Chapter 4868: Jokul!

Truth be told, THE Primordial Paradox was a bit regretful.

How could he lose someone pivotal to his reemergence in the future? He had brought THE Youngest to THE Prima Indifferentia because he had a pretty good idea that this was where THE Entity was stemming from, and the pieces fit in his mind perfectly based on the nature of the infection and what it was currently doing to him.

THE Entity sought to undifferentiate.

THE Prima Indifferentia was the source of all undifferentiation.

The connection seemed obvious once he had examined it from the right angle.

What he couldn’t figure out was how someone as weak as Erwin had gotten his hands on something so powerful in the first place. How Erwin himself wasn’t affected by the very weapon he was wielding. And how he was utilizing it to the extent that even THE Primordial Paradox didn’t know when this attack on his Claim had actually started.

This trip to THE Prima Indifferentia was meant to illuminate things somewhat, to provide THE Tongue Whisperer with understanding that could be used against THE Entity in the future when it had fully emerged and threatened all of Observable Existence.

But...

"It’s a proper mess."

THE Primordial Paradox shook his head as his Immensity surged out once more, his voice carrying across the churning expanse of proto-matter with authority that forced the undefined substance to transmit his words further than they should have been able to travel.

"Jokul!"

HUUM!

He had been doing so for quite a long time now, and every time he called out, he was risking pulling in terrifying entities toward his position. His voice was a beacon in a place where beacons attracted predators, and THE Prima Indifferentia had no shortage of things that would be very interested in consuming one of THE Four.

Well, there were now two of THE Four here!

Oh!

He had actually already rebuffed an undifferentiated creature who sought to break down his paradoxical nature, his Apophasis turning the attack back on itself and sending the formless thing retreating into the proto-matter storms from whence it came.

If he continued doing this anymore, something worse would find him.

He just had this thought when in the next moment his eyes brightened, and he looked out toward his right with sudden alertness.

There, a humanoid visage of an entity with no discernible waves of power formed from the proto-matter itself.

He was adorned in an ancient white robe that seemed impossibly clean given the environment, the fabric untouched by the churning chaos that surrounded everything else in this place. Dark flowing hair fell past his shoulders, moving in currents that had nothing to do with the proto-matter storms. His eyes were filled with ancient Immensity that didn’t radiate outward but rather pulled inward, as if everything around him was being drawn toward a singularity of stillness that defied THE Prima Indifferentia’s constant motion.

Behind him was the illusion of an inverted mountain radiating immense coldness, its peak pointing downward into depths that couldn’t be perceived, its base spreading upward into skies that didn’t exist. The mountain wasn’t really there, but it was also more real than anything else in this region of undefined space.

The moment this being arrived, the proto-matter in the surroundings began freezing over.

Not freezing in the sense of becoming ice, but freezing in the sense of becoming still. The churning stopped. The undefined potential ceased its constant shifting. Everything achieved a state of stasis that shouldn’t have been possible in a place defined by perpetual change, and the silence that followed was so profound that it pressed against THE Primordial Paradox’s existence with weight that would have crushed lesser beings.

"Why have you been shouting my name?"

The words of this entity sounded heavy and filled with weight that could freeze even weaker Absolutes in their tracks. There was no hostility in his tone, but there was also no warmth, only the absolute certainty of something that had existed long enough to be utterly unimpressed by anything it might encounter.

...!

THE Primordial Paradox looked at this being up and down in evaluation, his obsidian eyes taking in every detail of the entity before him while revealing nothing of his own assessment. His voice came out calm even as he processed what he was perceiving.

"I was told to scream your name to find you. I asked THE Creature for the assistance of a local in locating someone that I lost in this place."

He paused, his obsidian crown spinning slowly.

"I simply never expected him to have connections with something like you. I cannot pinpoint whether you are an Undivided One or a Formless Terror or something worse entirely."

...!

His words were calm even as they came out, carrying the measured precision that defined all of his words. And the entity they were directed to also remained calm, his ancient eyes showing no reaction to being analyzed by one of THE Four as if such analysis was beneath his notice.

