Chapter 4881: All In I

What Noah saw was something unique.

The Manifestation of the Civilization of THE Hollow Echo of THE Creature was unlike anything he could have anticipated, its architecture showing something that had once been grand but was now merely a reflection of grandeur, a shadow cast by a light that existed elsewhere.

Nine grand hollow mountains surrounded the Echo, their tips pointing inward toward the being they protected while their bases spread outward in a perfect circle that seemed to define the boundaries of this entity’s domain. Each mountain was massive beyond description, their surfaces carved from what looked like crystallized colorless flame that had been frozen in the moment of burning, and their interiors were visible through countless apertures that revealed emptiness where substance should have been.

Hollow.

Just like the Echo itself.

The nine mountains formed a circular hollow domain that spun slowly around THE Hollow Echo, their rotation creating currents of authority that pressed against Noah’s existence with weight!

The formation was defensive and offensive simultaneously, a fortress that could become a weapon, a shield that could become a blade.

It was a unique thing to see, and for Noah, it was novelty, and it was new.

And because it was new, he focused and remained serious.

Because he was not even an Absolute, and he was looking at a Hollow Echo of THE Creature himself and choosing to fight with it rather than flee from it as he had done before. The gap between them should have been insurmountable. The difference in their existences should have made this confrontation nothing more than elaborate suicide.

But should have meant nothing to someone like him!

He looked at THE Hollow Echo with eyes that now perceived reality as it truly was, his Civilizational Instinctus granting him true sight.

"This time, there will be no running or retreat."

His voice was calm but held weight that made the Capillary Thread around them tremble.

"Unlike previous times, I will stake the Everything of this body. Either it collapses you, or you collapse it."

He paused, his blue-gold existence burning brighter.

"Do you understand me?"

He asked this question genuinely, because it would be even grander if this Hollow Echo could actually comprehend what was being offered. It would make dismembering it all that much more satisfying if it understood the stakes!

And...

"You. Have. Changed."

HUUM!

THE Hollow Echo shockingly spoke, its voice emerging from the colorless flames that comprised its form. The words were fragmented, broken apart by the hollow nature of the being speaking them, but they carried understanding that Noah hadn’t expected.

Around THE Hollow Echo, colorless flames flared and began to rage with intensity that painted the entire Capillary Thread in shades of absence. The nine hollow mountains that comprised its Manifestation actually began to spin faster, their rotation accelerating as the Echo prepared for combat.

And as the mountains spun, Noah paid attention with the dedicated focus that THE Civilizational Instinctus required.

He saw the weaknesses.

On the first mountain, a crack ran down from its hollow tip toward its base, a fissure that told of structural compromise where the mountain’s authority had been stretched too thin across too many defensive functions. The crack pulsed faintly with each rotation, growing slightly wider before contracting, a wound that had never properly healed.

On the third mountain, the apertures that revealed its hollow interior were clustered too densely on one face, creating a section of the surface that was more hole than substance. The integrity there was maintained through will rather than structure, and will could be exhausted.

On the fifth mountain, the base where it connected to the circular formation showed signs of erosion, the crystallized colorless flame appearing slightly dimmer than the rest of the structure. This was the oldest weakness, accumulated across however long THE Hollow Echo had existed in The Interstices.

On the seventh mountain, a crevice ran horizontally across its midsection where two different types of authority had been fused together imperfectly. The seam was nearly invisible, but to Noah’s enhanced perception it blazed like a beacon, announcing structural failure waiting to happen.

And on the ninth mountain, the tip itself showed microscopic fractures radiating outward from where it pointed toward THE Hollow Echo, stress damage from bearing too much of the hollow Civilization’s concentrated weight for too long.

Five clear weaknesses across nine mountains.

Five targets!

Five points where THE Civilizational Instinctus could be applied to transform this battle from an exchange of power into architectural demolition.

Noah saw every single one of these points as he prepared himself, his existence beginning to buzz with Immensity that had grown to levels rivaling weak Absolutes. He nodded with the calm of someone who had already calculated the path to victory.

"I have definitely changed. You have not."

His blue-gold flames burned brighter.

"Are you ready? Our Everythings are on the line."

...!

THE Hollow Echo’s colorless flames surged with intensity that made the nine mountains tremble, and when it spoke again, its fragmented voice carried the weight of something magisterial!

"You. Cannot. Even. Comprehend. My. Everythings."

HUUM!

It was a reply, and shockingly it was also an Embodiment!

The words themselves carried the authority of THE Creature’s aspect, Existence given voice in a declaration that pressed against reality with weight that should have crushed anything below Absolute! The Embodiment crashed outward from THE Hollow Echo like a wave of pure presence, colorless and overwhelming and absolutely certain of its supremacy.

Noah felt the Embodiment coming as he stayed still.

His weight should be grand enough with his foundation to rival a weak Absolute. His established Apophasis were still active, still declaring what he was not. His Infinities still burned across every aspect of his existence, creating endless potential for response.

Every part of his existence was buzzing, but it wasn’t agitation or excitement that drove this resonance. It was determination. His existence was burning with determination as it wanted to test itself, to prove itself against something that would have been unthinkable to face just hours before!

And so it did.

And so he stayed still.

The weight of an Embodiment crashed into him.

The authority of "You. Cannot. Even. Comprehend. My. Everythings." slammed against his foundations with force that should have scattered his existence across The Interstices like ashes in a hurricane. The pressure was immense, incomprehensible, the weight of Existence focused through an Echo that retained a sliver of the original’s power to devastate anything below Absolute!

Certain times in existence, one could stand so defiant that an enemy could see their defiance and look at them with respect rather than contempt.

At this time, THE Hollow Echo of THE Creature looked at Noah’s unflinching gaze as this being who should have been crushed, who should have been scattered, who should have been nothing before the weight of an Embodiment... actually stood firm.

THE Hollow Echo nodded with seriousness and respect.

And...

BOOM!

The Embodiment that smashed into Noah only caused his blue-gold robes to flutter in currents of displaced authority, the fabric rippling with the remnants of force that had been distributed across his entire existence rather than concentrated on any single point.

He had long since stopped being THE Tongue Whisperer at this time.

He was not hiding behind a disguise or concealing his true nature.

He was Noah Osmont, THE Genesis Monarch, and at this moment he was an Absolute Immovable Object who did not move beneath weight that should have moved him!

His existence remained exactly where it was, and oh, the sensations that flooded through him were beyond description!

|Combat Analysis - Embodiment Resistance Successful|

|Due to your foundation weight of 11x Surface, 10.5x Intermediate, and equivalent Fundamental to THE Primordial Paradox, you possess sufficient Immensity to bear the crushing weight of Embodiments from Hollow Echoes without structural collapse. Your weight creates natural resistance that disperses incoming authority across your entire existence.|

|Additionally, your established Apophasis remain active: You are not limited by the weight that crashes against you. Your existence is not incapable of bearing that which seeks to overwhelm it. You are not collapsible under the Immensity of what you have claimed. Most of these negations remove conceptual vulnerabilities that Embodiments would normally exploit.|

|Furthermore, Autonomous Existential Response activated without conscious command. Your Infinities detected the incoming Embodiment and automatically configured your Seals, your Foundation, and your Civilizational Authority. Your body knew how to bear this weight before your mind understood what was happening.|

|You stood against an Embodiment of THE Hollow Echo of THE Creature through sheer will alone!|

HUUM!

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