Noah didn’t move.
He stood before the obsidian coffin, his towering form of Ozymandias bathed in pale, paradoxical glow.
The aged woman within floated in a silence that was too deliberate. The cracks along her flesh shimmered faintly, revealing a vitality that defied the decay of time. Her presence thrummed with an unmistakable pressure.
A being at the peak of Primarchy!
Before him bloomed a holographic panel.
Name: Ysra the Offerer
True Source: Sacrifice
Purity Quotient (PQ): 921,340
Complexity Quotient (CQ): 947,901
Resistance(s): Origin 92%
Noah analyzed her calmly without making a move as if he were...judging her.
And then, the voice of Moiraine came.
"Oh, are you that type of Devourer?" she said with a smile, floating beside him. "The kind who seeks justification before devouring?"
She drifted closer, her golden eyes filled with Paradoxical wisdom. "You know, all Paradoxes devour. It’s not just what we do- it’s what we are. Alongside us, every entity that surpasses Originus Venerant must become a Devourer in some form. But there are always those who... hesitate."
Her voice deepened. "Those who say, ’I only devoured because they attacked me. Because they were evil. Because they hurt others.’"
She turned and gave Noah a long, knowing look. "Are you hesitating now... because she doesn’t fit your criteria for deserving it?"
Noah remained quiet as his eyes were filled with a light of profound serenity!
Moiraine’s smile widened. "Alright then. Let me indulge you. This old woman? She lived a life of carnage and decimation."
With a flick of her hand, an illusory screen emerged.
It flickered, then solidified.
Ysra stood tall in it, roaring with Authority.
Frequency after Frequency collapsed under her command. Entire civilizations crumbled.
Trillions perished. She wielded the True Source of Sacrifice to twist reality itself. Her blade tore across planes, painting death everywhere she went.
Moiraine whispered. "She moved past her Wheel through Sacrifice. Came across a Foldless One she dared to offend. And here she is now."
Then she turned, her golden eyes and gorgeous visage gleaming.
"So? Now that I’ve given you a narrative. Now that you can label her as bad or evil... are you more inclined to devour her?"
Noah said nothing. But his eyes narrowed.
Moiraine chuckled. "I was also going to lie to you afterwards if you did devour her. Tell you that she was actually a saint. That she saved countless lives, lifted civilizations, fought to preserve harmony. I was going to show you that same scene and say it was her defending trillions from destruction. And then watch your face as you realized what you’d done."
She floated before the coffin, arms crossed.
"Why? To teach you something simple. If you only devour what you label evil, you are no Paradox. You are just another Judge. Another weak-willed existence clinging to morality like it means something."
Moiraine exhaled slowly.
"You’re young. Nearing Originus Venerant. About to enter adulthood in terms of Existence. So I won’t speak to you like a child who doesn’t understand. But let me tell you something important."
Her voice grew softer, heavier.
"From now onwards, power will only come if you abandon the illusion of good and evil."
She raised a finger, pointing to him directly.
"Because for a Devourer, good and evil do not exist. They are illusions. Subjective. You will find one being’s saint is another being’s monster. And if you spend your time trying to categorize each life form by your limited understanding... you will never ascend."
Moiraine turned back to the coffin.
"You do not know her. You owe her nothing. Why should it matter what she did, or did not do? In this vast and ancient Existence, there have been more acts of cruelty and kindness than stars in the sky or the Wheels across the Folds. Injustices greater than your comprehension. Mercies deeper than you can measure. And yet you... we... are but specks. Meaningless in the grand scheme of Existence as from the Earliest Folds until now...our footprint will be absolutely nothing."
She gestured outward to the infinite Fold.
"Even if you lived a trillion years, you would be a spark in the wake of those who have already walked this path. Existence does not remember saints. Nor monsters. Only echoes. And those echoes are buried beneath layers of silence."
Her voice hardened.
"Good and evil have no weight in the folds. Only power. Only progress. Only Paradox."
Moiraine looked over her shoulder, eyes gleaming.
"So cast it off. All of it. Do not let the noise of morality guide your hand. Guide it yourself. You are a Devourer. Be one."
A pause.
Then she laughed, brushing her golden hair back.
"Ah...and here I was thinking I wouldn’t lecture you. But there it is. My wisdom. Free of charge."
She floated downward, gaze level with his.
"I’ll ask you just once more, Little Paradox..."
Her voice curled with velvet finality.
"There is a meal in front of you. Will you eat it?"
HUUM!
—
Far from the Paradoxical Prison.
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