Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4017: A Stick! V

The twisted reality of the Doorway to the Loom seemed to hold its breath as Noah floated above the decimated Inevitabilities.

Their forms, once terrifying manifestations of paradox given purpose, now lay scattered like broken toys after a child’s tantrum.

With a casual wave of his hand, he sent them away to the Early Veiled Shore, their essence compressed into streaks of light that disappeared through dimensional boundaries.

Prompts materialized before his vision with the clinical precision of existence analyzing its resources.

|Five Inevitabilities Successfully Captured and Evaluated. Classification: The Writhing Paradox of Unending Reach. Total Combined Value: 1390 Eminent Early Living Marine Lifeforms.|

|Bonus Modifier: Educational damage inflicted has increased absorption efficiency by 23%.|

..!

As he absorbed this information, the sound of massive footsteps approached from behind.

Titano’s enormous frame cast shadows that somehow existed in multiple dimensions simultaneously, his eyes shining with the kind of hero worship typically reserved for legendary figures.

”Brother!” the giant exclaimed, his voice carrying genuine awe that transcended his simple vocabulary. ”Titano looks up to you! You did not use any Living Existential Authority to beat up that Inevitability!”

His gaze fixed on the simple stick in Noah’s hand with newfound respect. ”Is your weapon... is that stick so powerful?”

Noah nodded with the seriousness of someone imparting crucial wisdom. ”Very powerful, Brother. This stick carries weight that most cannot comprehend.”

Titano’s eyes grew even wider, his massive hands flexing with barely contained curiosity. ”Can Titano hold the stick? Titano is very strong!”

Noah’s expression suggested he was about to refuse, but the eager hope in the giant’s eyes made him reconsider. ”You likely won’t be able to carry it, Brother.”

The warning, predictably, had the opposite effect.

Titano straightened to his full, imposing height, his muscles...which could shatter Royal Living Existences through pure physical force, flexing with determination. This was a challenge, and Titano had never met a physical challenge he couldn’t overcome!

Noah sighed with the resignation of someone who knew this lesson needed to be learned through experience rather than words. ”Okay,” he said, holding the stick lightly in his hand as if it weighed nothing. He placed it gently onto Titano’s outstretched palm.

The effect was instantaneous and devastating.

BOOM!

Titano’s massive figure, which had weathered attacks from beings of incomprehensible power, began to tremble.

His arm, thick as an ancient tree trunk, started to buckle. The simple stick seemed to carry the weight of concepts themselves...truth, education, understanding, all compressed into three feet of white wood with traces of gold!

The giant’s knees began to bend, his entire frame being forced downward as if existence itself was pressing upon him. The crimson obsidian floor beneath them began to crack under the transferred pressure, reality struggling to accommodate weight that transcended physical measurement.

Before Titano’s body could be driven completely into the floor, Noah made a beckoning gesture. The Goad responded immediately, floating from the giant’s trembling palm back to its rightful owner’s hand with the casual ease of returning home.

Titano remained on one knee, his massive chest heaving with exertion, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and respect. Noah looked at him with understanding rather than mockery.

”Some weights,” Noah said, ”only a select few can bear. Not because of strength or will, but because of the nature of what they are. The Goad doesn’t test your muscles, Brother...it tests your capacity to carry the responsibility of forcing truth upon others. Oh, and you need a certain Tattoo for it!”

Titano nodded slowly, processing this lesson with the same care he applied to all of Noah’s teachings. Noah reached out to pat the giant’s shoulder with genuine affection.

”Don’t beat yourself up over it. Your strength lies elsewhere, and that’s perfectly fine.”

The lovable titan’s expression brightened immediately at the reassurance, his simple nature not allowing disappointment to linger.

Noah felt the weight of the stick in his hands...not physical weight, instead, the weight of purpose, of potential consequences.

His gaze shifted, moving past Titano to settle on the two figures who had been observing from what they considered a safe distance.

Both Thessaly and Altheon instantly shuddered.

When Noah’s focus moved past Thessaly to lock onto Altheon specifically, the fairy-like being released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Relief flooded through her tiny form so intensely that she actually dropped several inches in altitude before catching herself.

Meanwhile, Altheon felt his entire existence begin to tremble. The sensation started in his core and radiated outward, every particle of his being recognizing that it was under scrutiny from something that could unmake it with casual indifference.

”What?” he managed to say, the word emerging as barely more than a hesitant whisper.

Noah’s eyes sharpened to points that could have cut through dimensional barriers. His voice, when it came, carried the weight of judgment already rendered!

”You did something a while ago that you may not even remember or consider consequential.” Each word was delivered with precision that made them impossible to misunderstand. ”I was going to kill you for it, but I will discipline you instead, so... come here.”

HUUM!

The silence that followed was deafening.

Altheon’s luminous form actually paled, his ancient features cycling through confusion and growing dread. ”What? I didn’t...”

His protests died as his gaze fell upon the simple stick that had just thoroughly thrashed five Inevitabilities. The fear that crawled up his spine was primal, instinctive, the kind that bypassed rational thought entirely!

Desperately, he looked toward Sigrid, seeking intervention from someone who might carry influence.

She met his gaze with calm indifference, her expression making it clear that this was not her concern. His attention shifted to Thessaly, but she had already turned away, her tiny form trembling with shame and fear, unwilling to involve herself in whatever justice was about to be dispensed.

She almost wanted to reassure Altheon that she could potentially bring him back incase he was killed...but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything!

Noah’s frown deepened at the delay. ”Would you rather I kill you than discipline you?”

The question hung in the air. After a moment that stretched toward eternity, Altheon gritted his teeth and floated forward. Each movement felt like swimming through crystallized dread, his enhanced perception calculating thousands of escape possibilities while his wisdom told him none would succeed.

When he stopped before Noah, the Prime Living Origin looked like someone approaching their own funeral.

Noah raised the Goad with ceremonial precision. ”This is for your education,” he said, though he offered no explanation of what crime warranted this punishment.

The first strike came with deceptive gentleness.

PAH!

The sound rang through the paradoxical space, and Altheon’s scream followed immediately.

It wasn’t the physical impact...his body could withstand forces that would shatter Wheels of Existence. It was the Truth that accompanied it!

|You are a coward who attacks those weaker when you think there will be no consequences|

The second strike followed before he could process the first.

PAH!

|Your accumulated wisdom means nothing when you act on base impulses|

Altheon’s cries grew more desperate. This wasn’t pain that his Living Origin Authority could heal. This was fundamental truth being carved into his existence, each revelation more devastating than physical destruction could ever be!

PAH!

|You justify your actions with authority, but authority without integrity is merely sophisticated barbarism.|

The Prime Living Origin, who had existed for eons, who had witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations, was reduced to sobbing!