Chapter 796: The Nature of Dimensionality
[...They aren’t locations—they’re structural qualities of space and reality.]
"And Dimensionality?" Arthur asked.
[That refers to how many of those directions your existence spans or extends into.
It’s a ’nature’. A being with higher dimensionality occupies more axes and possesses greater degrees of reach.]
Lostvayne was just about to return to his narration when he paused, remembering something else, and went back to his explanation instead.
[I almost forgot. Another common misunderstanding is that a Higher-Dimensional being is always more powerful. But that’s not necessarily true.
Higher dimensionality does not equate raw power. They’re entirely different axes of measurement.
Just as you can be taller without being heavier, you can be more dimensional without being more powerful.
A 3D being like you can have a higher Existence Realm than a 4D being. That means you can defeat them in a fight, but that’s all it means. And by now, I think you can grasp why Aimon thought the way he did.]
Arthur slowly nodded, his brain connecting the dots.
"Even if higher dimensionality doesn’t equate raw power, and a lower-dimensional being can defeat a higher one, defeat doesn’t necessarily mean death."
[Exactly. It doesn’t. Especially not when dimensionality is a factor.]
Lostvayne took a moment to think of an example before speaking.
[Imagine you wield flames so potent they can reduce anything to ash, a fire capable of consuming bodies, souls, even universal laws, like that Rogue Hero’s prismatic flames.
But if you’re a three-dimensional being, and your flames lack the structure or the reach to orient toward that extra axis, that invisible direction of the fourth dimension, then all you’re burning is the three-dimensional aspect of your target.
The rest of their being, the part that extends into that higher vector of space-time, remains completely untouched. Unless your power can orient itself toward that axis, it doesn’t matter how strong your flames are, they’ll never touch what you’re unable to perceive.]
With a thoughtful nod, Arthur said.
"So in a fight like that, it’s not just about being strong enough to win, but about being able to hit all of them."
[Exactly,] Lostvayne replied. [That’s what makes higher-dimensional beings difficult to truly kill for those of a lower dimension. The fight becomes a question of how much of their existence you can affect, and how much of them is still left.]
Understanding this, Arthur then brought the conversation back to the original topic.
"So in Aimon’s fight against the dragon, it was the Galaxy Sword that allowed the dragon to bridge that gap when Aimon let his guard down..."
[Correct. The Galaxy Sword’s Weapon Authority, Dimensional Severance, completely disregards dimensional hierarchies.
It doesn’t care what dimension your opponent occupies. It’s a weapon that doesn’t just strike what’s visible or comprehensible. It targets the entirety of a being’s existence across all coordinate axes, even those that are hidden, abstract, or unreachable.
Whether the opponent is two-dimensional or ten-dimensional, its strike applies to all of them.
And that’s just the Weapon Authority. That’s not even accounting for the sword’s raw attack power, the nature of the materials it was forged from, or its other abilities.]
At this point, Lostvayne’s explanation had deviated from the tale of the Progenitor Elf and the Ancient Breed Dragon, deepening Arthur’s understanding of something far more significant.
Slowly, the young man turned his gaze back to the floating sword, and in a low voice, he spoke.
"So...the Galaxy Sword, with its Dimensional Severing...is Rule Breaker Number Four."
[Yes,] Lostvayne answered simply.
Arthur lifted both hands, mimicking the motion of balancing unseen weights. "And you’re Number Three."
[I am.]
"Then you’re saying," Arthur murmured, his voice tinged now with disbelief and a growing sense of respect, "your Authority, Soul-Devouring Oblivion, is even more terrifying than Dimensional Severance, the ability to strike across all coordinate axes?"
[If you give me enough souls,] Lostvayne replied, tone without arrogance, merely stating what had always been true, [yes...it is.]
Arthur didn’t respond immediately, but the silence was neither awkward nor empty. It was the kind of pause that came when something immense was being understood all at once.
Then Lostvayne spoke again, his tone as calm as ever.
[Being able to harm someone doesn’t mean you can kill them. Just because you can strike a higher-dimensional existence, just because you can even injure the imperceptible segments of them, it still doesn’t guarantee an end.
