Once again, the being was stunned utterly, staring at something greater, that its mind struggled to comprehend. But it was not a castle this time.

  It looked like a... wall? No, not a a wall. An enormous, mountain-sized ball of... a strange, swirling substance. Something undefinable and ever-changing, fluctuating in a profound pattern, entrancing to even look at.

  A truly unbelievable amount of currents, so many that they filled the entire sky, dove inside it. The being didn't doubt - rather it knew with absolute certainty - that these were all of the currents in the entire world. All leading here.

  To the epicenter.

  There was silence. Utter and absolute.

  With the chaos around, so many creatures that the worst surge back at the collateral would look like an empty plateau in comparison, there should be a deafening cacophony here. Yet, all was silent.

  The being picked up a couple of rocks from the ground, and smacked them hard against each other, right next to its left ear.

  As expected, nothing.

  The same eerie quiet as when the currents went mad and smashed onto the ground, but all encompassing. Respect demanded, and enforced.

  It made for a discomfiting dissonance, though one that went along perfectly with the feeling of impending... something, that had accompanied the being for a while now. A majestic, overwhelming anticipation.

  Here, the entire world was on a precipice. Just one tiny step away from... the being didn't know what. But the reverence it invoked was so stunning, it felt like it could stand still and bask in it forever.

  Which only made the contrast with the reality below that much starker.

  The sheer mass of crawling flesh down there was unbelievable, so far past anything the being had ever seen at the collateral, it was ridiculous to even make the comparison.

  Though the being hadn't really minded it on the way here - courtesy of its detachment and the freedom afforded by its strength, most likely - a press beyond the worst surge had been a constant companion for a long time by now, and only getting worse.

  The being deeply regretted having thought of any amount of creatures as a 'crawling mass' or anything along those lines before, because now it lacked any descriptor that could do what it was seeing justice.

  It wasn't just a matter of density or pressure anymore. Creatures must have kept coming and coming and coming, until there wasn't physically any more space.

  There were multiple layers down there.

  Structures far away it had first thought to be huge hills or small mountains kept wriggling and collapsing forward, until the being was forced to confront the fact that they weren't terrain fixtures, but towering heaps of creatures. The sheer amount of bodies that must require...

  And on top of the cataclysmic numbers, there was also power. Here, after such a long time without finding a peer, the being felt things roaming around that might be a threat even to itself. No whisper, or moves or the like. Just raw, undeniable strength.

  In any other circumstance, it would have rejoiced at meeting a peer, at the chance to establish a connection with something that would understand, to possibly make a true friend, finally. But even that desire was muted. Everything was pushed aside, in the face of the epicenter.

  But one gaggle of such creatures caught the being's attention: there was something peculiar to them. An understanding.

  It took notice of them just as they were about to dive into the fray, and then watched them as they landed... and got engulfed, one by one. Yet its senses were clear that they were entirely fine - just out of direct sight - and steadily making their way forward. Soon, they would be outside of its perception range, which was a bit of a quandary.

  The being had decided to be more cautious, and would have preferred to carefully examine things more from up here. But this group was strong and very easy to track, offering a really unique chance: to observe their charge from a safer distance, and see what would become of them. Just as is had on that terrible moment with its friends.

  Before it could convince itself away from it, the being jumped, ready to go after the group. But as it was falling down, ready to follow... though it really hoped to be mistaken, it feared they were going to end up the same way.

  In a quite novel experience, the being found itself moving under, through and on top of other creatures. Often all at the same time. It was more akin to moving in crumbling tunnels than anything else.

  It tried to stay afloat as much as possible, but it was rarely able to. Things around weren't afraid of it now, and its strength and abilities were barely enough to keep moving forward. Not even the bison could have charged its way forward, in here. Having to plot a course and be careful not only of its surroundings, but also of up and down was exhausting.

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  And it had no idea how long this would take. Just how big was this place?

  With the ground and the walls and everything else that kept shifting around, trying to keep track of progress - and confirming that any progress was happening at all - was a waste of effort.

  Luckily there were a few reference points: for one, there were other strong creatures around, floating beacons of essence, similarly caught in this mess. And obviously there was the group it was going after, in the first place.

  The being was slowly pulling ahead of the former, and quickly gaining on the latter. Until it found itself barely a few creatures away from its quarry.

  The group was moving with clear purpose, always keeping a tight formation and making sure that all its members were present, before moving any distance - which might be the reason why they were moving so comparatively slowly. Still, it was astounding: the being hadn't seen the likes of this since the guards.

  Alas, in its astonishment, it got careless and allowed the group to spot it.

