Chapter 2187 Shar, are you done yet?

"You look… so pitiful."

Suddenly, a voice was heard. Vexarion turned, and the moment he saw the woman standing behind him, his eyes widened in shock.

Sharnoth Nocthys.

The woman who had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

The woman who… he was supposed to face in just a few hours!

W-What… what was she doing here!? No—How—How did she get here!? How come he did not notice!? Why didn't the Aurendor's Will alert him!? A-And… what if that Light Born saw her here!? What would he think? Would he think that he was planning to betray them!?

Vexarion's face paled when he thought about that possibility—yes, he did not have a good impression of the Light Born; he felt like he was being suppressed—used even.

But even then—this did not mean the Aurendor Progenitor had any plans to betray the Supreme World of Light.

No man in his right mind would even think about this!

And no matter what, Vexarion did not want Auren to get the wrong idea and quickly started thinking of different things he would say to explain himself—the last thing he wanted was to let the Light Born read his mind.

After all, the thoughts he had throughout the time he was here… he did not wish to reveal them.

No matter what, he needed to make sure Auren did not misunderstand him!

While the Aurendor Progenitor thought about all this, Sharnoth, seated at the throne Auren had just left, stared at him, her crimson eyes flickering as she looked at the pathetic mess he had become from above.

"It is so disappointing to see you like this. I wanted you to always shine brighter than anyone else—"

She commented casually, placing her chin on her palm as her elbow rested on the throne's armrest.

Then, the crimson glow in her eyes turned darker and—

"So I could crush that light myself."

Vexarion, of course, did not care about her words.

"W-What are you doing here…?"

He asked, then, he purposefully raised his voice and—

"Sharnoth Nocthys!"

He called out, making sure Auren heard him.

"You dare appear in front of me so casually!? You must be tired of your lif—"

"Stop.

It's embarrassing to watch."

Sharnoth interrupted with a cold look on her face.

To think…

To think this was the man she regarded as her lifelong enemy—an enemy she wanted to get rid of at all costs.

An enemy that… she was prepared to lose her life for if it meant she could get rid of him.

And now…

Now when he was finally standing in front of her with such a pathetic look on his face—

She was… truly disappointed.

But even then—

She continued.

After all, her years-long hatred… it wouldn't be resolved with just her disappointment.

This was nothing, this was merely the beginning. Vexarion Aurendor… Sharnoth was planning to take everything he cherished and destroy it all right in front of his eyes.

She…

She would get her revenge.

"He cannot hear you anyway."

She sighed in a carefree manner.

"Wha…"

Vexarion frowned, not understanding what the woman meant, but then—his expression changed as four more beings appeared in the hall, surrounding him from all directions—one of whom he recognized in an instant.

"Kaelith…"

He called out, his expression becoming grimmer as he saw his long-time ally.

Kaelith Dalestomb, the Progenitor of Dalestomb, another High-Level World that was part of the Light Faction—the world that had… disappeared a few hours ago.

A complicated look appeared on Vexarion's face when he thought about it.

"What are you doing here…?"

He asked, his hands shaking ever so slightly as Kaelith stared at him with no change in his expression, almost as if… he were a puppet.

Kaelith had a tall, slender body wrapped in seamless robes that shimmered like glass when light passed through. His skin constantly faded between transparency and solidity, as if he was phasing in and out of the plane. His face was hidden behind a mask of silver mirrors, reflecting the observer's image rather than his own. No one, not even Vexarion, knew if he even had a face anymore. Nine shards of golden crystal orbited over his head—each shard glowing with a faint, sealed rune.

"Why do you look so nervous?"

Suddenly, Sharnoth asked a question.

Vexarion frowned; he turned towards the Chaos Heir, and the woman continued—

"Aren't you two friends? Shouldn't you be happy that you get to meet your oldest friend?"

"I do not understand what you mean."

Vexarion answered in an instant, denying everything.

Sharnoth, however, just pouted—

"Come on now, don't say that.

Your friend here will feel bad, you know?

How can you be so cruel and heartless when you two have such a long history of…"

Sharnoth's face then changed, becoming colder—

"…cowardice you two shared."

She completed her sentence, her crimson eyes now seemed devoid of any emotion.

"I… What are you talking about…?"

Vexarion shook his head again, still not admitting anything, and Sharnoth didn't try to push him either—

"Are you saying this doesn't bring back memories?"

She asked.

"What memories?"

