Gaia sat gingerly on the patch of strange-colored flowers of her realm. Her head was ducked down, her eyebrows furrowed tightly together, multiple spiraling thoughts parading dizzyingly inside her mind.

It was, she realized, only a matter of time before the Son of Emptiness discovered what went wrong.

It was a daunting task to keep him in the dark. His power and intuition were above Reality-rank level, making him painfully impossible to fool.

The only reason why he wasn't aware yet was because of Them. Only those beings could keep him busy enough for him to forget anything else except Them.

That flash of understanding made Gaia shudder in sudden awareness. But instantly after, she shook her head vehemently, denying that idea.

"I cannot do that," she whispered to herself. "Doing such a thing would put me in danger more than anything else. And I still do not know why I am being targeted."

She pursed her lips tightly together.

"Is there something in me they wish? If yes, what? Or are they just targeting me because of mindless hunger?"

Somehow, Gaia doubted the second possibility. Hunger alone could not make those beings fight against the Son of Emptiness for an untold number of eons.

Something would not add up.

And there was no way to know, for the Son of Emptiness would refuse to tell her anything related to his fight with them.

The Will Eternal made a clicking, irritating sound with her tongue, suppressing the urge to curse.

She was the one being protected. She was the one in danger. Yet she knew nothing about the reason behind all these events.

It was something Gaia had never truly given serious thought to. For her, as long as she did her job as Will Eternal and lived her life in peace with her lovely creations, then everything was fine.

Now things had changed.

There was one more being she had come to care for. A being that loved to do nothing but be the origin of numerous problems.

It irritated her to no bounds, yet such a being made her wish to know more about her situation.

Slowly, Gaia exhaled through her nose. She straightened back her seating position, looking at the flowers circling around her.

"There is only one way to know," Gaia whispered.

The idea seemed dangerous. No, it was dangerous.

Dangerous to the point where she would doom the whole Perfected Reality with her if anything went wrong.

But…

"Power begets Power," she whispered, then smiled. "And I would fail as a mother if I am unable to protect my own child."

Her decision made, she raised her head skyward, seeing the seven Holy Suns, the three Demonic Moons, and all the other living beings within.

She connected herself with each of them and conveyed her intentions, her wish to involve herself in the game.

They asked her why now.

Gaia told them it was because their Prince was in danger.

There were no further questions. All of them flooded the link between them and Gaia with only one feeling:

Grim motivation.

Gaia's lips curled up at this, then her words echoed — melodious yet strangely demonic.

"Shall we begin?"

Strangely, at that moment, Gaia seemed to gain a sudden, deep understanding of the Son of Emptiness's favorite words.

"Power begets Power."

She shook her head and bolted into action, having little time to do what she wished.

…

While beings were planning on the scale of the whole Reality, some were limited to the level of one simple universe.

But each one had their own limitations, and Premier had come to learn his own after the last event with his bloodline.

From all the corners of the universe, the Elysiari had the opportunity to mourn the death of the Progenitor.

Except Premier.

Soleil Octave's blistering, sun-like eyes were like a hawk on him, watching his every gesture with an intensity that made his skin crawl.

So he could not cry. He could not mourn the death of his father, nor weep for the withering and disappearance of his bloodline.

Doing such a thing would make him glare in front of Soleil, and then everything his father had ever done would be for naught.

That was something he would never accept. So he did the only thing he could do: he swallowed back tear after tear and continued diligently to work, obeying Soleil with all his might.

He trained under his guidance, making his Mercy affinity evolve rapidly. He clenched his jaw, supporting the heat on the planet Sunny.

Steadily, Premier was now able to live there without sweating buckets.

He thought it was enough.

But the event of his father destroying half of the universe, weakening them considerably, put Soleil in a foul, stinking mood.

Every now and then, he needed to set out, battling beings from other universes at the entrance.

Every time he came back, he did so with wounds on his body.

That made him put Premier through more intense training. Soleil discarded his former arrogance in finding him unworthy, as if now aware of the foolishness of such a thought when the universe was on the brink of destruction.

It seemed hard times made the eyes perceive what truly mattered.

Yet it looked like it was not enough. Or maybe the situation was not apocalyptic enough.

Even now, the Progenitors were unable to find common ground in order to fight together during such a disastrous situation.

Each one seemed to seek something out of this, something they could only obtain by going solo.

Premier didn't know what they were looking for. But many times, he had heard the wrathful roar of a dragon booming through the whole universe.

That, too, was another thing the Firstborn of Noah didn't know the reason for.

But all of that was meaningless to him now. Oh, it was indeed meaningless.

With the advent of Noah's death, there was something Premier had completely forgotten. Something he shouldn't have, but did because of his hidden grief.

It was the matter of Rue Octave, the one Noah enslaved with Causality.

With Noah dead, that enslavement was void, giving Rue back the liberty to say anything without repercussions.

And the first thing he did was easy to guess if one looked at Premier's current state.

The young man was sprawling on the ground carpeted by blood — his own blood — his back leaning against a miniature crimson sun.

His left eye was gouged out, leaving behind an empty socket. His legs were severed crudely, the lumps of flesh still writhing and steaming with heat.

Premier's stomach was being burned by a star constantly, and his heart was being pricked by small beasts made of solar fire.

His whole face was smoldered, leaving only blood and ashes.

The sight was horrific.

In front of him, seated on a throne, was Soleil Octave, the Bearer of Sun, with Rue Octave standing behind him like an obedient puppy.

"I will not repeat myself, Premier." Soleil's voice was as cold as death, despite each of his words detonating the surroundings. "Tell me, where is the Main World of the Madman, Laeh?"

His sun-like eyes began to rotate with mad intensity, filled with wrath hotter than anything. "And where are Justicia and Apollonia of BrightSky?"

Rue Octave knew little to nothing.

Only Premier could guide him toward his cousin and that traitor — if they were still alive, that is. Yet even if they were not, Soleil sought the main world of Noah.

Not only him, many did. All were curious and eager to take for themselves the legacy of the one who killed a Progenitor through achievements alone.

It seemed simple. But those closer to the Progenitors than anyone knew that such a feat was supposed to be impossible.

So they sought the legacy of the one they called Madman.

Yet at his questions, Premier answered the same thing he had since the beginning of the torture.

"I-I am Premier Vaelgrim of Laeh, Firstborn of Noah Vaelgrim." He wheezed, blood gushing out from every pore of his body, blood that was burned to nothingness immediately.

"And I know nothing." He continued weakly. "I know nothing."

He paused, looking at Soleil through his only remaining eye, and spat a mouthful of his melted organs.

"I know nothing."

—End of chapter 455—

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