Chapter 3872: Existence is Unfair I

Noah’s vision narrowed as he read the requirements for advancement!

A Marine Lifeform with a Refined Glyph.

He had only just forged his first Basic Glyph using one million CQ and PQ- an effort that took his entire being.

A Refined one would require ten million. And that was just to form. A creature that had already formed one would be living proof of catastrophic simplicity and power. And more, such a creature likely wouldn’t stop at one. It could have multiple Basic Glyphs paired with a single Refined Glyph, forming its foundation!

Such a foe would demand everything!

And yet, the danger paled next to the final requirement.

|Through a Shore Memory Gate that will rise when you so choose, you can challenge the condition of the Survival of the Lost Basic Record of an Early Creature.|

|You will be designated a Record Body of an Early Living Marine Lifeform. You must survive the full encounter with an Early Creature to fulfill the Record.|

His lips parted slightly, the corners twitching upward.

A battle of memory. A battle of survival, where he would embody a creature from a time where existence itself was being invented moment by moment. No complex latticework. Just primal purity and instinct pitted against entities he knew very little about.

He let his gaze drift outward, tracing the delicate mist curling across the horizon as he sought a moment to think, but the prompts kept coming!

BZZT!

|A Basic Early Living Marine Lifeform has appeared in the Budding Shore.|

|Due to population capacity being exceeded, it will seek to remove another lifeform to restore balance.|

...!

In the midst of all this.

The surface of the Early Sacred Waters buzzed.

Glimmering waves began to radiate outward from a single point, the water near it dimming and then brightening as something massive moved just beneath.

Noah turned toward the ripple, the smile widening across his face.

"This place," he said, "is utterly mad..."

It was layered. A shifting puzzle of provocations and provocateurs. With every step forward, the Shore revealed a deeper mechanism. Population as power. Conflict as cultivation. And now, memories as trial.

A Marine Lifeform with a Basic Glyph would soon leave the water because it had to kill.

Because the Budding Shore would not allow its population to be exceeded. Even its system of balance was built to challenge and reshape all who lived within it!

Noah’s eyes narrowed slightly.

To be granted a Blooming Shore, one had to master the brutality of what bloomed.

He stood still as the Sacred Water stirred further, a silhouette rising through the depthless blue.

The creatures of this realm carried a grace that belied their strength. Their intelligence shone not in language, but in precision- calculated strikes, terrifying defense, and unwavering tempo.

And this one... would be worse.

He could already feel its glyph.

He would clash with it soon, but not just yet!

Instead, he looked up.

Far past his Infiniverse Wheel of Existence.

Far past the Nullvein Gravewake Folds!

Toward the golden strata of the Transcendent Paradoxical Folds.

And nestled there, within a Dyson Singularity, was her.

Moiraine!

A terrifying Foldless Ones of power and knowledge exceeding his by a lot.

If he was going to survive the Lost Basic Record...

If he was going to stand against a Refined Glyph Marine Lifeform...

If he was going to take the Budding Shore and force it to bloom...

Then he needed to understand the Early Creatures.

From the Story of the Earliest Folds!

—

The Goldfolds pulsed like a heart filled with Paradox.

Within the Dyson Singularity, beneath lattices of paradox and layered impossibility, a gathering unlike any other had formed.

The figures of Aetheron and Oryzarakh stood tall among thousands of other Living Paradoxes of all kinds arrayed in concentric layers.

Many other Living Paradoxes had arrived!

They filled the golden hollowed skyspace with silence.

Tension rolled beneath their stillness, each one waiting for the Paradox that did not produce Inevitabilities!

Far above them.

In the glittering swirl of higher folds- where time moved differently and observation twisted into nonexistence- three beings floated in solemn council.

Their forms were cloaked because they could not be fully seen...even by the current Foldless Ones here!

Mist of black, white, and gold drifted from their still bodies.

Power hummed around them like the death rattle of forgotten Wheels.

