CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
Noah’s hands ca together slowly, the sound of his clap cracking across the frozen sea like distant thunder. The weight of his presence stretched outward, brushing against the chests of every Master of Existence and Primarch here. His voice followed, calm and stripped of all pretense.
"Very good," he said as he glanced at the glowing treasures surrounding them. "Now then... is there anyone else who believes they have a rightful stake in the Treasure Chests here?"
The stillness that followed wasn’t silence. It was caution. It was reverence. The kind of hush that ca before waves of existence collapsed!
HUUM!
Power emanated from him, cold and absolute. The kind of authority that didn’t beg for compliance, but it expected it!
Noah did not raise his voice. He didn’t need to. The reverberation of his authority, paired with the Glyph that pulsed like a slow heartbeat on his forehead, was enough to still the weavings of many.
And yet.
Master Neinoro scoffed.
Standing proudly, he turned, his white robes pristine and the glow of a calculated righteousness lighting his pale eyes. He gazed out over the gathered entities with the weight of false kinship, his voice ringing as though he were the herald of justice.
"Fellow Masters of Existence," he called. "We all know the principles of fairness and cultivation. Even the Foldless Ones would stand on our side. One Master of Existence cannot dictate the fate of us all, nor hoard rewards ant for all those who participated. If we stand together-"
Noah’s voice sliced through him like a blade honed on the edge of infinity.
"For an insignificant extra," Noah said, "you have already taken up far too much ti."
A hush deeper than frost followed.
Master Neinoro stiffened, the authority behind those words grazing his existence like a cold blade. And then, Noah spoke again.
"You seem desperate to die today," he said. "So I’ll grant you that death."
The Glyph of the Protagonist flashed with golden brilliance, and Noah’s aura erupted in a lancing burst. Power flooded toward Master Neinoro like judgnt descending from above!
And yet... Master Neinoro did not flinch.
He didn’t even move.
Instead, a brilliant white-gold shield blood around him glpriously!.
Intricate, ancient, and unshatterable- ford of sothing unmistakable.
Living Origin Authority!
There was a collective inhale across the frozen sea as dozens of eyes widened in disbelief. Even Sigrid’s pupils constricted with sudden gravity, her body tilting ever so slightly toward Noah.
Master Neinoro...had protection.
Master Neinoro bowed toward the glowing barrier now enveloping him, his eyes never leaving Noah’s.
"I express my thanks," he said with an infuriating smile towards the authority protecting him. "To the great Foldless One for preserving peace and ensuring justice."
He said the words like a man who knew exactly when to cry for rcy and when to spit in your face.
The silence afterward was suffocating.
Until a voice that should not have been heard reverberated through the entire region- cold and unfathomably ancient, filled with layers of untouchable judgnt.
|Fold Dwellers stemming from Folds under the shade of Living Paradoxes may kill each other... but they may not raise their hands to those from Folds under the shade of other Living Existences.|
BOOM!
The words fell like a mountain, the very frost cracking beneath its weight. All across the glacial expanse, figures bowed their heads instinctively when they heard the voice.
Kalysta’s golden hair swayed forward in submission of shock. Master Etheopa’s face turned ashen as her form sank in reverence!
Because all knew what this was.
A Foldless One.
An Entity above the conflict of Fold Dwellers!
A being whose presence could silence entire folds.
The domain stilled under the weight of its voice, as if the very Yggdrasil trees feared to creak in protest.
To be a Foldless One was to carry the birthright of existence itself. They stood outside the typical hierarchy. They were hierarchy!
And even if they weren’t physically present, their words shifted edicts and forced judgnt to move in unnatural rhythms.
Noah stood still, recognizing the voice of the Living Origin, Altheon!
His posture remained unyielding, though his eyes narrowed as he watched Neinoro still bowing, head lowered, but eyes lifted.
Mocking.
He had known. All along, he had known that this protection would co.
And still, Noah’s voice echoed with the steel of defiance.
"Why?" he asked. "Why is it that such protection is granted only to Fold Dwellers from the Folds under Living Existences? What cri have those from Paradoxical Folds committed?"
That question.
It shattered the silence more than any scream could have.
Dozens of eyes widened.
To speak against a Foldless One...
To question one...it was truly Madness.
Madness!
Insanity.
A death sentence.
Many Masters of Existence tensed, expecting his form to be obliterated in a mont of judgnt. So even looked away, unwilling to watch the splintering of a rising star.
But the voice that answered ca cold, resolute, and impassive.
|Fold Dwellers from Paradoxical Folds have done nothing wrong. They bear no cri... save the sin of association.|
Noah’s fingers curled slightly, his jaw tightening.
|But when it cos to Paradoxes, even that is enough. Enough to strip them of certain protections. Enough to ensure that while this Labyrinth may allow them passage to the Transcendent Folds to be trained on how to fight against True Inevitabilities... they will still be watched. They will be tested. They will be reminded.|
HUUM!
The frost on the ground deepened.
The cold wasn’t from temperature anymore.
It perated from the uttered words!
The cri of association.
The inheritance of sin.
Noah’s heart remained calm.
Cold.
Sharper than before.
He didn’t need to speak again.
Because now, they all knew who he was.
They had seen him burn Hannibal to nothing. They had watched Torus beg before disappearing into ash.
They all knew that he and those he killed...ca under a light of Folds that were under the influence of Living Paradoxes!
And now they saw him defy the decree of a Foldless One and still stand unbroken!
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