why did you do that?!” she bellowed, her complexity seething!

”WHY?! I had forgotten! I had finally, after eons, managed to forget!”

BOOM!

Her figure radiated terrifying power as pain flooded her expression, ancient grief mixing with resurgent loss!

Noah gazed at her with solemn eyes as prompts cascaded down.

|Multiple existential seals binding target ”Khor” have been broken|

|Primus Mana elevation induced quintessential restoration results exceeding projected parameters|

|Target’s power currently increasing exponentially - quantification pending complete stabilization|

|Emotional instability detected - psychological trauma from memory restoration may cause unpredictable behavior|

...!

In the midst of cascading power, Khor’s eyes retained their rage as she roared toward Noah.

”Why did you make me remember?! I had forgotten!”

BOOM!

Riya appeared beside Noah instantly, her expression stern as her jewel-blue eyes flashed with coldness and caution.

She assessed Khor with combat readiness, prepared to defend despite the growing and obvious power disparity.

Kael and dozens of other Seed Members at 50 Quintillion began manifesting behind them, their forms blazing!

And shockingly, these terrifically powerful beings felt oppression from Khor’s resurgent presence...weight that suggested she was approaching and exceeding their collective capabilities.

At such a time, Noah looked at Khor with eyes carrying pity rather than fear.

”Tell me,” he said quietly, ”what is the Ninth Doctrine of Hunger?”

...!

His words caused Khor’s figure to tremble, rage faltering as her eyes filled with immense complexity.

The raging aura around her began calming...settling into something more controlled.

She looked upward, her gaze hazy as if seeking something distant she could no longer touch, as if Noah’s figure overlapped with someone she had known a long, long time ago...and then she began speaking.

”The Ninth Doctrine of Hunger states that all that which is hungered and devoured never leaves us. It only...becomes part of us. Part of The Way of Hunger. We carry everything we’ve consumed as part of what we are.”

After she finished, Noah nodded with gentle understanding.

”Those who walk The Way of Hunger are never truly gone,” he said softly. ”They are part of you. Tor... is part of you. Has been, all this time. You didn’t lose him...you carry him with every action, every thought, every expression of Hunger.”

...!

Khor’s body trembled as she bit her lip, nodding slowly while closing her eyes to center herself.

She took some more seconds.

And then...

”Thank you, Outsider, and apologies for the outburst...” she said silently.

...!

She looked toward Noah, preparing to say more..

But at this moment, she saw that Noah wasn’t even gazing at her anymore.

His eyes were hazy, distant, as shockingly he was repeating the Doctrines of Hunger while looking upwards!

”All that which is hungered and devoured never leaves us...”

”Hunger is the fundamental acknowledgment of incompleteness...”

”Hunger must remain carefree in its pursuit...”

”True Hunger establishes natural hierarchy...”

...!

Khor’s eyes widened in shock as above Noah, a figure materialized.

Ozymandias.

Noah’s other part of existence...paradoxically him and not him simultaneously!

Ozymandias appeared as a humanoid mass of obsidian-gold tentacles.

And at this moment, he was reciting the same words as Noah in perfect synchrony, their voices overlapping as if single entity speaking through two mouths.

Amidst this shocking development, as even Riya and the Seed Members observed with mounting unease, Noah, in his trance, saw glorious prompts materializing!

|CRITICAL EXISTENTIAL ANOMALY DETECTED|

|An impossible and unfathomable possibility has bloomed|

|A part of your existence that IS your existence and IS NOT your existence has truly and completely embarked upon The Way of Hunger|

|Your unified being is fragmenting into parallel developmental paths|

|You are attempting to pioneer TWO separate Ways of Existence simultaneously:|

|—The Way of the Mana Architect (Primary, Established)|

|—The Way of Hunger (Secondary, Emerging through Ozymandias)|

|POTENTIAL OUTCOMES:|

|Success: Enact two separate Civilizations operating under unified consciousness|

|—Unprecedented in recorded existence|

|—Would allow cultivation of complementary advancement paths|

|—Multiplicative power growth through dual framework development|

|Failure: If conviction to either Way proves insufficient, both Civilizations and Ways could collapse upon themselves|

|—Catastrophic existential dissolution|

|—Loss of all accumulated advancement|

|—Potential complete unmaking|

|CURRENT STATUS: Mutation in progress - outcome undetermined|

|Your existence is undergoing unknown changes.|

...!

BOOM!

Noah’s form blazed with mixed radiance...blue-gold Primus Mana warring with obsidian-crimson Hunger as his existence tried to accommodate both frameworks simultaneously!

And around him, his people watched with mounting concern as their Architect attempted something that they did not fully understand!

Hi’s body pulsed with rhythmic intensity that made the surrounding atmosphere tremble.

His existence was in a unique state of mind at this moment.

A liminal space where fundamental decisions about what he was were being made!

Because at this moment, an immense conflict was unfolding within the deepest structures of his being.

THE Living Paradox had The Way of Paradox. The Civilization of Paradox.

THE Living Emotive had The Way of Emotive. The Civilization of Emotive.

All beings who carried THE distinction possessed singular Ways of Existence. Unified frameworks through which they interacted with reality, upon which they built their Civilizations.

THE Dead Order remained holding The Way of Order even in death...she hadn’t switched to The Way of Death, couldn’t switch, because THE distinction bound you to the path you’d perfected to reach that scale.

One existence. One Way. One Civilization.

That was the established norm across all scales of power, the fundamental rule that even beings with THE respected!

But at this moment, Noah was doing the impossible.

And his existence could fracture from it!

Could dissolve into incompatible fragments that unmade everything he’d built.

But... could it really?

My Mana is INDEFATIGABLE!

HUUM!

The declaration blazed through Noah’s internal existence with tyrannical certainty.

My Way of Mana is INFALLIBLE...it cannot be corrupted, cannot be diminished, cannot be destroyed by external or internal forces!

I possess INFINITE reserves. INFINITE capacity. INFINITE potential for expansion!

Hunger...will simply be held alongside it because my Mana is BOUNDLESS! My Primus Mana is BOUNDLESS!

HUUM!

It can afford to contain- no, it WILL contain...a Second Way of Existence!

BOOM!