Chapter 4874: Existence Is! III

This time around as well, THE Creature did not reply.

That also should have been its own answer.

Origin smiled at this non-answer as she began to walk away from the temple, her steps light despite the weight of everything that had been said.

"I am happy for you. I really am."

Her voice carried no happiness at all.

"I wish you the best, O Creature."

BOOM!

With such words, she walked away and did not look back.

The multicolored flames around THE Creature pulsed faintly as he looked out from the temple, watching her descend the steps toward where THE First Hunger waited. His eyes were filled with unknown Immensities and wonder, contemplating paths that only he could see and outcomes that only he could understand.

He had lost something today.

Whether that loss was worth what he had gained remained to be seen.

—

Origin left the temple with light steps, her form descending the ancient stones with grace that belied the emotional weight she had been carrying. Even though her body radiated terrifying waves of Absolute power that made the very air around her tremble with respect, her eyes felt light and her breathing felt free.

As if she had released a heavy weight that had been pressing against her shoulders since the moment she had been reconstructed.

She reached the bottom of the steps where she had left Hunger, and she found him exactly where she had asked him to wait. His dark hair still flowed past his shoulders. His crimson eyes still burned with the light of all Inevitabilities. His posture was still relaxed but attentive, ready for whatever came next.

He rose as she approached.

She reached out toward THE First Hunger, offering her hand.

He took it.

His fingers wrapped around hers with warmth that THE Creature’s apologies had lacked, with presence that felt immediate and real rather than distant and calculating. She had been given her answer by THE Creature, and in this gesture, in this offered hand, she gave her answer to Hunger.

THE First Hunger turned to stare at the distant visage of THE Creature still visible within the temple, his crimson eyes holding a murky gaze that contained depths of emotion he rarely displayed.

Then he pulled gently on her hand, and the two of them began to walk down the mountain together.

Not once had he believed he would lose against THE Creature.

Not once had he doubted that his patience would be rewarded.

And so far, it seemed like at least at this time, THE First Hunger had won.

He walked down a mountain holding the hand of an Absolute, and the twilight of Alfheimr seemed to burn brighter around them as they descended.

—

Far from Alfheimr.

In a region that could be considered within the spaces between spaces, where the boundaries of Observable Existence grew thin and the rules that governed reality became suggestions rather than laws, the figure of THE Creature was situated back to back with the figure of Anaximander.

The two of them floated in void that wasn’t quite void, surrounded by currents of authority that flowed from THE Creature’s multicolored flames like rivers of pure being. Anaximander’s scholarly robes drifted in winds that had no source, his ancient eyes contemplating equations and theories that only he could perceive.

They had been here for some time.

Immense waves of Existence were spinning around them in patterns, and at this moment, between THE Creature and Anaximander, a flash of colorless light shone and erupted far above them.

The light climbed higher and higher until it reached a point where space itself seemed to object to its presence, and then it carved outward with force that made both beings look up with attention.

An unimaginable crack formed in the fabric of reality.

A Crack of Observable Existence.

It was a rare and impossible thing to find as only a few places had it, but what was impossible for THE Creature?

The moment this crack formed, Anaximander looked up with marvel and curiosity that burned brighter than any scientific discovery he had ever made. His ancient eyes studied the fracture with the intensity of someone who had dedicated eons to understanding the nature of reality, and he couldn’t help but ask THE Creature what he was witnessing.

"What is this?"

THE Creature looked up at the crack with eyes that held knowledge stretching back to before THE Infinite Unfurling, his multicolored flames pulsing with rhythms that seemed to sync with the crack’s formation.

"It would be much easier to explain in a few seconds."

The moment his words were done, the Crack of Observable Existence above them opened fully.

From within that crack, a storm of proto-matter instantly surged out like a pillar of undefined potential, descending with purpose that transcended random occurrence. The storm didn’t spread across the space between spaces. It didn’t dissipate into the void around them.

It landed directly onto the figure of Anaximander.

The proto-matter covered his existence entirely, wrapping around his scholarly form with churning chaos that should have undifferentiated anything it touched. But Anaximander didn’t dissolve. He didn’t blur at the edges. Instead, while surrounded by the storm, his eyes burned with curiosity that held no fear as he raised his hand and twirled strands of proto-matter between his fingers.

He was familiar with this substance.

He was comfortable with its presence.

The storm pulsed once, twice, and then shockingly entered his body as if returning to a home it had been separated from for far too long. Anaximander began to tremble as an unfathomable Immensity was released from within him, power that had been dormant awakening with force that made THE Creature’s multicolored flames flicker in response.

Instantly, in this entire region, everything froze over.

Not frozen in the sense of ice, but frozen in the sense of absolute stillness. The currents of authority stopped flowing. The void stopped being void. Everything achieved a state of stasis!

...!

Anaximander looked like he had a dazed expression as the storm died down around him, waves of proto-matter flowing serenely across his figure like loyal attendants welcoming a returning master. But his expression didn’t show triumph or satisfaction.

It showed a sense of loss.

Almost as if he did not want this.

Almost as if the memories now flooding back into his existence were memories he had been happy to forget.

Yet THE Creature looked down toward him with eyes that held ancient knowing, his multicolored flames burning with warmth that seemed almost paternal.

"Hello, Jack. It has been quite some time."

...!

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