The Master of the Mannafolds trembled beneath the frozen bark of a glacial Yggdrasil branch, the cold air of the domain wrapping around his form like chains of judgment. His lips were stained crimson. His pride was splintered and dangling, like the cracked mana runes floating around his battered form.
"I have the Mannafolds behind me! A Tower Master in our ranks with a terrifying progression in their Tower of Origin!"
WAA!
Torus, the Mannafolds Master, bared his teeth.
"The Tower Masters of the Mannafolds will hear of this. They will raze your beginning if you do this. They...!"
"Are they here?" Noah asked.
The cold question cut across his fury.
A Tower Master.
An extrenely accomplished Originus Venerant entity! But...were they here?
Torus faltered. "...No."
Noah tilted his head slightly, a faint breath curling from his lips like drifting mist. "Then they definitely won’t be able to save you. Maybe they’ll avenge you. But if you’re dead..." His eyes slowly narrowed, "Do you really care about vengeance?"
"..."
"So," Noah finished. "Repeat after me, and I might just let you live."
Something loosened inside Noah’s chest as he said this.
Freedom.
The ability to act as he wished. To speak as he wished. Whether the audience was a Fold Dweller, Living Origin, or Early Creature, it didn’t matter. He didn’t want to bend himself for them. Not anymore.
He wanted to live freely, tyrannically!
Quintessentially!
Torus clenched his jaw. "You killed Hannibal after he said your words," he hissed. "Will you not simply do the same to me?"
Noah’s gaze turned sharp. "I told Hannibal I may let him live. I’m also telling you, I may let you live. Statistically, you have better chances than he did. So I’ll ask again."
He paused.
"Will you repeat after me?"
Silence stretched. A soundless storm of shame and rage twisted in Torus’ eyes. He was a Master of Existence. An Originus Venerant. To speak such words...!
"I will repeat," he spat, venomously.
Noah nodded, the frost near his feet deepening into pale white ice.
"Good. Let’s begin."
He didn’t shout. The words weren’t loud, but they weighed more than mountains.
"Repeat after me," Noah said calmly, "I am a big sack of shit."
Torus flinched. His lips curled back in fury.
"I..." He closed his eyes.
"I am a big sack of shit."
It came out like gravel dragged across his throat.
Noah’s gaze remained impassive. "Next...I disgraced the idea of Mana."
A slight tremble ran through Torus’ shoulders.
"I disgraced the idea of Mana."
Noah nodded coldly and continued!
"I am the disappointment my Folds always feared."
...!
"I...am the disappointment my Folds always feared!"
Each one dragged itself through Torus’ voice like barbed wire. But he said them.
And then...
Noah’s voice dropped.
"One more."
He stepped forward, the glacial wind sweeping his robe in slow waves.
"Repeat after me..." he said. "My eons of cultivation are worthless, and I should just die."
A silence louder than thunder followed.
Torus looked up.
His red-rimmed eyes flickered with fury.
His lips parted, but no words came.
"...No."
The defiance returned suddenly, violently. "No," Torus roared. "I will not say that! You’re going to kill me anyway, just like Hannibal! I am not saying that!"
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