Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4007: True Enemies!

Schrodinger had asked if they wanted to hear a story from the Earliest Folds!

But…

The collective eye-roll that followed was almost synchronized, as if they’d performed this routine countless times before. The Living Concept actually sighed, the sound like ideas deflating.

“Not another one of your possibly-true, possibly-invented parables,” someone muttered.

Schrodinger laughed, the sound genuine and warm despite the weight of their discussion. “Listen, this one is particularly relevant. I promise.”

He settled back slightly, his posture shifting into the comfortable stance of a storyteller who knew his audience couldn’t resist despite their protests.

“At a time when chaos was most rampant in the Earliest Folds…when Early Creatures hunted for sport and Inevitabilities bloomed like flowers after rain…there was an Early Creature who happened to overhear a conversation. This creature, whose name has been deliberately forgotten, witnessed THE Living Law visiting the locked Paradox in its prison of contradictions.”

HUUM!

The mountain seemed to grow quieter, even the flow of Conceptual Authority beneath their feet stilling to better hear the tale.

“THE Living Law stood before the chains of impossibility that bound THE Living Paradox, and she asked a question that had been burning in her consciousness since the first Inevitability emerged. ‘Are Inevitabilities the true enemies of all Existences?ʼ”

Schrodinger’s voice took on different tones as he embodied each character, his talent for storytelling evident despite the tattered appearance he maintained.

“At such a question, THE Living Paradox laughed…an eerie sound that existed simultaneously as mirth and despair. ‘What,’ it said, ‘just because even before THE Creature, the Inevitabilities were there? Just because they predate understanding, and the very conception of what should and shouldn’t be?ʼ”

The storyteller paused, letting tension build before continuing in a voice that captured the bound Paradox’s terrifying certainty.

“‘No,’ THE Living Paradox said, its voice carrying that particular quality of statements that were simultaneously true and false. ‘Even Inevitabilities are not the true enemies of all Existences. No, the biggest enemy of Existences… is existence itself.ʼ”

HUUM!

Several of the listeners shifted uncomfortably at this pronouncement, recognizing philosophical depths that threatened to drown rational thought.

“‘Existence is feeble,’ the Paradox continued. ‘Undecided. Uncertain. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be or not to be, whether it should expand or contract, whether consciousness is blessing or curse. That was why I sought to put it under my control…to give it the direction it so desperately lacks.ʼ”

Schrodinger’s voice grew lighter, more mocking as he continued channeling the bound Paradox.

“‘The true enemy of Existences?’ THE Living Paradox laughed again. ‘Who knows? I could be the true enemy…after all, I’m talking to you right now, aren’t I? Or perhaps it’s you, THE Living Law, with your rigid insistence that everything follow rules. Maybe it’s any of the others, or all of them together. Perhaps it’s THE Creature itself.’ A pause, then with something almost like fondness: ‘How is that kid doing nowadays anyway? Without my guidance, he may be getting lost. You all haven’t done anything crazy without me, right?ʼ”

…!

The silence that followed in the story was mirrored by the silence in the mountain’s depths. Schrodinger continued, his voice now embodying THE Living Law’s heavy response.

“‘Out of all of us, you could have been so great.ʼ”

The statement hung between the characters in the story like an accusation and a lament combined.

“This caused an immense silence to descend before THE Living Paradox laughed once more and began what would become its most famous monologue…though famous only to the Early Creature who overhead it.”

Schrodinger’s voice took on a philosophical depth that made even these ancient beings lean in slightly.

“‘What is greatness?’ the Paradox asked. ‘Is it power accumulated until reality bends to acknowledge your supremacy? Is it understanding gathered until the mysteries of existence lay bare before your perception? Or is it something more… paradoxical?ʼ”

The beggar-Duke’s delivery grew more animated, his hands moving to emphasize points that existed in multiple interpretations simultaneously.

“‘Consider: I am locked here, chains of impossibility binding me in ways that should prevent even thought. Yet I think. I speak. I influence. My very imprisonment has become legendary, a cautionary tale that shapes how billions of consciousnesses will understand reality. In my cage, I… am more present in existence than I ever was while free.ʼ”

He paused, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper that somehow carried perfectly through the space.

“‘Me, locked up right now, could be a grandiose form of greatness. The greatest teacher is the one whose lessons are learned without their presence. The greatest warrior is the one whose battles are won without fighting. The greatest paradox is the one that resolves itself by remaining unresolved. Maybe I’m locked here… maybe I’m actually free. Who knows?ʼ”

…!

Schrodinger ended the story there, his eyes moving across the assembled beings with an expression that suggested layers of meaning they might never fully unpack. The silence that followed was dense with contemplation, each entity processing the parable through their own vast understanding.

Did this actually happen? Was it true? Was it false? None could say!

“When it comes to true enemies,” Schrodinger said, returning to his normal voice with its mixture of wisdom and whimsy, “there are few, and yet many. We simply have to do what we can to ensure that Existence keeps chugging along, keeps asking whether it should be rather than surrendering to shouldn’t.”

He smiled with something approaching genuine warmth as he looked at each of them.

“My friends…and yes, I do consider you friends despite your constant skepticism of my stories, we have much to do. Oh, and in a day’s time, at the Kleos Concordat, we might see each other under the gazes of others for the first time in a while. Don’t treat me too coldly, okay? You all are, after all, the closest I have to…friends in existence.”

Duke Valen snorted at this sentiment, though something in his expression suggested the dismissal was more habit than genuine feeling. “So, what shall be done about THE Living Order? Moiraine? And the Enigma entangled with both of them who possibly has links to an inheritance of an Early Creature?”

Schrodinger’s smile deepened as he moved another piece on the board…Victory becoming Defeat becoming Something Else Entirely.

“What to do indeed,” he mused, the words carrying the weight of plans within plans, possibilities within paradoxes. “What to do indeed…”

…!

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