Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse (WN) -
Chapter 4559: When Fortune Falters! V
Noah’s eyes pulsed with recognition of how this would unfold.
Right. Deterioration toward catastrophe. That was more often than not how existence operated when confronting those with overwhelming power.
Astrape looked Noah up and down with assessing gaze before he continued speaking with a philosophical observation.
"Any common Pre-THE Existence would have immediately gotten on their knees right now upon sensing my presence," he said with voice carrying superiority. "They would be bowing their heads down submissively and being as obedient as possible just to be allowed to remain in my presence without being obliterated."
He tilted his head with interest.
"And yet you, little anomaly, are looking directly at me as if we are somehow equals. You do not even show an appropriate sense of fear or deference. That behavior in itself is quite unnatural."
His smile widened with predatory amusement.
"Either you genuinely believe you could actually survive a direct encounter against someone at my level, or you are one of those weak followers who serve an entity that has already formed their Dominion and achieved THE Civilizational Scale."
He gestured casually.
"Perhaps this powerful patron is nearby protecting you, or you believe that simply mentioning their name would grant you different standing. As if speaking their identity to me would make me reconsider and let you leave peacefully."
His eyes gleamed with challenge.
"So do you want to skip past all the tedious pleasantries and simply declare the name of the entity that you follow? We will see together if that name carries enough weight to make me refrain from doing anything harmful against you."
The expression and eyes of Astrape shined with concentrated sense of brutality and casual cruelty after he finished speaking these words.
Noah’s expression became progressively more grim as he processed this inevitable trajectory. He sighed with resignation and shook his head slowly while looking toward this being.
When he spoke, his voice carried calm tyranny that refused to be diminished.
"Regardless of what name I might give you, it ultimately will not matter to the outcome," he said with absolute certainty.
Astrape laughed at this response, his Sovereignty causing the surrounding environment to buzz and distort with electrical charge. He nodded with appreciation for the honest assessment.
"Haha, a weak thing with some actual sense of reality," he said with genuine amusement. "You are correct. Even if you claimed it was THE Creature himself that you followed, it would not change my intentions."
His expression became more serious and analytical.
"Because I can see you, little anomaly. Really see you with the vision granted by THE. Apart from your disposition and bearing, your fundamental existence looks and feels distinctly different from all other entities I have encountered."
He leaned forward with intensity.
"You may not even fully understand what I am describing since you have not yet attained THE yourself. But the elevated vision I possess makes it so I can perceive you as the temporal anomaly that you clearly are. Something that does not carry the natural colors and frequencies of the Infinite Unfurling."
His smile became predatory.
"Which is precisely why no, I absolutely will not be permitting you to leave this location. I must study your existence systematically and break it down to its fundamental particles to understand exactly why you are so different from what should be possible."
He spread his hands as if explaining something reasonable.
"It is nothing particularly major, and certainly nothing personal against you specifically. Are you ready to cooperate?"
Was he ready.
Noah could not help but sigh heavily at these words. He thought about how sometimes, choice truly was nothing more than comfortable illusion. There was no genuine choice to make in this situation apart from accepting a forced outcome.
But regardless of inevitability, he stretched his neck as if preparing for a truly dangerous and exhausting exercise. He placed his hand on Lumivara with gentle firmness.
She disappeared instantly, her entire existence placed protectively inside his own internal space before she could even voice a word of protest.
THE Maelstrom Thundermane looked at Noah with an amused smile, as if an adult was watching a child raise their small fists with determination. As if such gesture would actually accomplish anything meaningful against overwhelming power.
And yet at the same time, Astrape recognized that any entity who could remain this outwardly calm even when facing certain death would inevitably have a few unexpected tricks available. Even if they were fundamentally weaker.
So Astrape did not waste time with further conversation. His existence instantly erupted with concentrated power as he prepared to capture this anomaly.
The moment he manifested his authority fully, Noah also erupted with his own power in response.
"Keep up, you ugly fucker," Noah said lightly with voice carrying absolute defiance.
BOOM!
His Way exploded with brilliant radiance as his body transformed into pure concentrated Primus Mana. The blue-gold energy that composed his fundamental existence blazed with intensity.
And yet the terrifying influence of Astrape still thundered down toward him far faster than Noah could fully react to with his own power alone.
But then...
BZZT!
Terrifying seas of THE Civilizational Authority of Hunger bloomed into existence with overwhelming presence. THE Barrier of Hunger that Tor had placed upon Noah activated!
Decillions upon Decillions of enraged obsidian-crimson jaws erupted from the barrier, systematically devouring all nearby influence of Astrape’s lightning. They formed a brilliantly dense barrier of obsidian-crimson light that shot outward into the distance.
The protective phenomenon was genuinely shocking in its potency and scope.
Astrape looked at this unexpected defensive capability with visible incredulity before he laughed with raucous appreciation for the surprise.
Of course, it would not be easy!
How could anything be easy in existence, especially when it involved such a unique being?!
Another version of himself instantly bloomed from his current physical form through Fulmination authority, creating a perfect duplicate. This second Astrape shot forward at impossible speed toward the slippery anomaly attempting to escape his grasp!
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