Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse-Chapter 3710: Fables I
Choices!
They were being made in a certain Wheel of Existence, in an insignificant corner of the Nullvein Gravewake Folds.
And elsewhere, far from that place, other choices were being made.
Choices tied to something that had recently left that very same Wheel. Or perhaps it had left ages ago. Time, after all, held no fixed meaning in the Nullvein Gravewake Folds, where paradox, collapse, existence, and nonexistence twisted together.
That something was none other than Bob. He moved through the Nullvein Gravewake Folds, his form surrounded by an illusory Black Absolute Complex True Source, a Dead Wheel of Existence.
He seemed to cross vast distances in a single second, then linger in place, unmoving, for what felt like an hour.
His True Source pulsed with terrific complexity and purity one moment, only to flicker into silence the next. And after an indeterminate span of time and space, he finally caught hold of the thread of weavings he sought.
He pulled on it.
Encased within an obsidian Wheel of Existence, his figure was drawn into the Folds and vanished.
When he reappeared, the figure of Bob stood in a region that defied description. Terrifying landscapes stretched around him.
To his left loomed the shattered remains of a massive Wheel of Existence. Crimson bled from its edges, a haunting allure. Though fractured, the space it encompassed spanned far beyond the visible, only an overabundance of authority could fully observe its breadth.
To his right, an even larger Wheel stood, nearly intact. But a closer look revealed a crack across one spoke, its rim torn, the damage subtle but vast.
And ahead…
More remnants of Wheels of Existence, not scraps or traces, but full, enormous structures.
A graveyard of Wheels.
A cemetery echoing with loss, not just life lost, but death lived. In these wheels, the weavings of the dead coiled and danced.
Even the spokes, cloaked in a deathly allure, radiated the echoes of frequencies, no longer endless in potential but locked in finite possibility.
One shattered Wheel had hundreds of massive spokes, each a dead frequency.
Other Dead Wheels had thousands. Predetermined, extinguished, and yet still inhabited by Dead Things.
Entities locked in limited time, their continued presence enabled only by the dying inertia of the Dead Wheels.
In some of these broken wheels, the auras of Converged Architects still lingered.
Others held a Resplendent Monad or two. Dozens of Harmonized Sourcebound Icons clung to their fading purpose.
Bob entered such a place. And at the moment he did, he knew there would be no return.
Because now, he had stepped into the domain of a perilous Entity.
And because he had…
"You finally arrived. I have been waiting since the time you decided to seek me out, Little Bobby."
A calm, thunderous voice echoed through the dead air.
The obsidian Bob trembled with silent rage and hatred. But he restrained himself, continuing forward wordlessly, drawn toward the source of that voice at the heart of countless Dead Wheels of Existence.
There, something stirred. Terrifying in its complexity.
Yes.
The moment Bob had even thought of seeking the one responsible for the decimation of his Wheel, that being had known.
And now, after traveling untold distances through the Gravewake Folds, Bob finally saw him.
An Entity surrounded by immense purity and intricate complexity.
He sat upon a small throne, woven from collapsed paradoxes, existence, and nonexistence. The substance of the Nullvein Gravewake Folds themselves.
He looked human. Skin fair, brimming with life. Hair dark and shimmering, a well-trimmed mustache upon his face. His eyes glinted with ancient wonder.
And yet he lounged in boredom, as if watching something far away.
Bob glanced in the direction of his gaze, then flinched.
A scorching black sun. Something that burned his vision. He could see nothing, yet he sensed dozens of Resplendent Monads and Converged Architects there.
Some, whose complexity nearly matched Bob's, his power still recovering and growing.
He ignored what he could not perceive. Focused instead on the being upon the Throne of the Folds. Controlled his weavings. Then spoke.
"I have my own purpose that I need help in accomplishing. The place where it can be fulfilled is complex, yes, but it will interest you. Help me reach it, and you'll fulfill your purpose, as I fulfill mine."
His words were direct.
And yet…
The Entity upon the Throne of the Folds shook his head.
"It is too late."
WAA!
Too late? What did that mean? Had something changed since Bob had left his Wheel?
"It has always been too late. That is something you have not yet understood. You've never truly seen your True Source. You look at events in a linear fashion. It's not always so straightforward."
His voice carried weight, an age that could not be measured. Majesty that blurred the line between the Living and the Dead.
"The moment you decided to come to me, it was already too late. Even if I'd departed then, without knowing where I was going, I could not have arrived. So I waited for you."
Cryptic. Illogical. Unsettling.
Bob had no patience for riddles. Not now. Not when time itself pressed down on him.
"Why is it too late? There's a Wheel of Existence that likely contains-...!"
Bob froze. His mouth vanished. His lips, gone.
"Hush. Do not speak so loudly of such things. You never know who may be listening."
The Entity's gaze lifted, locking onto Bob.
"I know why you came. I looked into the Wheel you've been entangled with. From it, I sensed only death."
WAA!
Bob's heart fell. His eyes dimmed. He refused that answer.
No. That Wheel had something. It had to.
It birthed something like Osmont, so it must be tied to the Loom.
"You were wrong and right, Little Bobby."
There it was again.
That name.
And...
HUUUM
The obsidian Wheel spun once. His mouth reformed. Bob growled out with power.
"It's Bob."
WAA!
"Not Bobby. Not Little Bobby. Just Bob."
Power pulsed behind his gaze as the Entity upon the throne smiled.
"You were right and wrong. The Wheel itself was not connected to what you seek, but the Living Thing you were entangled with was. You had it in your grasp the whole time, and you missed it."
BOOM!
