In this moment stretched out toward an infinity, Noah looked at Eon.
She looked back at him with an expression so calm it bordered on indifference, those endless golden eyes holding none of the calculation he had grown accustomed to seeing in her features. The Observable force continued flowing into her form from every direction, rivers of golden light that painted the isolated sanctuary in hues that should not have been possible within such a small space.
|Status Effect ’Temporal Dilation’ is active. One instant is being stretched toward infinity.|
Ultimately, she spoke.
"The longer your Infinities remain in my body, the more risk you run for yourself."
Her voice emerged with authority that pressed against the boundaries of this domain, each word carrying implications that demanded careful consideration.
"What happened during the time that I chose to live like you and all others will have far-reaching consequences. Giving you the chance to spread your weavings inside of me has made this possible. I cannot blame you, but I can advise you on exactly how things should unfold from here."
...!
Noah’s eyes remained sharp as he listened to her words.
Her choosing to live like them? With that phrasing, he could infer a great deal. She had been something else, had deliberately become something lesser, and now had reverted to what she originally was. The tattoos, the bands, the way Observable force flowed toward her as if she were its natural destination, all of it made sense when framed as restoration rather than transformation.
But what exactly was she now?
"So you were living among us as us."
Noah’s voice emerged steady despite the flood of Observable force still burning through his foundations via the Quintessence Infiniforce connection.
"What have you reverted back to now? Why do I feel this flood of Observable Force rushing from your existence?"
Eon looked at him calmly, her golden eyes holding an assessment that felt clinical rather than personal. She was studying him as one might study an interesting specimen, determining how much information he could handle, how much he deserved to know.
"Others I would not bother too much with."
She glanced toward the frozen form of THE Primordial Paradox.
"Even Paradox I was sentimental about and said a few things. You...are a case study that will already be of interest to us. I just did not want that interest to become a verdict of your end."
Her expression shifted slightly.
"There is much you and even I do not know, but Existence is too vast and has been going on for too long. Your history, the history of our Observable Existence, my history, all of it is a flicker of dust in overall Existence."
She paused to let those words settle.
"You have been alive for an insignificant amount of time. So have I. So have countless others. Eons before we were born, Existence has been ongoing. Lifeforms have been ongoing."
Her golden eyes held his without wavering.
"And across Existence, there are different types of lifeforms. There are those like you, and there are those like me."
Noah’s gaze turned heavy as he absorbed these words. Different types of lifeforms. Not different in terms of power or cultivation or achievement, but different in terms of fundamental nature. The distinction she was drawing went beyond what many had encountered in their journey through Observable Existence!
But he continued to listen calmly, permitting her to explain what she meant.
"You, Primordial Architects, THE Creature, THE Primordial Paradox, THE Living Paradox, every single one of you are lifeforms born and drenched in Adversity in the Scales of Existence."
Her voice held no condescension, only statement of fact.
"You are THE Bounded."
"I am not drenched in Adversity."
"I am part of them. THE Gilded."
"I could act and play a role to be like you, which is what I did for eons. But you could never be like me. No matter what you do. No matter how much you Persevere."
"That is a doctrine of Vakochev, by the way. To Persevere no matter what across the Scales. But Existence Engineered you already to never be capable of much."
"That already is a gulf enough. Understanding that is what I told Paradox here, and I will tell you somewhat more."
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