Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse novel Chapter 4012

Chapter 4012: Integrity! II

Noah flicked his finger with casual precision, sending the milky white-gold droplet through the air.

Duke Gwendolyn caught it with both hands, cradling it like she had received the most profound treasure imaginable. Her fingers trembled slightly as she secured it within her spatial storage, the action performed with the reverence typically reserved for religious artifacts.

When she looked back at Noah, her eyes blazed with newfound hunger that she didn’t even attempt to hide.

"If you have resources like this," she said, her voice carrying barely contained excitement, "you could give it to more Dukes and allow for the rapid increase in power across our entire structure. You could give even more to me."

She leaned forward slightly, her experience making her next words sound reasonable despite their audacity. "Apart from Titano, what else do you want? Anything can be exchanged."

Exchanged. Anything.

The words settled into Noah’s consciousness. Was that all Titano was to her? Something to be exchanged? A resource to be traded when better options presented themselves?

His dislike toward this Duke crystallized into something colder. His voice emerged with dangerous calm. "Anything can be exchanged, is that right?"

Duke Gwendolyn nodded seriously, missing the warning in his tone. "Yes, anything."

Noah’s eyes flashed with cold brilliance as another droplet materialized in his palm. The garden once again responded to its presence, reality itself leaning toward that concentrated potential. Duke Gwendolyn’s body actually trembled with barely suppressed need.

"Okay," Noah said, his voice carrying the weight of test and judgment combined. "Here is another drop. I will exchange this... for you to be on your knees when you receive it."

HUUM!

The words fell into the space between them.

A Duke. On her knees.

Her expression flashed with lividity, the calm diplomatic mask shattering as the full implications of his demand registered!

This was not about resources or power...this was about dignity, about the fundamental respect that her position commanded. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Noah remained cold, his gaze unwavering as he continued. "What? Is that not for exchange? I thought anything could be exchanged?"

Duke Gwendolyn’s glorious visage turned to ice. Her mind raced through what she represented, what she had achieved. Who was she? She was a Duke...one of the eighty-one who stood at the pinnacle of Living Origin hierarchy. She had Royal Living Origins under her command, multiple Honored Living Existences who would die at her word. She was power incarnate! She was accumulated wisdom! She was...!

"Kneel."

BOOM!

The single word carried more weight than entire speeches, more command than armies could enforce!

She looked toward Noah coldly, her expression cycling through emotions too complex for simple classification. Then she nodded, her voice emerging with bitter recognition.

"So this is your true self."

Without further hesitation, without dramatic pause, she took a decisive step forward and dropped to her knees.

A Duke...a being whose authority could reshape portions of existence itself...fell to her knees on the crystalline pathway of the garden.

"..."

The sight was wrong in ways that transcended simple power dynamics. This was hierarchy inverted, dignity discarded for gain!

Noah looked at her with even greater distaste as he tossed the droplet toward her kneeling form. She caught it with steady hands despite her position, her expression serious as she secured this second treasure.

As she remained on her knees, Noah’s voice emerged with the kind of measured intensity that commanded absolute attention.

"Out of everything a being can possess...power, wisdom, resources beyond measure...integrity is the one thing that should never be compromised." His words carried the weight of fundamental truth.

"Somewhere, in the vast expanse of our existence, everyone must have a line they will not cross. A boundary that defines not what they can do, but what they won’t do, regardless of the gain."

He paused, letting the words settle into her consciousness before continuing with increased intensity.

"You are such a detestable being that you would likely compromise your integrity for anything deemed sufficient. I could continue pushing you now, tell you to do obscene things...degrade yourself in ways that would haunt your consciousness for eons, and you would likely do them if it meant getting what you want."

His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, yet it carried perfectly through the garden’s stillness.

"You...have no integrity."

The condemnation rang through the space with the finality of judgment rendered. Duke Gwendolyn rose from her knees with mechanical precision, brushing off her robes with movements that seemed more habit than necessity.

She looked toward Noah with eyes that had shed any pretense of warmth, her voice emerging with cold certainty.

"You can call it integrity. I call it doing whatever is necessary to ensure survival and prosperity for the Living Origins." She straightened to her full height, authority radiating from her form despite what had just transpired.

"Because what did I lose just now by getting on my knees? My face? My pride? These are ephemeral concerns that matter only to those who value appearance over result."

Her voice grew stronger, more certain, as if she was convincing herself as much as him.

"I will put them aside every time. For her, for the Young Miss, I will put aside everything. For Order to be restored, for balance to return to existence, I will do everything." Her eyes blazed with terrible certainty. "I will give up everything."

Everything.

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