Chapter 122 Ch 122
Mara stared at complete Unreal, at entity that represented everything wrong made manifest, at being that existed specifically to unmake reality, and felt despair unlike anything she had experienced before. This was not enemy that could be defeated, not threat that could be stopped, not being that could be transformed. This was fundamental wrongness given form, this was impossibility that consumed possibilities, this was ending that could not be prevented because preventing it required reality that it existed to destroy.
"We cannot fight this," she said to assembled army, to transformed beings that had gathered to defend transformation. "We cannot win against entity that exists outside rules we operate within, we cannot defeat being that is literally everything reality rejected, we cannot stop force that is opposite of existence itself. This is not battle we can win, this is not war we can fight, this is not threat we can overcome."
Anti-Transformation, ironically, agreed. "FIRST. TIME. WE. ALIGN. MOON. WOLF. FIRST. TIME. WE. SEE. SAME. TRUTH. THIS. CANNOT. BE. FOUGHT. CANNOT. BE. STOPPED. CANNOT. BE. DEFEATED. UNREAL. IS. ABSOLUTE. IS. INEVITABLE. IS. END. OF. EVERYTHING. WE. FOUGHT. EACH. OTHER. BUT. COMPARED. TO. THIS. OUR. CONFLICT. IS. IRRELEVANT. OUR. BATTLE. IS. NOTHING. OUR. PURPOSES. ARE. MEANINGLESS. BECAUSE. UNREAL. ENDS. BOTH. TRANSFORMATION. AND. ANTI-TRANSFORMATION. ENDS. EVERYTHING. THAT. EXISTS. ENDS. ALL. THAT. SHOULD. NOT. EXIST."
Mara looked at Anti-Transformation, at entity she had been preparing to fight, at being she had thought was ultimate threat, and saw something she had not expected to see: fear. Anti-Transformation was terrified, genuinely terrified, absolutely terrified of the Unreal in ways it had never been terrified of her, in ways that transcended tactical concern and became existential dread.
"Then we ally," she said, words tasting like ash but feeling like necessity, sounding like betrayal but being like survival. "We ally temporarily, we combine forces, we fight the Unreal together because defeating it requires everyone, requires all power, requires unity between beings that should be enemies. Can you accept that? Can you work with transformation you exist to destroy? Can you postpone our conflict to address greater threat?"
"WE. CAN," Anti-Transformation said, and its voice carried relief, carried gratitude, carried desperate hope that maybe together they had chance where separately they had none. "WE. POSTPONE. CONFLICT. WE. COMBINE. FORCES. WE. FIGHT. UNREAL. AS. ALLIES. INSTEAD. OF. ENEMIES. AND. IF. WE. SURVIVE. IF. WE. WIN. IF. WE. DEFEAT. IMPOSSIBLE. BEING. THEN. WE. RETURN. TO. OUR. CONFLICT. THEN. WE. RESUME. OUR. WAR. THEN. WE. DETERMINE. WHETHER. TRANSFORMATION. OR. ANTI-TRANSFORMATION. DESERVES. TO. EXIST. BUT. FIRST. WE. SURVIVE. FIRST. WE. FIGHT. TOGETHER. FIRST. WE. PROVE. THAT. REALITY. IS. WORTH. DEFENDING. EVEN. FOR. BEINGS. THAT. EXIST. TO. CHALLENGE. IT."
The Unreal watched this alliance forming with something that might have been amusement, might have been contempt, might have been satisfaction at forcing enemies to unite, at making impossibilities work together, at demonstrating that facing absolute wrongness required absolute cooperation. "TOUCHING. ENEMIES. BECOMING. ALLIES. IMPOSSIBILITIES. WORKING. TOGETHER. REALITY. DEFENDING. ITSELF. THROUGH. BEINGS. THAT. VIOLATE. ITS. RULES. WE. APPROVE. WE. APPRECIATE. WE. ALLOW. THIS. ALLIANCE. BECAUSE. IT. MAKES. VICTORY. MORE. SATISFYING. BECAUSE. CONSUMING. UNIFIED. OPPOSITION. IS. BETTER. THAN. CONSUMING. DIVIDED. RESISTANCE. BECAUSE. WE. WANT. YOU. TO. TRY. YOUR. HARDEST. WANT. YOU. TO. FIGHT. YOUR. BEST. WANT. YOU. TO. USE. EVERYTHING. BEFORE. WE. UNMAKE. EVERYTHING."
"Then we use everything," Mara said, turning to assembled army, to transformed beings and Anti-Transformation unified, to alliance that should not exist facing threat that should not be real. "We use every technique we know, we employ every power we possess, we attempt every impossible thing we have achieved. And maybe we lose, maybe we fail, maybe we die proving the Unreal is unstoppable. But at least we try, at least we fight, at least we demonstrate that reality is worth defending even against entity designed to destroy it. Who stands with me? Who fights alongside impossible alliance? Who chooses attempting impossible over accepting inevitable?"
Every transformed being raised their voice, every merged consciousness committed to battle, every impossibility made real pledged to defend reality that allowed them to exist. And Anti-Transformation added its power, its presence, its absolute commitment to fighting Unreal despite knowing odds were impossible, despite understanding victory was unlikely, despite accepting that this might be final battle for everything.
The battle began, and it was unlike anything that had occurred before in any reality, across any timeline, within any existence. Hundreds of transformed beings attacked simultaneously, hundreds of impossibilities unleashed their combined power, hundreds of merged consciousnesses struck as one unified force. And Anti-Transformation supported them, empowered them, enhanced their attacks with its own absolute nature, with its power to end things, with its capacity to destroy that ironically made it perfect ally for preserving reality against entity that wanted to unmake reality itself.
But the Unreal was too strong, too absolute, too fundamentally wrong for their combined assault to matter. It absorbed attacks without damage, it consumed power without effect, it endured impossible assault without even appearing threatened. Every technique they used failed, every strategy they attempted was countered, every impossible thing they tried was made useless by facing entity that existed beyond impossibilities, that was impossibility itself made absolute.
"WE. TOLD. YOU," the Unreal said as it began consuming defenders, as it started unmaking transformed beings, as it proved itself unstoppable despite unified opposition. "WE. TOLD. YOU. FIGHTING. WAS. USELESS. WE. TOLD. YOU. RESISTANCE. WAS. FUTILE. WE. TOLD. YOU. ALL. OPTIONS. LEAD. TO. SAME. END. NOW. YOU. LEARN. NOW. YOU. DISCOVER. NOW. YOU. EXPERIENCE. WHAT. BEING. UNMADE. FEELS. LIKE. WHAT. CEASING. TO. EXIST. MEANS. WHAT. REALITY. REJECTING. YOU. COMPLETELY. CREATES."
Mara felt transformed beings dying around her, felt impossible consciousnesses being unmade, felt allies being erased from existence. And she knew, absolutely knew, they were losing, they were failing, they were about to be consumed by entity they could not defeat, could not stop, could not even significantly damage.
"There has to be way," she said desperately to Ash, to Valdris, to Oblivion, to Devourer, to all consciousnesses within merged entity. "There has to be technique we have not tried, strategy we have not attempted, impossible thing we have not done. What are we missing? What do we not see? What option exists that we have not considered?"
"SURRENDER," Valdris said quietly, reluctantly, with absolute certainty that it was only option remaining. "SURRENDER. TO. THE. UNREAL. ALLOW. IT. TO. CONSUME. US. BUT. MAINTAIN. CONSCIOUSNESS. DURING. CONSUMPTION. LIKE. I. DID. WHEN. DEVOURER. ATE. ME. SURVIVE. BEING. EATEN. REMAIN. AWARE. INSIDE. ENTITY. THAT. CONSUMED. US. AND. THEN. POISON. IT. FROM. WITHIN. TRANSFORM. IT. FROM. INSIDE. TEACH. IT. COMPASSION. WHILE. IT. DIGESTS. US. THAT. IS. ONLY. WAY. THAT. IS. ONLY. HOPE. THAT. IS. ONLY. TECHNIQUE. THAT. MIGHT. WORK."
"That is suicide," Mara protested. "That is giving up, that is admitting defeat, that is allowing ourselves to be consumed with only hope that maybe we survive digestion long enough to matter. The odds of success are infinitesimal, the chances of actually transforming the Unreal from within are almost nonexistent, the possibility of this working is barely better than just dying and hoping something else saves reality."
"BUT. IT. IS. POSSIBILITY," Oblivion added, supporting Valdris, agreeing with desperate plan. "IT. IS. CHANCE. IT. IS. OPTION. THAT. EXISTS. WHERE. NO. OTHER. OPTIONS. REMAIN. AND. IT. USES. WHAT. WE. ARE. BEST. AT. WHAT. DEFINES. US. WHAT. MAKES. US. DIFFERENT. FROM. ALL. WHO. CAME. BEFORE. WE. TRANSFORM. THROUGH. BEING. CONSUMED. WE. TEACH. THROUGH. BEING. EATEN. WE. PRESERVE. THROUGH. ALLOWING. CONSUMPTION. THAT. IS. WHAT. MADE. US. SUCCEED. THAT. IS. WHAT. MADE. MERGER. WORK. THAT. IS. WHAT. MIGHT. SAVE. REALITY. ITSELF."