The terrifying Primordial Architect waited for a moment, its body shifting with contemplation that exceeded mortal thought. Then it used its massive hand to move the pieces.
It moved two pieces. One a Formless Terror whose churning form had been stilled into something resembling a knight. The other an Undivided One whose countless eyes had been frozen mid-blink into something resembling a rook. The pieces slid across the board with weight that pressed against reality itself.
And they were only capable of movement after the Primordial Architect had moved them.
Once positioned in the center of the board, the two pieces came alive. The Formless Terror churned with violence that should have shattered the board. The Undivided Oneโs eyes blazed with hunger that should have consumed everything nearby. They fought in the center of the board with authority that exceeded most Absolutes, their conflict contained within the squareโs boundaries by rules that the Primordial Architect had established eons ago.
The winner would advance to the next round.
It was unknown what would happen to the loser.
As the Primordial Architect played such a terrifying game, near it was actually someone familiar.
A humanoid entity surrounded by multicolored flames of Existence sat beside the white tree with posture that held no deference despite the company it kept. The flames danced and swirled around its form with authority that declared this being as something beyond normal classification.
It was none other than THE Creature.
At this moment, his facial expression and eyes were a bit more clear than they had ever been during his appearances in Observable Existence. His eyes seemed grand and imperious, filled with a level of extraordinary calm that could not be explained through conventional understanding.
This was the calm of someone who had witnessed everything and found nothing capable of disturbing their equilibrium.
He was staring out into the storm around this calm white region, observing the corruption and Infinities that currently transformed THE Prima Indifferentia with attention that held neither concern nor satisfaction.
The Primordial Architect spoke without looking away from its game.
"I told you not to play games with that little thing for the longest time."
Its voice was quintessentially grand.
"Now you two have gone back and forth for eons as it all leads to this."
The Formless Terror on the board consumed part of the Undivided Oneโs mass, gaining advantage in their frozen conflict.
"Our Observable Existence is a grand one that shows marvels even to me to this day. We have to care for it and nurture it."
Its geometric patterns shifted with something that might have been emphasis.
"I grasped THE Second Scale of Existence through its wonders as I told you how you could do the same."
Its eyes finally turned toward THE Creature.
"But you were too impatient."
...!
The words were utterly terrifying in their implications.
THE Creatureโs multicolored flames flickered with response that held no defensiveness.
"Not all beings are like Primordial Architects."
His voice was calm, grand, carrying the weight of Existence itself within its tones.
"You were born with existences filled with clear musings of differentiation and undifferentiation. The path to THE Second Scale was visible to you from the moment of your emergence. You had merely to walk it at whatever pace suited your contemplation. You...voilated adversity and hardship as you have been stuck there this whole time."
He turned to face the Primordial Architect directly.
"Others do not have such clarity. Others must forge their paths through darkness and uncertainty and the constant pressure of enemies who would see them collapsed before they reach their potential. And others do not have the time that you possessed. Cycles upon cycles of peaceful contemplation while reality waited patiently for you to achieve what you sought."
"My path requires adversity. My path requires conflict. My path requires playing games with little things and seeing which of us emerges transformed from the exchange."
"Whatever your reasoning may be, things have now come to this."
"I am one of the few sane ones after all of these cycles and eons. Others like me are not at all sane."
"Some are at your level or below. Some...are above you. They were lost in their own weavings and storms of differentiation and undifferentiation for eons upon eons. They had no reason to leave or do anything really. THE Prima Indifferentia was home enough. The game of existence held no appeal when they could simply be without purpose or direction."
Its gaze sharpened.
"What is happening right now gives things definition more than intended. Especially that glimmer of Infinity above."
"Things that have not moved or bothered to move for eons will now begin to walk these lands freely. They had all remained within THE Prima Indifferentia for all these eons, content to exist without acting. But all of this changes that."
"Even if you may be ready, what about all the others? The little friends you have made over the eons?"
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse