An average Primordial would not be able to feel or even detect this presence, because it was subtle, there was this lack in Existence that arose when this presence was around that few could be able to detect.
This was End, and it was not a being, or an entity, but the ultimate cessation incarnate.
Existence was expanding, but Limbo was shrinking, and that caused the essence of End to beco incredibly concentrated. This process began a hundred million years ago with the creation of the Origin Realms, and now it had crossed a certain threshold, and End was finally able to truly manifest part of itself inside Existence.
It had no eyes to gaze, no mouth to speak, yet it communicated through the Beast's own essence, resonating in the hollows where souls once scread.
"You gather scraps," End conveyed, its "voice" a vibration of absolute finality that made the Beast's stolen powers quiver. "Echoes of lesser endings. But the road to ultimate power lies not in accumulation, but in transcendence."
The Beast of Final Rest paused, the crystalline Death half-consud, its shards hovering in mid-dissolution. Spitting aside the remnants of its al, Death rose up in its full glory, and if the Ancient Primordials were here, they would feel great shock because the power of Death at this point, while it could not equal to one of them, it was nearly halfway to that point, and this was with the Beast not leveraging the power of its domain and just using its body alone.
The Primordials had spent nearly sixty-five million Cosmic Eras accumulating all of this power, and in less than a hundred million years, the Beast had taken such large strides.
And yet, the voice of End rang through in its essence. This power that was speaking to it conveyed more than just words, but an intent that was so deep it could only be the truth.
The Beast was tempted. The path to power was before it, but who could say that Eos, Enoch, or the Ancient Primordials were not preparing sothing that could equal or surpass its efforts?
It wanted to prove to Lun that it was more than just a prototype, and it could hold the power of End, and with this power, it could seize Origin.
For the first ti since its pact with the Primordials, curiosity, or sothing akin to it, stirred in its core.
It had claid the power of End in that bargain, and it had beco a sliver of the Temple's domain. With this power, he had been able to pierce the veil of Existence and gain so many benefits, but this was the source itself, formless, eternal, the architect of all terminations.
And it was telling it that it was not enough. There was hesitation in its heart, of course, but the allure of that knowledge was too much to be thrown aside.
"Show ," the Beast responded, its Will unfurling like a cloak of shadows, inviting the intrusion of End.
Greed flickered in its depths because the Beast was not looking to survive this war or gain scraps while championing only the Temple's benefits; it wanted dominion beyond even the Architects' veiled throne.
Eos had his freedom and his throne, and yet the Beast knew that no matter how powerful it grew, the temple had placed a ceiling over its abilities, and End, in a single statent, had given it the option to take more than what was offered.
End did not hesitate when the Beast accepted its offer. It enveloped the Beast's consciousness, pulling it into a revelation.
It showed it a road that unfolded into a dinsion that was beyond even the ninth!
This was the path that was at the extre of Origin and End. This path was carved through the strata of all possible and impossible existences, where endings were not conclusions but gateways. Only this road alone nearly shattered the consciousness of the Beast as it tried and failed to understand how all of this could even be conceptualized, let alone be wielded.
As if End knew what it was thinking, the Beast "saw" itself ascending, and its path to ascension followed its previous thod of consuming past Deaths, as End showed him another stream of power that he had missed and that was devouring the very concept of immortality across infinite branches!
Yes, immortality was a concept, but it was a concept that no one else could wield inside Existence because it existed outside of it, and the Luminous was the only race that was lucky enough to gain access to a small portion of this concept before it was lost forever.
However, the truth was that this concept was not lost; it was only covered up by End, who ensured that there would be no way for any lifeforms to be born to even think about Immortality as a concept and strived for it.
It showed him more paths to power that could lead to Ascension, as the Beast envisioned itself rging with the Temple of End, becoming the singularity where all threads of existence converged into oblivion.
Death shuddered as it saw what this ant; it was power unlimited. It was the ability to unmake realms, Primordials, and the foundations of creation itself.
Enoch's Abomination shattered at a whim. Limbo rewritten as an eternal grave. Even the Architects bowed, their erasures re tools in their arsenal.
The Ancient Primordial and Eos would be nothing before its power, and in a single move, the Beast of Final Rest could ascend to the throne.
Then End showed it the other side of the coin, the side that demanded a price.
The Beast paused for a mont, pushing aside the mories of true power because, with the way it felt, there would have been no hesitation in its heart before it picked the option End gave it, but it was an ancient horror, and it could manage its mind.
After the mont had passed, it looked at the price, and it was the absolute surrender to formlessness.
It would no longer be the Beast of Final Rest. Only End incarnate, a void that consud voids.
The vision faded, leaving the Beast suspended in the aftermath. The crystalline Death dissolved completely, its power a paltry trickle compared to what had been promised, and suddenly, its endless Realm seed smaller, its billion Regions re cages.
"The choice is yours," End intimated, its formless presence withdrawing like mist before dawn. "Gather scraps, or walk the road."
Then it was gone, and the Beast of Final Rest hovered in silence, its shadows deepening.
The road to ultimate power beckoned, and in its abyssal heart, the greed took root.
"To beco an Incarnation of End… with this power, who could be my match?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)