Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4094: Oh, Shit III

Erikson’s eyes lit up with interest. The slipper might look simple, but he’d learned that in Noah’s Shore, simple usually meant secretly terrifying.

"Let me try," he said with characteristic confidence, reaching for it.

Noah hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and passed it over.

BOOM!

The instant the slipper left Noah’s hand, it dropped like a collapsing star. Erikson’s hands, which had confidently reached to catch it, were suddenly pressed downward with force that cracked the sand beneath them. His expression shifted from confidence to shock to strain as he fought to hold something that apparently weighed more than mountains.

Noah quickly intervened, taking the slipper back before it could actually crush Erikson’s hands into conceptual paste.

"Like I said," Noah said, storing the artifact again, "too much for now."

Erikson flexed his fingers, making sure they still existed in all the proper dimensions. "What the hell is that thing?"

"An Early Creature Artifact. It makes things small and meaningless when you hit them with it." Noah’s expression was perfectly serious. "But you need the complexity to wield it first."

"How much complexity?"

"You might need to gain a few dozen billion in Complexity and Purity first." Noah patted his shoulder with genuine encouragement. "Work hard! You’ll get there."

Erikson sighed, the sound containing acceptance rather than defeat.

He stood, brushing sand from his shorts with movements that showed his confidence hadn’t been dented, just redirected.

"Keep it warm for me, Big Boss," he said, already walking away with renewed purpose. "I’ll be back for it."

Noah watched him go, noting how Erikson immediately headed toward Ayame and Lilith.

The man might dress like every day was a beach party, but he understood what mattered...growth, advancement, and eventually being strong enough to wield a slipper that could humiliate existence itself!

For now, he simply continued his study of his own Existence.

Of his Towers and Atlas. Of Veritarch, Ordo Ab Chao, and other prominent Authorities coursing across his Atlas.

He still have many things to do with his existence as at the core of his being, Ruination had silently been constructing what used to be the Infinite Forge!

Truly, there was much to do.

But at such a time...

His contemplation broke as his eyes sharpened with sudden certainty. He rose and began walking across the golden sands, drawn by instinct.

Titano approached with his characteristic lumber, his massive form creating small earthquakes with each step.

"Brother," the giant said with unusual hesitation, "I have made many more Brothers here. Is that okay?"

Noah looked around, noticing for the first time that Titano had apparently been socializing.

"Of course," Noah smiled, patting the giant’s arm since his shoulder was too high to reach comfortably. "And remember, you’re on your way to getting rich now. You can also try and find a baddie for yourself here."

Titano froze completely, his simple features cycling through confusion, hope, and disbelief. He scratched his head with enough force to generate wind.

"Brother... I can really find a baddie?"

Noah nodded with absolute confidence. "I’ll teach you exactly what you need to do later. Trust me."

As Noah walked away, Titano stood watching with eyes that struggled to contain emotion.

His expression shifted through gratitude, loyalty, and something approaching reverance.

This Brother hadn’t just given him home or purpose...he’d promised to help him find a baddie!

In Titano’s simple yet profound worldview, this made Noah the best Brother possible.

Noah continued walking, drawn by an inexplicable pull toward the plot containing the Seed of Inevitability.

Yes!

He instinctively felt a pull here!

And as if waiting for him...

The moment he arrived, the seed pulsed with obsidian-gold light, and prompts erupted.

|Glorious Effort Recognized!|

|You’ve worked so hard that even a Seed of Inevitability is impressed|

|The Seed has decided to bloom.|

|Natural maturation option selected|

|Results tremendously elevated due to multiple factors|

|Further elevation due to effort invested|

|Multiple Everythings provided as fertilizer|

|Principle of Perpetual Harvest multiplying all factors|

|Seed of Inevitability: BLOOMING|

|Product will be irreversibly bound to your existence. Bond is supplemented by the Early Veiled Shore, Infinite Early Osmontian Shore, Your various distinctions, and the Seed of Perpetual Harvest providing synergy|

Blinding obsidian-gold light erupted from the plot, carrying the terrible grandeur of Inevitability asserting itself!

The aura that spread made everything on the Shore pause, recognizing that something fundamental was changing.

Noah waved his hand, and beside him materialized Ozymandias.

Ozymandias!

His other self, the part that had been heavily injured but now stood restored. He had grand plans for this aspect of himself, intending to explore different facets of existence through distributed consciousness. The Seed of Inevitability would be the perfect starting point for-

BOOM!

An explosion of authority made his entire existence resonate like a struck bell.

|The Seed of Inevitability has bloomed into...|

|Into...|

|Into...?|

The prompts stuttered, unable to complete their declaration.

Because there, on that plot where existential force should have manifested, something unprecedented had occurred.

A small figure blinked open eyes that contained infinite depth despite their diminutive size. A tine black dress of Inevitable weavings covered it!

The being appeared entirely harmless and almost cute in its confusion, yet undoubtedly, shockingly, impossibly...it looked up towards Noah as their eyes met!

And an immense silence came as if both sides were shocked to see each other.

But the tiny, miniature being that looked a bit less than 2 feet smiled right after as...

"Oh. Hello again, Outsider."

HUUM!

That face.

Those words!

Undoubtedly...

It looked like a miniature version of Khor!

Khor, The First Hunger, the Inevitability that had transcended inevitability!

She blinked with disbelief that matched Noah’s own, her tiny form perhaps over a foot tall, looking around with confusion!

When her eyes had found Noah, recognition dawned. When she smiled, reality itself seemed to remember hunger!

The words had carried weight that exceeded their casual delivery! She knew him.

Remembered him from that brief moment in the Earliest Folds!

"What a turn of events this is, Outsider. Where, When, and What...am I?" Her voice, despite coming from such a small form, contained depths that suggested size was merely suggestion.

"Because I...should not exist."

...!