Chapter 3985: The Blade of a Shore! I

Duke Gwendolyn listened to this impromptu monologue coldly. When Noah finished speaking, her response was delivered with cutting precision.

"You talk too much sometimes," she said, her voice carrying the weight of absolute dismissal.

Without allowing further discussion, she pointed toward distant regions of the vast Temporal Folds while ignoring his words, her gesture encompassing territories that stretched across light-years of twisted time and space.

"The situation is currently manageable and not entirely dire," she declared. "The forces of the Coalition of Living Existences are about to engage the Dead Existences in coordinated assault. The Living Origins have committed several Dukes to support, along with their accumulated forces."

As she spoke these words, Noah’s enhanced perception panned across the impossible scope of the Transcendent Temporal Folds.

In one direction, he sensed the aura of a terrifying Duke emanating from an entity that appeared as a pure white slime, its deceptively simple form radiating waves of power that made the surrounding rivers of time flow backward.

The being’s face...if the shifting mass of intelligent liquid could be said to possess such features, was filled with terrible power and arrogance!

Behind this Duke also floated a few hundred Honored Living Origins alongside several thousand Prime Living Origins.

In another direction, Noah’s awareness detected the presence of another Duke. This entity appeared as a titanic Imoogi that shone with pure gold radiance, its serpentine form coiled through dimensions!

Every scale that adorned its magnificent length pulsed with authority that could have served as the foundation for entire Wheels of Existence.

Like its counterpart, this Duke commanded similar armies...hundreds of Honored beings supported by thousands of Primes, all arranged with the precision.

As Noah’s perception continued to expand, he sensed other auras spread across distances so vast that they existed beyond the reach of observation. Each signature spoke to power that operated on the level of Dukes!

"Just how many Dukes were sent for this operation?" Noah asked, his voice carrying genuine curiosity.

"Information of that magnitude isn’t distributed so freely," she said, "Come on, let us observe the scope of what approaches."

With these words, she gestured toward the Living Existences that floated behind her in perfect formation, and the entire army began to move forward as one!

As they advanced toward the heart of the coming conflict, the very air began to carry new sounds....horrid screeches that seemed to originate from the concept of ending itself!

Simultaneously, the auras of terrible Dead Existences began to press against their consciousness like physical weights.

The vast scope of the approaching battle revealed itself with the gradual certainty of nightmare becoming very fucking real!

The forces of the Coalition of Living Existences had surrounded the eerie Dead Existences in a region that spanned light-years of twisted space-time.

Thousands upon thousands of Honored and Prime Living Existences floated in perfect coordination, their combined authority creating a siege that challenged the very concept of escape.

At the center of this impossible containment, a massive tear in existence itself pulsed with energies that made reality convulse in recognition of wrongness.

The wound in the fabric of space-time bled deathly authority in streams that transformed everything they touched, turning vibrant flows of temporal energy into stagnant pools of crystallized ending.

Near this fundamental violation of order stood the massive skeleton that had emerged most recently.

The entity’s presence emanated a terrible aura that seemed to exceed even that of normal Dukes.

Yet despite the overwhelming superiority of the forces arrayed against it, the skeleton remained perfectly still, its empty sockets gazing across light-years of space with the patient attention of someone evaluating prey rather than assessing threat.𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The Dukes from different factions of Living Existences had positioned themselves around this region of the Temporal Folds, each one commanding their own forces while maintaining careful distance from the others!

Yet none had made any grand moves, all waiting for some signal or development that would trigger the beginning of systematic violence.

Noah gazed upon all of this immensity, and despite the magnitude of the forces involved, despite the significance of what was about to occur, he couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of exhilaration.

The possibilities were boundless!

Here was conflict on a scale unfounded, opportunities for advancement and understanding that stretched toward horizons he was only beginning to perceive.

As he absorbed had such thoughts, Moiraine moved closer to his position and sent a mental message.

