After settling Ester's heart, Noah leaned back into his chair, utterly calm. Ester had returned to his shadow, her mind finally soothed, even a little excited to meet the being now sharing her home inside the shadow.
Meanwhile, Yuki and Elizabeth kept shooting heated glances at Noah's shadow, jealousy burning silently in their hearts.
If only I could be his shadow… if only I could be with him every second��
The same thought echoed inside both their minds.
Noah noticed their longing but, as usual, chose not to comment.
Across the table, Eric muttered under his breath, glaring at him.
"Damn player…"
…
Noah broke the silence with a bright, casual smile that only made Elden tremble harder.
"So, Grand Master Elden… How about a little chat?"
But Elden, forced to sit chained across from this monstrous boy, knew better. Behind that youthful face, behind that smile, was something terrifying—an existence heavier than anything he'd ever encountered.
And Elden was wrong if he thought he'd even seen half of Noah's true power.
Noah's very existence wasn't just strong—it was wrong. Obscene for a supposed A-rank being. His soul, his presence, distorted the very concept of what a mortal should be.
And now, he was smiling at him like a cat playing with a wounded mouse.
"What do you want?" Elden asked, trying—desperately—to keep his voice strong.
Noah chuckled lightly, a sound sharp and cutting.
"Let's be efficient, shall we? I might have time, but I don't enjoy wasting it."
His silver eyes sharpened. "I'll ask questions. You'll have five seconds to answer. If you don't… well, you'll get intimately familiar with soul pain."
Noah's voice was smooth, almost pleasant, as if discussing afternoon tea.
"And believe me," he added softly, "there's no pain worse than soul pain."
Before Elden could react, Noah continued.
"First question: who ordered you to kill us?"
Noah already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear it said aloud.
Elden stared at him, lips tightening. Pride and stubbornness wrestled inside him.
He didn't answer.
Five seconds passed.
Noah didn't even blink. He simply reached out, placed a hand against Elden's chest, and whispered:
"Cut."
A scream tore out of Elden's throat, raw and deep and filled with agony.
"ARGHHHH—!"
The sound echoed around them, cutting through the air like a blade.
Then, just as suddenly, the pain stopped.
Elden gasped, his body trembling, sweat pouring down his forehead.
The pain lasted for 5 seconds.
Noah sat there, the same gentle smile playing on his lips.
"Next time," he said casually, "it'll be ten seconds."
There was no malice in Noah's voice. No cruelty. Just a cold, clinical promise.
Elden, shuddering, didn't dare challenge him again.
"No—no, I'll talk!" he cried quickly. "It was… it was the Chosen One! He ordered us to kill you!"
Noah's gaze sharpened.
"The Chosen One? Elijah hun?" His voice was still soft, but there was a dangerous undercurrent.
He leaned forward slightly, silver eyes gleaming. "Even Elizabeth? You would have killed her too? A genius like her? What would you would have gained from that?"
Elizabeth clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms, biting her lips till they bled.
Elden grimaced. His voice was low, almost ashamed. "Our… our Goddess would have taken her soul. She wouldn't have truly died. Her soul would have been bound to the Goddess… forever. No chance of rebellion."
Noah's eyes narrowed.
Ah. So that's what it was.
A binding, just like the one he had accidentally imposed on Shadeva.
Eric's jaw dropped.
"The goddess was gonna do what?!" he blurted out. "Are we even talking about the same goddess? The one of light and justice?!"
Even Yuki, raised far from the world's politics, could tell something about this stank.
And Elizabeth…
Elizabeth's fury boiled over.
Her mind raced. Her heart pounded painfully inside her ribcage.
The Goddess she had worshiped. The faith she was willing to live and die for.
A lie.
A chain disguised as salvation.
Her fingers trembled. Her breathing grew short. Sharp. Erratic.
Everything I believed in… was a lie?
Pain boiled up inside her—sharp and acidic. Anger followed, rushing like a flood.
And then—grief.
How many people have been shackled?
How many dreams stolen in the name of light?
How many futures crushed?
A crack appeared across her heart. Then another.
Her chest burned, emotions colliding and spiraling, faster and faster—too fast for her to control.
Noah…
Her eyes lifted slightly to him, standing calm and untouched like a silver flame in the storm.
He… he was always the truth. He never lied. Never shackled me.
He freed me.
The pressure inside her reached its breaking point. Her mana trembled wildly around her, responding to the chaos within.
Noah, watching quietly, narrowed his eyes slightly.
The world around Elizabeth warped. Colors twisted and bent.
Reality itself flinched.
And then—
BOOM.
The seal inside Elizabeth shattered.
A burst of pure force erupted from her body, rippling outward with silent violence.
The world seemed to fall into stillness.
Her hair floated as if underwater.
Her skin glowed faintly, ethereal.
Her eyes slowly opened—
—and the chaos that once danced inside them had crystallized into something singular, terrifying, and beautiful.
Silver.
A perfect silver.
The same as Noah's.
She took a step forward, calm now, every movement resonating with a strange weight.
A new awareness bloomed inside her.
So this… this is who I am.
Noah watched her, a slow smile pulling at his lips.
In his mind, Shadeva's voice whispered:
'A Celestial… in this barren world… impossible.'
Elizabeth's lips moved.
"So it's like this," she whispered.
Her voice wasn't just hers anymore—it carried a distant, celestial echo, as if the stars themselves spoke through her.
Elden collapsed onto his knees, overwhelmed by a terror more primal than anything Noah had inflicted.
Elizabeth tilted her head, examining him like a being from a higher plane.
"I am… a Celestial," she declared softly.
The very world seemed to answer her.
KRRRRK—!!
Cracks webbed through the sky.
The ground shuddered under invisible pressure.
The air grew heavy, hard to breathe.
Without hesitation, Noah snapped his fingers, isolating Eric and Yuki in a pocket of space, protecting them from the backlash.
He smiled to himself.
How interesting.
Elizabeth, entirely unbothered by the chaos, raised her hand and placed a single finger on Elden's forehead.
"Unravel," she commanded gently.
Instantly, Elden's mind collapsed before her.
His memories, his secrets—his entire life—streamed into Elizabeth's consciousness like a river breaking through a dam.
He fell forward, unconscious, utterly spent.
But she wasn't done.
She whispered:
"Come to me."
A faint wisp—Elden's very soul—rose from his broken body, floating obediently into her waiting hand.
Elizabeth grasped it lightly—and it vanished, absorbed into her being without struggle.
Noah leaned back in his chair, observing the scene like a Emperor watching the crowning of another monarch.
Mind. Fate. Destiny. Soul.
Elizabeth's power touched them all.
Given time, she could be unstoppable.
And with Noah's ability to share and multiply talents ten-thousandfold…
Noah smirked slightly.
"I'm falling for you even harder, my dear Celestial," he said softly.
Elizabeth suddenly tilted her head toward the sky, her silver eyes burning.
She smiled—a fierce, wild smile.
"Wait for me," she said.
Her voice rolled out like thunder.
"I'm coming for you."
Then, with venom and divine promise, she spoke the words that made even the heavens tremble:
"You fucking bitch of a goddess."
—End of Chapter 72—