Conversation II
Even with Christopher's excellent control over his body, the words that ca out of Pruina's mouth nearly made him stumble.
"You... what?" He asked incredulously and the Paragon just sighed.
"Let explain the context. In the sa way, these clans here have a hierarchy, where I stem from, we have what we call Domains. I stemd from a pretty low-ranking Domain, and the girl was the heir of a Domain that had so crazy influence. She was also insanely spoilt and was building a harem of guys for herself. She saw and decided she wanted to be a part of said harem." He shrugged.
"Fortunately or not, I have self-worth, so I refused. The result was the girl absolutely losing it and telling her mom who wasn't happy. So she cursed and I got kicked out of my Domain." Christopher stared at him for a few seconds and he stared back at Christopher, then they said at the sa ti.
""Won."" Then they sighed at the exact sa ti as well.
"After that, I started wandering for a while. However it was a lot harder than I imagined when I realized what the curse did, so I was alone for a while. Then I found her." Pruina sighed.
"But sohow, they found out I had a relationship with soone and the woman didn't like that, so she killed her, leaving alone again. Then I found a dead world of ice and decided to stay there for a while. That's when I figured out how to make constructs and artificial living beings with my ability. So I decided to stay there. I got stronger, made more artificial lifeforms, and for a while, I was content, kinda." Pruina's expression darkened.
"Then they sohow found again. Turns out that they expected to be dead after so long. But when they realized I was alive and so much stronger, they set out to kill ." Pruina chuckled darkly.
"It's funny. The clan that raised exiled without a second thought, and keep in mind, no one told them to do that. They did it to get in the good graces of that person. Well, that and my curse made keeping around unbearable. But not only did they do that, they headed the expedition intended to kill ." Pruina sneered.
"Killing them was fun. You know, all that talk about how revenge doesn't change the situation, I see it as bullshit. When I wiped them out, I felt a satisfaction I hadn't felt in such a long ti." I sighed.
"I just wish I could extend the favor to that bitch and her daughter. But well, jumping is an effective strategy for a reason. I was eventually overpowered and died. But I had no intention of letting them take my body or soul. So the mont my life force hit zero, I detonated my body." He smiled.
"She must have told you how I was on the brink of entering the Archon rank right? Well, I entered it just as I died to make the blast all the more powerful. Wiped most of them off the map." He sighed and looked at the ceiling again.
"After that, my soul tried to be moved into the cycle of reincarnation, but I stopped that from happening and allowed this hidden realm to be born." He stared at Christopher.
"That about sums it up. So yeah, I'm a guy with a pretty shitty past and a bleak future." Christopher stared back at him.
"Hm. What was your plan of you managed to take over soone's body then?" Christopher asked and Pruina shrugged.
"Get stronger, hopefully, strong enough to kill that damn woman. That's about it." Christopher arched a brow at this.
"I thought you didn't want to break through to the Archon rank since according to Azure, you said it would 'Make things complicated.' I can understand why you did it to use your body as a bomb. But if you took soone's body and revived yourself, doesn't the sa issue still apply? Moreover, what IS the issue?" He asked curiously and Pruina nodded slightly.
"That's a good question. Then again, the answer isn't overly complicated. If I broke through, then that woman would have known instantly. At that stage, I could be considered a threat to her, and she would seek out imdiately. At the Archon stage, I have no way of fighting against her." This made Christopher's eyes jump slightly.
"You keep referring to her as 'this woman'. Who exactly is she? To the point where even becoming an Archon is pointless against her?" He couldn't help but ask and Pruina chuckled.
"Well, I can't say her na, or else she will know imdiately. She is a goddess after all. But I can tell you who she is..." Pruina paused and Christopher couldn't help but lean forward.
"The one whose na wipes mories from the minds of those who she deems unworthy, the patron of Oblivion, The curse that no archive dares to keep. She is–"
Suddenly, Christopher froze as he felt like his mind was suddenly filled with static, and for a brief mont, he forgot where he was, who he was, and what he was doing. Then with a curse, he used his authority to push the feeling away.
