Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 3900: Foundation V

The hum of the Early Sacred Living Infinity Tower of Osmont never ceased. Its weavings echoed within Noah’s core of Existence, an unrelenting pulse that matched his breathing, that devoured the complexity of the sacred Eel flesh he continued to consume. With every beat, it rose higher, inscribing the Glyph of Infinity across its surface!

Prompts passed across his vision as this continued.

|The Early Sacred Living Infinity Tower of Osmont is 2% closer towards the Second Stage, The Sacred Totem.|

|The Ventryalis – The Primal Root Atrium of Echoes, the first part of the Heart of an Early Creature, is less than 1% completed.|

A part of him scoffed inwardly.

One tower. Just one, out of more than one hundred and fifty possible Towers of Osmont, stood formed at the First Stage.𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

And of the ancient, archaic heart his Lineage demanded, not even one part had finished taking shape!

But still, something was happening.

He could feel his Complexity and Purity erupting like roaring floods, tens of thousands of Source Units rising every second within him.

It wasn’t natural. It wasn’t normal.

Others had needed to commit atrocities to reach this stage.

He thought of Master Hannibal, who had consumed entire Fold Dwellers and gnawed on them with guiltless precision just to push his quotient forward. That was the brutal truth for most Fold Dwellers. Progress came at cost- bloody, bitter, and loud.

And then... there were the Foldless Ones.

Living Existences like Moiraine.

She stood not far from him, her golden hair shimmering with dusted light as she traced runes in the sand, her posture fluid and elegant as always.

He turned his head slightly toward her, his voice smooth but heavy with presence.

”If you compare yourself to the most powerful Originus Venerant Fold Dweller... how would the difference feel?”

She blinked.

Moiraine’s gaze lowered to the sand beneath her bare feet. For a moment, the air between them shimmered with restrained power.

”Sir Osmont,” she said softly, ”the difference would be like this sand. I could fold it or crush it between my toes without a thought.”

Her words landed with a silence that carried weight, and yet Noah’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile.

That was what he expected.𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

There were tiers even among Living Existences.

Normal Living Existences, Prime Living Existences, and Honored Ones! The path stretched further still.

He gave a faint nod. ”Okay. What about other Living Existences. Are their hierarchies similar?”

Moiraine shifted slightly, one hand brushing the air as sand at her feet rose up- nine great runes spinning in place, each one burning with faint impressions of power. Her fingers moved like a conductor commanding a symphony of Runes.

”For the most part, yes. Living Origins, Living Laws, Living Concepts, Living Elementals- they follow a structure similar to ours. Each has 81 Dukes that sit atop their governance councils- what we call the Kleos Living Council.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly as one of the sand runes sparked crimson and splintered into jagged branches.

”Though... the Living Spirits and the Living Temporals insist on their own structure. They always had to be different. Difficult. Over the eons, they abandoned the Kleos Hierarchy.”

She paused before speaking again, her voice clipped with distaste, yet controlled.

”The Living Spirits follow the Trine Accord. Three Supreme Spirits control their entire dominions. Below them, 64 Kleos Spirits act as emissaries across the other Living Councils.”

She shifted, another rune forming like a wheel spinning backwards through time.

”The Living Temporals are more erratic. They follow a Living Continuum Spiral- one Supreme Sentinel governs for a single Epoch, which they define how long it is themselves, before stepping down or... disappearing. Beneath them are nine Living Temporal Pillars who hold up a supposed Living Temporal Weave of Existence that holds the fabric of all Transcendent Folds together. Its utter bullshit as far as I know. They’re powerful, but more fragmented. Petty. Always caught in loops of their own making.”

Noah listened, arms crossed, chest still bare as the breeze combed through his vibrant hair.

His shadow stretched long and clear beside Moiraine’s, the weight of his presence forcing the sand beneath his feet into faint depressions.

”Tell me more,” he said.

Moiraine turned, raising both hands now as more sand danced to her command.

”The Nine Living Existences,” she said, her voice smooth as honey, ”are allied. Mostly. Their forces cross into each other’s Transcendent Battlefront Folds. You’ll find Living Laws inside the Origin Folds. You’ll find Living Concepts working alongside Living Spirits.”

Her tone didn’t change. She was delivering information. Calm. Precise.

”In the Battlefront Folds near the Loom,” she continued, ”Living Existences rarely step in first. Too much risk. The Loom is cloaked by swirling Paradox. That Paradox distorts everything, and there are many Inevitabilities that cannot be discovered even by the senses of Living Existences. So... they use Fold Dwellers to trigger response.”

The sand she was using rose higher, forming the figures of Fold Dwellers- small, detailed likenesses of men, women, titans, fairies, dragons, slimes.

Around them, titanic forms shimmered into existence- Living Existences!

Moiraine’s fingers twitched, and suddenly, black spirals of sand exploded around the Fold Dwellers...they were silhouettes of Inevitabilities!

”When an Inevitability senses a Fold Dweller moving across a doorway to the Loom... it strikes. And when it does, the Living Existences sense the disturbance in that period of time. Then they arrive. Then they fight. Because Inevitabilities are hard to be sensed even by Living Existences, this manner reduces casualties while still making progress.”

Noah’s eyes didn’t blink. ”So Fold Dwellers are bait.”

Moiraine didn’t flinch. ”Yes, Sir Osmont. They are.”

She paused again, gaze steady. ”In return, Sponsors offer them treasures, titles, or elevation to the ranks of Living Existences if they accrue enough merit. Some survive. Most don’t.”

The sand changed. The little Fold Dwellers fought, some overwhelmed by the black tide of Inevitabilities, others holding on until towering reinforcements arrived.

”But if the sponsor isn’t watching,” she said softly, ”if they’re too far, too late... the Fold Dwellers die. Quickly. Sometimes even slowly. Those who are weak are erased before help comes.”

Noah exhaled slowly in understanding.

This was the cost of their path.

The price to be paid for complexity!

If he were normal like everyone else...he would have had to do something similar!

Moiraine looked toward him again, her tone darker now.

”When a Living Paradox nears the Loom... Inevitabilities form on their own.”

Her hands dropped to her sides.

”The Paradox surrounding the Loom is dense. Our very presence provokes its weavings. That is why the other Existences despise us. Because of us, Inevitabilities multiply each day and only continue to increase as over time, it has gotten harder and harder to make any progress towards the Loom.”

Her voice didn’t rise, but the emotion was buried there. Just beneath the polish. She looked utterly magnetic as she spoke about this, her golden white hair flickering in the wind.

”And so we are blamed. Every death, every Fold Dweller and Living Existence consumed, every door left burning, is another weight and blame we carry!”

HUUM!

The sea wind blew gently, golden grains falling slowly around her feet.