Infinite Mana in the Apocalypse - Chapter 3656

Chapter 3656: Adaptation! III
As The Great Beyonder finished explaining the mechanics for elevating the Complexity and Purity of a True Source—and the kinds of power one could wield at each level—she turned toward him, her voice quiet, intent.

“So, knowing all of this, you should at least not be caught off guard when you meet Dead Things. And it begs the question—why your entrance here led to all of this. I could feel your Complexity clearly… but Purity? That’s different. One’s Purity is always hidden, no matter their level of power. That’s the only explanation circling in my mind for why the Wheel of Existence would do what it just did. You must have a secret. Maybe… a level of Purity I can’t comprehend. I don’t know your limits. So, the only thing I can propose is this—test them.”

…!

A test of his limits.

A test of his Purity.

He already knew—his Purity was incomparable.

Because he had done something none of them ever had.

He had severed every single concept he had taken as a Pathway—eighty-one times—before forging it into a Source.

Eighty-one severings for every single Pathway. With the level of Purity he had achieved, there shouldn’t be another being in existence who could match him at the same level.

Was that what the Wheel of Existence had considered when it chose to merge two Gateway Domus into the Hollow Cascade of Reversed Causality?

“My friends,” Veyl’Aethra’s calm voice rang out. “I believe our time is up.”

In the midst of their conversation, Veyl’Aethra turned toward the distance—toward the serpentine skeletal form of Yrrmoth diving through the Wild True Source of Verbum, its body now weaving itself into the Wild True Source of Causality.

The white robes of the old man shifted as he sensed Yrrmoth’s elevation in power, his voice soft and haunting—like a lullaby.

“Yrrmoth, the Maw of the Unwritten… it seems to have devoured the other Source that had been assaulting me. And now… its Purity is so corrupted, it’s displaying the first sign of a Fractal Collapse of Existence—Echo Distortion.”

…!

A sign of an approaching Fractal Being.

Noah narrowed his eyes at the oncoming Yrrmoth. The massive, skeletal serpent rippled strangely, its form fizzling at the edges—as if its existence lagged in real time.

One moment, it was a pristine white skeleton and the next, its body spasmed, covered in fur and then scales—never settling down to one single thing.

It couldn’t hold its form!

Echo Distortion. The Purity of the devoured Source was now clashing against its own, threatening to dismantle the very identity of the being it once was as its Dead True Source was put under scrutiny.

And this…was just one Dead Thing.

Veyl’Aethra exhaled a heavy breath, stepping forward until he stood between Noah and the Great Beyonder. With a graceful wave of his hand, something glorious appeared.

Between them and Yrrmoth…

A bloom of terrifyingly complex energy surged as Noah witnessed the rise of a massive, incandescent pillar of radiant purple light.

A Pillar of Concordance.

That one gesture confirmed what he already suspected- Veyl’Aethra was a Harmonized Sourcebound Icon.

From the place where he stood, the pillar stretched outward, consuming regions heavy with the Wild True Sources of Causality and Verbum.

The brilliance bloomed like violet purple petals—petals that bore the hands of time, shattered clock faces, and spinning wheels etched with the runes of Chronotropy.

It was breathtaking.

This was the Pillar of Concordance of Chronotropy—and its very identity was rewriting the rules of reality in front of them.

But Veyl’Aethra had only cast it forward. He kept it from touching the Weavings of Noah and the Great Beyonder.

Still, the display was extraordinary.

As Yrrmoth entered the field of violet light, its skeletal form roared in anguish, pulsing with white flame.

White and violet collided.

The skeletal serpent surged forward through unraveling time and space, pressing toward the towering pillar—over light-years tall—stretching into wonder above and below.

And yet…

Despite swimming endlessly through this purple sea of shattered clocks and flickering timelines—it wasn’t advancing.

It wasn’t moving at all.

No matter how hard it surged, it remained in place.

A terrifying distortion of existence.

Noah turned sharply toward Veyl’Aethra, whose expression had gone ice cold.

“It will keep coming,” he said flatly, “but it will never arrive.”

HUUM!

Coming—but never arriving.

Yrrmoth thrashed, endlessly reaching for a destination he could see… but could never reach.

It howled, fury and desperation converging, as a Pillar began to rise from its own corrupted Source.

A budding Pillar of Concordance!

The Great Beyonder’s gaze sharpened, her expression darkening. She floated forward, trillions of runes gathering around her.

With quiet power, she spoke.

“Pillar of Concordance.”

…!

A black pillar unfurled from her body, made of swirling runes and rippling existence.

And yet…it didn’t overlap with the Pillar of Chronotropy.

It did not move to reinforce the Oracle of Collapse!

Instead, it reached toward the opposite end—where the Wild True Sources of Causality and Fear flowed freely.

Because from that direction… she sensed something new.

Two more unique signatures.

Two more Dead Things.

They had sensed Yrrmoth—something with a resonance like theirs—and had responded.

Two more entities emerged from the direction of the Wild True Source of Fear.

These weren’t known. No defenders from their origin Domus had ever reached this side.

Even the Great Beyonder didn’t recognize them.

Her expression twisted with somberness as her obsidian pillar surged, casting her influence across light-years of existence.

And then—another tremor.

Her eyes snapped toward another direction.

Two more Dead Things.

These, she knew. They were among the trio that frequently assaulted the Gateway Domus of Causality.

One became five.

The eyes of the Great Beyonder flickered with doubt—and resolve. She turned toward Noah, her voice deadly serious.

“If ever there was a time to reveal something—some unique secret, some hidden power—it is now. Before our very Sources are threatened. Before we stand at the edge of collapse.”

“Because these five Dead Things?”

“They might just be the first volley.”

…!