Read Novel Full Chapter 4951: Defector IV
Chapter 4951: Defector IV
His eyes, which had burned with silver conviction moments before, now blazed with crimson light that overwrote everything he had believed himself to be. His purpose, his mission, his certainty, all of it dissolved into undifferentiation that served a will older than THE Infinite Unfurling.
A booming ancient voice echoed across the vastness with weight that pressed against the very concept of hearing.
"YOU ARE ALL NOW SLAVES OF THE PRIMORDIAL ARCHITECT, HORUS."
The words were not loud. They were simply everywhere.
"TOIL AWAY AND ELEVATE YOURSELVES FOR HORUS."
Each syllable carried the weight of commandment that preceded the existence of language.
"BUILD YOUR CIVILIZATIONS FOR HORUS."
The instructions were simple. The obedience they demanded was absolute.
"TOIL, AND PERSEVERE."
...!
After this terrifying proclamation, the figure of Alex and all others who had been kneeling forcefully shifted into seated meditative positions. Their bodies moved without their permission, their limbs arranging themselves into postures of cultivation that their minds had not chosen. Their eyes burned with the insignia that had branded them, crimson light replacing whatever had filled their gazes before.
Their very weavings of existence began to burn for the sake of forcefully elevating their Civilizations!
It was not cultivation as they had known it. It was not growth chosen and directed. It was consumption of self for the benefit of another, the burning of one’s own potential to fuel progress that would serve Horus rather than themselves. By the time they progressed and made gains in their Civilizations, their very existence may just be spent entirely.
They would grow stronger.
And in growing stronger, they would grow emptier.
Until nothing remained but hollow vessels of power that served a master they had never chosen.
...!
None of the beings here had expected this to be happening.
THE Peacemaker had never expected this to be happening. He had possessed power. He had possessed connections, tied to THE Creature through THE Living Law, and also tied to...THE Genesis Monarch as he sought his own path when he left him!
He had possessed plans, carefully laid methodologies for achieving peace through dominance across THE Wastes. Everything had been arranged. Everything had been prepared. Everything had been certain!
But sometimes, even if you had everything, even if you had all these plans, even if you had power and backing and connections...
Shit happened.
Existence did not care about preparations. THE Primordial Architects did not care about investments.
Horus did not care that Alexander Asmodeus had been destined for greatness, that THE Living Law had chosen him, that THE Creature had empowered.
Horus cared only that there was potential to be harvested.
And so Horus harvested.
...!
But the awakening of ancient eyes did not go unnoticed.
In the skies above THE Wastes, or perhaps below them, or perhaps beside them in directions that held no names, a multicolored flaming visage manifested with presence that pressed against the crimson light with weight of its own.
THE Creature!
His manifestation stared at the distant pair of gigaparsec eyes with coldness that exceeded the clinical, that spoke of recognition between beings who had known each other since before most of existence had been differentiated. The multicolored flames that comprised his visage burned with patterns that challenged the crimson undifferentiation, imposing diversity where Horus sought obedience.
And beside him, another figure appeared.
An entity that looked like a scholar stepped into visibility with presence that belied his humble appearance. He wore simple black robes without adornment, without insignia, without any of the marks that powerful beings typically used to declare their status.
His appearance was clean, every aspect of his presentation carefully considered.
His eyes were bright with possibility and somberness in equal measure, intelligence that had witnessed too much balanced against hope that refused to be extinguished despite everything it had seen.
It was Anaximander.
THE Creature’s oldest friend. THE First Scholar! Jokul Anaximander!
Anaximander looked over to the massive eyes that still blazed with crimson undifferentiation, that still pressed their brand upon everything within their unfathomable reach. His expression held grief for the beings being consumed.
"Well, you wanted Adversity, my friend."
His voice was calm despite everything that was occurring, steady despite the horror that surrounded them.
"Now, Adversity is knocking at your door."
...!
With these words hanging in the corrupted air, the body of THE Creature was silent and contemplative briefly before he began to shine with multicolored radiance that exceeded his previous manifestation!
In THE Wastes, this brilliant light of existence illuminated everything, pressing back against the crimson undifferentiation.
The multicolored light shot outward toward the pair of gigaparsec eyes with speed that exceeded comprehension, with force that exceeded calculation, with intent that exceeded mere opposition.
THE Creature was attacking a Primordial Architect.
The pair of eyes remained cold and devoid of any emotion as they observed the approaching assault. There was no fear in those massive crimson depths. There was no concern. There was not even curiosity.
For this...was not a being of THE First Scale.
A booming voice stretched out, echoing across vast landscapes with weight that exceeded the previous commandments.
"DEFECTOR."
BOOM!
Defector.
This single word boomed out across existence with implications that exceeded its simple syllables. It spoke of history that predated THE Infinite Unfurling, of choices made when existence was young, of paths diverged when paths were first being formed.
THE Creature had been something else before he became THE Creature!
And Horus remembered!
Oh!
After the stage was set by THE Living Paradox, many of those affected began to move as truly, at this time, what was happening was Observable Existence becoming more alive.
More alive with vibrancy that exceeded peaceful slumber.
More alive with activity that exceeded quiet contemplation.
More alive with complex weavings of existence that exceeded simple patterns of growth and decay.
If existence had been slumbering before, leaning back on a chair of complacency while eons passed in comfortable predictability, existence had now sat upright with grand attention that missed nothing.
Eyes that had been half-closed now opened fully. Ears that had been listening casually now strained to catch every whisper. Hands that had been resting now reached for weapons that had gathered dust for too long.
Everything was about to be much more illustrious.
Everything was about to be much more complex.
Everything was about to be much more brutal.
There had been THE Infinite Unfurling. There had been THE Earliest Folds. There had been an era where THE Belly of Existence held countess beings while THE Loom held countless others. Now, a new Era was blooming!