[center][b][color=6ecff6]MARY BETH[/color][/b] [/center] [color=6ecff6]"...oh?"[/color] The tone of the child who had, mere moments ago, been proclaiming the unfair candy markups that would be be imposed, had taken on a new form. In contrast to fire, this was a restrained fire, shackled even as it burned brighter. Mary was alight. Ah, so that's it. No. Rather, that was always it. The previous conclusion was built on a premise that had never been proven, so only in the wake of that premise's destruction could a new one be made. This reality necessarily exists, in some fashion. Even if that damnable [color=6ecff6]「Craft of Laplace」[/color] scuttles about in the corner of the eye, feeding it tales and legends that never were, even if this was all a meaningless dream scripted by a blind idiot, it must still exist. After all, no mind can contain concept and property in their totality. If that demon attempts to feed us a concept, it must create a basis of it to feed to us. That basis could very well be an illusion, but as long as that premise "is", there is no need to make an ontology of ideas. The only means by which a mind could contain these concepts would be if it had reached that path at the end of the [color=6ecff6]「Tao」[/color], at the collapse of [color=6ecff6]「Moksha」[/color], at the exit from the [color=6ecff6]「Six-Twain Wheel」[/color]. If the one was perfect though...then the one would know the answer to the question we are currently seeking. As such, that futile ideal of the [color=6ecff6]「Supremely Mysterious and Primordial」[/color] is tossed aside, trash to not even be considered in furthering the premise. -Does that not mean that object theory should collapse when we realize what every part of that illusion stems from, though? Ah, that's too much effort to think about, far too much effort. The delineation between the [color=6ecff6]「World」[/color], the [color=6ecff6]「Other」[/color], and the [color=6ecff6]「Self」[/color] is simply there so long as we say it is there; if crushing that premise was desired then it would be done, but for the current moment there is no need to crush it. After all, at that moment of collapse when the separation between the [color=6ecff6]「Other」[/color] and [color=6ecff6]「Self」[/color] becomes impossible, that means it would implicitly be impossible for "me" to kill "you". It would simply be suicide. It would simply be the waking of a forgotten dreamer. This was not madness, as it was perfectly self-consistent. This was not monstrous, as it was based in normative calculi. [color=6ecff6]"Then we'll play. Am I 「He of Ten Heads」 or 「He of Ultimate Idealism」? That doesn't matter regardless, as long as one is one and the other is the other. I'm fine with doing the fourth punishment before the others, after all." [/color] From infinity disappeared infinity, thus infinity still remained. From infinity disappeared infinity, thus finitude remained. From finitude disappeared finitude, thus finitude remained. [color=6ecff6]"Insolence like this is far too much of a crime. For one who 「Courts Death」 to such an extent, there's only one penalty. But that's to be expected in an age when the 「Bull of Dharma」 stands on only one leg. Very well, though. I'll administer the punishment once other matters have been dealt with."[/color] A sharp laugh cut through the air, its creator's eyes glinting in the same manic fashion that they always did. [color=6ecff6]"Sidekick, come! It is time to prepare for the arrival of 「He Who Undoes Filth」! Gahaha!" [/color] Wait, had anything even changed?