Chapter 5644: The Arbiter!
Chapter 5644: The Arbiter!
<The Arbiter>
The new ruling imposed by Those Who Remain was presented as a measure of stability.
It was, and yet any sudden freedom will simply removes the mask many wore before.
The Provenance of Existence did not merely grant people power as it allowed them to be exactly who they truly were and amplified it, regardless of how ugly that truth happened to be.
For the Arbiter of THE Serenaros Dimension, the truth was exceptionally ugly.
He stood as the leading figure of THE PAX across the entire Dimension. He held Mahishasura and many other Enforcers beneath his command. Yet, his private reality was far removed from the cold bureaucracy of the Shrouds!
For a while, he had maintained a habit of silently causing entire sections of locked-up Inhibited Lifeforms to disappear from the vast cage-fields.
He took them into his own sealed Pocket Dimension and devoured them.
He did not eat them like a beast. He crushed the physical bodies and the very existences of Inhibited True Lifeforms and Primeval Lifeforms into a fine, sparkling powder. He then snorted this powder directly through his nose!
In fact, his Intent was specifically shaped to transform the pulverized existence directly into his nerve receptors, allowing him to feel the condensed terror, power, and final emotions of the ground-up lifeforms all at once.
It gave him an unfathomable high. He was, fundamentally, an existential addict.
Since THE Provenance of Existence came down, he had been increasing the number of lifeforms he ground to dust. He had loudly claimed his vile habits and received a Willful Mantle. He was THE DECADENT!
The euphoria he received from the new currency was immense, and his power was rising up faster than it had in an entire Age.
Inside his private Dimension, the Arbiter stood over a struggling cluster of Gilded True Lifeforms. They were stripped of all authority, their Egos screaming as his crushing Intent wrapped around them.
CRACK!
The Gilded Lifeforms shattered. Their brilliant Trueness and their lingering blue Infinity were pulverized instantly, turning into a line of stellar white dust suspended in the air.
The Arbiter leaned forward and inhaled sharply.
HUUM!
"Ahhh....!"
The white dust rushed into his system. The pristine white threads of THE Argent Loom mixed with his Intent and his faint Pantheon, causing his entire body to seize and vibrate. His eyes rolled back into his head as he tweaked with absolute, unadulterated euphoria!
At exactly that moment, a dark-haired Descendant Enforcer stepped into the domain. She looked at the tweaking, shivering leader of her Dimension and kept her gaze perfectly straight, acting exactly as if she saw nothing unusual.
"Arbiter," the Enforcer addressed him smoothly. "Mahishasura seems to have taken the emergence of THE Provenance of Existence too literally. He is currently taking all other Enforcers under his banner. He seems to have received a terrifyingly strong Mantle, as the surrounding existence is heavily supporting him. What shall we do? More than half of all Enforcers within this Dimension now follow behind him like a unified force."
...!
The Arbiter breathed in sharply, a harsh rattling sound echoing in his throat. He blinked his bloodshot eyes rapidly, his pupils dilated to the size of coins.
"Gather all the Enforcers remaining under me," the Arbiter voiced out, his words rushing together in a frantic, manic rhythm. "I didn’t expect rebellion within our own home! Other Arbiters of THE PAX don’t have to worry about this shit. But... haha!"
A wide, terrifying grin stretched across his face, exposing teeth stained with Existential dust.
"I can use this conflict as an excuse to grind down more and more Inhibited Lifeforms! If more than half of the Inhibited we hold were to suddenly disappear... nothing much would change in the Records during such chaotic times! Haha, let’s go! I actually need to thank Mahishasura for bringing this conflict to my door. Gather all those remaining!"
The dark-haired Enforcer bowed and stepped back, leaving the madman to his devices.
The moment she left, the Arbiter waved his hand frantically.
Dozens of massive metal prisons materialized in the air, filled with hundreds of defenseless True Lifeforms. The captives looked out in absolute terror at the tweaking giant.
The Arbiter did not hesitate as his Intent shot out like a collapsing Dimension, pulverizing the defenseless beings in a single, deafening crunch! They screamed, and then they were dust.
He snorted what their existence used to be with utter euphoria, his body violently shaking as he exhibited the base, desperate behaviors of an addict while simultaneously wielding the unfathomable power of a dimensional ruler. It was a horrible, grotesque combination!
As he consumed the harvest, the atmosphere of his pocket Dimension buzzed.
A flood of information erupted down his vision. He had triggered a Narrative of Existence!
|You have triggered a Narrative of Existence.|
|THE Narrative of Existence, The Hedonist’s Defense, has been triggered as you are one of the central Willful Mantles.|
|The Hedonist’s Defense: A triggered Willful Narrative centered on standing true to your ideals, your greed, and your absolute lust for existence’s highest pleasures. Those who seek to usurp your domain and take your harvest are your greatest enemies.|
|The more lifeforms you burn and pulverize while carrying out this narrative, and the more violently you clash against the incoming crusade, the more Existential Moirai will be generated for your Mantle.|
The Arbiter threw his head back and laughed. But the Ruling was not finished paying him!
Even more information cascaded down, carrying a suffocating, heavy weight that made the hairs on his arms stand up!
|One of THE Immense Ones is interested in your Narrative.|
|THE ECSTATIC FLAYER has begun to observe your movements.|
|If you put on a good show of pleasure and death, you will be granted even more power.|
The Arbiter stared at the final waves of information, his chest heaving as the ultimate high washed over him. The architects of existence themselves were watching his binge, and they were bringing more powder!
More! More! MORE!