Chapter 4919: A Man Must Make Great Sacrifices II

Riya materialized first, her small body and vibrant blue hair instantly recognizable as she looked around with initial calm that came from trust in the one she looked upto the most. But that calm transformed into something drastic and horrified as she felt her existence begin to dissolve under THE Yggdrheim’s infinite undifferentiation!

Titano appeared next, that massive simple-minded Titan whose loyalty to Noah had never wavered as he always considered him a brother! His colossal form seemed to shrink as undifferentiation pressed against him from every direction, his features becoming indistinct as he roared with confusion and pain!

Moiraine emerged into the realm with paradoxical grace. Her form flickered between states as THE Yggdrheim could not decide whether she was one thing or another, and the uncertainty only added to the dissolution pressing against her!

Sigrid, THE Living Order herself, appeared with composure that cracked the moment undifferentiation touched her foundations. Order and undifferentiation were fundamentally opposed, and THE Yggdrheim’s assault felt like poison to everything she represented as she frowned and fought back!

THE First Farmer materialized with soil still on his hands from whatever he had been cultivating, his weathered features twisting with shock as his existence began to unravel in ways that no harvest or Effort had ever prepared him for!

THE Emperor Penguin, this wingless, talentless bird, waddled into existence with pride and dignity that dissolved alongside his form, his noble bearing becoming difficult to maintain as infinite undifferentiation sought to return him to proto-potential!

Khor appeared in her diminutive small form, that ancient being whose power belied her size, and even she gasped with surprise as THE Yggdrheim’s pressure exceeded anything she had prepared for! But her Hunger bloomed as her Depth and Sigrid’s and The First Farmer’s Depths were already at Fundamental because of THE Embodiment of THE Creature!

The Land Lifeforms arrived together, Heidrun the arrogant goat bleating with indignation that transformed into genuine fear, Malphas the butler attempting to maintain his composure even as his existence wavered, and Yoshinami’s many legs scrambling for purchase on reality that was becoming increasingly uncertain!

An Arch Lich cackled as he dissolved!

And then the Queens of THE Infiniverse appeared!

Barbatos emerged with darkness and death that could not find anchor in a realm of infinite undifferentiation, her form becoming indistinct as she struggled to maintain cohesion!

Adelaide materialized with beauty that began dissolving the moment THE Yggdrheim’s pressure touched her, her features blurring as undifferentiation sought to return her to formless potential!

Athena appeared with eyes that could not find solution, her eyes widening with recognition of what was happening to her existence!

And many others arrived alongside them, companions who had grown comfortable in THE Infiniverse’s protection, followers who had believed themselves safe under their Monarch’s shadow!

All of them were brought over!

All of them felt their existences begin to dissolve!

All of them looked toward Noah with expressions that ranged from confusion to fear to accusation to desperate hope for explanation!

THE Genesis Monarch looked upon his gathered people with eyes that held no mercy but also no cruelty. This was not punishment. This was not abandonment. This was the beginning of something that would either transform them into beings capable of surviving what was coming or reveal that they had always been destined to fall.

And again...destiny and fate were merely choices.

He...would truly have his people experience existence!

And existence, as he had learned, was adversity.

Most of those that Noah brought to THE Yggdrheim did not have his direct lineage like his son. Truly, for them, it would be only a few seconds before they faced complete collapse and dissolution without intervention. The infinite undifferentiation of this realm did not care about their accomplishments or their loyalty or their dreams. It simply sought to return all differentiated things to formless potential.

So for others, Noah gave a bit of his glimmers of Infinity to cover the core parts of their existence and preserve them from immediate dissolution. The blue-gold light wrapped around the foundations of each being he had brought here, creating scaffolding that would hold their existence together while the rest of them experienced the full pressure of undifferentiation.

He addressed all those present with voice that carried across THE Yggdrheim despite the chaos of the realm.

"Many of you did not have to struggle for power these past days and weeks."

His eyes swept across the gathered beings who were writhing and gasping and fighting against dissolution with varying degrees of success.

"But struggle is going to be critical going forward. The least that needs to be done is for all of you to survive the threat of undifferentiation. To make sure that your definition is sound."

He folded his hands behind his back.

"Survive this first. You will be even grander in the future. I have placed a glimmer of my Infinity within your existences that will give you scaffolding."

His voice hardened.

"But I will take this glimmer away fairly soon. Find a way to keep your definition amidst undifferentiation with your Civilizations. When my light fades, you will be on your own."

He paused.

"So survive. Persevere."

...!

He said these grand words as he looked at his people who were struggling one way or another. The vast majority of their existences still felt that terrifying pressure of undifferentiation as only core parts of who they were remained protected by the faint blue-gold light that Noah had placed on each of them before they arrived here.

Yet this entire ordeal was still terrifying and heavy.

Noah could see the pleading gazes on many of them directed toward him, begging without words for mercy, for release, for anything other than this trial that dissolved the edges of their beings with every passing moment. Some looked at him with desperate hope. Some with resignation that came from understanding that Noah had made a decision that would not be reversed.

And then Barbatos sent him a message.

Her vibrant visage was melting on the edges of her limbs, her form struggling to maintain cohesion even with the scaffolding of his Infinity protecting her core. Despite her obvious distress, despite the dissolution pressing against her from every direction, her mental communication carried a threat that exceeded anything THE Yggdrheim could offer.

’Little Fish, you will not get any from me for at least...the next day if I have to go through this!’

Her voice in his mind held fury!

’A full day! I know you cannot handle that, Little Fish! I do not need to undergo this challenge!’

Barbatos sent him such words as they included a terrifying threat within them. The past him may have wavered in the face of such a declaration. The past him may have found reasons to exempt certain individuals from this trial, to make accommodations that preserved his own interests alongside theirs.

But at this moment...

He closed his eyes and became stoic.

Sometimes, a man had to sacrifice that which he loved the most to ensure those he loved were protected against everything.

...!

Oh, the painful and great sacrifices he had to make for his people!

A whole day!

Ah!

Moments after Barbatos, he received similar threats from Adelaide, whose message carried promises of locked doors and cold shoulders that would last until she deemed him sufficiently punished. Then came Athena, whose arguments about why this was unnecessary were accompanied by implications about what would be withheld if he persisted.

Then came the others, each one wielding the singular weapon they knew could bring him to his knees!

They all threatened him with the one thing they knew he could not live without!

But he remained firm.

He had to be steady!

Noah whispered a mantra to himself as he stood with eyes closed and expression stoic, putting his people to the test while ignoring the increasingly creative threats flooding his consciousness.

"I stands firm against all storms. I do not bend to threats of warmth withheld. I remember that adversity builds strength, and that includes my own adversity. I will survive this day, and tomorrow, and however many days of punishment they deem necessary. I will be okay. Probably. Maybe. I cannot back down now..."

He repeated this mantra silently while maintaining his external composure, a pillar of stoic authority that revealed nothing of the internal calculations regarding just how long he could actually survive without what was being threatened!

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