Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse

Chapter 5037: Innovators and Destroyers I

Among the vast reserves of knowledge THE Mnemonic Leviathan had accumulated since its emergence under THE Beholder, certain patterns repeated themselves across eons of observation.

Beings fell into categories regardless of their power or their Scale, regardless of their Civilizations or their ambitions. Some built. Others burned. The distinction defined more about their nature than any classification ever could.

THE Infiniverse and its Master belonged among the Innovators of Observable Existence. The ongoing forging of Three Thousand Realms showed architecture unprecedented in recorded memory. Innovation required vision that destruction never demanded.

THE Creature stood among the greatest Innovators THE Mnemonic Leviathan had ever catalogued. Humble origins as a Primordial Architect had given way to something defying classification entirely, a being who had shattered what he was to become what no one else had become.

What he built, what he represented, what he had achieved through methodology no other Primordial Architect had dared attempt, all of it spoke to innovation refined across existence itself.

And then there were those who destroyed.

Horus existed within the Leviathan’s reserves of knowledge as a destroyer of considerable accomplishment. His methodologies claimed countless beings who could not resist what he wielded.

Yet when measuring pure lethality, when calculating bodies dissolved and existences ended, Horus was not the worst the Leviathan had knowledge of.

Among the worst destroyers was a Singular Cognizance that THE Mnemonic Leviathan had met alongside its Progenitor eons before THE Infinite Unfurling reshaped everything.

THE Beholder had led them to a region of Observable Existence where something terrible was being tested, and there they had encountered Malachar, THE Extinction Artificer.

That Singular Cognizance had been experimenting in engineering a virus capable of inflicting existence itself.

Not beings and certainly not Civilizations, but Existence.

Malachar had designed weavings of destruction so precise that they could target the fundamental nature of what something was rather than simply ending what something did. And it had tested this engineered horror against an entire group of beings born from the intersection of differentiation and undifferentiation, ancient entities known as Antediluvian Ones who had existed since shortly after THE First Cause imposed structure upon chaos.

All Antediluvian Ones inflicted with this engineered weaving had perished.

Those at THE First Scale had died screaming as their existence unraveled from within. Those at THE Second Scale had died more slowly, their greater foundations providing only prolonged suffering rather than survival.

Every single one touched by Malachar’s creation had ceased to exist, their classifications and their power meaningless against destruction designed specifically to unmake them.

There were many destroyers across Observable Existence. Horus, Erwin, Renne, and Beowulf and many others whose names filled the Leviathan’s reserves with records of atrocity and ending.

But Malachar, THE Extinction Artificer, would undoubtedly be considered among the more accomplished ones. If ever that Singular Cognizance engineered something similar against Undivided Ones or Primordial Architects, would any remain today? Would Observable Existence itself survive such targeted annihilation?

THE Mnemonic Leviathan had once asked THE Beholder regarding who would ultimately prove most accomplished in Observable Existence. Its Progenitor had considered the question with attention rarely granted to anything, that singular eye processing variables across eons of accumulated observation.

THE Beholder’s answer had been simple.

Those who destroy always had an easier time accomplishing their weavings. To unmake required only force and precision. To create required vision and patience and understanding that destruction never demanded. A child could tear down what masters spent lifetimes building.

To destroy was much easier than to innovate.

Innovators or destroyers. Builders or burners. Those who pushed existence toward greater complexity or those who pulled it back toward the simplicity of undifferentiation. THE Mnemonic Leviathan slumbered now within one of the boundlessly forming Realms inside THE Infiniverse, its ancient form resting amidst innovation unprecedented in its reserves of knowledge.

It wondered, as consciousness drifted through memories spanning eons, just what type of beings would end up on top.

Would the Innovators prevail through creations that outlasted those who built them?

Or would the destroyers simply unmake everything before innovation could complete its work?

The answer remained unwritten, and THE Mnemonic Leviathan found that uncertainty more fascinating than any knowledge it had already accumulated.

—Reflections of THE Mnemonic Leviathan, recorded during slumber within THE Seed of Observable Existence

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As Noah continued his journey across the Three Thousand Realms of his home, he came across an entire Realm holding the composition of none other than Muspelheim.

Vibrant flames and weavings of immensity permeated throughout this region, crimson-gold authority radiating from structures that had been integrated into THE Infiniverse’s new architecture.

He was about to steer the boat past this Realm when he heard that heavy voice call out to him.

A certain pink dolphin’s tone pressed against his awareness from within the flames, lazy and unhurried as always yet somehow demanding attention regardless.

Noah smiled and steered the multicolored boat toward the fiery crimson-gold Realm.

The vessel carried him and his mother through boundaries separating configurations, crossing from the space between Realms into the heart of reformed Muspelheim itself. Heat pressed against them immediately. The flames parted as Noah’s authority declared his sovereignty over everything within this domain.

A massive crimson-gold mountain dominated the center of this Realm, its slopes releasing flows of lava burning with Quintessence Infiniforce rather than simple molten rock. The liquid authority cascaded down its sides in rivers that would have dissolved anything lacking sufficient foundations, pooling at the base in lakes of concentrated power.

In the center of that lava, a crystalline crimson-gold tree irradiated immense heat that pressed against perception itself. Its branches reached toward heights that seemed infinite within this Realm, its roots drinking deep from the molten authority surrounding it. The tree pulsed with life that had nothing to do with biology and everything to do with power given vegetative form.

And basking within the lava beside that tree, lounging with laziness that seemed impossible given the environment, floated the massive form of a pink dolphin.

THE Mnemonic Leviathan.

Noah had called this ancient entity into his home so he could steal, ahem, obtain its knowledge.

The Leviathan possessed reserves of information accumulated across eons of existence.

He nodded toward the pink dolphin as his boat came to rest near the edge of the lava pool.

"Do you have something new to share? I was in the middle of profundities and epiphanies."

The Mnemonic Leviathan’s massive form shifted slightly within the molten authority, one eye opening to regard Noah with attention that belied its lazy posture.

"I was just dreaming about Innovators and destroyers. Contemplating which type of being would ultimately prevail across Observable Existence."

The dolphin’s voice rumbled through the Realm, somehow audible despite the crackling of flames all around.

"But I also had to ask something. My Progenitor has sent word to check my status. Is it acceptable to speak about where we are located?"

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