Chapter 3981: Choices and Consequences! III

The question struck at the heart of Duke Gwendolyn’s growing seriousness.

Her expression became somber as she prepared to reveal information!

Heavy information!

"Because," she said, her voice carrying the weight of someone admitting to fundamental weakness, "a single Honored Dead Existence can easily overwhelm ten Honored Living Existences in direct combat. The power disparity is not merely significant...it is absolute, insurmountable through normal means."

...!

She paused.

"All Dead Existences are inherently fortified by traces of something that very few even know about, much less understand. Because of events that occurred during the Earliest Folds...catastrophes that reshaped the fundamental nature of existence itself, every Dead Existence carries within their being an active Curse. This Curse makes their existence unbearable, transforms every moment of their awareness into agony beyond description, but it also elevates their power far beyond what any Living Existence can achieve."

Noah’s eyes visibly shone as he absorbed this information, though he carefully kept his excitement from showing on his features.

The mention of a Curse that operated on such a fundamental level, that could reshape the basic parameters of existence itself...

"This Curse," Duke Gwendolyn continued, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper, "stems from something called a Lost Forgotten Principle. Its name is the Infinite Paradox of Unmaking...the authority to exist in a state of perpetual ending without ever achieving the release of true death. It grants them power that exceeds every normal limitation while simultaneously ensuring that they can never find peace, never escape the agony of their condition."

HUUM!

She paused, her expression growing even more grave.

"Its roots trace back to THE Paradox itself, and the first time when the Creature...expressed wrath!"𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

...!

The revelation struck Noah like lightning!

The connections, the implications, the vast web of cause and effect that stretched back to the earliest moments of existence itself...

"All Living Existences," Duke Gwendolyn continued, "apart from one specific type, are badly outmatched against Dead Existences. The Curse that empowers them operates according to principles that make normal authority irrelevant, normal resistance meaningless. The only Living Existences whose nature allows them to offset this fundamental disadvantage, whose very essence provides some measure of protection against the simple Curse of the Infinite Paradox of Unmaking..."

She paused, her ancient eyes finding Noah’s with intensity.

"Are Living Paradoxes."

WAA!

The words hung in the white-gold space between them like a revelation.

Noah felt his mind racing through possibilities even as he maintained his expression of calm interest.

"When," he asked, his voice carefully neutral, "was the last time Living Paradoxes worked with the other Living Existences?"

"..."

Duke Gwendolyn did not reply immediately.

Her silence stretched across moments that felt like eons, carrying within it the weight of truths too heavy to voice easily.

Because the answer was clear to anyone who understood the fundamental hostilities that had shaped existence for countless ages.

Never.

The answer was never, or so rarely that the exceptions proved the rule rather than challenged it.

Noah’s eyes blazed as he contemplated all the possibilities that this revelation opened, his gaze shifting to the screen behind Duke Gwendolyn where the situation in the Temporal Folds continued to deteriorate with each passing moment.

The rupture was expanding now, its edges torn wider by forces that operated from within the realm of endings. Through the growing breach, more of that terrifying presence began to emerge...not just the massive obsidian hand, but hints of what lay beyond it.

A skull began to peek through the widening tear, its ancient and terrifying stature emanating eons of existence spent in states that challenged every definition of consciousness.

Empty sockets gazed out from bone that seemed to have been carved from crystallized despair, while flames burned within those voids...the cold illumination that spoke to light that had learned to hate its own existence!

The skull was massive, dwarfing even the obsidian hand that had preceded it.

Its presence radiated authority that made even Duke Gwendolyn’s power seem diminished by comparison!

In the next moment, with movements that carried the weight of inevitability itself, the skull tilted forward and the rupture shattered completely. Reality tore like fabric being ripped by hands that possessed the strength to unmake the fundamental structure of existence itself!

The massive form that stepped through the breach defied every attempt at description.

It was skeleton and void, ancient bone and crystallized ending, intelligence and entropy given shape and purpose.

Its power seemed utterly horrific as it eclipsed that of even a normal Duke, operating on levels that challenged the Folds themselves!

Duke Gwendolyn gazed upon this manifestation of ultimate ending with expressions that cycled through shock, alarm, and calculation.

"That torn Veil of Existence needs to be closed before any more truly powerful Dead Existences emerge," she said, her voice carrying the urgency of someone who understood that failure here would mean catastrophe!

Noah looked at the screen, at the impossible being that had emerged from a place where ending was not conclusion but ongoing state, and felt understanding crystallize into opportunity.

Glorious fucking opportunity!

"If Paradoxes are ideal when fighting against these entities," he said, his eyes shining with possibilities that stretched toward horizons Duke Gwendolyn could not yet perceive, "then I could provide an Honored Living Paradox to help with this situation, even if a little."

Duke Gwendolyn’s eyes flashed sharply at these words, her ancient mind immediately focusing on implications about every assumption she had made about Noah’s true nature and resources.

Noah scoffed at her expression, his voice carrying amusement mixed with gentle reproach.

"You possess another body that operates as a Living Paradox," he pointed out with casual logic, "yet you find it impossible to believe that I might have an Honored Living Paradox under my employ?"

The challenge was delivered with such matter-of-fact certainty that it forced Duke Gwendolyn to confront the contradictions in her own thinking.

She stared at Noah with stern intensity, her voice carrying weight!

"You’re supposed to be...a mere Fold Dweller," she said, each word carefully measured and heavy.

Noah’s smile deepened as understanding bloomed between them.

"I am," he said, "a particularly strong, rich, and well-connected Fold Dweller."

...!

He paused, allowing this redefinition to settle before continuing with words that carried the weight of genuine offer.

"Give me the location where this catastrophe is unfolding in the Temporal Folds, and I will send my Honored Living Paradox there immediately. You can even deploy your disguised second body alongside mine and claim that both of them operate under your direct control. I’m certain that Living Existences have captured and enslaved Paradoxes for their own purposes over the years, yes?"

Duke Gwendolyn considered this proposal with the careful attention of someone weighing variables.

Her ancient mind worked through possibilities and consequences, calculating risks against potential benefits!

After a moment that felt like eternity compressed into heartbeats, she spoke.

"Okay."

A simple word. A calm agreement. Yet it carried within its single syllable the weight of alliances forming, of barriers being crossed!

Noah’s smile grew even brighter as he absorbed the implications of her acceptance, his mind already racing through the many possibilities that this single word had opened.

Many more opportunities had just presented themselves, pathways toward advancement and understanding that stretched toward horizons he was only beginning to perceive!

In the white-gold space between existence, two beings of immense power had just forged an understanding.

And in the distance, through tears in reality itself, Dead Existences continued their advance into the Transcendent Temporal Folds!

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