Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 3807: Fire III

Silence lingered.

Nine archways pulsed across the wall, crimson and gold, each a gateway into the next unknowable fold of the Labyrinth.

All eyes stared.

Master Hannibal stepped forward, his golden armor catching the layered glow of Authority as his footsteps echoed through the ruins of the shattered arena.

But instead of entering any of the arches, he turned.

Slowly.

His gaze didn’t land on the drinking Master Shen.

Not on the Primarchs.

But directly on Noah.

And then... Sigrid.

His stare wasn’t curious.

It was cold.

Heavy.

Disdainful.

To Hannibal, power had shape. Power had gravity. Power was earned through blood, through battle, through sacrifice.

So when he looked at Noah- at the calm smile, the easy posture, the flicker of amusement dancing in those crimson-gold eyes, something inside him ignited.

He hated those who wore confidence like armor but hadn’t bled enough to earn it.

False entitlement.

Empty bravado.

Was this man an Originus Venerant? No.

So why the hell did he look at him like they were equals?

Why did he act like he was part of the weavings of existence?

He was the Unbound Living Paradox.

He was the one who opened the path to this cursed, glorious Labyrinth from a key stemming from the anomaly.

But that was it.

At the end of the day, this being was still merely a piece on an unfathomably vast board.

Some pieces had influence and effected change, others were broken rather quickly.

He just didn’t know what kind of piece Noah was yet, but if he did know that if he were alone with this being, he would have long since dissected and devoured his existence.

After all, why wait for more Living Collapses to appear to kill him when he could have his unique weavings for himself?

”...”

So he made his choice as his voice echoed out.

”You two...will come with me. The rest of you can enter the other paths and see what lies beyond.”

...!

The words froze the chamber.

Sigrid tilted her head, brows drawn as she frowned.

Noah?

He blinked once.

Then smiled wider.

And he replied...

”No thanks.”

He shook his head slowly, already stepping forward.

”I’m vibing alot more with Master Shen over here. If an Originus Venerant from the Veiled Sunfolds is going to keep an eye on me and little Sigrid, we’ll go with him.”

He glanced over his shoulder, eyes half-lidded and bright.

”That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

...!

A breath of silence.

Then,

”Hahahah!”

Master Shen let out a raucous laugh, his gourd tilting as he took a long swig and slapped his chest with pleasure.

”I’ll keep an eye on them, Hannibal. You explore without worry. The rest of you... don’t die!”

Tension cracked through the air as Noah moved speedily and stepped into a distant golden archway without waiting for permission. Shen followed, tucking away his gourd as he rushed after.

Sigrid stayed close, her steps steady beside Noah’s as they still remained tied together.

Behind them?

Hannibal remained still as his eyes flashed coldly, as of he was changing his plans.

Expression unreadable.

But his golden eyes... narrowed.

The light from the archway soon dulled, dimming until it faded completely into smooth, seamless wall.

...!

Master Hannibal frowned and strode forward, lifting one of his golden hammers and slamming it toward where the arch had been.

BOOM!

And... the crimson-gold floor barely shivered.

Not even a scratch.

The Labyrinth refused to yield. Its structure too complex to do anything against as not even his own awareness as an Originus Venerant could pass through these walls.

He turned with a clouded expression, gaze sweeping the remaining arches.

Eight still pulsed.

He moved towards one as he voiced out coldly.

”Enter in groups. Protect each other. There seem to be boundless possibilities here.”

...!

Without another word, he stepped into the nearest archway and vanished.

The Primarchs of the Sunfolds exchanged glances, grouped together, and surged forward with excitement.

—

HUUMMMM...!

The golden archway sealed with a soft chime behind them, its light folding inward until all that remained was smooth crimson-gold stone.

And then, everything changed!

Noah stepped forward. Sigrid moved beside him. Master Shen followed a pace behind.

Their feet touched down, and the ground thrummed.

A vast world unfolded before them.

Contained, yet immeasurable.

