The death of someone, especially one as important and high-ranking in the universe as Aurelia, could be sensed clearly enough.

It was a strange feeling. Something that enveloped anyone who knew her, making them feel a terrible sense of ending deep inside themselves.

Asaemon felt it too, for Aurelia was his sister, and their bond was stronger than anything.

And Laeh, hidden in the lowest part of the universe where no mana could reach, also felt the death of Aurelia Sightless Vaelgrim, the First Abomination.

Deep within the world, Laeh herself was curled in on herself like a ball of flesh, her body trembling over and over again as she felt Aurelia's death.

Foxy, Fated, Caus, and Destiny were all there, watching with pain and sadness painted across their faces.

Yet the three Origins' grief was not equal to Foxy's own.

She stood there, tall and slender, her foxlike features rigid, her head ducked low, fists balled so tightly they were drained of blood.

Her body was quivering.

'I-I am failing my father.' Foxy whispered woefully inside her mind, ashamed to be here hiding while so many of her faction were being hunted outside.

'Even Aunt Aurelia is now dead.'

It was inconceivable.

And Foxy couldn't help but think that if even Aurelia had died, then her brother could die as well.

She didn't know why, but Foxy had felt it gnawing at her for some time now, a feeling that told her time was scarce.

Premier would soon stop breathing.

The past Elysiari of Dream, the silver of her hair completely ruined by the disappearance of her bloodline, snapped her head toward Laeh.

The World's Will was still kneeling on the ground, clutching her head tightly as tears poured down relentlessly.

She was mumbling something under her breath.

"I-I can't, Noah… I can't… I need you… I… I need you, Noah."

The pain was horrendous.

Laeh had never felt such a loss since her birth, and Aurelia's death struck her like a merciless, temple-shattering blow.

"N-Noah, I—!"

"Father is not here." Foxy said, crouching in front of Laeh and pulling her into an embrace, doing her best to restrain her own tears.

Two people could not cry at the same time. One needed to control their emotions in order to help the other do the same.

This was not the time for mourning. Not for her.

She needed to find a way to protect her family and her father's legacy.

So the First Daughter of Noah swallowed her tears, killed her own heart, and began to comfort Laeh, for Laeh needed it more than she did.

"Father is not here, but we are still here." Foxy whispered gently. "And we need to do our best to save our faction. My… my brother, your nephew, is still outside."

Laeh seemed to pause, slowly lifting her tear-soaked face to stare into Foxy's dilated eyes.

"He cannot die, Aunt." She wheezed, her voice cracking. "He cannot die. He cannot die."

The more she repeated it, the more tears bloomed, spilling down uncontrollably.

She failed to restrain her emotions.

"We need to go to him before he does something he shouldn't." Foxy forced a weak smile. "You know how he is. Hungry for his own glory, and loving Father too much to let his death go unavenged."

"So—!"

"I-I know." Laeh said, hugging her back. "I know. We will save him."

At those words, Foxy finally cracked and began to weep.

Behind them, Fated, Caus, and Destiny exchanged grim looks.

Just when they had finally found a family that loved and accepted them… everything was destroyed? Their family being killed one by one like flies?

Their eyes hardened, their lips pressing into lines of determination. Determination to repay their father for the joy he had let them experience.

…

They were not the only ones mourning.

Deep inside Laeh, within the territory of Ester, Elysiari of Shadow, a woman was crying.

Aerica. Eric's wife.

If Foxy, Laeh, and the others felt Eric's death alongside the others yet could not fully process it, their grief already spent on those they were closest to…

Aerica cared only for Eric. Her husband. And he was dead, his soul destroyed.

She lay sprawled on the floor of her room, staring blankly at the Soul Crystal that recorded Eric's life, now completely shattered.

No emotion remained in her eyes. Eric's death had taken everything from her.

Her face was soaked with tears and snot, her mind replaying every moment she had lived with him, all the way to the day he departed on his mission to the elven kingdom.

She remembered joking about killing any woman he brought back, never imagining that he would be the one who wouldn't return.

The pain Aerica felt was beyond comprehension, so absolute that life itself no longer held meaning.

