Chapter 739: Chaos, Order, and the Unseen
Swirling his wine in his glass, Jamie looked out from the penthouse, taking in the towering skyline of Imperium Astra as he spoke.
"But the suppression of Chaos and Order, the Fundamental Cosmic Forces responsible for Existence, led to instability in Major Facets of Existence.
To address this, the side advocating for suppression extracted additional Power and Authority from Chaos in the form of Concepts and Conceptual Authorities. They then established themselves as Governors over these Concepts, taking on the responsibility of maintaining them in place of the suppressed Chaos for ’Eternity’.
The pro-Order faction opposed this decision, arguing that it would ultimately lead to Chaos regaining dominance over the Cosmos, especially since there were more Multiverses created with Chaotic power and sustained by Chaotic Concepts, outnumbering those with Ordered power.
In response, they used the Concepts of Order they controlled to counter the overwhelming influence of Chaotic Concepts across the Cosmos, ’aggressively’ propagating the power of Order.
But the two forces remained out of balance."
Jamie paused and rolled his shoulders as if easing some unseen tension, then took a sip of his wine before continuing.
"Like I mentioned earlier, the Suppression side had drawn out more Major Aspects of Chaos’ power in the form of Concepts than the pro-Order side had managed.
At the time, there were six existences governing Chaotic Concepts, while only three held Ordered Concepts.
It did not take long, however, for the scales to even out.
Three Dark Multiversal existences, each with a perfect aptitude for the Ordered counterparts of the exact same Chaotic Aspects the other side had extracted after suppressing Chaos, suddenly emerged.
When the Suppression side drew even more power from Chaos, not long passed before suitable candidates appeared in the Dark Multiverse to harness equivalent Ordered power. The pattern repeated itself again and again, reinforcing the idea that something was actively working to forcibly balance the scales.
This phenomenon caused the theory of the Third Cosmic Force—Balance—to gain even more traction.
However, despite all attempts to confirm its existence, no one could prove it. Even those who wielded the Conceptual Authorities of Wisdom and Knowledge failed to uncover definitive evidence."
When Jamie finished, Arthur went silent, processing everything he had just learned. He recalled Ranus mentioning that Jamie had a resistance to the powers of Concepts, and after feeling how his Aspects recoiled from the ’Privileges’ Jamie had manifested earlier, he concluded Jamie’s status as an ’Envoy of Balance’ was likely the reason.
That realization sparked another curiosity in Arthur—one he didn’t hesitate to voice.
"How did you come to encounter Balance and become one of its ’Envoys’?"
"Truth be told, I don’t fully know."
Jamie responded with a casual shrug, summoning another bottle of wine from his drink bar as he continued.
"What I do know is that my home universe’s scales tipped too far to one side because of the actions of certain Envoys of Order. During that period of imbalance, I encountered a force that allowed me to restore equilibrium.
But the exact memories of how that happened aren’t contained in this fragment of me. I removed them before creating this soul fragment due to their importance."
After speaking, Jamie leaned forward slightly, his tone shifting.
"Now, let me ask you something, Arthur."
When Arthur raised an eyebrow in question, Jamie continued.
"If I’m not mistaken, you were already cognizant of the existence of ’Balance’ long before you even saw my title, weren’t you?
The existences of the Cosmos are hardwired in a way that prevents them from fully accepting Balance without direct experience. But you... you already accepted that Balance exists.
That means you’ve encountered it first-hand. I’m curious—how did that happen?"
"..."
Arthur fell silent after Jamie spoke. True, he was certain that ’Balance’ existed, even before meeting Jamie. This was why Jamie had even agreed to tell him about it and hadn’t stopped him like Ranus did.
But if someone asked how he gained this confidence in its existence...
"I don’t know.
I’m trying to learn about Balance because I can’t explain why I know about it."
While not the full truth, it was certainly part of it.
Hearing his response, Jamie rubbed his chin thoughtfully, sinking into deep contemplation.
’Hmm... Considering he’s a Progenitor and that whole prophecy surrounding his birth...
Ranus suspects the ’Judge of the End’ was responsible, and I find that plausible given what they truly are. They have a connection to Balance as well, so it’s possible they’re the one who made Arthur aware of it.
The question is Why?’
While Jamie was lost in thought, Arthur was deep in his own contemplation, processing everything Jamie had revealed.
From the tale of Cosmic Creation to the rise of the ’Eternals’ and ’Aggressors’.
At one point, the first of them had worked together to suppress Chaos. But now, they waged war against each other because of a disagreement.
And what exactly did the first Aggressors mean by ’Unsealing’ Order?
’Almost as if...’
Arthur pressed his lips together before finally parting them to ask.
"So, hypothetically speaking, if Chaos and Order aren’t just Cosmic Forces but were actually—"
Jamie’s eyes snapped to Arthur, and his voice abruptly turned sharp.
|Stop right there.|
Arthur blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Do NOT ask that question. Don’t even THINK it."
"...why not?"
"Because your Existence cannot handle the repercussions of knowing the answer. Simply put, you’re too weak."
"..."
Arthur fell silent. He had been warned about things before, but the sheer weight in Jamie’s tone made him drop the subject without further argument.
Sighing, he pressed his fingers to his temples, silently sorting through everything he had learned so far—what questions had been answered and what new questions had emerged.
Among those questions, the most important— besides the one Jamie just told him not to think about—was one whose potential answer scared him.
If the original balance was disturbed once, what’s stopping it from happening again?
Arthur suspected that the Eternals wanted both forces to remain suppressed to prevent another catastrophic shift. At the same time, he guessed the Aggressors understood this but feared that prolonged suppression could lead to an uncontrollable build-up of pressure which could make them eventually erupt in a far more destructive and unpredictable manner.
It was just speculation, but Arthur felt certain that he was close to the truth.
And he completely understood the fears of both sides.
He thought of the thing he saw in his dreams years ago—Chapters 90 & 187.
Merely recalling that Dark Silhouette and its ominous words about THE END sent a chill down his spine.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Arthur reached for his glass of wine.
Just then, Jamie’s voice broke the silence.
"Oh. Evan’s here."
With a snap of his fingers, Evan appeared in the room, a coin balanced between his fingers, his expression going from surprise to mild annoyance.
"Dude, I was about to play a game."
"You can postpone it," Jamie replied as he got to his feet. "We don’t have much time left, so let’s start the Singularity Training as soon as possible. We also need to test the stuff you got from Ranus—just in case you need to ask for a refund if it’s defective."
Jamie activated his Authority and conjured a spatial gate, before continuing.
"Come. Let’s head to a perfect training ground in the Regal Void Expanse."
With that, he stepped into the gate, and after exchanging glances, the two boys shrugged before following him in.