’Master,’ her mental voice whispered with urgency, ’what is this? I sense immense danger from that obsidian skeleton...it could likely collapse my existence with a casual tap and unmake everything I have become through the simple act of noticing my presence!’

She spoke these words with the straightforward honesty of someone who had assessed her capabilities against those of the enemy and found the comparison lacking in every conceivable way!

Noah smiled at her concern, the expression hidden behind his helm yet somehow conveying reassurance.

"That skeleton won’t be your concern," he said with calm certainty, "Trust me."

...!

With these words, he reached out to tap her head lightly, the gesture carrying with it a flood of information that flowed directly into her consciousness. Details about the current situation, the forces involved...all of it transferred through their connection with the speed of thought itself.

Moiraine absorbed this knowledge, and as understanding bloomed within her awareness, she nodded with stern determination.

Her hidden Kleos Glyphs pulsed with renewed radiance as she prepared herself for whatever role she would be called upon to play in the terrible wonder that was about to unfold!

Near them, Duke Gwendolyn released a sigh that carried the weight of eons.

"Too many...will die in the battle to come, and when any die under the hands of Dead Existences...they join them forever!" she said, her voice carrying genuine regret for the casualties that would inevitably result from the coming violence!

"Once the Dukes commit to action, the goal becomes swift elimination of that Primordial Death Duke", she gestured toward the skeleton whose presence commanded such careful attention, "followed by immediate closure of the tear in the Folds. Living Spirits, Temporals, Dimensionals, and Quantums will work in concert to seal the breach before any additional terrors can pass through."

Her gaze shifted between her own paradoxical body and Moiraine as she continued her tactical assessment.

"This Paradox in my employ, along with the one under your direction, will move to mitigate the damage our forces will inevitably receive since they are somewaht immune to the power of Dead Existences. We already know that the Dead Existences will overwhelm our front lines...so only Honored Living Existences will be permitted to engage them in close combat, while Primes will provide support from distance. And-...!"

Her words cut off abruptly as something impossible occurred with the suddenness of lightning striking clear skies.

The skeleton that had remained perfectly still throughout their approach, the Primordial Death Duke whose patience had seemed absolute, had suddenly made a move!

Yet the very nature of its action challenged every assumption about sequence and causality...the attack had not begun and then completed, but had somehow always been occurring while simultaneously having already arrived at its destination!

It was...fucking confusing!

Paradoxically. Inevitably. The strike would always arrive because it had already reached its target, yet it was also happening for the first time in this moment of crystallized now.

The assault struck out toward a distant region where Living Elementals had positioned themselves for the coming battle.

Across light-years of twisted space-time, a Duke who appeared as a mesmerizing Elemental Sprite found herself facing annihilation as a storm of deathly obsidian collapse descended upon her position with the intent to end all her beginnings, to unravel every thread that connected her to existence itself!

Yet in the next instant, five other Dukes materialized beside their threatened colleague with movements that transcended normal concepts of speed and distance!

The six beings erupted with Living Existential Authority, their combined power creating barriers of crystallized Existence that sought to negate the deathly force that pursued the systematic elimination of everything they represented!

At the same moment, the eerie Dead Existences that numbered in the thousands...beings whose heads remained raised toward skies that held no stars, whose mouths pulsed with the rhythm of entropy itself...began to move with the coordinated precision.

They flowed outward from their positions near the tear in reality, their movements carrying the inexorable certainty of tide coming in.

Each figure radiated authority that made the surrounding temporal rivers flow backward, their presence transforming the carefully maintained flows of causality into chaotic eddies!

It was the beginning of a terrifying battle.

One that truly... Noah did not possess the Raw power to participate in directly, to make grand changes through personal intervention alone.

Yet that simple limitation did not stop him from being here, from witnessing history unfold, from positioning himself to seize opportunities that others might overlook!

After all, the greatest victories were often achieved not through overwhelming force, but through perfect timing and the wisdom to recognize when small actions could produce vast consequences!

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