Chapter 3895: Sin of Association! IV
Chapter 3895: Sin of Association! IV
Altheon’s radiant body trembled faintly.
The names rippled across his thoughts like thunderclaps cast in golden glass.
"Ozymandias..." he uttered first, the syllables curling with memory.
Then, slower and sharper....
"Aetheron."
A name he had not known.
His mind buzzed as he began connecting threads of knowledge- well, knowledge based on what little information he was given!
Thauron... did that bastard not tell him everything?!
His glow dimmed with thought as he looked once again toward the boy- the man before him. Noah. Cold eyes. Tyrannically calm before a Foldless One even though he was a mere Fold Dweller.
He could somewhat see why this being had attracted the attention of the Young Miss.
And just now, he revealed more information about the Paradox that did not produce Inevitabilities as through this, Altheon could share with the others that they were looking for an abomination...born from Paradox and Origin!
Since Living Paradoxes now surrounded that being, he would have to ask for one of their operatives planted among the Living Paradoxes to gather information around the names...Ozymandias and Aetheron!
They were one and the same, and the abomination that did not produce Inevitabilities which had to die!
He spoke out in his grand voice.
"You have contributed knowledge far more than you realize," Altheon said slowly. "Because of this, I will ease up on you. I will look past your sin of association- for now."
Noah’s expression didn’t change, but he smiled while hiding his silent laughter!
Should he, an Early Creature, feel so honored that a mere Living Origin marked for Death would now look slightly more favorable to him?
His gaze flicked to Sigrid as if granting her the floor, not even bothering to reply as he simply name dropped Aetheron to muddy the waters of Ozymandias.
Sigrid stepped forward without hesitation as her voice came smooth, curved with control.
"Regardless," she said, "we both know trust is a luxury we can’t afford. Not entirely. If I return to the Living Origins now, disclosed and known, I risk assassination before I even have the chance to become what I am meant to be."
Her chin lifted ever so slightly.
"Would you like that on your existence? As your responsibility?"
Altheon said nothing.
His frame stood glorious in glacial air, the winds curling around him, golden white robes and all as his ancient mind weighed her words.
Eventually, he broke the silence, slow and grim.
"Young Miss... just tell me what you are proposing."
Sigrid’s answer was immediate as if she had already thought about many things.
"You may alert Royal Origin Calypso," she said, "and Duke Gwendolyn."
She turned her head slightly, her voice low and sharp. "I do not sense the corruption of Order in either of them with certainty."
The glacial branches above groaned again, crystalline leaves shivering under her quiet command.
"Let them know I still live."
Her tone darkened now.
"I will forge myself into the Living Order with my own hands, Complexity by complexity, Purity by purity. And that can only happen... if I walk through the chaos of existence."
HUUM!
Noah watched her with narrowed eyes. He could feel the pulse of her ambition, the glory of her reason, and the depth of her resolve!
"I will enter the Transcendent Origin Battlefront Folds," she said. "Accompanied by him."
She nodded toward Noah without a glance.
"And for safety, you may trail us from a distance and observe. Or Duke Gwendolyn can send those she trusts to keep watch. That is my will. And you...will follow it."
...!
Her words fell like stones from a throne, each syllable deliberate.
There was no room for interpretation. No room for negotiation.
Altheon’s glow dimmed again.
Silent, he turned his gaze between Sigrid and Noah, his ancient mind slicing through possibilities, calculating thousands of probabilities and weavings of potential timelines of how things would unfold in a breath.
Finally, he inclined his head.
"I will escort and protect Young Miss in the Battlefront Folds," he said solemnly. "And I will notify Royal Origin Calypso and Duke Gwendolyn."
A brief pause.
"Mmm," Sigrid nodded, pleased.
Then her eyes sharpened.
"I shouldn’t need to say this," she continued, "but do not mention more than you must. My new face. My company. If you speak out of turn..."
Her voice quieted to a whisper.
"You will earn the wrath of the future Living Order. Do you want that?"
The majestic being pulsed with power.
His gilded face remained staunch as he lowered his head.
"No, Young Miss."
...!
The air grew colder. Thicker.
"Come here," she said.
Noah’s eyes blinked once.
The words weren’t loud, but they moved like a command born at the beginning of time.
Altheon, the Foldless One, floated forward at such a command.
He moved slowly, solemnly, the air bending around him as if even space bowed to his step. He stopped before Sigrid, his head lowered.
Sigrid extended her hand, pale and slender.
With no hesitation, Altheon bent forward and pressed his lips to the back of it.
It was not romantic.
It was reverence.
She held his gaze as he rose.
"You will not disrespect those around me," she said.
Her voice turned deadly and perfect.
"You know who I mean."
She stepped closer.
"And if you follow me... if you serve properly... then I will elevate you."
Her breath was steady.
"I will give you position, standing, name. Easily a Royal Living Origin. Or even for you to replace one of the 81 Dukes of the Transcendent Origin Folds."
...!
Her gaze held him in place.
"If you care nothing for titles, then you will hold something greater, the personal favor of I, the only Living Order."
Altheon met her eyes. He turned to Noah. And then back again.
The pride in him still whispered resistance. But the calculations, always the calculations, outweighed it!
He lowered his head.
"Understood, Young Miss."
His voice grew quieter.
"He will receive no disrespect from me. But... by the sin of association, he- and the others from the Paradoxical Folds will still be looked down upon by other Fold Dwellers and the Living Existences in the Battlefront Folds."
...!
The cold winds stirred softly in response.
Noah said nothing.
He simply smiled.
Altheon’s form hovered still in the air as he added, the words ringing with cold finality.
"All Fold Dwellers will be claimed and sponsored by the Living Existences under whose Folds they were born," he said. "You... will be claimed by none. No sponsor. No protector."
Noah did not flinch. His smile curled with mockery at such words.
When was he not an outcast?!