When he heard the name of THE Creature, his eyes flickered briefly, and he seemed to think for a moment before giving a light nod.

"Who are you looking for?"

THE Primordial Paradox smiled at the fact that his entire set of words were ignored except for the most important one.

"I am looking for someone whose existence is currently surrounded by the designation of THE Tongue Whisperer. He should have a flicker of the signature of The First Tongue burning brightly around him."

The entity opposite to THE Primordial Paradox simply nodded at these words as he turned around, apparently ready to begin the search without any further discussion. The frozen proto-matter remained still around him, held in stasis by his mere presence.

THE Primordial Paradox continued to look at him with curiosity that he didn’t bother to hide, and he couldn’t help but ask the question that pressed against his mind.

"Who are you, really?"

At these words, the figure of Jokul turned around and looked at THE Primordial Paradox with extremely calm eyes that held depths which even someone who had existed since before THE Infinite Unfurling couldn’t fully perceive.

"You have been calling my name this entire time."

His voice was flat, stating fact rather than expressing emotion.

"Jokul. Jokul Anaximander."

He paused, and the inverted mountain behind him seemed to grow larger for just a moment.

"But call me Jack. To you, I am simply a friend of THE Creature. Nothing more and nothing less."

His ancient eyes held no deception because there was nothing to deceive about, only the truth of what he was willing to share and the silence of everything he wasn’t.

"And as for the one that you lost..."

The frozen proto-matter in the surroundings began to churn and pulse with a heart-shaking brilliance that emanated from Jokul himself, his stillness somehow becoming motion without ever actually moving. The inverted mountain behind him blazed with light that was also darkness, with cold that was also presence.

"I know where THE Tongue Whisperer is."

WAA!

He said these words as if they were an affirmation or something that he was uttering to then be true.

The proto-matter responded by revealing pathways that hadn’t existed before, frozen currents that pointed toward a specific direction in a place where direction shouldn’t have been possible.

But an instant later, his eyes shone with piercing light as he nodded his head with what might have been interest.

"It seems like it will take some time, as an Undivided One is hunting him."

He paused.

"But I have found him. Let us go."

...!

An Undivided One was hunting him?

Now THE Primordial Paradox was entirely surprised. The proto-matter around them seemed to darken in response to his sudden concern.

"An Undivided One is hunting him and he has not been undifferentiated or collapsed?"

Was THE Youngest so fearsome when he hadn’t even become an Absolute yet?

THE Primordial Paradox had brought THE Youngest here expecting challenges, yes, but he had also expected to be present to help navigate those challenges. For someone of Fundamental Depth to survive being hunted by an Undivided One, even for a short time, was unprecedented.

The visage of Jokul turned toward THE Primordial Paradox with a calm gaze that held neither concern nor reassurance.

"We can wait a little bit more for THE Formless Terrors or more Undivided Ones to find him, or for him to land in the gazes of THE Primordial Architects."

His voice was utterly flat.

"Then he will really be undifferentiated or collapsed. He will die. Shall we wait?"

...!

THE Primordial Paradox looked at the deadpan expression of Jokul as his sharp eyes flashed with irritation. The proto-matter around them seemed to hold its breath, waiting for his response.

He took a step to appear beside this being, his obsidian form closing the distance instantaneously.

"Well, all of us will one day die, but...why say such horror-inducing things?"

His voice was serious.

"Let us go. I cannot afford to lose this one."

With such words, the visage of Jokul turned toward another direction entirely, one that the frozen pathways in the proto-matter hadn’t indicated, and disappeared into the churning expanse with movement that wasn’t movement.

His voice echoed out across the undefined space with weight that pressed against everything it touched.

"Keep up."

...!

THE Primordial Paradox followed, his obsidian form cutting through the proto-matter as he pursued this enigmatic being called Jokul Anaximander, or really, Jack, toward THE Youngest who was somehow surviving being hunted by an Undivided One!

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