In another direction across the Transcendent Quantum Folds, a singular figure stood suspended in void-like space.
Khor floated with perfect stillness, her diminutive form surrounded by profound sense of Hunger that wanted to claim absolutely everything within perception’s reach.
The appetite radiating from her wasn’t mere desire...it was a force that recognized no satisfaction because satisfaction would mean cessation of growth.
Her crimson eyes remained half-closed as she repeated sacred words to herself, voice emerging barely above a whisper.
"Hunger is the fundamental acknowledgment of incompleteness. We hunger because we recognize we are not yet whole..."
Her form pulsed with obsidian-crimson radiance.
"Hunger must remain carefree in its pursuit. To hunger with desperation corrupts the purity of desire."
The space around her darkened further, as if reality itself was being consumed by proximity to her essence.
"True Hunger establishes natural hierarchy. Leadership flows toward the hungriest as naturally as water flows downhill."
She continued through all Nine Doctrines, each recitation reinforcing her existence’s fundamental nature...reminding herself of immensity accumulated across eons, anchoring consciousness against recent events of confronting THE Living Paradox and witnessing her people’s suffering.
The repetition served dual purpose- meditation and preparing mind and essence for what observation was revealing.
Before her stretched something that should not exist in accessible space...a Unique Doorway to THE Loom itself, manifested as domain hidden across different dimensions of existence simultaneously.
This felt like something only extremely powerful Living Dimensionals would be capable of creating.
Just to traverse the different layers of Dimensional Existence required to reach this point, one needed prerequisite of 1 Quintillion Complexity and Purity minimum.
As for the domain itself...
What Khor observed made her ancient composure pulse and tested.
A grand and sleek Citadel stretched before her perception—architecture and structures that were simultaneously weapons and works of art.
Tall silver buildings rose, their surfaces catching light that didn’t originate from any visible source.
A few hundred Living Existential Armors- Justiciars, were stationed throughout the Citadel.
The Citadel itself connected to something far more disturbing...a manifestation of massive wall that stretched beyond visual limits in both directions. And fused to that wall...
Millions upon millions of Mutated Inevitabilities.
Khor’s hands clenched involuntarily as she witnessed her people...or what remained of them after whatever corruption had been inflicted, trapped within the wall’s substance.
Their bodies pulsed with synchronized rhythm of hunger and pain, tentacles writhing in patterns suggesting perpetual agony.
They seemed to be devouring surrounding atmosphere continuously, consuming existence itself and feeding that stolen essence into the wall they had been merged with.
It was perpetual motion engine of suffering...exactly as THE Living Paradox had described in mocking tones during their confrontation.
Her people reduced to fuel sources, their fundamental nature corrupted and weaponized against them.
Khor looked at this reality with rage contained only by iron discipline accumulated across eons, repeating Doctrines of Hunger in her heart like mantras against descending into mindless fury.
She tracked the Justiciar she had followed from the battlefield, the entity that had fled later after THE Living Paradox manifested, watching as it approached the strongest presence within the Citadel.
That central figure radiated authority reaching 10 Quintillion in Purity.
The approaching Justiciar’s grand armor, sleek white construction incorporating sharp white wings that folded against its back like blades awaiting deployment, opened.
Plates separated along seams invisible until activation, revealing the pilot within.
A female Living Emotive gazed outward with expression mixing exhaustion and urgency.
Her features held delicate beauty that seemed incongruous, her humanoid face framed by silver-white hair that moved as if suspended in water despite no visible current.
Around her, other Justiciars stood with helms removed, revealing additional Living Emotives of various appearances...all humanoid, all carrying exceeding beauty.
The 10 Quintillion Purity Living Emotive, clearly the commanding presence here, turned his attention toward the newly arrived figure.
His armor remained sealed, but his voice emerged with perfect clarity nonetheless.
"Aileen, what manner of nonsense information did you transmit? Your report claimed THE Living Paradox made personal appearance outside THE Loom’s boundaries? Such occurrence would defy all established protocols."
Aileen shook her head with gesture mixing frustration and conviction, meeting her leader’s unseen gaze without flinching.
"Sir Qanan, I anticipated skepticism, but circumstances demand belief despite improbability. The Will of THE Living Paradox genuinely descended, manifesting through the corpse of a deceased Living Paradox. And it was opposed by an entity possessing terrifying power...possibly exceeding even your capabilities, Sir."
She paused, ensuring her words registered fully.
"I experienced profound sense of suffocation merely from proximity to this being. I couldn’t discern much of their discourse due to overwhelming pressure, but there was explicit mention of Khor, The First Hunger herself. As if she was present, as if she had somehow returned from collapse that should have been absolute."
...!
The surrounding Living Emotives exchanged glances mixing disbelief.
Such claims bordered on impossible, yet Aileen’s demeanor showed genuine conviction rather than delusion or exaggeration.
Sir Qanan’s presence seemed to intensify, authority pressing outward as he processed implications.
"Anything remains possible within existence’s infinite permutations, but I harbor substantial doubt that an entity as monumentally significant as THE Living Paradox would bother dispatching even fractional portion of his consciousness outside. We should represent the strongest existences operating in external territories of THE Loom unless multiple Civilizations began manifesting independently within the Wandering Territories."
His tone shifted, carrying challenge mixed with curiosity.
"This entity you perceived as potentially superior to myself... we shall see. If such being truly exists, eventual confrontation becomes inevitable given our operational parameters."
"We will continue executing The Will of THE Living Emotive here without deviation," Sir Qanan declared.
"Upon completion of our assigned task, we shall be blessed with entry into THE Loom itself, rejoining our Civilization and receiving rewards commensurate with service rendered. Since the appointed time approaches with increasing proximity, we cannot afford errors or hesitation. We will proceed with utmost caution and not slip up."
HUUM!
Attempted.
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