At her words, the Early Creatures looked at each other, and then four of them detached from the group and headed deeper into the labyrinth, their expressions grim.
Noah paid them only a passing glance. His gaze was fixed on the glass structure behind the Commander.
Within its transparent walls, held in place by radiant white attachments, were... armors.
Unfinished, skeletal backbones of the very same design as the Justiciar that had annihilated Aeternitas Glacies!
There were dozens of them, displayed like anatomical models in a museum of death!
|[Living Existential Armor – Model J-7 (Justiciar)] - Incomplete.|
|[Living Existential Armor – Model V-3 (Vindicator)] - Incomplete.|
|[Living Existential Armor – Model P-9 (Purifier)] - Incomplete.|
His eyes blazed with a cold, intense light. So, this was where they were made.
The Fold Dweller, Elara, raised her brows, shaking her head as if to scold a curious child.
"You are moving too fast, Elderborn," she said, her tone sharp and impatient. "First, we have to verify your status. So... let us see if you can manipulate the Early Omnichalcum Metal. If you aren’t even able to do this... we can be rid of you even quicker."
WAA!
At her words, Noah finally turned his full attention to her.
She walked towards a massive, silver table that stood at the center of the clearing. Upon it rested a cluster of pristine, stellar white metal, its surface so pure it seemed to have no reflection.
"This," she said, gesturing to the metal with a proprietary air, "is Early Omnichalcum. A primordial metal that contains a high concentration of the enriched, leftover Everythings of THE Creature. To most, it is a useless, inert chunk of matter, completely unresponsive to any authority. But to an Elderborn..."
A faint, challenging smile touched her lips. "An Elderborn, with their unique connection to THE Creature’s essence, should be able to manipulate it, to cause a reaction with their own authority. So, let us see. Are you a genuine article, or just another defective model?"
...!
Was he genuine, or was he defective?
The question hung in the sterile, silent air of the Early Laboratories, a clinical assessment that held the weight of a death sentence!
Commander Elara stood with her arms crossed, her expression a mask of impatient, professional scrutiny.
On the silver table between them, the pristine, stellar white cluster of Early Omnichalcum Metal seemed to absorb the very light of the room, a silent, waiting judge.
Her words were terrifying in their noble, audacious ambition.
And in the silent chambers of his own mind, Noah smiled, a cold, bitter expression.
A lofty goal indeed!
To create a weapon that could make anyone a god, all for the sake of protecting the weak.
How, then, did such a noble ambition end up creating a Justiciar that had just wiped out a citadel that used to hold sextillions of Living Elementals and Fold Dwellers without a flicker of hesitation?!
Elara’s gaze returned to him, sharp and impatient. "If you are genuine, you will be put to work. You will learn to manipulate this metal, to shape it, to weave your own authority into its structure, to help us complete the work of THE Living Concept. So, come on."
She beckoned him forward with a flick of her wrist. "Let’s see what you are."
Noah approached the table, his gaze settling on the radiant white metal. It looked so pure, so unassuming.
’RUIN/EDEN,’ his thoughts were a silent whisper, ’analyze it. Find anything that could be of help.’
...!

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