Dimensional Severing ensures that damage applies to every direction the target exists in, ignoring the problem of reach and bypassing the separation between perceptible and imperceptible. But even that only solves the problem of contact, not consequence.
You can touch all parts of them...but can you make it end?]
Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly.
[I can,] Lostvayne declared calmly. [I don’t need to understand how many layers their existence has. I don’t need to see all the contours of their existence across dimensions.
Most beings, regardless of how many axes of time-space their existence occupies, still possess something central to their existence.
I simply need enough energy to fuel my strike, and once I do, that core will NOT survive. I guarantee destruction.]
One of Lostvayne’s former wielders had once called him ’The Epilogue’ of his target, and the sword had to admit, it was an apt description.
Upon hearing this, Arthur fell silent, but the next question slipped out almost immediately, as though it had been waiting in the back of his mind the entire time.
"Then...what about Rule Breaker Number Two?" he asked.
At that, Lostvayne seemed to freeze, but replied after a moment.
[Number Two, huh?]
He spoke as if the mere memory of them was complicated.
[Well, in their case, I suppose you could say... just as I guarantee destruction, they guarantee creation.]
Arthur blinked, visibly confused.
"What?"
Lostvayne let out a sound close to a chuckle, and in the same calm tone Arthur often used when casually saying something absurd, the sword asked, [Cancer can kill, can it not?]
Arthur blinked, genuinely caught off guard. That was not the direction he expected the conversation to go.
"Sure... I guess. If someone had cancer, it could kill."
With that confirmation, Lostvayne continued.
[Cancer is essentially just cells, damaged or mutated, growing and replicating unchecked. A body destroying itself by continuing to create. Is that not the case?]
Arthur’s brows furrowed. "I mean, I wouldn’t put it that way exactly, but... sure."
[So now,] Lostvayne said, a note of curiosity in his tone, [what exactly do you think you’re going to do against a being who can quite literally generate that cancer within your body, and ensure those cancerous cells keep replicating, multiplying, spreading, until it gets to the point where they will kill you?]
Arthur’s breath hitched, and his eyes widened as the realisations dawned on him all at once.
[Now you understand why I say they guarantee creation.]
"Hold on. Wait... Don’t tell me...that’s actually their Weapon Authority?"
[Of course not. That’s just their preferred method of using the real Weapon Authority to kill people who really piss them off.]
"..."
Silence followed.
Arthur went silent, and Celestia, already silent, somehow became even more so—if such a thing could be measured.
Eventually, Arthur muttered, almost to himself, "Wait...so if someone pisses off Number Two, they kill them...with cancer?"
[Yes. They kill them with cancer. It’s a very odd preference, but we Rule Breakers are eccentric by nature, so in that context, it’s not all that unusual.]
That made it sound like there were Rule Breakers out there with even weirder kinks.
[There most certainly are. Who knows how many of them have picked up even stranger preferences since the last time I saw them?
Well, Number Two is probably off sleeping somewhere. They’re incredibly lazy, after all.]
Just as Lostvayne said this, the ground trembled slightly, and the spatial law crystal Arthur had used to substitute the Seed Engine sank further into the earth. A moment later, the planet began emitting waves of Cosmic Energy into the surrounding space.
"Seems like the settings update is progressing well."
[Indeed. Judging by the rate of energy output and the scale of this realm, let’s give it three days, just to be safe.]
"Three days, huh? I’m already behind schedule."
[It’s still the best way to avoid any needless confrontation with the gods outside.]
Lostvayne’s reminder brought Arthur back to the reason he was putting himself through all this, and with a sigh, he leaned back and took a sip from the drink in his hand.
"Now that I think of it, we got sidetracked and you never finished that story about the Progenitor Elf. How badly did he get wrecked?"
[Oh, that? Well, the dragon happens to be the most mischievous one in his group, so...]
Lostvayne resumed the tale as Arthur listened, and all the while, the Realm slowly adjusted to the changes brought about by the replacement of one of its core components.
