Chapter 4392: Ways IV
Chapter 4392: Ways IV
Alexander’s gaze blazed with a defiant light even as his external composure remained stern.
Doom and gloom. Everyone speaks of inevitable catastrophe as if accepting failure before the battle even begins. As if preparation itself is pointless because the outcome is predetermined. I refuse this narrative!
He spoke aloud, his voice cutting through the oppressive atmosphere gloriously.
"I care not for all these talks of doom and gloom that everyone seems set to perpetuate," Alexander said, his tone holding admonishment that made Seraphina’s eyes widen with shock.
"Were you not a supposed leader of your Civilization? You were grand. You were bright. How can you sit here and speak like this...as if defeat is the only possible outcome?"
He leaned forward slightly, his Enneagram spinning faster.
"Let us speak of solutions rather than constant death. If you possess knowledge, share strategies rather than lamentations. If you understand THE Loom’s mechanisms, explain weaknesses rather than inevitabilities. Otherwise, what purpose does this conversation serve beyond spreading despair?"
HUUM!
Seraphina turned to Alexander in shock, her expression showing she wanted to tell him not to speak to The Remnant Will of THE Living Law with such directness!
But his gaze, steady and unflinching...caused her eyes to flicker uncertainly.
She looked down and stayed silent.
"..."
At such direct challenge, the singularity of brilliance flashed and released what might have been a sigh.
"Very well," it said, "Perhaps defiance is more appropriate than acceptance. The only thing I have left to give is the skeletal structure of My Way. My Civilization’s foundational architecture. Inherit it and see what you can accomplish with proper time and resources."
The light intensified suddenly.
"But oh... if only you had time. If only the timeline allowed for proper cultivation of what I’m about to bestow. Still...better to possess tools and insufficient time than face The Fallout empty-handed."
...!
At such words, blinding light of pure Law descended upon Alexander Asmodeus and Seraphina Valorheart like a waterfall of compressed knowledge!
—
The Wandering Territories.
Inside the Isolated Civilization.
In skies filled with blue-gold Mana, Noah continued spinning slowly while holding the figure of Riya, who had wrapped her arms around his head like a determined octopus refusing to release its prey.
But his internal existence buzzed with waves of new information because while all this external activity occurred, while his existence continued transforming with Primus Mana coursing through every particle of his being...
He was actually having a conversation with The Great Usurper, Eckert.
This was one of the grandeur of more complex existence...one could seemingly be doing a large number of things simultaneously within the same few seconds or minutes!
Within his mind, in that mental seascape, another area of calm sea of blue-gold stretched endlessly.
An illusory form of Noah stood above its surface, and beside him, an illusory form of a man in his mid-twenties with dark blue hair stood casually.
They both stared into the sea below, which displayed scenes The Great Usurper had transmitted...images of the other side of The Veil where Meliodas, the Guider of Order, had imposed True Order upon an entire Citadel, systematically reducing thousands of Prime Dead Early Creatures to complexity of 1.
Noah’s stern gaze remained fixed on those scenes as he spoke with quiet intensity.
"THE Dead Order is a terrifying thing," he said, "The fact that your existence has somehow escaped the line of sight of an entity at her level is ridiculous enough..."
He turned to look at Eckert directly.
The moment he stepped foot on the other Side of The Veil, THE Dead Order senses him and carries out a fever dream of a horrendous future where he is used as a fucking battery. But Eckert...
"How are you doing that, by the way? What mechanism allows your Existence to remain undetected by beings who should perceive everything within their domains?"
Eckert smiled with amusement, at such a question.
"Bro," he said, "have you ever told me the deepest secrets of your existence and how it works? Explained every mechanism of your power?"
Noah raised his eyebrows, then nodded calmly.
"Each of us have our own Way," he conceded.
At such words, Eckert’s eyes lit up with sudden interest.
"Oh yeah, what is this stuff about The Way? Civilizations? I keep hearing these terms, but nobody’s explained what they actually mean in practical terms."
Noah contemplated for a moment, organizing his understanding into communicable form.
"The Way of Existence," he began, "is the essential framework through which you interact with and alter reality. The lens through which existence perceives you and through which you perceive existence."
He gestured at the blue-gold sea beneath them.
"My Way is The Mana Architect. The Way of Mana. Everything I do...every technique, every advancement, every interaction with reality...operates through the framework of Mana as fundamental building block. It is My Way."
HUUM!
His expression became more serious.
"And a Civilization is what happens when multiple beings adopt a compatible Way and create unified structure...well, something like that. I have only just began to build my Civilization."
Wherever he thought of The Way of Existence, his mind came to the visage of Anaximander and his words.
He could potentially call out to that being, with a heavy question being what had happened to him since The Earliest Folds.
What had occured between such an anomaly and THE Weavers?
After Eckert listened to his words carefully, his eyes shone with unique understanding.
"The Way..." he murmured, processing the implications. "So My Way would be... eh, I won’t actively look for it. I’ll remain idle, as I’m sure My Way will declare itself naturally through that very inaction. Hmm..."
His eyes pulsed with power that suggested his Idle Existence was already more profound than he consciously realized.
Noah looked at him with analytical focus.
"Be careful," he said quietly. "You are an anomaly in your own right, yes. But many anomalies have fallen to existences with THE distinction. Power alone doesn’t guarantee survival when facing beings who’ve refined their Civilizations for eons."
WAA!