Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse novel Chapter 4595

Chapter 4595: 25 Seconds To Midnight II

THE Living Emotive turned silent as she processed his response.

She had more she wanted to say. Questions she wanted to ask. Concerns she wanted to voice about her own role in the coming conflict.

But just as THE Living Paradox held a careful balance of confidence and fear toward THE Creature, so did she hold a similar mixture of confidence and fear toward THE Living Paradox himself.

And such dual emotion was particularly powerful for an entity like her, whose very nature was built around understanding and manipulating feelings.

Even more so as the final showdown drew nearer with each passing moment.

She smiled silently as she contemplated something she had known this whole time. This battle was ostensibly between THE Creature and THE Living Paradox, two titans clashing while the rest of Existence watched or burned.

But what about the rest of them? What about her and the other entities caught in the middle? Would they really be just pieces to be moved around on someone else’s board?

Or could they perhaps tip the scales just a little bit in one direction or another?

At this time.

THE Living Paradox’s hand moved slowly through the air, tracing the motion of clock hands ticking toward an inevitable conclusion. His voice carried the weight of eons as he spoke to the space where THE Living Emotive was.

"We are now twenty-five seconds from Midnight, Emotive. Twenty-five seconds on a clock I constructed specifically for the countdown to The Fallout, a timepiece that does not measure minutes or hours or even conventional eons, but rather the accumulation of actions and reactions that bring us closer to the point of no return."

His hand continued its circular motion, mimicking the inexorable progression of time.

"Let me explain how this clock actually works, since you will need to understand it in the coming days or years or however long we have remaining. Midnight on this clock represents the moment when The Fallout fully activates, when THE Loom completes its transformation from weapon being forged into weapon being fired. Midnight is the instant when every function I have built, every trap I have laid, every contingency I have prepared across countless eras all triggers simultaneously and strikes at The Belly of Existence itself."

"Midnight is when THE Creature finally understands the true scope of what I have been building all this time, when his attention focuses completely on me and THE Loom. Midnight is the moment when hiding ends and open war begins, when subtlety gives way to apocalyptic confrontation, when Existence itself becomes the battlefield and everything we know potentially burns in the crossfire."

His expression grew more intense as he continued.

"But this clock does not tick forward based on the passage of conventional time. Oh no, that would be far too simple and predictable. Instead, it advances based on the accumulation of significant actions that bring us closer to that final confrontation. Each major move I make advances the clock by some amount. Each function of THE Loom I activate pushes us seconds closer. Each significant action THE Creature takes in response moves the hands forward. Each intervention by other major players, anomalies, or oddities moves the clock."

"The clock measures causality and consequence rather than duration. It tracks the building of pressure that must eventually release. It counts the stacking of conditions that make Midnight not just possible but inevitable."

THE Living Paradox’s hand stopped moving, freezing at a specific position.

"At this moment, with the functions I just activated, we have moved to twenty-five seconds from midnight. We were at thirty seconds before I made this decision. The activation cost us five seconds, brought us measurably closer to the point where everything erupts. But..."

"This clock may remain at twenty-five seconds for months. Or years. Or even eons if circumstances somehow stabilize and neither side makes significant moves. The clock only advances when actions of sufficient weight and consequence occur. If everyone suddenly decided to stop escalating, to maintain the current balance indefinitely, we could theoretically stay at twenty-five seconds forever."

"But paradoxically, we could also move closer to midnight in mere days if the right sequence of events unfolds. If THE Creature discovers something critical about THE Loom’s true nature. If one of the other major players makes an unexpected move that forces everyone else to respond. If and if and if..."

His voice grew darker.

"Or if I am forced to activate more functions ahead of schedule. Each activation brings Midnight closer. This... is the paradox of the countdown, you see. Moving forward brings the end closer. But standing still while your opponent moves might bring it even faster."

He resumed the circular motion of his hand.

"So we are locked into this dance, this countdown, this march toward midnight. Twenty-five seconds remaining. Close enough that we can see it approaching clearly. Far enough that there is still time for maneuver, for adjustment, for last minute preparations. The most dangerous position possible because it creates urgency without certainty, pressure without clarity about exactly when the final moment will arrive." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"You asked if I was ready to face THE Creature. The truth remains that I will never be ready, which is why I built this clock in the first place. To force myself to act before I convinced myself to wait longer, to prepare more, to delay indefinitely out of fear. The clock ensures that midnight will come whether I feel ready or not, whether my preparations are complete or not. It guarantees that the confrontation I have been building toward for eons will actually happen rather than remaining eternally theoretical."

His hand stopped again at twenty-five seconds before Midnight.

"So yes, Emotive. We are very close now. Not necessarily in terms of days or years, but in terms of the space remaining for significant actions before everything erupts. Twenty-five seconds. It sounds like so little time when spoken aloud..."

"Watch the clock with me. Feel how it ticks not with time but with consequence. And understand that when it finally strikes midnight, when those final seconds run out and The Fallout truly begins, there will be no going back. No pause. No reconsideration. Just the full weight of everything I have built crashing down on THE Creature with apocalyptic force."

BOOM!

THE Living Emotive’s smile turned devilish as she spoke her final words before departing.

"I wish you luck, O Primordial Paradox. After all, your success is my success in the end. Your collapse is my collapse. You die, I die. We are bound together in this madness whether I like it or not. Haha!"

With such manic words delivered with genuine cheer, THE Living Emotive disappeared as abruptly as she had arrived.

THE Living Paradox remained standing in the paradoxical space, alone once more with his thoughts and plans.

The functions of THE Loom continued operating according to his will.

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