Novel Full Chapter 4822: Big Stepper! I
Chapter 4822: Big Stepper! I
Existence was a wondrous, fantastical thing, and Existence was also a terrifying thing.
Noah always looked forward to Existence and what was unfolding with great interest as it was hard to explain, but he sometimes felt like a participant and other times an observer.
Things happened and continued happening across Observable Existence as he only heard of them or observed them from a distance. Wars broke out. Civilizations rose and fell. Absolutes schemed against each other in games that had been playing out since the Infinite Unfurling.
As for when it came to himself and his path, he actively walked and participated in it.
Regardless of what he came across, he still kept his view that Existence was grand, and he wanted to understand all he could about it. To uncover all its wonders. To perceive what others could not perceive. To grasp what others could not grasp.
So regardless of the enemy that had appeared who had such a terrifying power to be capable of defeating an Absolute on the level of entities like THE Living Temporal or even approaching one of THE Four, he still looked forward to understanding Existence, what this enemy entailed, and how he could overcome it.
Regardless of the cost, and no matter what.
But he did have to make sure that in this battle, his people were not among the cost.
He had to.
He...
"That is a lonely gaze, Little Anomaly. You have changed a lot."
...!
The voice of Ains, THE Fisherman, echoed out as he let go of the hairy shoulder of Ul’moreth and even kneeled down to play with Skoll!
Noah’s gaze shifted to take in the figure of Ains fully.
THE Fisherman looked much the same as he always had. A straw hat sat atop his head, weathered and worn from countless eons of use. A fishing rod rested behind his back, its line extending into dimensions that normal perception could not follow. His clothes were simple, rough-spun fabrics that seemed entirely out of place on someone who stood at Half-Step Absolute Depth.
He looked like a vagrant who had wandered in from some backwater realm.
And yet when Noah looked at him, he felt the weight of someone who had given up everything for the sake of a stranger. Someone who had sacrificed his position, his standing, to ensure that Noah could continue on his path.
That was not something that could be repaid easily.
They were currently in a region of The Wastes of THE Fallout as they had reached Ains and were reunited, but Noah was thinking of too many things that Ains even managed to read his gaze somewhat.
The corruption of The Wastes swirled around them, but it could not touch beings of their caliber. The twisted landscapes stretched in all directions, remnants of what THE Living Paradox had done to Observable Existence.
Noah looked at this being that had sacrificed much for him as Ains now stood at Half-Step Absolute.
And at the same time, the meditative Ul’moreth also opened his eyes as if he could sense the wrongness.
His countless hairs shifted with agitation as he asked with weight that demanded honest answers.
"What made you send us away from that place? From THE Secretive Eon?"
Ul’moreth got to the root of the issue.
Noah looked at this hairy teacher of his and said with heaviness.
"THE Secretive Eon has already been collapsed as something else wears its face."
His voice carried weight that made the air itself grow still.
"Something capable of infecting anything and anyone without them even knowing it."
He paused.
"They tried to infect me, and you all."
His eyes grew darker.
"Our consciousness would likely be wiped out as if it had happened to me, I would be walking and talking with you, and you would think I am me without knowing something else replaced me."
He shook his head.
"It is a difficult enemy, and there are currently no solutions as it cannot even be pinpointed."
...!
BOOM!
His words were heavy as they caused Ul’moreth and Ains to frown while Skoll sat like a good boy and watched them with eyes that held understanding beyond what a normal dog should possess!
"Existence is vast, and there are countless possibilities."
Ains spoke with the calm of someone who had weathered many storms across his long existence.
"THE Living Paradox and THE Creature played so many games, something horrific was bound to happen sooner or later."
He scratched behind Skoll’s ears.
"But being part of a Civilization means that you do not have to go through it alone."
He looked up at Noah.
"You have others."
Ul’moreth rose from his meditative position as he added with weight that carried the authority of a teacher addressing his student.
"And you have your Teacher."
His countless hairs swayed with intensity that spoke of something building within him.
"Teachers should never be helpless before their students."
...!
Ul’moreth said such words as Noah’s eyes focused on him, feeling like this hairy old man was about to do something drastic!
The Weavings around Ul’moreth became heavier and heavier.
At this moment, he rose up fully as countless Philologies swirled around him in patterns that spoke of linguistic authority that had been accumulated across eons of existence within THE Belly of Existence.
The First Tongue loved him.
As a Perfect Speaker, he loved it even more.
And at this moment, he raised his leg as if he were taking a step.
A step!
He had said all he needed was a step, but this step was heavy!
"My student is facing problems he should not face alone."
Ul’moreth’s voice began simply, carrying the warmth of a teacher who had watched his student grow from nothing into something that could challenge THE Four themselves.
"As a backer of The First Tongue, I have spent too many eons to not be an Absolute right now."
His countless hairs blazed with blue-gold light as The First Tongue itself seemed to respond to his words.
"Especially after what I have just been given."
The Absolute Everything that Noah had provided pulsed within his foundations.
"So with this step..."
His voice grew heavier.
"I will either be Absolute..."
The Weavings of Existence around him trembled with anticipation.
"Or I will be nothing."
BOOM!
His words began simply, but toward the end, they shockingly turned into a semblance of a partial Embodiment!
One where Ul’moreth staked his existence on!
He took this step as either he utilized the Absolute Everything as a foothold to throw himself to Absolute Depth, or he ceased to exist!
There was no middle ground.
There was no safety net.
There was only advancement or annihilation.
And he did it all for the sake of his student.
Noah watched with eyes that blazed with blue-gold intensity as his teacher, the being who had guided him through the complexities of The First Tongue, who had introduced the very Phoneme of Fire to him, who had been imprisoned within THE Belly of Existence for eons...
Took the most important step of his entire existence!