The mory faded away just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him floating in darkness once more while his consciousness processed what he’d witnessed.
The First Tongue.
A language of Existence itself that even THE entities didn’t properly understand. Sothing that THE Resplendent Paradox had taught herself through thods that nearly destroyed her, sothing she considered too difficult to pass on despite her obvious power.
Chaos, Paradox, Existence itself.
They were fundantal weavings that needed to be learned, internalized, mastered if one wanted to advance beyond THE distinction toward whatever lay beyond.
And the substrate of their Observable Existence was sohow stunted, weak, making such advancent even more difficult than it should have been.
Why?
What had caused their reality to be limited in ways that hampered elevation? Was it natural characteristic, or had sothing damaged the foundations of Observable Existence at so point before even THE Resplendent Paradox had risen to prominence?
Achilles’s mind churned with questions that had no imdiate answers, but he filed them away as critical mysteries to investigate when opportunity presented itself.
For now, the most important thing was that he had Assimilated not just THE Civilizational Authority of Necrocracy, but actual mories from THE Corpse Hierophant himself.
HUUM!
In the external weavings of Existence, the visage of the Malford Abomination twitched with sudden violence that made observers flinch back instinctively.
Its circular mass and countless tendrils began to rapidly recede, almost as if they were being devoured by sothing at the very center of the corrupted form. Platinum and obsidian and verdant appendages collapsed inward with speed that defied the previous pattern of mindless expansion, and the grotesque butterfly wings folded and dissolved into the shrinking mass.
Rose watched with eyes that blazed with desperate hope, her entire form trembling as she observed changes that might an her partner was returning to consciousness. "Little Fatty...?"
THE Endless Dream stood beside her with expression shifting from shock to analytical assessnt, trying to understand what chanism could possibly be causing the Abomination to consu itself rather than continue its rampage.
Far behind them, THE Sovereign Catalyst maintained calm and cautious gaze as he observed the phenonon from safe distance. His liquid-tal features showed calculation rather than relief.
The monstrous visage disappeared entirely as the Abomination’s mass collapsed into singularity that seed to devour even light itself. For monts that stretched toward eternity, nothing remained visible except that point of absolute consumption.
And then, shockingly, a small humanoid figure beca visible at the center of the singularity.
His eyes were closed, but radiant purple-gold light gushed around his figure like steam erupting from engine operating beyond safe limits. Power that hadn’t been present before his corruption now surrounded him in visible manifestation, and his form appeared sohow more refined, more complete, more fundantally integrated than it had been before everything went wrong.
Just what had happened?
What had changed now?!
Rose took a step forward with hand outstretched toward the floating figure, desperate to reach him after watching helplessly while his corrupted form rampaged beyond her ability to help.
THE Endless Dream’s manifestation watched with jeweled eyes that showed genuine surprise...an expression that beings of her level rarely displayed about anything.
The small humanoid figure floating in radiant purple-gold light remained motionless, eyes still closed, but the power surrounding him continued building with intensity that made the very fabric of this Sacred Holy Land tremble in response!
What Achilles truly felt right now was the idea of THE.
The power of THE.
Having the mories of THE Corpse Hierophant as he broke them down one by one, he rembered the power of THE Surface Depth of Absolute Sovereignty of Necrocracy as if it were his own experiences rather than stolen recollections. The distinction between borrowed mory and personal history blurred until he couldn’t quite tell where THE Corpse Hierophant ended and he began.
He rembered the literally different vision in how THE entities saw reality itself.
Not as solid matter and empty space the way lesser beings perceived existence, but as strings and waves that wove together in patterns too complex for conventional consciousness to process. Reality at THE level wasn’t a collection of objects interacting through forces...it was a symphony of vibrating frequencies that could be tuned, adjusted, rewritten by those with sufficient understanding.
He rembered Principles of Existence that THE Corpse Hierophant had grasped through eons of cultivation and countless ended lives.
Principles.
The understanding crystallized in his consciousness with clarity that made his previous knowledge seem like children’s drawings compared to architectural blueprints.
Principles were the underlying truths and laws that governed how Observable Existence functioned. They weren’t physical objects or tangible forces but rather the fundantal rules that reality followed, the invisible architecture upon which all of Existence was built. If Observable Existence were a vast machine, Principles would be its operating instructions.
They defined what was possible, what was forbidden, and how all things interacted with one another.
Principles existed independently of any entity’s awareness of them.
Gravity pulled things downward long before anyone nad it or understood it.
Fire burned before any being comprehended combustion.
These truths simply were, and they continued to be regardless of whether anyone acknowledged their existence. Existence didn’t require observers to function according to its rules.
However, Principles were not static or absolute in the way lesser beings assud. They could be perceived by those with sufficient elevation, and once perceived, they could be utilized. Grasped. Wielded as extensions of one’s own authority.
Principles and The First Tongue shared a deep connection that THE Resplendent Paradox had hinted at during that ancient mory. The First Tongue was the language of Existence itself, and Principles were truths expressed through that language.
Understanding one led inevitably toward understanding the other, though the path between them was treacherous beyond asure.
Every entity’s Way was built upon their relationship with certain Principles.
A Way of Fire was built upon Principles of heat, transformation, consumption, and light. A Way of Order was built upon Principles of structure, hierarchy, pattern, and stability. A Way of Necrocracy was built upon Principles of endings, transformation through death, the cycle of dissolution and reformation.
When an entity advanced their Way, they were deepening their connection to their existence and its foundational Principles, potentially gaining access to related Principles they had not previously touched.
This was what Achilles grasped and understood from the mories of THE Corpse Hierophant!
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