Chapter 4988: Loyalty II

THE Beholder observed the Infinity-bearer and his army with interest that had not faded since their initial appearance.

It was genuinely pleasant to witness Infinity again after so many eons of its absence from Observable Existence. The blue-gold light that burned within those four hundred Absolutes carried echoes of that age of nothingness, faint glimmers of what had existed before differentiation and undifferentiation learned to produce complex life.

The endless nature that defined what the Infinity-bearer wielded, all of it stirred memories that THE Beholder had not accessed in spans of time that complex life could not meaningfully comprehend.

But as he watched the demonstration against the Undivided One and the Formless Terrors, as he observed how the Infinity-bearer deployed his forces and directed their Infinite authorities toward combat and consumption, THE Beholder found himself experiencing something approaching disappointment.

Infinity... was being used in a very limited sense.

The applications were clever, certainly. The integration of endless defense and endless offense and endless healing into coordinated expression showed understanding that exceeded what most complex life achieved when grasping fundamental authorities. But the scope of what he was witnessing remained narrow, remained bounded by the frameworks that complex life seemed unable to escape, remained constrained by perspectives that treated Infinity as a tool rather than as a nature.

Infinity should be much grander than this.

In that age of nothingness, when potential had no boundary and possibility had no limit, Infinity had not been something wielded. It had simply been the way existence existed before existence learned to differentiate itself into complex expressions.

It had been the canvas rather than the paint, the stage rather than the play, the question rather than any particular answer.

What THE Beholder was watching felt like someone who had discovered an ocean and decided to use it exclusively for filling drinking cups.

Was the one who came to grasp Infinity in their Observable Existence a bit dull?

The thought crossed THE Beholder’s singular awareness with bemusement rather than condemnation. Complex life had limitations that beings of his nature did not share. They processed reality through frameworks of emotion and ambition and self-interest that colored everything they perceived and everything they did.

Perhaps this Infinity-bearer was doing the best that complex life could do with authority that had not been designed for complex life to wield.

Perhaps.

But THE Beholder had hoped for something more impressive given how rarely true Infinity manifested in Observable Existence.

He was about to turn his attention elsewhere, to drift toward other observations that might prove more worthy of his awareness, when the Infinity-bearer did something unexpected. The being sent his weavings out across the corrupted Infinities saturating the nearby region, golden threads extending through connections that THE Beholder could perceive with his singular cognizance.

The Infinity-bearer was searching for something specific, tracking connections that led away from his current position toward destinations unknown.

THE Beholder followed those threads with idle curiosity.

They led to a scene he had already observed and turned away from some time ago.

An armored Primordial Architect was torturing a weak lifeform in a region of THE Wastes that its authority had saturated completely. THE Beholder had perceived this scene during his drift across Observable Existence and had chosen not to watch because such activities held no interest for him.

Torture was a behavior that complex life seemed unable to abandon despite eons of supposed development. It served emotional needs that beings of his nature did not possess and could not relate to.

Some Primordial Architects were decent, in fairness.

THE Beholder had observed a few across his incomprehensible lifespan who approached something resembling Singular Cognizances in their wonder and their detachment from the petty concerns that consumed most complex life.

They observed rather than conquered. They contemplated rather than consumed. They existed in ways that suggested they might eventually transcend the impossible limitations of their differentiated nature.

One or two had actually achieved something approaching true wisdom. THE Creature was a decent one.

But so many more were simply disappointing.

Because why would a seemingly complex lifeform capable of tremendous authority and vast understanding choose to torture? What purpose did such activity serve beyond the gratification of emotional impulses that should have been beneath beings who had existed since before THE Infinite Unfurling?

Emotions were a significant component of complex lifeforms that they could not seem to escape no matter how much power they accumulated or how long they existed. Some held thrills and excitement and sadism that made them lesser than they should be, that reduced them from what their potential suggested to what their impulses demanded.

This armored Primordial Architect, whoever it was, clearly fell into the disappointing category.

THE Beholder was about to dismiss the scene entirely when he noticed something in the Infinity-bearer’s reaction to perceiving it. The being’s expression had changed. The casual confidence that had characterized his observations shifted into something heavier, something more serious, something that spoke of personal investment rather than detached assessment.

Oh?

The weak thing being tortured and the Infinity-bearer knew each other?

What an unfortunate coincidence that was. To know that someone you were affiliated with had their existence likely over and done with, while you were powerless to help.

Complex life formed attachments that created vulnerability, connections that became weaknesses, bonds that led to suffering when those bonds were threatened or severed.

This Infinity-bearer would have to accept that his affiliated being was lost. The armored Primordial Architect clearly operated at heights that THE Youngest, as THE Beholder had identified him through minimal exertion of awareness, could not contest.

The rational response was to mourn the loss and continue with activities that actually had possibility of success.

This was THE Beholder’s assessment of the situation.

But in the next moment, he heard prophetic echoes spreading from THE Youngest’s position.

Words that spoke of adversity and hardship and choices between becoming and unbecoming. Words that his army of Absolutes repeated with weight that pressed against existence itself. Words that suggested intention rather than acceptance, action rather than mourning, confrontation rather than retreat.

THE Youngest... was heading toward the armored Primordial Architect?

THE Beholder’s singular awareness sharpened with genuine astonishment.