Again, the Aurendor Progenitor feigned ignorance.

"Memories of your lot allying with each other and isolating my Father."

The Chaos Heir revealed, her frosty expression now seemed even more terrifying.

"Don't tell me you forgot about it.

This guy remembered it quite well—in fact, it was one of his deeply cherished memories."

She muttered, staring at Kaelith, who was still facing Vexarion with no change in his expression. At first, Vexarion found it strange, but now… seeing his friend in such a state felt… unnerving.

"What did you… do to him…?"

He asked, looking at Sharnoth.

"Oh?"

And Sharnoth raised her eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

"Are you sure you are in a position to worry about someone else right now?

Look around—

Don't you find this situation… oddly familiar…?"

The Chaos Heir muttered, her crimson eyes now seemed hollow, dangerously hollow.

"I tried to recreate it as perfectly as possible—you know?"

She began.

"Your friend using his Law of Absolute Isolation to separate this place from the rest of the Universe, the other three Eternals surrounding you from every single direction—just like how your lot surrounded my Father, making sure he could not escape.

I even remembered the positions right. The only thing I regret is that I couldn't quite move and find everyone involved—at least not right now, else it would have been too obvious, no?

But don't you worry—

The rest I chose aren't chosen randomly either; their Laws and abilities are closest to what your allies had back then—

I assure you, Vexarion Aurendor.

Today will jog your hundred-thousand-year-old memory."

"…"

Silence.

Absolute silence fell over the hall.

Just as Sharnoth said, with Kaelith's Law, this place was completely isolated from the rest of the Universe. No one outside would know what was happening in here right now, and none of them would know anything that was happening outside.

The deathly silence was just another proof of that.

Sharnoth did not say anything to ruin the silence either; she just… waited.

To her, this was all a game—a game where she waited for her target to break down on his own.

And she…

She had just begun.

Heck, the 'real' Sharnoth Nocthys hadn't even come out yet. After all, she still needed to do things 'properly'. Vexarion wasn't devoured yet; even if they were in an isolated space—they were still in the Main Universe.

They still needed to be careful.

But this did not mean the Chaos Heir had any intention of letting this man go.

Vexarion Aurendor—in just a few moments, he would wish he were dead. He would curse the time he thought surrounding her father and then destroying her world was a good idea. He would…

He would regret every single thing he had done—for Eternity.

Sharnoth's crimson eyes burned intensely—she barely held 'her' from coming out right at this spot, but then suddenly—

"Pfft."

Her line of thought was ruined by something.

"Pffttt! Hahahaha!

HAHAHAHA!!"

Vexarion laughed out loud.

"You… you are so naïve!!

As one would expect from a child! Even if you are given all these powers—"

The Aurendor Progenitor pointed at his head and—

"What's in here still doesn't work.

You have no understanding of the situation, do you?"

He asked with an amused look on his face—not even the slightest bit scared.

Sharnoth narrowed her eyes when she saw his expression, and Vexarion—his grin widened, and he continued—

"What did you say? This situation and the one with your father are the same?

How foolish must one be to even compare the two things?"

He laughed.

Then, he looked into Sharnoth's eyes and leaned forward,

"Your father was alone.

I am not."

The Aurendor Progenitor then pointed at the mark on his shoulder and—

"Do you know what this is?

This is the Mark of Light, a mark that would let Lord Auren track me and my condition all the time.

Sure, you have isolated this space with Kaelith's help, but you truly believe that makes any difference?

The instant something happens to me, the mark will react, and once it does, Lord Auren would barge in here himself.

Do you even know who Lord Auren is?

He is the Strongest Child of Light, one of the strongest beings in the entire world. Let alone just five of you, if there were even fifty of you here, he would merely need a snap of his finger to get rid o—"

BAM

"Shar, are you done yet?"

Before Vexarion could even complete his sentence, someone barged into the hall. When Vexarion heard the sound of the hall's doors being burst open, for an instant, his grin widened—he believed it was Lord Auren.

He believed the Light Born had come to protect him, but…

The moment he turned around and saw the sight in front of him, his eyes widened in absolute horror.

The man standing in front of him wasn't Lord Auren; he was someone else. A tall, handsome man with long black hair and golden eyes—a man he recognized in an instant.

The Anomaly…

And in the Anomaly's hand… was the unconscious 'Strongest Child of Light' that he had been dragging on the floor by his hair.

"W-W-Wha…"