A sealed garden seemingly stretching across a space the size of a world, its boundaries hidden by horizons of folded geometry and glowing light.

A soft breeze stirred the air.

But it didn’t carry wind.

It carried power.

Power radiating from the monstrous golden tree at the centernof this place.

Its bark gleamed like polished ore, laced with deep crimson veins of Living Origin Authority.

It stretched skyward, a thousand miles high, its crown vanishing into a dome of refracted gold.

Each branch was wide enough to cradle mountains.

And on nine of those branches spaced perfectly around the colossus of tree...

Nine massive magisterial treasure chests bloomed like celestial fruit.

Each the size of a city, pulsing with layered runes and humming with Living Origin Authority that sang a silent, sacred melody.

But the tree was not alone.

Beneath its radiant shadow...

Dozens upon dozens of Golems moved in deliberate, silent patrols all around.

They were different from the ones before.

Taller. Sleeker. Their forms shaped like ancient warriors cloaked in emerald-tinted armor. Their masks bore slanted runes, and their limbs pulsed with fluid, rhythmic light.

Above each head floated...

[Green Tier Living Origin Golem]

Noah’s gaze swept them quickly.

Green Tier.

An entire level above the base white-tier Golems that had slaughtered Primarchs.

Sigrid moved a little closer, instinct guiding her response to the shift in atmosphere.

Master Shen was stern and unfathomably serious at this scene as something alarmed him.

It wasn’t the tree or the Golems, or even the chests blooming like puzzles across the sky-bound branches.

No.

It was the sky.

High above, circling with grotesque stillness, loomed a crimson-gold mass with wings and writhing tendrils.

It pulsed. It breathed. It bled corruption- its bloated form swollen like an overfed heart, marked with jagged glyphs and stitched folds of light that broke every rule of logic.

Existential distortions swirled around it.

And among those ripples...

Eighteen treasure chests, each twice the size of the ones on the golden tree, floated in solemn orbit around the beast like offerings to a tyrant.

And then, the sky ignited.

Blazing orange runes carved themselves into space above the entity, each one hissing with malice, warning, and death.

[Orange Tier Imitation Mutated Inevitability]

...!

Noah’s pupils contracted the moment he saw such a name!

Mutated Inevitability.

The words echoed through his chest like a plunge into ice.

Something from Sigrid’s story!

The ones that chased the Creature through broken threads and fractured time...at an age extremely distant from here!

And now?

One floated above him..

Even as an Imitation, the implications were terrifying.

Noah turned to Sigrid slowly, his eyes sharp and analytical, his voice quiet and meant only for her.

”Sigrid... tell me another memory is being triggered.”

...!

He needed to know more.

About the Mutated Inevitabilities!

As they stood beneath the massive tree, the winds of this sealed world brushing past the cracked earth, Sigrid’s gaze lifted skyward.

Her pupils trembled in memory.

And softly, only for Noah to hear, she whispered again.

The tale returned.

”After the Creature gained the Living Concept, it no longer ran.

The taste of action sat on its tongue like wildfire.

It stood before a tide of Mutated Inevitabilities, the same tide that had once chased it across the folds of beginnings and ruins alike.

And for the first time... it did not flee.

For the first time... it fought.

They came, millions of them, gibbering maws of collapsed purpose, their limbs born from logic’s nightmares.

And the Creature, holding both Origin and Concept within, called upon Mana.

Its body ached, its thoughts simplified- but its will?

Sharp.

It pulled the fire from within the breath of flame.

It pulled the earth from within the bones of motion.

It pulled the wind from the sound of memories.

It pulled water from the echoes of silence.

And through Mana, it acted.

The skies were lit with firestorms.

The earth danced into spires and collapsed into graves.

The winds became razors and the rain became blades.

Each action bore a price.

And the Creature paid it with blood.

But it did not stop.

It fought and fought and fought, until the folds screamed and the Inevitabilities fell.

Their bodies melted into forgotten concepts.