The golden one stood first, his outline large and burly, features vaguely masculine beneath the shimmering veil. His voice, when it came, was unfathomably heavy.

"Honored Diviticus," he said, eyes fixed upon the mist-wrapped woman who floated at their center, "are you certain of this? There may still be time. He is young. He may grow into what we need. Must we snuff him out now by devouring him, when he may yet be the salvation we lacked?"

...!

Horrific words echoed out.

His words drifted out like prayers- beautiful, hopeful, and already fading.

The figure wrapped in white mist did not move.

Her voice was sharp, cut from resolve and cooled by eons of silent reasoning.

"Honored Gold," she replied, "you and I both watched as countless Paradoxes failed. We saw what came of placing hope in long-dead young seeds. They all knew the path. We know power. We are power. How can we hand over such an important distinction to another?"

She turned, her voice laced with something mournful.

"Now that a Paradox has arisen who does not produce Inevitabilities...do you truly believe the others will nurture him? Do you truly believe they will not devour him in silence? It is like a child appearing with a bucket of water that can put out a fire, but they cannot even walk yet. They cannot even talk or understand."

HUUM!

"We understand. We can take and shoulder that bucket of water. We can begin putting out the fire right now...so why put our hopes on the baby maybe growing up after eons? Not stumbling? Not being eaten by the wolves?"

Her words echoed like tolling bells through the folds.

"Such vain hopes," she said, "are lies told by the unprepared. Not us."

...!

The third figure moved at last, the one wrapped in black mist. His form leaned forward as if bored, and yet his presence darkened the fold around them.

"The child is too young," he said, voice like the murmur of wind through forgotten tombs. "Even if he survives today, nine other Living Existences will come for him. Living Existences with will and complex weavings of power. He will not last long enough to become what we need. We will watch him be killed as he slips right past our fingers."

...!

He paused, and there was grief in that pause. There was love, buried under logic as if even he did not like what he was saying!

"Let him die," the black-clad Honored whispered. "Let him be devoured by one of us. Let his strength feed a foundation that can withstand the storm. We need an already sharp blade, not a blooming vine."

"..."

The Goldfolds above trembled softly.

"And what if we are wrong?" Honored Gold asked, quieter now. "What if this one... is the one? What if even after we act today, we fail?"

White mist shifted. Honored Diviticus answered without hesitation.

"Then the folds will mourn for our failure. But they will continue. Because we will still remain. Someone has to remain. And we simply have to not fail. "

The three stood in silence for a long moment, the golden mist curling around them as if resisting the decision itself.

Below them, the Singularity shimmered. Living Paradoxes spoke in hushed words and wary eyes. And deep within it, far beneath their knowing, the presence of a Young Paradox pulsed quietly. Still unknown. Still untouched.

The golden figure turned again. "The one who guards him now... she is my mentee."

His words were soft.

"Little Moiraine. I taught her the weight of Paradox. I gave her my weavings. My failures. She has staked her life to protect this one. If we kill him, we betray her. We betray our own through and through."

White mist did not stir. Honored Diviticus remained silent for a moment, then said calmly, "You do not need to make the move. I will."

Her voice was sure.

"This must be seen as the will of one unhinged Honored Paradox. If others come to interfere, then the two of you will ensure they do not."

The golden mist dimmed. The silence became tangible.

Eventually, the Honored Gold sighed.

And when he did, it was as if the entire Goldfolds exhaled alongside him.

His voice, when it returned, was empty. The softness was gone.

"Very well. Go then. I will open up the Dyson Singularity for you."

He turned away.

"Obtain the Young Paradox who does not produce Inevitabilities. Devour him and attain his uniqueness. Then... we will finally be ready for what is to come."

The air grew colder.

The weight of decision settled like chains upon their shoulders.

Diviticus did not answer immediately. When she did, her words were colder than death, calmer than silence.

"I have already started."

Her voice vanished like a blade sliding back into its sheath.

And the Goldfolds shuddered!

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