Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 4581: The Chicken Or The Egg? II

What?

Noah blinked at the seemingly ridiculous question appearing at the end of such a serious explanation.

Ul’moreth laughed heartily at his reaction, clearly enjoying the moment.

|Haha, yes, I know how absurd it sounds! But bear with me, Little Anomaly. There exists a question, one that has consumed the contemplation of many entities across all eras since awareness first emerged from undifferentiated chaos,| Ul’moreth began with voice carrying the weight of ancient philosophical inquiry.

|A question so fundamental that it sits at the very foundation of everything we understand about reality, and yet remains utterly unanswerable despite eons of dedicated contemplation by the wisest minds.|

|The question is deceptively simple in its phrasing, yet incomprehensibly complex in its implications. What came first, Little Anomaly? Existence itself, or The First Tongue?|

The space around him began to shimmer as obsidian gold diagrams formed to illustrate the philosophical paradox with visual clarity.

|Consider the first position held by many powerful entities. Some argue that Existence had to exist first in order for The First Tongue to form as the language of existence. After all, how can a language exist without something for that language to describe? How can there be speech without a speaker to produce it? How can there be words without reality to give those words meaning and context?|

|By this logic, Existence came first as primordial chaos, as undifferentiated potential, as formless void waiting to take shape. And then, from within that already existing chaos, The First Tongue emerged as a way for existence to organize itself, to speak itself into structured forms, to create grammar and syntax from randomness. The language arose from existence, not the other way around.|

The diagrams shifted to show a completely different perspective.

|But then consider the opposing position, equally supported by compelling evidence and reasoning. These entities argue that The First Tongue spoke existence into being, that the language came first and created reality through the act of being spoken. When The First Tongue first declared concepts like space, time, matter, energy, these things came into being specifically because they were named, because they were spoken with proper pronunciation and structure.|

|By this logic, before The First Tongue was spoken, there was absolutely nothing. Not even chaos or void, because chaos and void are themselves concepts that require language to define them. The very first utterance of The First Tongue created existence by giving it definition, by establishing the rules and patterns that would govern all future reality.|

Ul’moreth’s presence seemed to lean forward with emphasis on the critical flaw embedded in both arguments.

|But here is where the paradox becomes truly inescapable, Little Anomaly. If we accept that The First Tongue came first and spoke existence into being, then we must answer a devastating question. If The First Tongue existed before existence, was that not itself a form of existence? How can something be, how can something have the capability to speak and create, without already existing in some form?|

|The moment we say The First Tongue existed first, we have already conceded that existence preceded it, because The First Tongue’s presence is itself existence. We have contradicted our own position through the very act of stating it clearly.|

The diagrams showed the two positions circling each other endlessly without any possibility of resolution.

|This is what The Others have called THE Primordial Paradox. The Chicken or The Egg elevated to a terrifying significance. Which came first? And more frustratingly, how can we possibly determine the answer when the very act of existing in a position to ask the question means we are already operating within a framework where both existence and language are so intertwined that separating them becomes impossible?|

|Ah, you can go round and round in circles as it remains a genuine paradox without solution. Which is why in existence, I would actually not fear THE Creature or THE Primordial Chaos among The Others, despite their terrifying power and ambition.|

His voice dropped to carry genuine warning.

|But I would be most cautious of THE Primordial Paradox, THE Living Paradox specifically. While others argue passionately about what came first and wage wars to prove their position correct, Paradox continues to enjoy the sheer nature of this question itself. That entity thrives on contradiction, feeds on unresolvable conflicts, grows stronger from the very debate that weakens others.|

|That is the one you would have to be most careful of, Little Anomaly. Because while you fight to prove your answer, Paradox has already won by ensuring the question can never be definitively answered.|

BOOM!

Noah’s eyes shone with tremendous luminosity as understanding cascaded through his existence.

Oh, how absolutely right Ul’moreth was, even though the ancient being did not fully know the extent of that truth!

Based on what had already happened years from now in the timeline Noah had experienced, based on what he had witnessed of Paradox’s machinations, that entity had truly set themselves up to be absolutely terrifying in ways that defied conventional understanding.

The one who enjoyed the question more than any possible answer.

The one who won by ensuring no one else could ever truly win!

"..."

The information that Ul’moreth continued to provide was expansive and kept opening up different pathways and possibilities that Noah had not even known existed.

Among the many revelations that had just been shared, the identities of The Others swirled in his mind with urgent curiosity.

THE Creature and THE Living Paradox he already knew of from direct experience. But THE Primordial Chaos sounded utterly insane as a concept, alongside THE Secretive Eon whose very name suggested hidden depths.

If they were being mentioned in the same breath alongside entities like THE Creature or THE Living Paradox, THE Primordial Paradox...they had to be immensely powerful existences operating on scales that defied conventional comprehension.

This begged the question once more that had been bothering Noah for some time. Where exactly did all the THE level entities go? Why were they so rare in the current era when logic suggested there should be more of them scattered across existence?

Noah felt like he had an inkling of an idea forming, a working theory that was beginning to take shape in his mind. But it was so wild and potentially disturbing that he would only give it serious credibility when he obtained substantially more information to support or disprove it.

But for now, there was the continuation of expanding his knowledge on The Way of Existence and The First Tongue.

He normally would not give anyone the time of day to be talking so extensively and at such length as Ul’moreth was doing. But regardless of how long winded this entity wanted to be, he could continue talking in entire paragraphs for hours and Noah would not care in the slightest. Talk as much as you wanted, big guy!

Just continue feeding him as much knowledge as possible, and he would advance even further!