Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4096: The Return of the First Hunger! II

Her body erupted with an aura that shouldn’t have been possible from something so small the moment she finished her proclamation!

Power that transcended physical manifestation swirled around her, making existence reconsider its assumptions.

And then, impossibly, understandably, terrifyingly…Existence Trembled.

Not shook, not quaked, but Trembled with the particular recognition of something that shouldn’t be possible asserting itself anyway.

Noah watched with utter incredulity!

Her mere proclamation, her simple declaration of existence, had made reality itself uncertain!

If she could cause Existential Trembling just by announcing her presence, what would she be capable of when she recovered more of herself?!

Prompts erupted before his vision with urgency that suggested even the system generating them was shocked.

|From your Seed of Inevitability, the Resurgence of Khor, The First Hunger, has bloomed|

|Probability of occurrence: 1 in Infinity|

|This harvest transcends classification|

|Your efforts and Everythings provided have created recursive inevitability|

|Harvest perpetuity: Undefined/Expanding|

|Due to impossible harvest achievement, the Seed of Perpetual Harvest maturity increasing|

|2% Authority will be achieved at: [SOON]|

|Timeline uncertain due to harvest magnitude|

|Due to the Effort and Harvest, an Unprecedented Reward Granted- Symbolic Heart of Hunger|

|Effect: Absolute control over Khor maintained|

|Even unshakable bonds can hunger for change, but with this Symbolic Heart of Hunger, she cannot act against you|

|Note: This is either brilliant or catastrophic|

…!

Noah’s expression cycled through somberness and astonishment as he read these prompts.

Then, visible only to his perception, something began descending toward him from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously.

The Symbolic Heart of Hunger materialized slowly, as if existence itself was uncertain about allowing it to exist.

It appeared as a crystal that seemed to be made from crystallized appetite itself…dark red that shifted to black at certain angles, pulsing with a rhythm that suggested it was feeding on something invisible.

Within its depths, tiny motes of light were constantly being drawn inward, consumed by a hunger that would never be satisfied.

It was beautiful in the way dangerous things often were…compelling despite the obvious threat, attractive because of the danger rather than in spite of it!

Noah reached out and grasped it, feeling it sink into his being rather than his hand. His body erupted with crimson-obsidian light as the Heart integrated with his existence, adding another impossible element to his already impossible nature.

The glow around him faded.

The glow around Khor diminished.

She immediately turned to him with her head tilted at an angle that suggested she knew something had changed.

“Outsider,” she said with a mysterious smile, “why do I feel like you’re putting unfathomably tight chains on me? Do you not trust me after all this time?”

Noah met her gaze with practiced innocence. “Chains? I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re the product from a Seed I planted that was given to me by you in a distant past. Of course…I trust you.”

The words emerged smoothly even as he felt the Symbolic Heart of Hunger pulsing silently within him, ensuring that trust or not, control remained his.

Khor laughed…a sound that made nearby reality nervous.

“Okay, Outsider. Let’s leave the questions of how I’m here aside for now. My memories are too fragmented to piece together properly anyway.” Her expression grew more serious, though amusement still danced in those abyssal eyes. “But you… you continue to surprise me, Outsider. Even diminished as I am, I can see you’ve grown…slightly.”

Her gaze traveled across the Shore, evaluating everything with the expertise of someone who had consumed civilizations. Then her eyes locked onto a specific figure among the cautious observers.

Sigrid stood partially behind Moiraine, Order radiating from her in waves that tried to organize the chaos Khor’s presence had introduced.

“Over here…” Khor’s voice carried genuine surprise. “Do you truly have a Seed? A Seed of something that should be lost to time and failure?”

She turned back to Noah with an expression that mixed respect with calculation.

“That’s marvelous, Outsider.”

She smiled with teeth that remained sharp despite her diminutive size.

“Tell me, Outsider…what other impossibilities have you been cultivating while I was gone?”

What other impossibilities had he been cultivating?

Noah’s eyes pulsed with light at this question as Khor’s interest was drawn more towards Sigrid.

She stared toward Sigrid with the particular intensity of someone cataloging a curiosity, Noah watched the interaction carefully.

Sigrid stood rigid, Order radiating from her in defensive waves as she encountered something her nature couldn’t properly classify.

“What do you see when you look at her?” Noah asked, nodding toward Sigrid.

Khor smiled with an expression that suggested she found the question amusing. “Is that not a bundle of potential for something that has the impossible dream of attaining a distinction containing THE?”

…!

A bundle of potential. That was all THE Living Order’s resurgence amounted to in Khor’s ancient eyes.

Noah’s gaze sharpened. This was an opportunity to extract information from someone who had actually lived through the events that had become mythology.

He was always short of knowledge and information as Khor could provide it!

“What you consider a bundle of potential,” he said carefully, “is the resurgence of something that was killed during the first battle between THE Living Paradox and others. She is the resurgence of THE Living Order.”

Khor began walking toward Sigrid, who immediately took a cautious step backward.

The First Hunger stopped, her tiny face showing amusement at the reaction.

“Who said THE Living Order was destroyed at that time?” Her voice carried the particular tone of someone correcting a child’s fairy tale. “Just like before, Outsider, you continue to tell me stories that seem to be mixtures of truth and falsehood. Just who is spreading all these things?”

She paused, her expression growing more thoughtful.

“Stories have power, whether truth or lie. A false tale told often enough becomes more real than forgotten truth. A narrative repeated across eons shapes reality more than facts nobody remembers. Someone, somewhere, has been very busy crafting the history you all believe.”

…!

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