Eric had been her everything.

Her best friend. Her lover. Her husband. The one who cooked for her, because she was terrible at it. The one who was always there, comforting her with his lazy smile, telling her that everything would be fine.

Somehow, with him around, every worry had become inconsequential.

Aerica loved that about him. Eric was truly her anchor. And most importantly, the man who made her understand what love was.

And as she thought about it again and again… the conclusion she always reached was the same.

"I… I cannot live without you, Eric." Aerica breathed, her voice hollow.

Eric's soul was completely destroyed, sent to oblivion.

Then she would do the same.

"I told you, didn't I?" She smiled brokenly. "Even death would not part us."

She gathered her power and began the process of exploding her own soul.

There was no fear left inside her. No feeling remained. Eric was gone, and he had taken her heart and soul with him.

And just the thought of being with Eric — no matter how, no matter where — was enough to make her smile as she ended a life that held no meaning without the one who had given it meaning.

And so Aerica—!

BAAAAAMMMMM!!!

Aerica jolted in shock as she felt the world of Laeh struck by something unfathomably heavy.

Instinctively, she staggered upright, lifting her head with eyes that were still dead.

"What?" she whispered.

Not only her, everyone across the entire world was alarmed.

And even more so Laeh and Foxy, who could clearly see a portion of the universe being ripped away mercilessly.

There, they saw beings entering their universe. Their skin was gray, featureless — no eyes, no noses, no ears.

Only a wide, jagged mouth that sent a chill down the spine.

They were extremely tall and lanky, their bodies enveloped in strange, illusionary energy.

The moment Laeh's and Foxy's eyes fell upon them, they knew exactly what those beings were.

Intruders from another universe.

And they had appeared right beside them.

At that moment, as they stared into the widening mouths of those alien beings gazing upon their world, a single sentence surfaced in both Foxy's and Laeh's minds.

'Once one thing goes wrong, nothing ever goes right again.'

It could not be truer.

Disaster rarely comes alone.

Thus,

The Fallen Faction of Noah came into contact with aliens from another universe.

…

Simultaneously, the death of Aurelia — her soul obliterated by Esmeray's breath — caused all the beings whose Records she had stolen to receive them back.

All of them cursed the dead Aurelia, wishing her eternal agony.

At the same time, the Golden Tree of Aurelia's world withered and died, regressing to its infant stage before disappearing entirely with the detonation of the world itself.

And all of this occurred while, within the Spirit World, Noah — unaware of everything, The Records choosing to remain silent — was subjecting Luelle to deep, unfathomable torture.

Behind him, his wives had all completed their conversion into their new bloodline, now called Ataraxia, their crimson-gold hair and tall figures radiating cold majesty.

"Another round, Luelle?" Noah asked with a soft smile, crouching beside Luelle as she lay on the ground, having soiled herself, her eyes hollow and dead after countless tortures.

Yet not a single wound marred her body.

"P-Please…" she whispered. "No more… no more. Mercy. Anything you want… I will do anything you want."

Luelle, the Progenitor of Elves, begged Noah for mercy.

"Mercy?" Noah echoed, staring directly into her eyes. "Didn't I tell you, Luelle?"

He placed his hand upon her head.

She screamed like a madwoman, sobbing violently, her face drowned in tears as she begged Noah to forgive her over and over again, like a broken record.

"I do not forgive," Noah said coldly. "Especially not you."

"So let's do it again."

With a single touch, Noah destroyed Luelle's mind, then manipulated the neurons of her brain to create and stack thousands upon thousands of realities.

Within them, Luelle died again and again.

Each reality unique in the way she perished.

In one, Orien killed her. In another, she killed Orien before taking her own life. In another, her fellow Progenitors slaughtered her.

And so on.

Suddenly, a stench bloated the space — heavy, squalid, unbearable. But they were used to it by now.

It was nothing more than Luelle losing control of herself in pain and terror.

Around Noah, all watched the emptiness in his eyes as he tortured a Progenitor without a shred of hesitation.

It was a scene none of them would ever forget.

—End of Chapter 461—

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