Their roars turned to dying sparks.

Until at last...

All were gone.

All... but one.

A small thing.

Barely the size of a ripple.

Its body quivered with threads of broken contradiction, its eyes wet and gleaming like memory glass.

Pitiful.

It looked at the Creature.

And whispered:

”I didn’t want to chase you. I just followed because they all did. I... don’t even like devouring.”

The Creature raised its hand, its fingers ablaze with a fire that could erase intent itself.

But it stopped.

Its gaze fell upon the trembling thing.

Its hands lowered.

It chose mercy as it pitied the small creature.

And so, the Last Mutated Inevitability lived.

They sat in silence on the ruins of a battlefield made of collapsed meanings.

And the Creature?

It trembled.

Not from fear.

From exhaustion.

Its form ached.

Its essence throbbed.

It felt sore in places it did not yet understand.

And so it asked the Living Concept.

”Why? Why do I feel depleted? I shaped flame. I moved with intent. Why does my action... hurt me?”

And the Living Concept replied, soft and slow:

”Because the Paradox was right. Everything comes at a cost.”

”You used Mana. Mana is the engine of action. And what fuels this engine... is your very blood.”

”When your blood is gone, the engine halts. When your blood returns, you may act again.”

The Creature was quiet for a long time.

It did not like this answer.

”If Mana is life,” it said, ”then why should it not be infinite? Life is infinite, is it not?”

The Living Concept shook its head slowly, pulsing faintly.

”Very little in existence is infinite.”

”And even that which seems to be and is... carries its own debt.”

”If Mana flowed endlessly through you... the cost would not vanish. It would only grow. Until the thing you paid... was not just your blood.”

The Creature did not speak.

Not for a while.

Eventually... it nodded.

And so, it wandered again.

Its legs heavy, but steady.

Its breath slow, but true.

And behind it?

The last Mutated Inevitability followed.

Small.

Scarred.

But no longer hungering.

It whispered once to the Creature, as they walked.

”I lost my family. I lost the only path I knew. You seem to have path and purpose. Would it be alright... if I walked with you?”

The Creature turned its gaze.

And for the first time, it felt not the fire of purpose, nor the pulse of Mana, but a third feeling.

Understanding.

This creature, just like it, was also without a beginning or purpose like him.

And so, it felt understanding. Understanding of how this Mutated Inevitability was just following.

Because in all of Existence...

How many beings were chasing something just because everyone else was?

How many were devourers... because they had never been shown how to create?

The Creature reached out.

And gently nodded.

”Yes. You may walk beside me.”

A choice was made from understanding and empathy.

...!

From the shadows of this quiet scene, a voice howled with laughter.

A laugh made of oil and broken mirrors.

The Living Paradox appeared once more, clapping its hands with joyous disdain.

”You... idiot,” it chuckled. ”You really let one of them live?”

”Do you not understand? It is not just weak, it is a seed. A rot. You hold purpose. You hold action. But it? It was born of collapse as that will never change. Its beginning is vile. Its end is inevitable.”

”And you... just invited it into your path? It will eat away at everything you know and leave you broken. Any understanding your throw at it, it will devour it. Any mana contained within you, will flow out. Your undoing...will be just like its name. Inevitable.”

The Creature turned, but said nothing.

It looked to the trembling Inevitability that looked lost and innocent.

It looked to its own hands.

To the flame it had shaped.

To the water it had moved.

To the earth it had raised.

And then, it turned away from the Paradox.

It kept walking.

Because it had made a choice.

Because even if Existence demanded a cost...

Not all debts were worth fearing.

And not all collapses needed to devour.

Some could be rewritten.

Even if no one believed it but the Creature itself.

But the Creature was young, and had yet to shed off its shell of naivety.

It would come to learn.”

...!

Sigrid finished the story as the two of them stared somberly as the distant Imitation Mutated Inevitability in the skies.

Beside them, Master Shen who had not heard the story had a serious look as he gazed alll around, ready for war!