"[CENSORED]." Pruina snickered as what he said sohow refused to be made sense of.
"You didn't really think I'd say it, did you?" He grinned. "I'm bored and probably insane, but not suicidal. I've already died once after all." Christopher narrowed his eyes at him.
"Bastard." His words only made Pruina laugh harder.
"Ah, I wish I could see your face." He chuckled and shook his head.
Christopher rolled his eyes as he removed the feeling of unease that started to creep into his heart.
"I need to know. Doesn't the Void personify Oblivion? Why do her titles suggest that she does?" Christopher asked and Pruina cald down.
"Ah, now that's a good question." His smile lingering, but no longer mocking.
"You aren't wrong. The Void IS Oblivion, at least in principle. It consus, it nullifies, it erases, turns things into nothingness. But that's not the sa as being forgotten. Oblivion in that context is like a grave with no na. Soone's dead, you might not know who they are, but they are definitely dead, still real. She, on the other hand..." Pruina's smile dropped.
"... She doesn't erase you. She erases the idea of you. The mory, the records, the cause and effect. As if you were never born in the first place. It's not death, it's undoing." Christopher's eyes narrowed behind his mask as Prujna leaned forward, his voice dropping.
"You know how that mask of yours tricks perception? How it makes you not just hard to perceive, but hard to even rember? Imagine that, bit without the mask, and not just that. Imagine it occurring without any conscious control. Without you even knowing you're hidden. She doesn't shroud, she removes entirely." He shrugged and leaned back into his seat, his gaze moving upwards again.
"The Void can kill gods. She makes them irrelevant." With that, he fell silent.
For the second ti, Christopher felt a chill run down his spine.
Pruina is, or was a Paragon.
Christopher doubted he could beat a full-powered Paragon in a one-on-one. He could probably run away, but winning was up for debate, and that was only because of his Authority. He always imagined that it wouldn't matter since he'd probably get speed blitzed before he had a chance to do anything.
Yet Pruina was talking about this entity like she was an unstoppable force of nature, as if no height of power would matter in the face of her. He called her a goddess, yet he said she makes gods irrelevant. That was horrifying.
Pruina seed to sense Christopher's emotions from behind his mask and smiled.
"It's shocking, right? Well, you're young, so there are many things within existence you don't understand or haven't co into contact with, so let share a bit of knowledge with you." He leaned forward once more, his eyes gleaming with dark amusent.
"You already know that Oblivion and Creation aren't just elents or forces. They are foundations, core truths, and because they are so fundantal, they gained form. Thought, awareness, identity, and so on. That's how you get things like the embodint of the Void or the incarnation of Creation. You might have even t a clone or fragnt of theirs." Christopher's eyes twitched as he rembered the Void clone he fought.
"But Void and Creation aren't everything. They are... a backdrop. There are other laws, so even deeper than the two. So that exist regardless of them. Like ti, mory, identity, even lies. These don't need the Void or Creation to exist, regardless of their similarities, after all, how woukd one be able to rember the ti befire the two of them if they needed them to exist?. And over an incalculable amount of ti, they too began to... wake up." His smile turned frigid.
"So what happens when sothing like mory becos aware? When it starts choosing what gets to be rembered? Or worse, what becos forgotten?" The silence stretched for a mont.
"She, the one who cursed , she's not bound by the Void or Creation. She was born from the fear of being forgotten. From the erosion of legacy, from the fear that even the greatest will beco nothing but a vague reminiscence. She doesn't kill you, she makes you irrelevant. That's why I didn't dare bream through. That's why I called her a goddess. But don't get wrong, not a goddess as any of those half assed deities. I an a true goddess." He laughed, a bitter sound it was.
"Because if you earn her ire and break through too loudly, she rembers you. Then she makes sure that no one else will." Pruina laughed.
"So in the grand sche of things, I actually ca out pretty lucky, if you consider what else she could have done."
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