A silence, deep and vast, hung in the air like a pause between breaths. And then, Oryzarakh returned.
His form- black gold, towering, monolithic- emerged from the depths of Folded space with terrifying finality. Pressure surged with his arrival, reality groaning in reverence.
"Everything is ready," he stated, each word dropping like hammers of existence.
Moiraine turned toward him, her golden white robe flowing like liquid paradox. Her gaze, ancient and piercing, returned to Noah.
"We may be at the precipice of something potentially grand," she said, solemnly. "I will verify it one last time. And for the chains, consider that debt owed. Just once more, let me see your Paradox."
She raised her hand, calm and graceful, her fingertips igniting with a white-gold glow. Paradox unfurled like a symphony.
Noah watched silently.
He lifted his own hand. It too was painted with the hues of Paradox- the Living True Source swirling like a patient serpent.
As their palms drew close, the air between them warped.
Black and gold met. Authority mixed. Not repelled. Not resisted. But harmonized.
|Your authority of the Living True Source of Paradox is coming in contact with an extremely complex and pure Paradoxical Authority, studying its structure and composition as it begins to rapidly rise in complexity and purity itself.|
...!
The fusion didn’t spark ruin. It birthed potential. An intricate spiral of black-gold weavings spun in the air like a blooming flower of infinite regress and possibilities!
Noah’s mind was already dissecting the event as he also confirmed it!
Moiraine’s eyes remained locked onto his, and for the first time, there was no calmness in her face. Only a slight sense of awe, hesitation, and conflicted wonder.
"There isn’t time to fully explain the true extent of what this means," she said, her voice low. "But understand this. You are the first Living Paradox whose resonance with other Living Paradoxes has not spawned an Inevitability. That alone makes you an unknown and in a level of danger you cannot imagine. We must go."
WAA!
Noah’s golden eyes gleamed.
"Go where, exactly?" he asked.
Moiraine turned, gesturing to the void above. Her voice became heavy.
"To the Transcendent Paradoxical Folds. Where Foldless Ones reign. Where Wonders are forged, and where Wheels of Existence that have survived their Breakings reign. We have to be there because from this moment on, any title you once carried means nothing. You are now an enemy to the rest of the Living Existences moreso than any common Living Paradox. Oryzarakh..."
...!
Oryzarakh’s voice came cold and absolute as he stared at Noah closely while replying, "Hold on, one more must come. I will not leave him behind."
He closed his eyes. A ripple of pressure rolled through the Folded air. Space compressed, then snapped.
BOOM!
An eruption of energy announced the arrival of a being whose appearance crackled with quiet significance.
Silver hair. Crimson eyes. White robe stitched with paradox.
It was...Aetheron.
His crimson eyes were languid and filled with power as he looked around, eventually coming to lock onto Noah!
Noah met his gaze and nearly laughed aloud.
The causal chain of events- instigated by this elegant bastard- had somehow placed both of them here.
He would not forget. Nor would he fault him as Noah was thr one to release the terrifying weavings of the Protagonist!
Aetheron looked around, his brows furrowed. "What is this? What is happening?"
Oryzarakh didn’t offer explanation. He simply stated, "Plans have changed. We have to go now."
The urgency in his tone conveyed necessity.
Moiraine floated closer to Noah, her steps made of paradox, her body radiating pure Complexity.
She surveyed the surroundings with narrowed eyes, like one awaiting a storm.
Noah took everything in and tilted his head. "How exactly does one enter the so called Transcendent Paradoxical Folds?"
Moiraine tapped a single finger to the air. Her tone was calm. "Through a Transcendent Foldpath. Hold still."
Then...Existence split open.
A beam of black-gold light erupted from the void above, immense and absolute.
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