Chapter 4511: Tatakae! III
Chapter 4511: Tatakae! III
Build something incomparable and absolute that was all his.
Noah’s mind buzzed with brilliance and possibilities as such a thought repeated again and again in rhythmic waves. His gaze turned and observed all the surrounding changes with intensity.
The Infinite Unfurling was vast and seemed to hold immense secrets within its impossible weavings. At this moment, while he was in contact with an existence at THE Civilizational Scale of Existence, he would continue trying to extract even more information that could aid his survival and growth.
So his eyes flashed brightly as he addressed THE First Hunger with carefully considered words.
"I know of the False THE existences and now, Pre-THE Existences like the two we just witnessed. What is the distinction between them and entities that have reached THE Surface Depth of Absolute Sovereignty?"
At such a direct question, the figure of Tor actually laughed with genuine amusement.
"Ah, now that is a question," Tor said with a smile. "The distinction between False THE and Pre-THE is something I have strong opinions about, Outsider."
He gestured broadly as he began his explanation.
"In my sanctuary where I have Little Khor and others playing around and training, there was once a dull Inevitability who was envious of one of his brothers reaching the Pre-THE stage. This envious fool wanted desperately to attain a similar distinction that had THE in the name, something that would mark him as special."
Tor’s expression became stern with the memory.
"So he went ahead and claimed the title of False THE for himself, building his authority on shortcuts and borrowed power rather than genuine development of his Way. The moment that I found out what he had done, I went back to my sanctuary immediately and I whooped that dull Inevitability into shape."
His eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction.
"I broke its foundation completely until its false claim to THE was gone, shattered beyond repair. And I did all of this not out of cruelty, but to actually save it and give it a real chance at advancement. Because anything that claims the allure of False THE will never, ever become a true THE. Never."
His voice took on a grander quality as he continued.
"Let me speak to you about the concepts of false and true in existence, because this is fundamental to understanding the path forward. If one taints their Way with anything that is false, with shortcuts or borrowed power or unearned claims, how can it suddenly become true in existence?"
He looked at Noah with intense focus.
"False would never spontaneously change to become true. The nature of falsehood is that it remains false no matter how much time passes or how much power one accumulates. A foundation built on lies cannot support a structure of truth. The day that one truly grasps THE, it can only be as a true THE and not as a False THE."
Tor gestured toward the landscape around them.
"That is where those who are arduously trying to build up their Way of existence to establish their Sovereignty are following the right path, even if it seems slower and more difficult. By the time they achieve Pre-THE status, they at least have a set of stairs to climb in order to reach THE Civilizational Scale of Existence. The foundation is solid, the path is clear, and advancement is possible."
His expression became more contemplative.
"Some do take what appears to be an easier way out. They inherit someone else’s Absolute Sovereignty through consumption or merger or other means. Because it is not entirely through their own efforts, because the foundation was not built by their own hands, they may pass through a stage labeled as False THE before they ultimately attain a version of THE Civilizational Scale of Existence."
He paused meaningfully.
"But here is the critical point: they may be stuck at THE Surface Depth of Absolute Sovereignty for all of their existence, unable to deepen their claim because the roots were not truly their own. They wear the title but lack the substance. They hold the power but cannot develop it further."
At this moment, the figure of this terrifying being turned to look at Noah with a daring smile that held challenge and expectation in equal measure.
"The enemy that we are looking for you to fight cannot even have the False THE distinction," he said with absolute certainty. "I don’t want you to even taint yourself with the Ways of such beings by consuming them. You will fight something that has potential but has not yet corrupted itself with false claims."
As he said this with finality, he came to a complete stop. Their figures paused in mid-flight, hovering in the strange atmosphere.
Tor closed his eyes for a brief moment before he tapped his finger outward to release a circular burst of Hunger authority that radiated in all directions like a sonar pulse.
In less than a second, he opened his eyes again with satisfaction.
"Found one."
An obsidian-crimson light of Hunger wrapped around both him and Noah like a protective cocoon. They disappeared from their current location in the next instant.
By the time they reappeared, they were in an entirely different environment.
Noah observed the new landscape with careful attention. For countless Gigaparsecs in every direction, mist and steam surged through the air in thick layers that obscured vision and created an oppressive atmosphere.
He and Tor were standing on top of a massive swamp tree whose trunk was as wide as a continent. Bubbling pools of liquid dark-green poison stretched out all around them like a toxic sea. The pools emitted vapors that rose in writhing columns.
Ancient trees with twisted roots emerged from the poisonous waters at irregular intervals, creating a maze-like environment. Some trees were dead and skeletal, their branches reaching toward the sky like accusing fingers. Others were somehow alive despite the toxic environment, their leaves a sickly yellow-green.
Floating islands of compressed vegetation drifted across the surface of the larger pools, each one dripping with condensed poison that fell in steady streams. The air itself felt heavy and corrosive, carrying particles of toxin that would be deadly to weaker beings.
What was most astonishing to Noah’s mind was how across this entire region, the natural environment held poisonous concentrations that would actually melt the bones or cause the complete deterioration of any entity with Complexity and Purity below Septillion levels.
"That one there should do nicely," Tor said such words as Noah was still cataloging the environmental hazards. The entity pointed approximately ten Gigaparsecs away across the toxic landscape.
Noah’s gaze followed the direction and focused on what Tor had indicated.
A monstrous abomination could be seen in the distance, its form massive.
The creature resembled a titanic toad, but warped and magnified. Its skin was a mottled mix of dark green and purple that seemed to shift and pulse with internal toxins. The surface was covered in pustules and nodules that occasionally burst, releasing clouds of poison into the air.
Its eyes were enormous and bulbous, glowing with a sickly yellow-green light that suggested intelligence behind the bestial form. Its mouth was wide enough to swallow mountains, lined with rows of teeth that dripped with concentrated venom.
The creature’s surroundings were filled with floating rivers of stellar verdant-obsidian light that represented pure concentrated poison given form. These rivers orbited the creature like satellites, occasionally converging on its body before dispersing again.
Noah’s eyes flashed brilliantly as details of this entity flooded his perception.
|Name: Venomarch Sovereign Aspirant - Toxoghra|
|Classification: Following The Way of Poison, seeking enough distinction to attain Pre-THE|
|Complexity: 1 Decillion|
|Purity: 1 Decillion|
|Grand Principles: Venom Genesis, Toxin Propagation, Corrosion Manifestation, Poison Dominion, Plague Convergence, Caustic Authority, Contamination Mastery, Virulence Supremacy|
|Current Sovereignty Progress: Attempting to establish claim over Poison|
|Status: Territorial, aggressive toward intruders|
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