Noah’s smile deepened behind his helm!
He didn’t even turn to look at the Primordial Death as it stretched its massive limbs, testing its recovered freedom with movements that created tears in the surrounding space. His gaze remained locked on Diviticus, recognition burning between them of exactly what had just occurred.
Yes, the only action she would have taken...the only response that satisfied both her curiosity and her position...was precisely what she had done. She had tested him by releasing a creature that even Dukes struggled to contain.
If he proved to be somebody of significance, he might defend himself and reveal his true nature. If he was nobody, he would simply die, and when questioned about such a result, she could merely shrug and point out that he had specifically requested the creature’s release.
The scene that followed was one of tyrannical confidence and glorious indifference!
Noah stood perfectly still as the Primordial Death, driven by its fundamental nature to eliminate everything that dared exist in its presence, immediately focused its attention on the being closest to its position. A massive skeletal hand, each finger larger than ancient towers, descended toward him with the inexorable certainty of entropy given malicious intent.
And intent...oh, gloriously, intent and action was all he needed!
The descending appendage crushed through space itself, its approach creating zones where the very concept of existence became negotiable. Yet Noah made no moves to defend or attack. His form remained motionless, as if the approaching annihilation was of no more concern than a gentle breeze.
When the massive hand was mere inches from his armored form, close enough that the deathly authority should have begun unmaking him at the most fundamental level...
HUUM!
A flash of crimson obsidian light erupted from Noah’s position with such intensity that every consciousness present felt it like a physical impact!
From within that terrible radiance came a sensation that transcended fear...it was the primal recognition of predator so far beyond their comprehension that resistance became meaningless concept.
For an instant so brief that most Living Existences failed to register it consciously, a massive illusion of a spider flashed across the entirety of the Transcendent Temporal Folds!
The spider’s form defied scale, its presence seeming to exist in dimensions that normal perception could not fully process. Eight eyes blazed with crimson malevolence, each one containing depths of ancient intelligence that regarded the Primordial Death with absolute apathy.
Those terrible eyes flashed with brilliant authority, and in that moment of acknowledgment, fate was sealed.
Diviticus and many of the assembled Dukes showed immediate alarm, their enhanced perceptions recognizing threat that they couldn’t truly counter!
They moved backward with instinctive urgency, their bodies responding to danger before conscious thought could process what they had witnessed.
Only Schrodinger and Aion remained unmoved, though their expressions grew slightly more serious as they recognized...something.
Something!
The moment after the crimson light completed its manifestation, everything seemingly returned to normal. The overwhelming presence vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving only the lingering sensation that something monumental had occurred beyond their ability to fully comprehend.
But the massive body of the Primordial Death... had disappeared entirely.
No trace remained...no scattered bones, no wisps of deathly authority, no evidence that such a creature had ever existed in this space!
Where it had been, only empty air remained.
The veiled armored figure of Noah stood exactly as he had before, his posture unchanged, as if he hadn’t moved a fraction since the creature’s attack began.
Yet subtle crimson obsidian brilliance now radiated from his form, speaking to power recently exercised but carefully contained.
His gaze remained fixed on Diviticus, coldness and tyranny burning in the depths of his concealed eyes!
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