Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4458: Civilization Specialization I

At such unexpectedly casual words, Noah came forward in his armored form and squatted down while looking at Ambessa closely.

His reply emerged with an edge of skepticism.

”Curious? Why maintain curiosity for lands your people will systematically raze and devour all lifeforms from? Lands that actually used to be your home before you abandoned them for THE Loom’s structured safety?”

Ambessa nodded with an expression of genuine nostalgia.

”Mmm, I do miss the First Folds. Everything felt...new. Grand in ways that structured existence cannot replicate. THE Loom is magnificent in its organization...everything there is designed with meticulous purpose and immensity.”

Her eyes grew distant

”But the First Folds as I remember them felt... grand precisely because there could be many things happening which seemingly had no purpose. There was factor of unknown. Factor of lack of control. Chaos that could produce unexpected beauty or unexpected horror. Perhaps I’m simply nostalgic for something I haven’t experienced in eons. But regardless...”

Her expression sharpened.

”Be ready. We were sent out here as experimental deployment. With your response, with you collapsing eight Avatars including myself, it is no longer experiment, but declaration of war.”

”You have wounded the pride of powerful beings within THE Loom who are unaccustomed to facing resistance. Oh, and you messed up them trying to suck up to THE Esteemed Paradox. They will not wait patiently for the Fallout. They will mobilize an unfathomable more to crush what dared to spit on their pride.”

Noah nodded with an expression acknowledging the warning, while internally celebrating as he needed food for his Infinite Hunger!

”Hmm. You seem somewhat interesting compared to expectations. I anticipated someone as powerful as you to be shouting and raging and raving about how Civilizational Authority of Paradox will rain devastation upon us. How we will all burn under the grandeur of established Primordial Civilization. But...even as I am about to collapse you... you maintain a mindset to converse freely and calmly.”

His crimson visor fixed upon her with calculating intensity.

”Want to do something unpredictable like...betray your Civilization?”

...!

Noah articulated such words with cool directness as Ambessa laughed, the sound mixing genuine amusement with resignation!

”You magnificent fucker. I genuinely admire you for being one of the leaders of whatever Civilization has emerged out here. Infinite Hunger, is it? Is it a Derivative of the Collapsed Civilization of Hunger? Oh well...”

”Any entities capable of leading are typically grand...Elderborns, those bearing concentrated Everythings of THE Creature himself... However grand you are personally, I’m not placing my confidence in your victory. You will likely face collapse very soon once a proper response is mobilized. So this was entertaining, but that concludes my involvement...for now anyway. I’ll probably be sent again because of how tight of a fit I am in this scenario...”

...!

She thought he was one of the leaders of whatever grand Civilization had collapsed her and the other Avatars.

And that was far more believable idea to grasp...that there existed some grand hidden Civilization that had bloomed outside THE Loom over the eons, that whoever led it was someone utterly astonishing.

One might find it easier to believe that perhaps this Civilization was a Derivative of Hunger or even carrying weavings of THE Creature himself or representing one of the Collapsed Civilizations that had somehow reconstituted itself.

This was exponentially easier to believe than the reality...that it was a human who had been a weak, manaless being less than three years ago!

At such thought, Noah couldn’t help but pause and metaphorically blink as he truly contemplated the timeline himself.

Three years.

Had it truly been almost that duration since he awakened?

Three years felt simultaneously unimaginably short and impossibly long because during that period he had played with time dilation and other temporal manipulations constantly.

So that number could be stretched up or down.

But in the objective passage of approximately three years, he had progressed unfathomably far from where he began.

When he was initially rising through his first Apocalypse, one of his foundational ideals was refusing to remain so weak that he could be existing peacefully in his world or realm when a terrifying power or cataclysm descended without him being aware.

He had rejected the possibility of facing complete collapse without understanding or even knowing what was happening...simply ceasing to exist because forces beyond his comprehension decided his corner of reality was inconvenient.

A sneeze from an Ender, Dikastes, or any others could have turned his entire world to dust.

If his progression had been slightly slower, if he was still confined within a Cosmos or even an Omniverse... the Fallout would occur to systematically wipe out entire Folds and all of Observable Existence outside THE Loom. Including whatever little corner he would have been occupying.

Things would simply cease, and Noah Osmont alongside all those around him would stop existing without even knowing how they perished.

But instead, here he stood approximately three years later.

Not merely surviving, but fucking thriving.

He had begun forging his own Primordial Civilization!

Not as one of many leaders of some grand established framework, but as THE leader of The Primordial Civilizations of Mana and Hunger!

Well, not THE leader quite yet in terms of recognition across existence.

But this perspective alone reminded him that there remained truly tremendous work to be accomplished.

Because even now, he had not escaped the constraints of the Fallout.

Even though his Civilization was Primordial...similar to Order, Origin, Hunger, or any other Collapsed Civilization, and would theoretically be able to persevere through collapse and reconstitute in some form after years or eons...

Similar to how THE Living Order became THE Dead Order, or how Khor returned from near-total dissolution...

But!

The concept of collapse was not something he anticipated experiencing with anything approaching enthusiasm.

His eyes flashed with decisiveness as yes, there was still immense work requiring completion!

After being momentarily sidetracked with introspective thoughts during that span of an instant, he returned his focus to Ambessa who was constantly bearing the immense weight of Hunger Propagation from 2 Million+ Primus Inevitabilities and still maintaining sufficiently calm expression to converse freely.

Entities in the Sextillions of power were utterly monstrous in their resilience.

Noah looked at her as he nodded before stating with casual tone.

”How is THE Loom, by the way? Since according to your assessment, I and all those around me will face collapse anyway from whatever retaliation comes next...or simply from the Fallout itself, you can share some information about THE Loom, correct?Oh, and you could also indicate where you all concealed the other Vessels of THE Living Paradox...”

...!