Surely the one who had grasped Infinity did not also move based on emotions?

THE Second Scale of Existence was far removed from where THE Youngest currently operated. The gap between THE First Scale and THE Second Scale was not merely quantitative but qualitative, a difference in fundamental nature rather than simply a difference in accumulated power.

Beings at THE Second Scale perceived and interacted with existence in ways that beings at THE First Scale could not comprehend, let alone contest.

THE Youngest had absolutely no chance against a Primordial Architect at THE Second Scale.

THE Beholder focused his awareness more fully on the armored entity, exerting slightly more effort than his usual minimal observation required. The identity of the Primordial Architect was Beowulf, THE Primordial Armor.

One of the ancient beings that had existed since THE First Cause.

THE Primordial Armor was not an enemy that clever tactics or Infinite armies could overcome.

So why would THE Youngest go? Why would he do something so illogical?

The Infinity-bearer clearly understood the danger. His expression held weight that spoke of full awareness regarding what he was walking toward. His army’s repetition of prophetic words suggested acknowledgment that the confrontation ahead would demand everything and might still prove insufficient. He was not moving in ignorance.

He was moving in defiance of rational assessment.

THE Beholder watched with fascination that approached genuine engagement as the Infinity-bearer began traversing across Observable Existence toward the armored Primordial Architect’s location. Perhaps there was something he had missed regarding the expression of Infinity by THE Youngest.

Perhaps the being could manifest his authority in ways that transcended the limited applications THE Beholder had witnessed against the Undivided One and Formless Terrors.

With the immensity of Infinity truly utilized, anything was possible.

That was the nature of what Infinity fundamentally was. Possibility without boundary. Potential without limit. The capacity to achieve outcomes that finite analysis declared impossible because finite analysis could not account for expressions that extended endlessly.

But THE Youngest should still be far from true utilization of that nature.

His Infinity was currently limited expressions of unlimited authority. His understanding seemed narrow despite the power he had accumulated. His applications suggested someone who had grasped a fragment of Infinity rather than Infinity itself.

THE Beholder watched as THE Youngest and his army crossed distances that would have required conventional beings enormous spans of time to traverse. The Infinity-bearer moved along connections his authority had established, stepping across strings of fate and Mana that carried him toward destination with speed that impressed even THE Beholder’s ancient perspective.

They arrived in a region of THE Wastes where the authority of THE Primordial Armor had already wrapped over everything in the immediate vicinity.

The corruption here was different from the corruption elsewhere. It carried the signature of a being at THE Second Scale, undifferentiation given focus and purpose by consciousness that operated on levels THE Youngest could not access. The very fabric of existence in this region answered to Beowulf rather than to the principles that normally governed Observable Existence.

THE Beholder watched calmly as THE Primordial Armor’s visor lit up with awareness.

The massive armored entity turned its attention from the weak lifeform it had been tormenting, its helm orienting toward a distant point where the corrupted Wastes had begun flickering with the signature of arriving Infinities. Through the gaps in platinum armor that revealed nothing but darkness, something that might have been interest stirred.

THE Youngest and his army appeared.

Four hundred Absolutes with Infinity burning in their foundations materialized in formation behind the Infinity-bearer.

They faced Beowulf, THE Primordial Armor, as if their presence actually meant something.

And then...

"Haha... HA!"

THE Beholder saw THE Primordial Armor begin to laugh.

The sound boomed across the region with weight that made the corrupted proto-matter tremble, genuine amusement emerging from the armored entity at the sight of what had arrived to challenge it. THE Beholder sighed internally at the display, though beings of his nature did not truly sigh.

Why would this Primordial Architect not laugh? The situation was amusing from its perspective. A being at THE First Scale arriving with an army of lesser beings to confront something that operated on levels they could not comprehend.

But THE Beholder also recognized the danger in that laughter.

If THE Primordial Armor was decent enough, if it possessed understanding that exceeded the disappointing norm, it might actually be able to grasp the Infinity of THE Youngest.

It might see opportunity rather than merely amusement.

If it was decent enough.

Because many of these complex lifeforms also did not understand Infinity.

From what THE Beholder knew, from observations spanning eons beyond counting, nobody in this Observable Existence truly understood what Infinity was. They grasped fragments and wielded portions and utilized aspects, but the fundamental nature of endless potential remained beyond their comprehension.

Even THE Youngest, who had achieved more with Infinity than most, operated within limitations that true understanding would have dissolved.

For now, THE Beholder would watch.

He would observe what unfolded between a being who had grasped Infinity and a being who had achieved THE Second Scale. He would wonder why complex lifeforms did the things they did, why they formed attachments that led them to face impossible odds, why they chose confrontation when retreat would preserve their existence.

He would witness whatever disaster emerged from this collision of authorities that should never have been brought into proximity.

And perhaps, if something unexpected occurred, he would finally see Infinity expressed in ways that justified the interest its presence had stirred in his ancient awareness.

THE Youngest stood before THE Primordial Armor.

The weak lifeform that had been tortured lay somewhere before that armored titan, its fate suspended between rescue and termination depending on what happened next.

And THE Beholder watched with patience that had been cultivated across billions of years of practice, curious despite himself about what complex life would do when facing something it could not defeat.

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