  Their backline reacted immediately, with threatening postures and growls.

  ... or at least the being thought they were growling, as it still couldn't hear anything, obviously.

  Luckily, they did nothing more than that and as soon as the being stopped - showing it had understood their point - and allowed them to, they simply hurried after their friends.

  The being gave them a little headstart... and then kept following. Slowly, painstakingly pulling and shoving and kicking its way forward.

  All the while, it could feel a weight pressing down on it, heavier and heavier. Which didn't feel like a physical thing - at least, not only that.

  The essence around was getting... denser. Which didn't make sense at all, but there was no better way to conceptualize what was actually happening.

  What that meant was a mystery utterly beyond its comprehension, but for now, it didn't seem to be having any consequence. Or rather... weren't there less creatures than before?

  Of course the number was still mountain range worthy, but at least the being could now spot its quarry directly, every once in a while.

  And with less interference... there was truly something unique about them.

  Even if not quite up to the bison - and the being felt like it could take on the entire group if needed - they were all really strong. They had that feeling of sharpness to their existence - that statement that they mattered - that very few notable things the being had met had possessed.

  But the real surprise was a smaller, unobtrusive figure in their midst. By any measure the least impressive of them. Still, that little thing was the center of the group, for it enforced something far more interesting than mere power: a binding, that brought them all together and imposed order.

  Not domineering or degrading, like for the knight and the guards. Just a synchrony between themselves, a kind of regard for each other, that made them one single thing, in a strange, undefinable sense. One that was more than the sum of its parts. Even through the haze that had fallen on its emotions, the being felt a dull ache at seeing this. If only...

  Such was its focus on them that it didn't realize they'd stopped and almost provoked a fight by accidentally diving into their midst. When it realized, it backed off once again and waited for them to resolve whatever thing was keeping them.

  But they didn't seem to be doing anything at all: the being could only catch glimpses of their backline, and they were all just hanging there, suspended in the same place.

  Until they all disappeared from perception entirely. Their entire superimposed existence at the same time.

  Fearing having missed some crucial clue, the being rushed forward... but quickly had to stop at their same spot, in front of a murky, opaque barrier.

  The ball. They had finally reached it.

  And this close, with this much essence weighing down, it's true nature was clear.

  It was the currents, somehow. One gigantic mass made of countless currents pressed tightly, until they weren't flowing, but condensed here together... because they didn't need to flow anymore. This was were they were meant to be, wasn't it? To converge to.

  The being was understandably afraid. It had seen what the currents had done to its flesh when it had so much as touched one. Even if creatures all around were completely unbothered, and were just pressing their bodies forward, disappearing beyond.

  But how could it be sure that there was a beyond to reach? With the way its flesh had been eroded, they could simply be disappearing for all it knew. And in this chaos there was no way to accurately assess if they survived sticking their heads - or gems or whatever other fundamental parts - inside, because the throng wouldn't allow them to just drop dead, but push them the rest of the way regardless.

  Still, this didn't feel like a death trap - not this part, at least. And the group it was following... the being had clearly felt their union, whole and undamaged, up until the very last one had gone through. Which either meant that their center had gone last - something against their previous behavior, as they always kept it in the middle, and against what little the being had been able to see - or that their vanguard had been alive on the other side, waiting for the rest. And now they were all through, steadily leaving the being behind.

  It hadn't come all this way just to give up at the end, had it? Also, whatever happened, the epicenter was the ultimate objective.

  There was no running from this.

  Tamping down on its fear, it clenched all its fists, and dove forward...

  Into an ambient that was pretty much the same as what it had just been in. But more. If the essence was strange outside, then in here...

  The silence was much more oppressive, but that felt only right.

  All should be silent before this.

  There was the principle, an amount beyond anything the being had ever felt, in fact. But it was struggling to care even about that right now.

  It felt insignificant. That it wasn't fit to even show itself. That it should just turn and leave before it marred this place with its lowly self.

  Yet it was tugged forward relentlessly. It kept following the group somehow, but they'd become an afterthought.

  As it moved, the essence weighed heavier and heavier, until it was congealed into something that might be truly physical. And dangerous. Not just in a steady, uniform increase. Rather, some sort of minor currents were swirling around, and they were harsher than the rest. They stung. Each touch from them sapping its will, trying to take away important bits that it couldn't afford to lose, to make it surrender and give up everything that it was.

  Naturally the being was resisting, holding itself together. But they were only increasing in number and viciousness.

  Wherever this group was headed to, the being hoped they would get there soon, before the danger became lethal. Because it wasn't sure it could stop itself now from marching relentlessly to death.