Chapter 337: Talk
She didn't speak.
Noah might have had control of her body and her brain, but he had no control over her Will. And her Will was a strong one.
She sat in the void, chained by the three powers of the siblings, as she looked at them, eyes cold, eyes filled with spite and contempt.
Even in her current situation, it looked like she was not worried.
All her wounds were already healed. She looked as pristine but also as bloody as the first time she appeared. You would think the siblings had suddenly turned gentle and healed her, but you couldn't be more wrong.
The Red Woman was just that monstrous.
Noah's eyebrow knitted together. He turned his head to look at Asaemon and found his right hand still hadn't grown back. Everything had disappeared as if there was nothing to begin with, and that remained true up to his elbow.
It was an eerie sight.
He had tried to heal it, but his threads were always destroyed before he could restore it back to normal.
Aurelia was more lucky, only her daggers had been completely destroyed. Well, not really.
The daggers were a part of her golden tree back in her realm. Destroying them meant that tree had been hurt, wounded.
And when it was hurt, Aurelia too was hurt.
That was why her face was slightly pale, twisted in anger, looking at the Red Woman intently, her mind thinking of all the possible tortures she might give to her.
The battle didn't last long, but each of them had suffered from it.
Except Noah.
He took a step forward, approaching the chained woman, and threads exploded outward to envelop the three of them inside a small realm.
It was to prevent curious eyes from knowing what they were going to talk about.
The realm had nothing except threads. But those threads formed a silver sky with drifting clouds, a ground carpeted with luxurious grass, meadows split with white pristine streams of water coursing through them.
There were even, with his innate nature, some cute animals here and there, looking at them with curiosity.
Some even dared to approach Noah, more precisely one silver cat with white eyes and a slit made of threads, recognizing its creator and snuggling against his legs.
Noah smiled softly and took the cat into his embrace, then put it on his left shoulder.
It sat there, looking at its fellow cats with contempt and disdain.
Even cats became arrogant when they received power.
The Red Woman looked around the realm, then snickered. "Nice trick."
Noah crouched down and looked at her. "I can see you've got a high Will. That's maybe the reason why you think you can endure anything I'm about to do to you, right?" he asked, his tone neutral.
She didn't bother to respond.
She was clearly showing him that she was going to talk only when she felt like it, not because he asked questions.
Even in her situation, she was confident, arrogant, her eyes still filled with contempt.
Noah had seen this type of behavior before.
'Orien…' he mused.
He remembered when he captured Orien and went to ask questions. He had acted, in a way, just like this woman.
He was calm, confident, and looked at everything around him like it was some kind of game where everyone else was just pieces for him to move as he willed.
At the end, what did he discover?
That bastard was the heir of a huge family that even other factions didn't dare cross.
And now this woman…
Noah's eyes narrowed.
He had made that mistake once, suffered from it, and learned.
He would be the greatest fool to let that type of incident happen again.
So he didn't ask any more questions.
He activated his Domain—The Genesis—and wrapped it tightly around the woman's body.
She shuddered, unease fluttering inside her heart like the wings of a raven.
Because of his Domain, the threads' influence inside her body and brain started to grow with great speed. That uneasy feeling slowly shifted into one of terrible dread.
Noah was not done.
There was still his Authority left. Authority with its power enhanced now that he was at Law Creator rank.
The cat on his shoulder seemed to grin mockingly at her. Noah parted his lips.
"Epithet."
The world stilled.
Even Asaemon and Aurelia stood up, feeling a strange weight stir inside their chests.
"The Records…?" Aurelia murmured, but soon shook her head. It was not them. The feeling was familiar but different. Weaker, far less mysterious and unfathomable.
"…It's the youngest," Asaemon said, looking at Noah's back with strange eyes.
Not only him, but Aurelia too.
They couldn't wrap their heads around what was happening.
How come the youngest make them feel the same way The Records did?
But their expressions shifted from surprise to shock as Noah continued his words.
"Your name shall be…The One Abandoned by Everything." Noah intoned.
He was more afraid of suddenly having someone knock at his door because of this woman. So he made her abandoned by everything.
By her people, by the world, by the universe…by the very concept of traceability.
If Noah was strong enough, even the very concepts of life and death would abandon her.
At that time, what state would she be in? Between life and death? What was that state of being?
It was a curious thought, but Noah didn't entertain it for long as he witnessed how the eyes of the Red Woman went wide in absolute horror.
"H-How…?" she stuttered.
"T-The Records…? Are you…?" Something stopped her from speaking in that direction. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Noah raised his head to look at the sky, then slowly shook it.
He decided to let go and simply watched how the Red Woman's mind struggled to understand what had just happened.
"Youngest, what did you just do?" Asaemon asked as he stood beside Noah.
"Just gave her a title to stop some unforeseen events from happening," he said nonchalantly.
"I beg your pardon?" Aurelia asked as she approached, feeling like she hadn't heard correctly.
But she had.
"A title. Just a title. Just like the ones the Records gave you, but much weaker." He explained.
The siblings stared at him, dumbfounded. Then they shifted their heads and looked at each other, before sighing in unison.
"What did I expect from a guy who became an abomination just because he said 'I am who I am' type of shit," Asaemon muttered lifelessly.
"Yes…what did we expect? He became Law Creator at not even a hundred years old…now that I think about it, why are we even surprised by the youngest?" Aurelia asked.
"We shouldn't, right? But still…power to name? Did the Records have to show their favoritism this much?"
"Don't ask me. But does life have any meaning now?"
"I wonder, sister…I truly wonder…"
The two siblings continued their stoic talk. Their voices lifeless, their expressions blank as they talked about Noah.
They felt like he was the real abomination and they…they were frauds.
Noah's lips twitched slightly at their exaggeration. He ignored them and focused back on the Red Woman who now was calmer compared to before.
He smiled. The cat above him smiled with him.
"Now tell me, do I look more like prey to you now?" he asked, tone mischievous.
She clenched her jaw tight, not responding. But this time it was less arrogance and more apprehension.
Noah's smile stretched.
"Good. Now do me proud darling, and tell me who is that Ruin."
—End of chapter 337—